General Daily Briefing: Monday, 12 October 2026
Getting the Social Energy Tariff in Portugal
Who gets the automatic discount on electricity and gas bills, the income limits, the 6.9 kVA rule, and what to do if the discount is missing from your bill.
Good morning. Here is your Monday briefing for 12 October 2026: the day's essential Portugal stories for residents, immigrants and anyone keeping an eye on the country, below this week's featured guide.
- Farming: about 150 farm association leaders take a demand for 140 million euros in compensation to parliament and the Prime Minister's residence today.
- Policing: the GNR and PSP are due 1,568 new Tasers within 90 days, after the Court of Auditors cleared a 4.3 million euro order.
- Justice: the judge in the BES trial has refused to hear 358 savers sought by the Swiss defendants, and warned of fines for stalling.
- Transport: a new Portuguese ride-hailing app, POP, has registered 500 drivers in ten days and is heading for Porto and Braga.
- Education: Iscte's Executive MBA is now Portugal's best-placed programme in the Financial Times ranking, at 55th.
- Industry: a Lithuanian smart water meter maker has started building a 29.5 million euro factory in Paredes, with 200 jobs.
Farmers at Parliament
Led by the CAP's president, Álvaro Mendonça e Moura, the delegation gathers at 11:30 at the side entrance of the Assembleia da República, then moves on to São Bento. The confederation says the fuel support and the 20 million euros for fertiliser fall clearly short, and points to the 1.1 billion euros Spain has given its farmers. It has warned that concerted protests will follow if nothing changes.
New Tasers for the Police
The contracts on the public procurement portal give 1,000 devices to the GNR and 568 to the PSP, at 2,748 euros each, from the Lisbon supplier Antero Lopes. They were signed in August and took effect once the Tribunal de Contas approved them in September, so the devices should reach both forces by about the end of the year.
The BES Trial
Prosecutors dropped the 358 witnesses, mostly savers who lost money in the 2014 collapse, in June. The lawyers for two Swiss defendants and the firm Eurofin wanted them heard, which would have added more than a year. Judge Helena Susano refused and warned of fines under new rules against delaying tactics. Hearings should end by July 2027.
A New Ride-Hailing App
POP started in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley on 1 October and charges drivers a 15 percent commission. It offers a women-only option, a service for older passengers and pet-friendly rides. The new TVDE law in force since 1 September requires a fixed IMT sticker on every car: if a car has none, do not get in.
Executive MBA Ranking
Iscte Executive Education climbed 26 places to 55th in the Financial Times Executive MBA ranking. The Lisbon MBA Católica|Nova slipped from 61st to 71st but remains the leading Portuguese programme taught in English, and the Porto Business School rose 13 places to 82nd.
A Factory in Paredes
Axioma Metering laid the first stone on Friday in the Lordelo industrial park. The plant will make ultrasonic water and heat meters, and half of the 200 jobs are for highly qualified staff, Paredes council says. The town is best known for furniture making.
Also published since yesterday's briefing
- The Porto Brief, Week of 11 October 2026: Porto Wants a Say Over Souvenir Shops, the Council Moves to Buy the Stop's Cinemas, and Portugal Seal a Quarter-Final at the Dragão Read →
- A Polluted River Costs the Leça Green Corridor Its Place Among the Finalists for Europe's Public Space Prize Read →
- Families in Vila Franca de Xira's Shacks Still Wait for a Rehousing Date, While the Council Vows to Demolish Every Illegal Home Read →
- Revolut's Customer Base in Portugal Grows by Half to 2.3 Million, but Mortgages Remain Off the Menu for Now Read →
- December's One-Off Pension Supplement Is Now Law, and the Decree Shields It From IRS Withholding and From Creditors Read →
- Portugal's New Crafts Network Turns Away Hobby Makers, and Membership Is Now the Gateway to State Money for Traditional Trades Read →
- Évora Researchers Sent 14 Weather Balloons Into Last Winter's Run of Seven Atmospheric Rivers, and Will Fly More This Winter Read →
- Blocked Accounts and Unrecovered Fraud Losses Dominate Bank Complaints to DECO: Why Portuguese Banks Freeze Accounts, and the Rules on Closing One Read →
- Poorer Teenagers in Portugal Repeat a School Year Seven Times as Often as Better-Off Ones, and Immigrant Pupils Trail by 39 Points in Science Read →
- The EU and China Reach an Understanding to Restrain Chinese Hybrid Car Exports, Reportedly Capped at 350,000 a Year Read →
- Parliament Clears Portugal's Fifth IRS Cut, Backdated to January, and Settles the Third-Bracket Rate at 20.7 Percent Read →
- The Government Writes the NHR Regime's List of 20 Percent Tax Jobs Into a Bill, After the Constitutional Court Faulted a Ministerial Order Read →
- Portugal's Drought Has Split in Two: a Parched South on IPMA's Maps and Six Northern Basins Below Their October Average Read →
- Thyssenkrupp Nucera Chooses Vila Nova de Gaia for Its First Company-Run Electrolyser Cell Assembly Line in Europe, Due to Open in 2028 Read →
