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A view over the rooftops of Alcanena in Santarém district, orange tiles and white houses with the low serra rising behind under a clear blue sky

The Free Creche Programme Says 97 Percent of Applications Have a Place, and the Money That Built It Has Run Out

More than 19,000 free places since April 2024 and capacity above 141,000 children. The State now pays 551.50 euros a month for each free place, and the recovery-plan funding behind the expansion is spent.

The Portugal Brief 19 Sep 2026

Departures signage in Portuguese and English inside Terminal 1 of Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport

Taking a Child Out of Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to the Autorização de Saída de Menor, When One Parent Is Enough, and the Certified Signature the Border Asks For

When a minor needs written permission to leave Portugal and when they do not, what the law requires the document to say, the one-year ceiling on its validity, who can certify the signature, and why the airline becomes the gatekeeper inside Schengen.

The Portugal Brief 19 Sep 2026

The public hall of the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais in Lisbon, a long counter with numbered service points, blue chairs along it and printed silence notices hanging overhead.

Changing Your Name in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to the Six Words You Get, the Free Routes and the 200 Euro Special Process

Portuguese law caps a full name at six words, two given names and four surnames, and sets out exactly when you may change it. Most changes cost nothing, because they follow a change in your legal status. Simply wanting a different name costs 200 euros.

The Portugal Brief 14 Sep 2026

A nameplate inside a glass entrance reading Tribunal Judicial da Comarca de Coimbra, Família e Menores, Ministério Público, under the Portuguese coat of arms.

Adult Guardianship in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to the Maior Acompanhado, the Judge Who Must Meet the Person Face to Face, the Five-Year Review, and the Mandate That Lets You Choose in Advance

Interdição and inabilitação no longer exist. What replaced them removes only what the situation requires, leaves marriage, moving house and making a will untouched by default, is unpaid, and can be refused by almost nobody in the immediate family.

The Portugal Brief 06 Sep 2026

The green gated entrance of the Escola Basica dos 2.o e 3.o Ciclos de Figueiro dos Vinhos, its name carved into a stone wall beside the gate, with the white school building behind

Twelve to Fifteen Year Olds Lose Their Phones at School on 1 January, and About Half of Third-Cycle Schools Had Already Decided That Themselves

President Seguro signed the diploma on Friday extending the school smartphone ban to years seven, eight and nine. It does not start in September: schools get the whole first term to adapt, and the obligation lands on 1 January 2027.

The Portugal Brief 28 Aug 2026

The neoclassical colonnaded facade of the Palacio de Sao Bento in Lisbon, seat of the Portuguese Parliament, with the national flag flying above the portico

Nationality Is Not One of the Nine Priorities in Portugal's School Enrolment Rulebook, and Chega Has Tabled a Bill to Add It

Two bills filed on Thursday would give children of Portuguese or EU nationality precedence for school places, and children of Portuguese-origin households whose parents pay social security precedence for creche places, whenever applicants outnumber vacancies.

The Portugal Brief 27 Aug 2026

A smiling elderly woman with white hair and glasses sitting outdoors in a park

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 Informal Carer Statute.

The Portugal Brief 25 Jun 2026

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