General Daily Briefing: Saturday, 17 October 2026
Getting a Social Security Number (NISS) in Portugal
How foreign residents get a Portuguese social security number: the online request, the documents, the employer route, and setting up your online account.
Good morning. Here is your Saturday briefing for 17 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.
- Protests: the CGTP marches in Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon today against the cost of living, and housing movements gather in Porto, Lisbon and Faro.
- Banking: Banco CTT's app, homebanking and MB WAY transfers are offline until Monday, but cards and cash withdrawals still work.
- Electric cars: ERSE proposes halving the Mobi.E network fees on public charging from January, a saving of about 15 cents per 100 km.
- Transport: Lisbon Metro workers have called two five-hour strikes, from 05:00 to 10:00 on 28 and 30 October.
- Fertility: parliament has backed in principle a new statute that would give the fertility regulator a binding say on new clinics.
- Vaccines: a nurses' union warns that failures in the SNS vaccination system risk double jabs and lost records.
Cost-of-Living Marches Today
The CGTP marches today, Poverty Day, from Praça da Batalha in Porto and the Portugal dos Pequenitos roundabout in Coimbra at 10:30, and from Cais do Sodré to Rossio in Lisbon at 14:30. It wants pay rises of at least 15 percent in 2027 and a 1,100 euro minimum wage. Housing movements gather in Porto at noon and plan to camp again at 19:00; a camp is also called for Rossio at 17:00, and Faro gathers at 17:30.
Banco CTT Offline Until Monday
Banco CTT's app, homebanking, MB WAY transfers, incoming instant transfers and ATM balance checks are down for a systems update and return on Monday 19 October. Card payments, cash withdrawals up to 400 euros a day and ordinary transfers still work. The bank says it will never ask for codes, passwords or card details, so treat any message that does as a scam.
Cheaper Network Fees for Charging
ERSE has proposed cutting the fees the Mobi.E network's managing entity charges on every public charging session by 52.1 percent from 1 January. Because those fees are only 1 to 2 percent of the bill, the regulator puts the saving at about 15 cents per 100 km; the charger operator's own price matters far more. Final tariffs are approved in December.
Two More Lisbon Metro Strikes
Unions have filed notice of partial strikes on the Lisbon Metro from 05:00 to 10:00 on Wednesday 28 and Friday 30 October, over staffing and overtime at the Central Command Post and in traction. The company calls them disproportionate and will ask arbitrators for a minimum service, which they refused for the 14 October strike. Plan another route for those mornings.
A Statute for the Fertility Regulator
A PSD bill giving the CNPMA, which oversees fertility clinics, its own statute, staff and budget passed its first reading with no votes against. Its opinion on new clinics would become binding and it could issue binding instructions. The bill changes no rule on who may be treated, and now goes to the Health Committee before a final vote.
Vaccine Records at Risk
The nurses' union ASPE says repeated failures in VACINAS 2.0 force nurses to log jabs for later entry, with a risk of double doses and lost records during the flu and COVID-19 campaign; SPMS did not reply to Lusa. You can check and download your own record in the SNS 24 app or portal under "A minha saúde", then "Boletim de vacinas".
Also published since yesterday's briefing
- The Braga Brief, Week of 16 October 2026: Work Starts on ABC's 9 Million Euro Handball Arena, Cinemas Return to Nova Arcada, and Guimarães Jazz Turns 35 Read →
- Saharan Dust Brings Poor Air Quality to Mainland Portugal on Friday and Saturday: Who Should Stay Indoors and Where to Check Readings Read →
- Zero Asks APA to Reject the Foupana Dam in the Algarve, Citing an Endangered Fish, EU Law and Doubts Over Impartiality Read →
- Two in Three People in Portugal Eat Fruit Daily but Only 41 Percent Eat Vegetables, and More Than Half of Under-25s Drink Sugary Soft Drinks Every Week Read →
- Tiger Mosquito Reaches Braga and Amares, With No Local Disease Transmission: What Residents Should Do About Standing Water Read →
- Portugal's School Canteens Must Drop Fried Snacks Like Croquettes and Serve Sweet Desserts No More Than Once a Month Under New Menu Guidelines Read →
- Portugal Records 195 Deaths of Babies Under One in Nine Months, 14 More Than Last Year, as Overall Deaths Ease Read →
- Nolotil Injection Leaves the Portuguese Market on 1 February 2027 for Manufacturing Reasons, and Infarmed Tells Hospitals to Adapt Pain Protocols Now Read →
- Overcharged 23 Percent VAT on Renovation Work in an Urban Rehabilitation Area? Your Builder's Credit Note and a Four-Year Limit Decide Whether You Get the Difference Back Read →
- More Than Half of Influencer Ads in Portugal Go Unlabelled, by One Nonprofit's AI Count: What the Law Requires and How to Report Them Read →
- Vets Will Have to Request Unlicensed Animal Medicines Online From 2 November, and Antibiotic Permits Will Expire After Five Days Read →
- Portugal's Drug Dissuasion Panels Have Opened 213,621 Cases in 25 Years, and Nine in Ten People They Assess Are Not Dependent Read →
- Coimbra Plans to Cut Its City Bus Network From 112 Lines to 52, With Shorter Routes and More Frequent Buses From Spring 2027 Read →
- Volta's Operator Hands the Minister 14 Measures on Litter and Supermarket Pressure, as Lisbon Declines to Meet and Blind People Demand Their Deposits Read →
