General Daily Briefing: Friday, 13 November 2026
Choosing Private Health Insurance in Portugal
Whether you need private health insurance, what visa applicants must show, waiting periods, pre-existing conditions, your rights, and the tax relief.
Good morning. Here is your Friday briefing for 13 November 2026: the day's essential Portugal stories for residents, immigrants and anyone keeping an eye on the country, below this week's featured guide.
- Housing protest: Housing camp delegates meet President Seguro at Belém this morning with four demands, as prosecutors confirm criminal inquiries into the police clearances in Lisbon and Porto.
- Digital VAT: The government has approved a bill bringing the EU's digital VAT package into Portuguese law, which will make booking and ride platforms collect VAT for small hosts and drivers from July 2028.
- Lisbon budget: Lisbon City Council presents a 2027 budget 8.8 percent bigger than this year's, with no tax rises, IMI at the minimum and housing as its top priority.
- Homes by the tracks: The environmental association Zero wants 300,000 affordable homes concentrated near metro and train stations, drawing on Portugal's 723,215 vacant dwellings.
- Efacec: Mutares, the German owner of Efacec, is studying a sale of the Porto-area engineering group from 2027 at the earliest, four years after it bought the company from the State.
- Credit rating: Morningstar DBRS has a possible rating action on Portugal scheduled for today, six months after it turned its A (high) rating's trend to positive.
Housing Camps at Belém
Delegates from the Lisbon and Porto housing camps and the Casa Para Viver platform meet President Seguro at Belém at 10:00, asking him to judge the rental law publicly, back legal rent caps and protect immigrant protesters. Prosecutors confirmed inquiries into four police operations against the camps, in both cities.
Platforms Take On VAT
The Council of Ministers has approved a bill transposing the EU's "VAT in the Digital Age" directive, making online platforms responsible for collecting VAT and widening the one-stop shop for cross-border sales. Under the EU timetable, platforms for short-term rentals and road passenger transport take on VAT for small hosts and drivers from 1 July 2028.
Lisbon's 2027 Budget
Lisbon City Council presents its 2027 draft budget at 11:00 today, with spending up 8.8 percent on this year's 1.345 billion euros. Deputy mayor Gonçalo Reis promises no tax rises: IMI stays at the legal minimum and residents get back the full municipal share of their IRS. The Municipal Assembly, where the coalition lacks a majority, has the final say.
Homes Near Stations
Zero wants Portugal to tackle the housing crisis with 300,000 affordable homes near metro and train stations: 150,000 empty homes brought back into use, 50,000 rehabilitated and 100,000 new public or cooperative builds. It also wants the higher tax on vacant homes extended to properties advertised for more than 12 months.
Efacec Up for Sale Again
Mutares, which bought Efacec from the State in 2023, says it is examining a sale of the Porto-area group, no earlier than 2027. Efacec has an order book of more than 1 billion euros and about 1,660 staff. The State put roughly 200 million euros into the company after nationalising it in 2020, and agreed to inject 160 million more as part of the sale.
DBRS Reviews Portugal
Morningstar DBRS reviews Portugal today, its last scheduled look at the Republic this year. It has rated Portugal A (high) with a positive trend since 15 May, citing a debt ratio set to keep falling. A higher grade can help keep the State's borrowing costs down, but mortgage payments track Euribor, not the rating.
Also published since yesterday's briefing
- Meal Card Tax-Free Limit Set to Rise to 10.71 Euros a Day in 2027 as the Public-Sector Allowance Climbs Read →
- Storm Kristin Support Tops 600 Million Euros, but Payments Have Slowed Sharply Since July Read →
- Portugal Collected Almost 6 Billion Euros in Green Taxes in 2025, and Nearly Nine Tenths Came From Fuel and Cars Read →
- Santarém District Activates the Tagus Flood Plan at Blue Level as the River Spills Onto Car Parks at Constância and Almourol Read →
- Military Personnel Get the Keys to 161 Low-Rent Homes From the Armed Forces Welfare Institute, at an Average 329 Euros a Month Read →
- DECO PROteste's Basket of 63 Essential Foods Now Costs 256.73 Euros, 6.2 Percent More Than in January Read →
- Portugal's Permanent Immigration More Than Doubled in 2025 as AIMA Cleared Its Backlog, and Most New Permits Went Through Work, the OECD Reports Read →
- Build More Homes and Free Up Rentals Instead of Subsidising Young Buyers, the IMF Urges Portugal Read →
- Bank of Portugal's Payments Plan to 2030 Weighs Making Every Business Accept Electronic Payments and Discouraging Cheques Read →
- Furniture Sellers Will Pay to Collect Your Old Sofas and Mattresses From January Under Portugal's First Licence for the Waste Read →
- Portugal Creates One of Europe's Largest Marine Reserves: 173,000 Square Kilometres of Seamounts Between the Mainland and Madeira Read →
- Funding a Care Home Could Earn a Golden Visa for 250,000 Euros Under a PSD and CDS Budget Change That Also Halves the Research Route Read →
