Weekly Digest: September 20 to September 27, 2026

The week's most important Portugal stories, curated from our daily coverage.

It was a week of annual reports and of laws taking effect. AIMA published the fullest official count yet of Portugal's foreign population, and in the same week its golden visa figures and the Ombudsman's complaints both landed. The ban on covering your face in public came into force on Wednesday. INE confirmed a 2025 surplus that turns out to be almost entirely social security's, the state's ten-year borrowing cost crossed 4 percent for the first time since 2017, and household debt grew at its fastest pace on record. On the road and rails, the 20 euro Green Rail Pass became law for commuter trains, ANA's new airport drop-off fines took effect, and the government asked ANA why the new Lisbon airport has lost its second terminal. If you missed anything, start here.

AIMA Counts 1,585,854 Foreign Residents at the End of 2025, and One in Six Is Not Holding a Valid Residence Card

The Migration and Asylum Report for 2025 puts Brazilians at 31.1 percent of the total for a sixth year, with Angola second. The count is broader than a residence card: 261,443 of the people in it are pending cases, Temporary Protection beneficiaries or expired titles awaiting an appointment.

Americans Top Portugal's Golden Visa List Again as Grants Climb 29 Percent to 2,685, but AIMA No Longer Reports the Money Invested

The same report counts 2,685 investment residence permits plus 3,967 for family members. The United States leads with 535, the United Kingdom jumped to third and Russia fell to sixth. What the report no longer gives is any figure for the capital invested.

Residence Permits Drew Almost a Third of Everyone Who Complained to Portugal's Ombudsman in 2025

The Provedor de Justiça counted 15,342 complainants last year, up 30.1 percent, and 31 percent of them complained about foreigners' entry and residence. The report says the one-year mark for an AIMA decision was frequently far exceeded.

Non-Residents Would Pay or Show Insurance for Non-Urgent SNS Care Under a Bill the Governing Parties Have Brought Back to Parliament

PSD and CDS-PP have retabled their change to Base 21 of the Health Framework Law. Foreigners staying in Portugal regularly remain SNS beneficiaries; non-residents and people here irregularly would pay or prove cover, except for emergency and life-saving care.

From Wednesday It Is an Offence to Cover Your Face in a Portuguese Public Space, and the Town Hall Collects the Fine

Lei n.º 58/2026 took effect on 23 September. The fine runs to 3,000 euros, forcing someone else to cover their face is a crime carrying up to two years, and the exceptions (health, work, weather, places of worship) are wider than the headline suggests.

Portugal's 2025 Surplus Belongs to Social Security, While the Central State Ran a 5.8 Billion Euro Deficit and Expects 7.1 Billion This Year

INE confirmed a surplus of 0.7 percent of GDP for 2025 and debt down to 89.2 percent. Social security banked 7.2 billion euros; central government ran a deficit of 5.8 billion. The Finance Ministry now sees a surplus of just 125.6 million euros this year.

Portugal's Ten-Year Borrowing Cost Broke Through 4 Percent on Friday for the First Time Since March 2017

The ten-year Treasury yield peaked at 4.0141 percent on Friday afternoon before closing at 3.971. It started the year at 3.20. Economists blame a global bond sell-off rather than anything Portuguese, but the state's interest bill was already rising.

Portuguese Household Debt Grew 10 Percent Over the Year to July, the Fastest in a Bank of Portugal Series That Begins in December 2008

Households owe 183,379 million euros, and mortgages supplied 1,224 million of July's 1,575 million euro rise. Every month of 2026 has set a new record. Against disposable income, though, the burden is 72 percent, far below the 113 percent of 2011.

Existing Homes in Portugal Cost 18 Percent More Than a Year Ago, While Buyers With Foreign Tax Addresses Bought 10.3 Percent Fewer

INE's second-quarter House Price Index slowed to 16.5 percent overall, a second quarter of deceleration. Sales fell 6.4 percent to 40,142 homes, yet their value rose 4.2 percent to 10.7 billion euros.

A Student Renting Away From Home Can Take up to 400 Euros Off the Family's IRS Bill, if the Landlord and the Student Both Tell the Tax Office

With the academic year starting, the rule in Article 78-D of the IRS code: 30 percent of the rent, capped at 400 euros, for a student aged up to 25 studying more than 50 kilometres from home. The receipt must say so, and the student must register on the tax portal each year.

Portugal's Bank Workers Are Called Out on 30 November, After the Banks Said 2 Percent Was Their Final Word

The SNQTB union has called a strike for 30 November, with protests outside head offices from 9 October, starting at novobanco and Millennium bcp. The banks' offer is 2 percent on pay and pensions, with inflation at 3.3 percent in August.

The 20-Euro Green Rail Pass Is Now Law for Lisbon and Porto Commuter Trains and Fertagus From Saturday, but CP Still Has to Switch It On

Decree-Law 195-A/2026 extends the 20 euro monthly Passe Ferroviário Verde to CP's urban trains and the Fertagus line across the Ponte 25 de Abril from 26 September. It leaves the practical start date to CP, which sells the pass.

Leave Your Engine Running at an Airport Drop-Off and ANA Can Now Charge You up to 300 Euros, While Skipping the Parking Fee Can Bring a One-Year Ban

ANA's new car park and drop-off rules took effect on 25 September at ten airports, from Lisbon, Porto and Faro to the Azores, Madeira and Beja: 60 to 300 euros for light breaches, bans of up to a year for serious ones.

Lisbon's New Airport Lost Its Second Terminal in ANA's Latest Plan, and the Government Has Told ANA to Explain Why

A letter from the Finance and Infrastructure ministries asks ANA to justify a single-terminal design at Alcochete, test several demand scenarios, prove the runways suit the A380 and look for ways to open the Luís de Camões airport earlier than 2037.

Portugal Lifts the Biodiesel Ceiling in Road Diesel to Ten Percent on 1 October, and Drops the Guarantee of Low-Ethanol Petrol

Decreto-Lei n.º 188/2026 raises the biodiesel limit in diesel from 7 to 10 percent and obliges suppliers to keep a 7 percent grade on sale for cars that cannot take the stronger blend. The duty to offer a low-ethanol petrol grade is repealed.

A New Decree Puts a Twenty-Day Clock on BUPi Boundary Corrections, and Silence Now Snaps Your Land to the Public Domain

For anyone registering rural land, Decreto Regulamentar n.º 8/2026 sets a twenty-working-day window to correct an overlap with public land. Miss it and the map is rectified to the state's line. It took effect nine days before free registration closes.

Four Residents Have Died Since Sunday at an Estremoz Care Home Hit by Influenza A, Days Before Free Flu Jabs Begin

The Central Alentejo health unit confirmed influenza A in an outbreak at a Veiros care home where 20 of 38 residents had symptoms. Only one of the four deaths has lab-confirmed infection, RTP reports. The free vaccination campaign opens on 30 September.

Volunteer Firefighter Maria João Carneiro, 24, Dies After a Tree Falls on Her at the Resende Fire, the Second Death on Duty This Year

She was struck by a falling tree on Thursday night in Barrô and died at Lamego hospital. The same night more than 400 firefighters fought a blaze in Odemira that reached Silves.

Jorge Palma, Who Left the Conservatory for Rock at Fourteen and Was Paid for His First Single in White Goods, Has Died at 76

The songwriter died in Lisbon on Monday night. Tributes came from across the political spectrum, and from a generation that knew the words to everything on one 1991 record.

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