General Daily Briefing — Tuesday, 4 August 2026
Good morning. Here is your Tuesday briefing for 4 August 2026 — six stories shaping Portugal today, from tighter new mortgage rules and a record run of car sales to a Portuguese-made drone downed on the Russian front, plus a new practical guide on changing your registered address when you move.
Changing Your Registered Address (Morada) in Portugal in 2026 — A Practical Guide
Moving house is the easy part — telling the Portuguese state where you now live is what people forget, and there is no single automatic update. Our new guide walks through changing your morada across the Cartão de Cidadão, your tax address, Segurança Social and the SNS.
- The Banco de Portugal has tightened its credit rules from August, cutting the maximum share of income that loan repayments can absorb from 50% to 45% and adding age-based limits on how long a loan can run.
- Russia says it downed a rare Portuguese Tekever AR3 reconnaissance drone in Ukraine, days after the maker won a British Army contract worth up to €467 million.
- New-car registrations rose 10.2% to 180,423 in the first seven months of the year, with pure electrics now about a quarter of new sales.
- Rents on existing contracts look set to rise about 2.51% in 2027, up from 2.24% this year, once the inflation-linked coefficient is confirmed at the end of August.
- The AMT has postponed its new taxi fare rules so they start only 30 days after the overhauled TVDE ride-hailing law takes force.
- ANACOM has proposed compensation of up to €5,750 for consumers left without service when switching internet or phone provider.
Portugal's New Credit Rules Reduce the Maximum Repayment Burden to 45% of a Borrower's Income
From 1 August, a revised recommendation from the Banco de Portugal (Bank of Portugal) cuts the maximum taxa de esforço (debt-service-to-income ratio) on new loans from 50% to 45%, covering consumer credit as well as mortgages. It also narrows the exceptions banks may grant and replaces the old average-maturity rule with age-based caps — up to 40 years for borrowers aged 35 or under, and 35 years for everyone else.
Russia Says It Downed a Rare Portuguese Tekever Drone, Days After the Maker Won a €467 Million UK Army Contract
Russian forces say an anti-drone unit in the Bryansk region brought down a Tekever AR3, a reconnaissance drone made by the Portuguese firm Tekever and supplied to Ukraine, and passed it to a research institute to study. The loss lands as Tekever confirms a contract to supply drones to the British Army worth up to €467 million — cementing its status as a rare Portuguese defence-tech "unicorn."
New-Car Registrations Accelerate More Than 10% Through July, With Electrics Taking a Quarter of the Market
Dealers registered 180,423 new vehicles between January and July, up 10.2% on last year, according to the Associação Automóvel de Portugal (Automobile Association of Portugal, or ACAP) — the strongest first half of the century. Alternative-energy models took 74.9% of new car sales and pure electrics 26%, though ACAP warns the rebound, driven partly by rental fleets, still lags the ageing fleet's renewal needs.
Portugal's 2027 Rent-Increase Coefficient Points to a 2.5% Rise as Inflation Edges Higher
Based on the latest inflation data, the coefficient that governs annual rent increases is on course to reach about 2.51% in 2027, up from 2.24% this year and a return to rising updates after 2025's easing. The Instituto Nacional de Estatística (National Statistics Institute, or INE) will confirm the definitive figure at the end of August; it applies to existing contracts, not newly signed leases.
The Transport Regulator Postpones New Taxi Fare Rules Until a Month After the Overhauled Ride-Hailing Law Takes Force
The Autoridade da Mobilidade e dos Transportes (Mobility and Transport Authority, or AMT) has decided its new taxi price-formation rules will take effect only 30 days after the decree carrying the revised TVDE ride-hailing law enters force. The regulator says it needs the extra time to weigh contributions from taxi associations and avoid rules that clash with the newer law, which caps platform commissions at 25% and lifts limits on dynamic pricing.
ANACOM Floats Compensation of Up to €5,750 for Botched Internet-Provider Switches
Under a proposal open for public consultation until 11 September, the Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (National Communications Authority, or ANACOM) would pay consumers €23 per service for each day they lose their connection during a provider switch, capped at €5,750, plus €3 a day for delays. The incoming operator would be made responsible for the whole process. The rules are not yet in force.
