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Cars with Portuguese registration plates parked on a cobbled street below old houses in Guarda

Three to Four Months to Legalise an Imported Car, the Motor Trade Says, and the Tax Clock Starts Before the Queue Ends

The car dealers' association reports vehicle certificate files stuck for months at the IMT, then months more at the Porto vehicle registry. The 60-day registration deadline runs from the day the plate is assigned, not from the day the paperwork clears.

The Portugal Brief 21 Sep 2026

The floodlit main building of the Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon seen from its forecourt at night

Epidermolysis Bullosa Enters Portugal's Special Medicine Rules for the First Time, and the Dressings Become Free at SNS Counters in December

A four-annex ordinance in Monday's gazette supplement covers ichthyosis and epidermolysis bullosa, puts painkillers and skin medicines at 90 percent in community pharmacies, and makes silicone dressings, saline and barrier creams free at SNS units.

The Portugal Brief 21 Sep 2026

An aerial view of the Alto Lindoso reservoir in northern Portugal winding between forested hills, with pale drawdown lines marking the exposed shoreline above the water.

The North, Not the South, Is Where Portugal's Water Is Short This Year, and Three Basins Sit Below Their September Average

The Environment Agency's bulletin for 21 September puts national storage at 74 percent, but every basin is above its September average except the Lima, the Vouga and the Mondego. Less hydro means more gas, the minister said, and gas is very expensive.

The Portugal Brief 21 Sep 2026

The white and black panelled facade of the Loja do Cidadão public service centre in Mafra, Portugal, with the town's coat of arms on the wall and a cyclist passing on the road outside.

The Once-Only Rule Goes to Parliament: Public Bodies Would Have to Fetch Your Documents Themselves, and Your Consent Would No Longer Be Collected

Proposta de Lei n.º 107/XVII/2.ª asks Parliament for 180 days to legislate the once-only principle by decree-law. Use of the state interoperability platform becomes compulsory, and the consent requirement written in 2014 is revoked. The data regulator had asked for exactly this legal route.

The Portugal Brief 21 Sep 2026

The long white neoclassical facade of the Palácio de São Bento in Lisbon, seat of the Portuguese parliament, with the national flag flying above its columned portico under a clear blue sky.

Portugal's Immigration Agency Is About to Lose Its President Two Years Into a Five-Year Term, and Parliament Hears Him on Tuesday

The parliamentary economy committee hears Pedro Portugal Gaspar on Tuesday over his designation as a board member of the Competition Authority. He has led AIMA since July 2024 on a five-year mandate. The competition seat runs six years and cannot be renewed.

The Portugal Brief 21 Sep 2026

The glass and steel entrance canopy of the Edificio Victoria office building on Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon, with a tenant directory panel beside the revolving door

Markets, Business & Tech Briefing: Eleven of Sixteen Rise as Oil Falls Through 100 Dollars, the IRS Cut Reaches Parliament, DBRS Lifts BCP to A

📋 In This Edition * Eleven of Sixteen Rise and the PSI Takes Back 58 Percent of Friday's Fall * Every Yield We Track Fell, and the American Ten Year Slipped Back Under 5 Percent * The Euro Broke Its Seven Session Losing Run, and Brent Fell Through 100 Dollars * The Government&

The Portugal Brief 21 Sep 2026

Traditional Portuguese craft objects on display at Mezio in northern Portugal: black clay pots on a stone shelf, hanging scales, tinware and wooden vessels

Joining a New National Crafts Network Becomes the Condition for Portuguese Arts Funding, and the Draft Rules Are Open for Comment Until 1 October

The government is turning six years of recovery-fund spending on traditional crafts into permanent policy through the Rede Portuguesa Saber Fazer. Membership applications open in October and the first funding call lands before the end of the year.

The Portugal Brief 21 Sep 2026

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