General Daily Briefing — Thursday, 25 June 2026
Caring for an Ageing Parent in Portugal in 2026 — A Practical Guide to the RNCCI Continuing-Care Network, Care Homes (Lares and ERPI), Home Support and the Dependency Supplement
How long-term care for older people works in Portugal: the RNCCI continuing-care network, home support (SAD) and day centres, care homes (lares and ERPI) and what they cost, plus the dependency supplement, the solidarity supplement and the…
Medical Emergencies in Portugal in 2026 — A Practical Guide to 112, INEM, the SNS 24 Line, the Manchester Triage Colours and When an Urgencia Visit Is Free
When something goes wrong, knowing whether to dial 112, call the SNS 24 line, or go straight to an urgencia can change the outcome. A practical guide to Portugal's emergency-medicine system, the Manchester triage colours, and what a hospita…
📋 In This Edition
- Former Espírito Santo Director Tells the Marquês Corruption Trial That Ricardo Salgado "Decided Everything"
- Prosecutor Seeks Trial for All 59 Accused in Lisbon's "Tutti-Frutti" Parish-Council Graft Case
- Parliament Votes Down Bills for a Regionalisation Referendum as the Centre-Right Blocks Left and Regional Proposals
- Portuguese House Prices Decelerate for the First Time in Nearly Two Years as First-Quarter Sales Drop 8.7%
- Portuguese Science Captures About €10 Million in European Research Council Advanced Grants
- Socialist Leader Carneiro Charges the Government With Having "No Agenda for the Economy" on a Sines Port Visit
Former Espírito Santo Director Tells the Marquês Corruption Trial That Ricardo Salgado "Decided Everything"
A former Grupo Espírito Santo (Espírito Santo Group) director, Lourenço Lobo, told the Operação Marquês (Operation Marquês) trial in Lisbon that Ricardo Salgado made every decision of consequence in the group, recalling that financial controller José Castella would say "I have to ask the boss" before settling any relevant matter. Salgado, who has Alzheimer's disease, faces eight counts of money laundering and three of active corruption; former prime minister José Sócrates is the principal defendant. The witness phase runs until the court's mid-July summer recess.
Prosecutor Seeks Trial for All 59 Accused in Lisbon's "Tutti-Frutti" Parish-Council Graft Case
At the final pre-trial hearing at Lisbon's Tribunal de Monsanto (Monsanto Court), prosecutor Andrea Marques asked that all 59 defendants in the "Tutti-Frutti" case be sent to trial over alleged favouritism in parish-council (junta de freguesia) contracts toward Socialist (PS) and Social Democrat (PSD) activists, spanning hundreds of alleged offences. Those named include former Estrela parish chief Luís Newton and ex-Santo António president Vasco Morgado, with prosecutors seeking more than €580,000 in repayments from 29 defendants.
Parliament Votes Down Bills for a Regionalisation Referendum as the Centre-Right Blocks Left and Regional Proposals
Parliament rejected a set of bills that would have opened the way to elected administrative regions, with the governing PSD, the CDS-PP and Chega voting down proposals from the Communists (PCP), the Socialists (PS), Livre and the regionalist JPP. The PCP had sought a referendum by 2028 and the conversion of the CCDR (regional planning commissions) into full administrative regions; opponents recalled that voters rejected regionalisation in the 1998 referendum.
Portuguese House Prices Decelerate for the First Time in Nearly Two Years as First-Quarter Sales Drop 8.7%
House-price growth eased for the first time in nearly two years in the first quarter, with the index from INE (Statistics Portugal) up 17.8% year on year, down from 18.9% in late 2025. Prices still rose 3.8% on the quarter, and existing homes climbed 19.7%, while the number of homes sold fell 8.7% to 37,745 — even as the total value of transactions rose 3.2% to about €9 billion.
Portuguese Science Captures About €10 Million in European Research Council Advanced Grants
Researchers tied to Portugal won around €10 million in the latest Advanced Grants from the Conselho Europeu de Investigação (European Research Council), part of an €838 million round for 319 scientists across Europe. Two grantees are based at institutions in Portugal and two are Portuguese researchers working abroad, on projects ranging from brain-inspired chips to jaundice as a possible defence against malaria.
Socialist Leader Carneiro Charges the Government With Having "No Agenda for the Economy" on a Sines Port Visit
On a visit to the deep-water Port of Sines, Socialist Party (PS) leader José Luís Carneiro accused the Montenegro government of having "no agenda for the economy" and warned that Portugal is losing competitiveness in 57% of its external markets. He called for Sines to be made a top political priority and rejected the International Monetary Fund's advice to wind down state support for young first-time homebuyers.
