In today's briefing: • Portugal's 'Volta' Deposit System Launches Thursday • Ryanair's Azores Exit Crushes Easter Tourism • Portugal Fourth in EU for Long Working Hours • Copernicus Confirms Portugal as Europe's 2025 Wildfire Hotspot • EU Recovery Plan Loses Half a Billion in Missed Projects • Si...
A Randstad analysis finds 9.1 per cent of Portuguese workers regularly clock 49 hours or more per week — the fourth-highest rate in the EU, well above the bloc's 6.5 per cent average. The study also reveals Portugal has the EU's highest share of low-skilled workers at 29.1 per cent.
One week after Ryanair's final flight from the Azores, Easter bookings have collapsed by over 50 per cent across the archipelago's 4,600 accommodation units. The Ponta Delgada Chamber of Commerce estimates the annual economic impact at up to 160 million euros.
Portugal launches its national deposit-and-return system on 10 April, adding a mandatory ten-cent deposit to every plastic bottle and metal can bearing the new Volta symbol. Here is what residents need to know about returns, refunds, and the 2029 recycling target.
A new satellite analysis from the EU's Copernicus programme and Joint Research Centre confirms 2025 as the worst wildfire season in EU history, with Portugal recording 999 fires that burned 284,012 hectares — double the previous year and three times the two-decade average.
Portugal has submitted a major reprogramming of its €21.9 billion Recovery and Resilience Plan to Brussels, cutting €516 million in projects — including 5,000 social housing units, 92 health centers, and the Braga BRT line — that cannot be completed by the August 2026 legal deadline.
