EU finance ministers closed the 2026 European Semester by urging Portugal to guarantee the medium-term sustainability of its pension system — projected third-highest for pension spending by 2045 — fill health-workforce gaps and expand affordable housing.
A University of Glasgow study by economist Joao Pedro Martins finds Portugal's 39 Local Health Units missed their business-plan targets while spending rose, with no gains in access, capacity or efficiency — echoing family-doctor teams who say the 2024 merger was rushed.
Lisbon's red-warning heat broke into full festival season this week — but the story that outlasts the weather is money: Moedas's executive approved a €59.2M auction of ten idle municipal plots, now facing an Assembleia Municipal with no coalition majority. Plus summer beach buses, a new Tagus ferry
📘 New Guide Published Building Your Own Home in Portugal in 2026 — A Practical Guide to Autoconstrução, Buying Building Land, Câmara Licensing Under the Reformed RJUE, and the New Partial VAT Refund on
The sea off Faro warmed to 26.1°C through two marine heatwaves between mid-June and early July, a Portuguese Navy coastal buoy recorded. The stronger event ran about 2.2°C above the seasonal threshold, part of a warming trend along the Algarve's touristed coast.
Portuguese book sales fell 1.9% by volume in the second quarter to 3.26 million copies, the first decline since the pandemic despite the Lisbon Book Fair. Revenue slipped 1.8% to €47.25 million, with flat prices pointing to fewer buyers rather than costlier books.
Livre opens its 17th congress in Sintra with a leadership contest, as founder Rui Tavares steps down as spokesperson after four years. Three lists compete, the frontrunner proposing dual spokespeople and a new secretary-general, while challengers demand less centralised power.
