General Daily Briefing — Sunday, 12 July 2026
Here is your Portugal briefing for Sunday, 12 July 2026 — the day’s six stories at a glance:
- Teachers’ union Fenprof is taking Portugal’s troubled digital exam-grading system to the public prosecutor, while the opposition PS demands answers from the prime minister and floats a parliamentary inquiry.
- Portugal and eight other European countries have asked Brussels to let them keep partially suspending the EU’s new biometric border system past September, as Lisbon airport battles long queues.
- Chega wants the government to formally oversee a University of Coimbra study into decades-old contamination around the Lajes air base on Terceira, in the Azores.
- EDP Renewables lifted its first-half electricity output 4%, powered by a fast-growing solar fleet that now supplies a quarter of the group’s generation.
- A family-owned bakery group in Ponte de Lima is investing €5.2 million — without EU subsidies — to expand its factory and take the Chipicão snack brand it bought from PepsiCo into Spain.
- Silves has reopened its award-winning Cork Museum for the first time in more than a decade and a half, the first step in reviving the historic Fábrica do Inglês complex.
Teachers Lodge a Criminal Complaint Over Portugal’s Botched Digital Exam Grading as the PS Demands a Parliamentary Inquiry
Fenprof, the country’s largest teaching union, says it will file a complaint with the Procuradoria-Geral da República (Attorney General) this week, asking prosecutors to examine the reliability and security of the platform used to grade this year’s national secondary-school exams — the first year marking was done digitally. Teachers blame delays, scanning errors and a last-minute weekend workload, and the marking deadline has already slipped to Tuesday. PS leader José Luís Carneiro has demanded explanations from Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and refused to rule out a parliamentary committee of inquiry.
Portugal and Eight Other Countries Ask Brussels to Extend the Right to Pause the EU’s New Biometric Border Checks Past September
In a joint letter to Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner, Portugal, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and Switzerland asked the European Commission to let member states keep partially suspending the Entry/Exit System (EES) beyond 6 September. The biometric system, which replaces passport stamps with fingerprints and facial scans for non-EU travellers, has fed hours-long queues at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport. Interior Minister Luís Neves co-signed the request, calling the scheduled end of the fallback mechanism “a matter of serious and legitimate concern.”
Chega Urges the Government to Track a University Study Into Contamination Around the Azores’ Lajes Air Base
Chega has tabled a recommendation asking the government to formally monitor a University of Coimbra study into soil and aquifer contamination around Lajes Field, on Terceira, and to keep Parliament informed of its findings. The pollution, linked to decades of US military fuel storage, was first identified in 2005, and a 2025 investigation found elevated heavy metals in the population of nearby Praia da Vitória. An independent technical commission is due to begin work in January 2027.
EDP Renewables Lifts First-Half Power Output 4%, Driven by a Solar Surge
EDP Renováveis, the renewables arm of EDP, generated 4% more electricity in the first half of 2026 — an extra 0.9 terawatt-hours — with newly connected solar plants doing most of the work. Solar now accounts for about a quarter of the group’s output, though wind remains its single largest source. North America grew 7% while Europe slipped 2% on asset sales; full financial results are due on 29 July.
A Ponte de Lima Food Group Puts €5.2 Million Into Its Factory to Push the Chipicão Snack Brand Into Spain
Officetotal Food Brands, which runs the Saborosa bakery in Ponte de Lima, is spending €5.2 million to expand its plant and lift capacity — with, it stresses, no EU grant money. The centrepiece is Chipicão, a packaged pastry brand it bought from the American giant PepsiCo some nine months ago for the Portuguese, Spanish and French markets, and which it is now rolling out to Spanish shoppers. CEO Diogo Freitas frames the self-funded bet as a push to scale up beyond Portugal’s small domestic shelves.
Silves Brings Back Its Award-Winning Cork Museum, Shut Since 2009
The Museu da Cortiça (Cork Museum) in Silves reopened to the public on Saturday for the first time since 2009, when the historic Fábrica do Inglês (Englishman’s Factory) complex went insolvent and closed. The museum, which won the Luigi Micheletti Award for Europe’s best industrial museum and drew over 100,000 visitors in 2001, is being revived by new owner Antrix, which also plans a boutique hotel. This time, its owner says, the museum is back for good.
