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The white and stone facade of the Camara Municipal de Vila Nova de Gaia on Avenida da Republica, with its slate clock tower and a Portuguese flag flying from the balcony

A Gaia Court Called Ten-Year-Old Champions League Trips Morally Censurable, Then Acquitted Everyone Charged Over Them

Eduardo Vitor Rodrigues, mayor of Vila Nova de Gaia for twelve years, was cleared of malfeasance and misappropriation over two municipally funded trips in 2015 and 2016 worth 15,800 euros. The judge called his choices censurable, then called them political.

The Portugal Brief 04 Sep 2026

The yellow and cream STCP tram car 213 signed line 22 to Carmo, standing on cobbles at Batalha in Porto with overhead wires above and a granite wall behind

Porto Has Issued 100,000 Free Transport Cards Against a Model That Assumed 59,381 Users

Pedro Duarte gave the figure eight weeks after the scheme began. About 50,000 of the cardholders already held an Andante pass, which puts the genuinely new riders below the projection the Camara took to deputies in May with a 20.5 million euro annual cost.

The Portugal Brief 04 Sep 2026

The long stone-trimmed facade of Escola Secundaria Sa de Miranda in Braga, seen from the street behind iron railings and flagpoles

School Caterers Must Charge Municipalities 13 Percent VAT on Meals the Pupils Then Eat Tax Free

A binding ruling signed on 28 August splits the transaction in two: the private caterer charges the council the intermediate rate, the council bills pupils exempt, and the VAT in the middle cannot be deducted.

The Portugal Brief 02 Sep 2026

A Lisbon street waste-collection point with metal underground bin hatches, a blue used cooking oil container and a red bin, beside parked cars

The Environment Minister Concedes the Volta Deposit Scheme Has Problems, Starting With the People Emptying Recycling Bins for the 10-Cent Refund

Maria da Graça Carvalho told journalists in Brussels that festivals, the hospitality trade, too few machines and people rummaging bins for the 10-cent refund are all being worked on case by case. Dedicated containers beside existing bins are under study.

The Portugal Brief 01 Sep 2026

A group of cork oaks with bark stripped to the red inner trunk, standing beside a dirt track in backlit Portuguese woodland

Covilhã's Master Plan Would Clear 1,400 Cork Oaks for an Industrial Park, and the Council's Own Environmental Report Contradicts Itself About Them

Quercus says the Tortosendo expansion would fell about 1,400 protected cork oaks, dozens of them centuries old, days before the consultation closes on 4 September. Page 368 of the council's report both records cork oak forest and denies finding any.

The Portugal Brief 01 Sep 2026

The Basílica da Santíssima Trindade at the Sanctuary of Fátima, a low circular stone building with a wide central entrance, seen across the empty paved esplanade under a clear blue sky.

Parliament Gives the Government Sixty More Days to Report on Whether Fátima Can Leave Ourém and Become a Municipality

Draft Resolution 1216, tabled on 28 August, buys the government until late October to deliver the report Law 142/85 demands. Fátima's parish bodies are in favour, Ourém has reserved its position, and Portugal has not created a municipality since 1998.

The Portugal Brief 30 Aug 2026

Daytime aerial view of Matosinhos showing the city, the Leixoes port basins with container terminal, the marina and the surrounding residential blocks

Matosinhos Will Borrow €40 Million to Build 500 Affordable-Rent Homes Rather Than Wait for the Government's Share

Luísa Salgueiro says the council is fronting money that belongs to central government. The loan goes before the executive on Wednesday, funds 500 homes on municipal land including one development reserved for under-35s, and also pays for seven estates totalling 1,173 dwellings left out of the PRR.

The Portugal Brief 28 Aug 2026

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