🇵🇹 Daily Portugal news for expats & investors — FREE Subscribe

The Portugal Brief

Sign in Subscribe

News

Breaking news and developing stories from across Portugal.

Portugal's Labour Reform Takes Another Turn: Government Drops Extra Holidays, Expands Fixed-Term Contracts

Portugal's Labour Reform Takes Another Turn: Government Drops Extra Holidays, Expands Fixed-Term Contracts

Portugal's marathon labour reform negotiations took yet another turn this week when the government circulated a revised draft of its Trabalho XXI package to employers' confederations and the UGT trade union. The new version, obtained by ECO and...

Students March for Free University Education as Minister Doubles Down on Tuition Fee Increases

Students March for Free University Education as Minister Doubles Down on Tuition Fee Increases

Education Minister Fernando Alexandre defended inflation-linked tuition fee increases on National Student Day, as students marched through Lisbon demanding free higher education and urgent action on housing costs.

Portugal's 2025 Budget Surplus Is Set to Blow Past the Government's Own Target When INE Reports on Thursday

Portugal's 2025 Budget Surplus Is Set to Blow Past the Government's Own Target When INE Reports on Thursday

Portugal's 2025 budget surplus is expected to reach 0.5 to 1.0 percent of GDP when INE reports on Thursday, far exceeding the government's 0.3 percent target. But the outperformance rests on chronic investment under-execution.

Fuel Price Surge Sidelines 1,500 Ride-Hail Cars in Lisbon and Porto as Uber and Bolt Refuse to Raise Fares

Fuel Price Surge Sidelines 1,500 Ride-Hail Cars in Lisbon and Porto as Uber and Bolt Refuse to Raise Fares

Rising fuel costs have forced 1,500 combustion-engine TVDE drivers off the road in March alone. The industry association says the current model is broken and demands government intervention.

Portugal's Audit Court Opens 43 Investigations Into EU Recovery Fund Spending as Government Moves to Strip Its Oversight Powers

Portugal's Audit Court Opens 43 Investigations Into EU Recovery Fund Spending as Government Moves to Strip Its Oversight Powers

The Tribunal de Contas has nearly doubled its open investigations into PRR-funded contracts since late 2025, even as the government pushes to eliminate the court's power to pre-approve public spending entirely.

Mortgage Payments Have Doubled in Four Years and Two-Thirds of Portuguese Families Can No Longer Afford to Buy a Home

Mortgage Payments Have Doubled in Four Years and Two-Thirds of Portuguese Families Can No Longer Afford to Buy a Home

New Bank of Portugal data reveals that median mortgage payments rose from 350 to 855 euros between 2019 and 2023, with Lisbon now requiring 102 percent of median household income just to service a home loan.

Portugal's National Data Center Plan Aims for 1 GW by 2030, Betting on Renewables and Submarine Cables to Lure Big Tech

Portugal's National Data Center Plan Aims for 1 GW by 2030, Betting on Renewables and Submarine Cables to Lure Big Tech

Portugal's government has approved a National Data Center Plan that sets out to transform the country into a European hub for digital infrastructure, targeting roughly 1 gigawatt of installed capacity by 2030 — nearly six times the current 170 MW....