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Breaking news and developing stories from across Portugal.

More Than Half of Portuguese Adults Are Overweight, and the Nutritionists' Chief Blames Politics

More Than Half of Portuguese Adults Are Overweight, and the Nutritionists' Chief Blames Politics

More than half of Portugal's adults are now overweight or obese, and the head of the country's nutritionists says the blame lies squarely with political inaction. Speaking on Friday, 8 August, Liliana Sousa, bastonária (president) of the Ordem dos...

The Portugal Brief 09 Aug 2026

Portugal Clears a Path to Force the Sale of Property Locked in Undivided Inheritances

Portugal Clears a Path to Force the Sale of Property Locked in Undivided Inheritances

President António José Seguro on Friday, 7 August, promulgated a decree that authorises the government to overhaul one of the most intractable corners of Portuguese life: property trapped in heranças indivisas (undivided inheritances), where heirs...

The Portugal Brief 09 Aug 2026

150 Million Containers In, Portugal's Volta Deposit-Return Scheme Becomes Mandatory

150 Million Containers In, Portugal's Volta Deposit-Return Scheme Becomes Mandatory

Portugal's deposit-return system for single-use drinks packaging, branded Volta , crossed a symbolic threshold this weekend: more than 150 million bottles and cans have been handed back since the scheme launched, and from Sunday, 9 August,...

The Portugal Brief 09 Aug 2026

Green, blue and yellow recycling containers (ecopontos) for glass, paper and plastic-and-metal standing on a Portuguese street

With Two Landfills Almost Full, the Government Plans a Waste-to-Energy Plant for the Algarve

The Algarve sends about 85% of its rubbish to landfill and its two sites are nearly full. On a visit to Faro, the environment minister set out the government's answer: a waste-to-energy plant, with a tender to study the site and technology due on 15 October. Critics warn it could undercut recycling.

The Portugal Brief 09 Aug 2026

A yellow and grey Metro do Porto tram running on an open-air track under a bright summer sky, bound for Estadio do Dragao

Porto's Oldest Metro Cars Lose Their Air-Conditioning Above 35°C, and the Government Admits a Fix Is Years Away

In a written answer to Parliament, the government has admitted that Metro do Porto's 72 oldest Eurotram carriages lose their air-conditioning above about 35°C. Rather than scrap the fleet, it is fitting new compressors to 20 units and buying 22 new trains — a fix measured in years, not weeks.

The Portugal Brief 09 Aug 2026

Spain and Italy Trade Passport Checks Over Ceuta — and Schengen's Open Borders Fray Around Portugal

Spain and Italy Trade Passport Checks Over Ceuta — and Schengen's Open Borders Fray Around Portugal

From midnight Saturday, Spain is checking passports on arrivals from Italy, retaliating in a Ceuta-driven border spat. It leaves Portugal's frequent flyers a plain lesson: inside Schengen, open borders are more conditional than they look.

The Portugal Brief 08 Aug 2026

Benfica Petitions Parliament to Suspend Portugal's Centralized Football TV-Rights Model

Benfica Petitions Parliament to Suspend Portugal's Centralized Football TV-Rights Model

Benfica has petitioned parliament to suspend the centralized-sale model that would pool and share out Portuguese football's TV rights from 2028/29 — a collective approach the biggest clubs fear will shrink their cut.

The Portugal Brief 08 Aug 2026

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