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Cars moving along an automated assembly line in a car factory with overhead conveyor machinery

Volkswagen's Capacity Cuts Unsettle Portugal's Auto-Components Industry as a Third Down Year Looms

Volkswagen's plan to cut production capacity 25% and axe half its models is rattling Portugal's auto-components makers, whose exports fell 7% in May. Industry body AFIA warns 2026 will bring more losses and job cuts, though the Autoeuropa plant in Palmela looks set to be spared.

The Portugal Brief 13 Jul 2026

A pile of euro banknotes of various denominations with euro coins scattered on top

Portugal's Income Tax Shrank the Most in the EU Over a Decade as Social-Security Charges Took Over

The IRS personal income tax fell 5.2 percentage points as a share of Portugal's tax revenue between 2014 and 2024 — the EU's steepest drop — while social-security contributions rose 3.6 points to fill the gap. On a €1,500 salary, worker and employer pay €521 a month in contributions.

The Portugal Brief 13 Jul 2026

Porto's Ribeira historic centre of colourful stacked houses rising from the Douro river waterfront, part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed old city

The Heritage Advisory Body ICOMOS Asks Porto to Account for Two Building Projects in Its UNESCO-Listed Old City

ICOMOS Portugal has demanded urgent clarifications from Porto City Council over two interventions in the UNESCO-listed historic centre — expansion works at the Major Seminary near the Sé and the interior demolition of the Confeitaria Serrana — as the classification turns 30.

The Portugal Brief 12 Jul 2026

The long steel jib of a construction tower crane angled across a clear blue sky over Lisbon, symbolising Portugal's public-works and construction sector

Portugal's Public-Works Tenders Are Running 44% Behind Last Year as the PRR Fades, and the Builders' Body Warns of a 2027 Squeeze

The builders' association AICCOPN says the value of public-works tenders launched in the first five months of 2026 ran 44% below 2025 as the PRR winds down and the Finance Ministry tightens spending, warning the squeeze will bite in 2027.

The Portugal Brief 12 Jul 2026

A row of cars parked along a Lisbon street in front of white apartment and office buildings, illustrating car dependence in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area

Two in Three Greater Lisbon Residents Still Default to the Car, an ACP Survey Reports, Even as the €30 Navegante Pass Sits Underused

An Automóvel Club de Portugal survey finds 67% of Greater Lisbon residents prefer the car and 59% use one daily, even though the flat €30 Navegante pass has held for seven years — evidence that frequency and convenience, not price, keep the region on the road.

The Portugal Brief 12 Jul 2026

Markets, Business & Tech Briefing: PSI Ends Week Near 9,290, H1 M&A Slumps 38%, Earnings Season Nears

Markets, Business & Tech Briefing: PSI Ends Week Near 9,290, H1 M&A Slumps 38%, Earnings Season Nears

The latest Portugal news, analysis, and what it means for expats and residents.

The Portugal Brief 12 Jul 2026

A cobbled Campo Maior street roofed over with a dense canopy of white, red and orange handmade paper flowers strung between the houses, with hanging lanterns

After Eleven Years, Campo Maior Readies Millions of Handmade Paper Flowers to Drape Its Streets for August's UNESCO-Listed People's Festival

For the first time since 2015, the Alentejo town of Campo Maior stages its UNESCO-listed Festas do Povo from 8 to 16 August, with thousands of residents making paper flowers to blanket up to 100 streets in a festival held only when the townspeople decide.

The Portugal Brief 12 Jul 2026

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