General Daily Briefing — Saturday, 12 April 2026
In today's briefing: • PSP Forces Emergency Halt to Biometric Checks at Airport Departures • Portugal Among Europe's Most Exposed to Jet Kerosene Shortfall • Fuel Prices to Drop From Monday as DGEG Forecasts Six-Cent Decline in Diesel • Socialist Cost-of-Living Resolution Voted Down in Parliament...
PSP Forces Emergency Halt to Biometric Checks at Airport Departures
Portugal's Public Security Police suspended biometric data collection at departures from Lisbon, Porto and Faro airports on Friday morning — just hours after the EU's Entry/Exit System went fully live. Queues grew so long that passengers risked missing flights. The PSP confirmed all border posts were at maximum capacity but the sheer volume of departing travellers overwhelmed the new process. Biometrics resumed by early afternoon after the morning rush subsided. Spain reported similar queues of up to three hours at some border points.
Portugal Among Europe's Most Exposed to Jet Kerosene Shortfall
Energy intelligence firm Argus Media estimates Portugal has approximately four months of commercial jet fuel stocks — the second-lowest in Western Europe after the UK (three months). Jet kerosene prices have surged 95 per cent since late February. With Galp's Sines refinery as the country's only major refining facility, TAP already struggling financially, and peak tourism season approaching in May, analysts warn that flight cancellations and fare increases could hit Portugal disproportionately hard.
Fuel Prices to Drop From Monday as DGEG Forecasts Six-Cent Decline in Diesel
The Directorate-General for Energy and Geology forecasts that diesel will fall by approximately six cents per litre and petrol by 3.5 cents from 13 April. The counterintuitive drop — despite the Middle East crisis — reflects the IEA's emergency release of 400 million barrels of strategic reserves, increased US crude exports, and European refineries pivoting production toward road fuels. Even so, diesel at EUR 2.085 per litre remains roughly 18 per cent above last year's levels.
Socialist Cost-of-Living Resolution Voted Down in Parliament
Portugal's parliament voted down a Socialist Party resolution calling for measures to protect families from rising living costs. PS deputy Marina Carneiro accused the right-wing parliamentary majority of allowing the state to profit from price rises, arguing the government has collected windfall tax revenue from energy-driven inflation without passing relief to households. PSD, CDS-PP and Chega voted against the resolution.
AIMA's Online Systems Keep Crashing Days Before April 15 Deadline
AIMA's online portal has been failing repeatedly just days before the April 15 deadline when extended residence permits for thousands of immigrants expire. Users report persistent error messages, crashed pages and an inability to book or confirm appointments. The agency, which replaced SEF in 2023, has been plagued by a backlog of over 400,000 pending cases and now faces a system infrastructure crisis at the worst possible moment.
Portugal's Sovereign AI Model Amalia Nears Final Release
Portugal has spent 19 months building Amalia, a fully open-source large language model purpose-built for European Portuguese. A team of 60 researchers across multiple Portuguese universities developed the model, which represents the country's bid for AI sovereignty — the ability to process and generate Portuguese-language content without relying on American or Chinese technology platforms.
Portugal Faces EUR 4 Billion Cut in Next EU Budget
An internal European Parliament analysis shows Portugal's allocation under the proposed 2028-2034 EU budget would fall from EUR 33 billion to approximately EUR 29 billion — a 12 per cent reduction. The cut reflects Portugal's relative economic convergence with the EU average, which reduces eligibility for cohesion funds. The government in Lisbon has signalled it will push back during negotiations.