Eleven candidates kick off formal campaigning for the 2026 presidential election this Sunday, campaigning until the 16th as they compete for the presidency in Belém. Declared communications budgets exceed €3.8 million and are concentrated on visible tactics — campaign design, agency work, posters, advertising, rallies and giveaways — according to filings with the electoral oversight entity. The spending pattern suggests a contest focused on reach and visibility rather than low-cost digital-first strategies.

Thirteen years after the US fund Lone Star used a strategy to monetise a state-backed bank stake in Portugal (Novo Banco) — reportedly pocketing about €5bn while exiting without major penalties — South Korea intervened to stop the same playbook from succeeding at a Korean bank backed by public support. The episode highlights divergent regulatory outcomes across jurisdictions: stronger Korean safeguards and political scrutiny protected the public interest and state budget, while Portuguese arrangements enabled a lucrative, low-accountability exit for a private investor. The contrast underscores how supervision, takeover rules and fiscal exposure shape investor returns and public risk in cross-border bank restructurings.

Portugal’s stock market posted its strongest annual performance since 2009, driving an aggregate increase of more than €2.5 billion in the value of the country’s largest stock-market fortunes. Broad gains across most listed shares lifted prominent families — notably the Azevedo family — and highlighted the market’s role as an economic indicator for investors and expats. The move suggests improved investor confidence and greater wealth concentration among major shareholders, with implications for portfolio strategies and domestic capital flows in 2025.

António José Seguro presented his honorary committee and national campaign team and will hold a rally in Leiria as he renewed an appeal for tactical voting. He warned that without strategic consolidation the left risks being excluded from the second round, portraying the moment as a 'point of no return', while PS figures such as José Luís Carneiro positioned Seguro as a potential swing vote. The report also explains the concept of tactical voting in the first round and notes Seguro's pledge to occupy the presidency with dignity and without political theatre.

Time is the investor’s most powerful and underappreciated ally: by favouring patience and discipline it smooths short-term errors, magnifies successful decisions through compounding and reduces the need for frequent market timing. Adopting a long-term horizon, appropriate risk management and consistent investing habits lets individuals — including expats with cross-border financial challenges — harness tempo and time to improve outcomes. The article explains why time beats timing, how compounding and volatility smoothing work, and practical steps for long-term personal and expatriate investing strategies.

Ricardo Arroja argues that, despite earlier favourable international coverage, the government’s final days of 2025 were painful and exposed deeper political and economic faults. He calls for a new mindset and a reordered policy approach to restore public confidence, stabilise consumption and address the political challenges facing the next phase of governance.

Tiago Coder Meira, partner at pbbr, outlines plans to build a modern, agile and highly competent team that will differentiate itself through technical quality and client trust. He argues arbitration complements — rather than replaces — court litigation by broadening the menu of dispute-resolution options, but stresses the method’s effectiveness depends on applying sound judgement. The key, he says, is to assess the suitability of arbitration for each dispute — weighing complexity, cost, enforceability, confidentiality and timing — and to deploy it where it genuinely adds value.

El Nacional reports that Donald Trump pressed Venezuela’s interim government for total control of the country’s oil resources — a demand with clear geopolitical and economic consequences that raises questions about sovereignty, access to revenues and the role of external actors in a fragile political transition. Separately, Jornal Público’s analysis shows that between 2019 and 2024 some 75 per cent of drivers who died with alcohol in their system had blood-alcohol levels meeting the threshold for a criminal offence, spotlighting enforcement gaps, road-safety policy failures and the need for improved prevention and data collection. Taken together, the items illustrate linked governance challenges: contested control over strategic resources on one hand, and systemic public‑safety and criminal‑justice issues on the other.

This analytical piece examines Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho as a pioneering educator of women whose public achievements were shadowed by private difficulties: her father’s harsh criticism of her poetry and her husband’s betrayal. Drawing on the narratives of Margarida Vila-Nova, Maria João Lopo de Carvalho and Alexandre Borges, the article reassesses how a woman operating within a patriarchal literary culture came to be framed as 'a man of genius', and what that framing reveals about gender, authority and literary history.

Portugal's electorate has grown to a level not seen since the country's first presidential election in 1976. The increase may indicate renewed political engagement, demographic shifts or changes in registration practices; it will shape turnout dynamics and party strategies in forthcoming contests. Detailed analysis by age, region and registration trends is required to identify the underlying drivers and policy implications.