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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

The neoclassical facade of the Palácio de São Bento, seat of Portugal's Assembleia da República, with the national flag flying, seen down a Lisbon street

Legal Gender Changes Edge Back Toward Their 2024 Record as Parliament Moves to Reimpose a Medical Test

Legal changes of registered sex and name are climbing back toward their 2024 peak of 606, with Lisbon recording the most, according to Justice Ministry data reported by Expresso. The trend comes as Parliament advances bills to reimpose a medical requirement the 2018 self-determination law had scrapp

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

A satellite ground station with one large white parabolic antenna and a field of smaller dishes on a grassy site under a blue sky

A Sintra Antenna Farm and Its 'Metal Sunflowers' Chase a Role in Europe's IRIS² Satellite Network

At Alfouvar, near Sintra, a MEO teleport of more than 60 antennas is bidding to join IRIS² — the EU's €10.6 billion secure-satellite constellation, conceived as a sovereign answer to Starlink. If chosen, MEO would add up to 25 new dishes, with certification due by the end of the year.

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

A red and cream Comboios de Portugal passenger train on the tracks at a Douro valley railway station, with vineyard-covered hills behind

Portugal and Spain Rule Out Regauging Their Railways to Europe's Standard, Judging a €30 Billion Switch Barely Worth the Cost

Lisbon and Madrid have told the European Commission they will not convert their railways from the wide Iberian gauge to Europe's standard, calling a switch that Spain prices at some €30 billion and 30 years of works economically unjustifiable. The new Lisbon–Porto and Lisbon–Madrid high-speed lines

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

The double-deck iron Ponte Dom Luís I spanning the Douro, with the colourful houses of Porto's Ribeira district rising on the far bank under a summer sky

The Porto Brief — Week of 15 August 2026: FC Porto Open the Title Defence Six Points From Six, the Boavista Metrobus Races Its 31 August Deadline, and Sá Carneiro Keeps Breaking Records

Your first weekly roundup from the Invicta: FC Porto start the title defence with two 2-0 wins and top spot, the second phase of the Boavista metrobus races a 31 August deadline, Sá Carneiro airport keeps breaking passenger records, and the north stays cool while the interior burns.

The Portugal Brief 16 Aug 2026

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