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The Ministerio do Trabalho e Seguranca Social tower on Praca de Londres in Lisbon, a tiled and glazed high-rise seen from street level against a deep blue sky

Two Million Pensioners Get Up to 200 Euros in December, and the Cut-Off Sits at 1,611 Euros a Month

The brackets are now fixed: 200 euros at the bottom, 150 in the middle, 100 above that and nothing over 1,611.13. It is paid once, and it does not lift the base pension.

The Portugal Brief 18 Sep 2026

An ordinary Portuguese residential apartment block and houses on a street in Caldas da Rainha

The Certificado Energético in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to the Certificate You Need Before You Sell or Let, the Mandatory Site Visit, the Ten-Year Validity, and What Registration Costs

Who has to obtain an energy certificate in Portugal and when, which transactions are exempt, why one certificate per autonomous fraction is the rule, the site visit that cannot be skipped, how long each type lasts, what registration costs, and the fines.

The Portugal Brief 18 Sep 2026

The Banco Alimentar Contra a Fome building in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, with its blue sign above the loading bay and a woman walking past on the pavement.

Consignação do IRS in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to Giving 1 Percent of Your Income Tax Away at No Cost to Yourself, the End-of-March Route, and the 5,517 Entities on the List

One line on the Portuguese tax return sends 1 percent of the IRS you already owe to a charity, a church or a cultural body instead of into the general budget. It costs you nothing. The IVA consignação sitting next to it costs you exactly what you give up, and the two get confused constantly.

The Portugal Brief 17 Sep 2026

The tiled facade of Farmacia Almeida in Lisbon, its blue and yellow azulejos framing four arched shopfronts, with a bicycle parked at the kerb and customers at the open door.

Portugal's Free Flu Shot Now Covers Every Child From Six Months to Four, and the Private Supply Is the Part Under Strain

Norma 006/2026 opens the campaign on 30 September and adds two, three and four year olds to the free list. The SNS bought 2.3 million standard doses; pharmacists say the separate private allocation may be smaller than in past years.

The Portugal Brief 17 Sep 2026

The pink Palacio de Belem in Lisbon, the official residence of the President of the Republic, seen from its formal garden across a fountain and clipped box hedges

Church Abuse Victims Take a Dossier to Belem on Friday, Where 57 Payments Stand Against 4,815 Estimated Victims

The association wants two things from the President: an audit of a compensation process the Church ran on itself, and the end of the limitation clock on child sexual abuse.

The Portugal Brief 17 Sep 2026

A Lisbon taxi in the black and pale green livery, with the lit TAXI Lisboa sign on the roof and the cooperative number on the door, parked on a cobbled street in the city centre

Hundreds of Taxi Firms Have Applied to Join Bolt Since Portugal's New Ride-Hailing Law Took Effect

A taxi working a platform trip cannot street-hail, cannot use a rank and cannot drive in the bus lane. Bolt says enforcing that is somebody else's job.

The Portugal Brief 17 Sep 2026

The entrance and car park of the Centro de Saude in Soure, a low cream-coloured Portuguese health centre building

Organ Donation in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to Presumed Consent, the RENNDA Non-Donor Register, and the Four Working Days Before an Objection Counts

Portuguese law counts every resident as a potential donor unless they have registered otherwise, and that includes foreign residents. Here is how the RENNDA works, how to opt out in whole or in part, and what the separate rules are for donating while alive.

The Portugal Brief 17 Sep 2026

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