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A Portuguese state primary school seen from the street, the name EB1 Dr Catela Gomes on the boundary wall beside a glazed public noticeboard and a closed white gate.

Seguro Escolar in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to What the State Pays When a Child Is Hurt at School, the Journey That Counts, and the Seven Exclusions

Every state-school pupil is covered by a statutory scheme with no insurer and no policy document. It pays for public treatment, travel and compensation worth up to 300 times the minimum wage, and it pays nothing at all if you sorted the problem out privately first.

The Portugal Brief 13 Sep 2026

The perimeter wall, gate and watchtower of a Portuguese prison, the Estabelecimento Prisional de Coimbra, seen from the empty road running alongside it.

More Than 150 Prisoners in Porto Put Their Names to a Complaint About the Food, and the Rulebook Gives the Prison Thirty Days

A collective complaint at the Custoias jail says the food is poor and blames it for recurring gastroenteritis. The prison says its nutritionist found no irregularity. Article 31 of the sentence execution code sets the standard, and a 2021 regulation sets the clock.

The Portugal Brief 13 Sep 2026

The two carriageways of the A1 motorway at Fatima with light traffic and a blue gantry sign reading A1 Lisboa Torres Novas

The A1 Turned Thirty-Five on Sunday, and Now Carries 2.6 Times the Daily Traffic of the Day It Was Finished

One of the Brisa engineers on the final Torres Novas to Condeixa stretch told Lusa what changed: the country stopped being 800 kilometres long and became 300 or 400.

The Portugal Brief 13 Sep 2026

The Castelo de Leiria on its wooded hill above the town, with the arched loggia of the royal palace and the crenellated curtain wall clearly visible

Leiria's Castle and Lisbon's Cathedral Head the New Seven Wonders of Portugal, Picked From 147 Candidates

A Roman villa in the Alentejo, an aqueduct at Obidos, the market halls of Olhao, a working winery in Estremoz and a baroque garden in Castelo Branco complete the list voted on Saturday night.

The Portugal Brief 13 Sep 2026

The departures concourse at Lisbon Humberto Delgado airport, with overhead signs reading partidas, departures and terminal 2

Portugal Has 130 Places to Hold the People It Plans to Remove, and the PSP Wants 306 by Late 2027

The head of the national foreigners and borders unit told Lusa the estate meets Portugal's obligations today. The return law that came into force on Friday lets people be held in it for up to 360 days.

The Portugal Brief 13 Sep 2026

Whitewashed gable walls and terracotta tiled roofs of houses in a Portuguese village against a deep blue sky, with overhead cables and a television aerial.

Building Work on Your Own House in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to the 10 Square Metre Shed, the 1.8 Metre Wall, and What Needs No Council Permission

Portuguese law exempts more domestic building work from council control than its reputation suggests, and the 2024 Simplex reform widened it further. The measurements that decide it, the heritage rule that cancels the whole list, and the fines if you get it wrong.

The Portugal Brief 13 Sep 2026

Traffic in motion blur on both carriageways of the A20 motorway in Porto, under gantry signs for Matosinhos, Leixões and Viana do Castelo.

After a Car Accident in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to the Declaração Amigável, the Eight Days to Tell Your Insurer, and the Fundo de Garantia Automóvel

Signing a declaração amigável at the roadside halves every deadline your insurer is working to. What the law guarantees: two working days to first contact, thirty to a decision, eight to payment, double-rate interest when they are late, and 200 euros a day for a missing reasoned reply.

The Portugal Brief 12 Sep 2026

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