🇵🇹 Portugal news, in English, every morning. Free. Subscribe

The Portugal Brief

Home
Politics
Economy
Guides
About

Sign in Subscribe

news

Breaking news and developing stories from across Portugal.

The twin Sao Gabriel and Sao Rafael towers rising above the water gardens of the Parque das Nacoes district in Lisbon under a clear blue sky

Portugal's Deal Market Cools to €4.5 Billion as Pricier Credit Keeps Buyers Waiting

Mergers and acquisitions involving Portuguese companies were worth about €4.5 billion across 289 deals in the first seven months of 2026, the consultancy TTR Data reports — with the number of transactions down 28% on a year earlier as dearer financing cooled the market.

The Portugal Brief 18 Aug 2026

The Palacio de Sao Bento in Lisbon, seat of the Portuguese Parliament, with the national flag flying above its columned facade

Portugal's Long-Awaited Pension-Reform Report Reaches the Minister's Desk, but the Government Will Not Release It Yet

The expert group led by economist Jorge Bravo has delivered its report on the future of Social Security — covering complementary savings, early retirement and the TSU — but the government is holding it back until a disclosure event 'in the coming weeks,' as opposition parties demand to see it. What

The Portugal Brief 18 Aug 2026

The pale-yellow facade of a Lisbon apartment building in Chiado, with rows of wrought-iron balconies against a blue sky

Portugal Fell 300,000 Homes Short of What It Needed in Five Years, a Bank of Spain Study Finds — a Proportionally Deeper Hole Than Spain's

A Bank of Spain study puts Portugal's 2021-2025 housing shortfall at about 300,000 homes — 6.6% of all households, proportionally deeper than Spain's — against a near-zero eurozone average. Why a central-bank number matters for anyone renting or buying here.

The Portugal Brief 18 Aug 2026

The facade of a Portuguese pharmacy showing the word Farmacia and a large red pharmacy cross

Diabetes Specialists Warn a Stale Health-Registry Record Could Strip Patients of Their Medicine Subsidies

Portugal's diabetes specialists warn that out-of-date records in the SNS national patient registry can quietly break the co-payment on medicines and monitoring devices — a clinical risk, not just a bureaucratic one, for a group of more than a million people. How to check your registration before it

The Portugal Brief 17 Aug 2026

The Martim Moniz square in downtown Lisbon, with fountains, colourful buildings and Sao Jorge Castle on the hill behind

Portugal Prepares to Shut the 'Front Shops' Used to House Migrants Illegally, as Lisbon and Porto Demand a Say in Licensing

The government is preparing measures to close the 'lojas de fachada' — shops that trade by day and become illegal migrant dormitories by night — with an autumn licensing overhaul, and Lisbon and Porto want a formal say in which businesses get licensed. What it means for anyone renting at the cheaper

The Portugal Brief 17 Aug 2026

The postmodern Torres das Amoreiras towers rising above the Amoreiras shopping centre in central Lisbon

A Plan to Put 683 Homes on a Derelict Lisbon Barracks Runs Into Its Neighbours

A long-derelict block of central Lisbon, the former Campolide barracks, is slated for 683 homes up to twelve storeys — with no affordable units and a waived environmental assessment. Residents have taken their objections, Público reports, to the prosecutors and Brussels.

The Portugal Brief 17 Aug 2026

A rooftop view over central Lisbon looking north up the tree-lined Avenida da Liberdade toward the greenery of Parque Eduardo VII

Tourists Reclaimed €88.6 Million in Portuguese VAT Last Year, and Just Four Nationalities Drove Half the Receipts

Foreign visitors reclaimed €88.6 million in Portuguese VAT on their shopping last year, and four nationalities — Brazil, the US, Angola and China — drove more than half the receipts, most of it in Lisbon. Portugal is banking on higher-value tourists over higher volumes.

The Portugal Brief 17 Aug 2026

Subscribe to The Portugal Brief

Don't miss out on the latest news. Sign up now to get access to the library of members-only articles.

Sign up
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Partner with Us
Editorial Standards

The Portugal Brief © 2026. Powered by Ghost

Operated by Thrifty Explorations LLC.

[email protected]