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A Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite view of a large burn scar spreading across the hills around Oleiros in central Portugal, the scorched ground showing purple against green forest.

Portugal's Burnt Area Is Down Three Quarters This Year, and a Fire Specialist Credits the Weather Rather Than the Government

The provisional report counts 56,586 hectares burnt to 15 August, a fall of 74.7 percent. Carlos Trindade of the Pyrocene Alliance says a moderate Daily Severity Rating explains it, and warns that a strong El Nino could carry the critical period into November.

The Portugal Brief 04 Sep 2026

A wide daytime view over the dense apartment blocks and red-tiled roofs of Odivelas on the northern edge of Lisbon, rising up a green hillside towards transmitter masts on the ridge.

Buying a Repossessed Property at Auction in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to the Two Separate Systems, the 85 and 70 Percent Opening Prices, the 15 Days to Pay, and the Charges That Vanish

Judicial sales open at 85 percent of a base that is the higher of tax value and market value. Tax sales open at 70 percent of the tax value and can fall to 20. The mortgage disappears; the preference rights and the missing habitation licence do not.

The Portugal Brief 04 Sep 2026

Several silver Gira share bicycles docked at a station on Lisbon calcada paving, two of them carrying the green electric badge, with handlebars and saddles lit by morning sun.

Riding an Electric Bike in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to the 1 kW Line in Article 112, the Bikes Seized on the Spot, Why There Is No Insurance or Licence, and When Yours Becomes a Moped

Portugal asks almost nothing of an electric bicycle: no plate, no policy, no licence, no helmet. The Código da Estrada draws that line at 1.0 kW and a 25 km/h cut-off, and article 112 lets police seize anything past it on the spot.

The Portugal Brief 03 Sep 2026

A yellow and blue INEM ambulance marked Instituto Nacional de Emergencia Medica and 112, driving through a lit street in Porto at night

Deaf Residents Lost Their Direct Line to 112 in December 2021, and Nearly Five Years On Nothing Has Replaced It

The MAI112 app put a deaf caller, a sign language interpreter and a CODU dispatcher on the same video call. The service behind it stopped in December 2021. Parliament recommended reactivation in March; the interior minister says he learned of the problem only recently.

The Portugal Brief 03 Sep 2026

A white Guarda Nacional Republicana patrol car with green stripes and the 112 emergency number on the bonnet, parked on cobblestones in front of apartment blocks in Portugal

Portugal's GNR Stopped 8,438 Drivers Over the Criminal Alcohol Limit in Seven Months, and the Peak Falls Between Midnight and Six

The force logged 8,856 alcohol-related road crimes between January and July, an average of 1,265 a month. The heaviest age band is 51 to 64, the risk peaks between midnight and 06:00 at weekends, and four districts account for the bulk of it.

The Portugal Brief 03 Sep 2026

A Portuguese PSP police station on a street corner with its blue Policia sign, a marked patrol car parked outside and a calcada pavement in front.

The PSP Took In 265 Firearms and Nearly Six Thousand Rounds Over Two Months, and Non-Renewal Gives You 180 Days

The third Armas em Seguranca summer tour ran from 29 June to 31 August with 124 officers. It collected more guns than either previous year and more ammunition than the two earlier editions combined, and set out what happens when a licence lapses.

The Portugal Brief 03 Sep 2026

A blue EMEL parking machine and a Zona Vermelha tariff sign on a calcada pavement in Lisbon, with parked cars along the cobbled street beyond.

A Lisbon Law Firm Says EMEL Has Been Fining Drivers Outside Its Own Zones and Hours, and It Wants the Money Back

Carlos Barroso says he holds more than a thousand EMEL files and will file in the administrative courts this month. EMEL says it inspects the whole municipality by delegation and does not itself decide the cases. Drivers paid it 5.71 million euros in fines last year.

The Portugal Brief 03 Sep 2026

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