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The facade of an Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional (IEFP) building in the Alcântara district of Lisbon

Nearly 30,000 Workers Applied for Portugal's €750 Digital-Training Cheque Before It Closed, With AI the Most-Wanted Skill

Portugal's €750 digital-training voucher drew 29,874 applications before it closed on 30 June, with artificial intelligence the most-requested subject. The late rush pushed the scheme well past its 25,000-worker target — a snapshot of a workforce racing to keep pace with technology.

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

The stone entrance archway of the Maternidade Alfredo da Costa, a maternity hospital in Lisbon

Portugal's Births Tick Up and Deaths Fall in Mid-2026, With Immigrant Mothers Holding the Line

Live births rose 0.8% in the first half of 2026 and July deaths fell 5.2%, but Portugal still records far more deaths than births. What keeps the birth line from falling further is immigration: foreign-resident mothers now account for roughly a third of the country's newborns.

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

The entrance to Cais do Sodré station in Lisbon, a busy transport hub, with pedestrians walking past the Infraestruturas de Portugal sign

A Violent Weekend in Lisbon and Porto Exposes a Fake-Drug Trade the Law Still Cannot Touch

A 25-year-old man was stabbed to death at Cais do Sodré on Sunday, one of three violent incidents across Lisbon and Porto in thirty-six hours. Two of the weekend's flashpoints trace back to the street trade in fake drugs — a decades-old business Portuguese law still does not treat as a crime.

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

Praca do Comercio in Lisbon on a sunny day, with the Rua Augusta triumphal arch, the equestrian statue of King Jose I and pedestrians crossing the historic riverside square

Markets, Business & Tech Briefing: Bank Profits Dip, BCP Gains, Tekever Targets €5.5bn

📋 In This Edition * Weekend Wrap: A Flat Friday That Still Closed the Week Ahead * Banks: Record-Adjacent Profits Slip From Their Peak — and BCP Alone Climbs * Tech: Tekever Opens a €500 Million Round at a €5.5 Billion Price Tag * Galp: A €760 Million Mozambique Deal Heads to International Arbitration * Markets,

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

A smartphone lying on a wooden table with its screen filled with social-media app icons including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube

Portugal's Under-16 Social-Media Law Nears a Final Vote, and a French Court Ruling Shows Why Age Verification Is the Hard Part

Portugal's diploma barring under-16s from social media without verified parental consent is expected to reach a final vote this autumn, with age checks tied to the Chave Móvel Digital. A French court's 14 August rejection of a similar ban shows how hard the verification piece is.

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

The circular building of the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory in Braga, a Portuguese research institution

A €45 Million Compete Tender Steps In for Portugal's Collaborative Laboratories After Their Recovery-Plan Funding Ran Out

The Government has opened a €45 million Compete 2030 line for Portugal's Collaborative Laboratories and Technology and Innovation Centres, replacing Recovery-Plan money that expired on 1 July. Applications from the Norte, Centro and Alentejo regions run until 15 October 2026.

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

The burgundy cover of a Portuguese European Union passport, one of the two documents now required for travel after the old paper identity card was retired

An EU Security Deadline Retires Portugal's Old Paper Identity Card as a Travel Document, Leaving Only the Citizen Card and Passport

Since 3 August, Portugal's old paper Bilhete de Identidade is no longer accepted as a travel document in the Schengen Area or the EU. It lacks the chip and machine-readable zone that EU rules now demand, so travellers must show a valid Citizen Card or passport — even if their BI is marked valid for

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

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