Thursday, 1 October 2026

The Ministry of Education has provisionally removed 62 teachers from their posts after an automatic verification process identified criminal records incompatible with working with minors. The Inspectorate-General of Education and Science is now conducting an urgent analysis of all affected cases. This new monitoring procedure was introduced this school year to improve administrative efficiency and digital interoperability.

The Family Health Units (Unidades de Saúde Familiar or USF) association reports that it remains possible to provide a family doctor for every patient in the SNS by 2029. While approximately 680 family doctors are expected to retire by that year, over 1,400 specialists are currently in training. The association has called for increased efforts in hiring and retaining these professionals to meet the target.

The Assembly of the Republic has approved in principle a bill requiring the use of helmets for riders of electric scooters and e-bikes. The proposal, introduced by the PSD, also mandates the use of reflective gear during low-visibility conditions. The bill now heads to the committee stage, where details regarding enforcement and potential fines ranging from 30 to 300 euros will be further discussed.

The government's proposal to revise the New Urban Lease Regime (Novo Regime do Arrendamento Urbano or NRAU) faces significant opposition in Parliament. The Socialist Party (Partido Socialista or PS) and other parties have signaled they will vote against the bill, which includes measures like accelerating evictions after two months of rent arrears and removing the 2% cap on rent increases for new contracts.

Update: Rental law sent to committee stage

The government's rental reform proposal was discussed in Parliament this Wednesday but will be sent to the committee stage without a vote due to a lack of majority support. Meanwhile, protesters gathered outside the Ministry of Housing in Lisbon to demand the resignation of the minister over the proposed changes.

Natural gas prices in the regulated market increased by an average of 6.4% starting today, according to the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (Entidade Reguladora dos Serviços Energéticos or ERSE). The adjustment affects approximately 431,000 customers who remain on regulated tariffs. For a typical household, this change represents a monthly bill increase of between 0.91 and 1.62 euros depending on consumption levels.

Socialist Party (Partido Socialista or PS) Secretary-General José Luís Carneiro announced he will propose that his party abstain during the upcoming vote on the 2027 State Budget. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has secured this path to political stability by providing guarantees on constitutional revision, pension protection, and the Recovery and Resilience Plan (Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência or PRR). Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento welcomed the move as positive for the country, though he warned against distorting the budget during the specialty phase.

Investors who sign contracts with the Institute for Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (Instituto da Habitação e da Reabilitação Urbana or IHRU) to provide homes at moderate rents will receive a package of tax exemptions. These Investment Contracts for Housing Rental (Contratos de Investimento para Arrendamento Habitacional or CIA) require a minimum ten-year commitment from property owners. The rules for this regime, which entered into force this year, have now been officially clarified.

The Portuguese state recorded a budget surplus of 249.3 million euros through August, a decrease of nearly 1.8 billion euros compared to the same period in 2025. While tax revenue grew by 4.7% to 41.59 billion euros, the overall balance was affected by central administration spending and debt regularization for the National Health Service (Serviço Nacional de Saúde or SNS). Additionally, the state spending watchdog has flagged 526 million euros in public support that lacked clear justification in the 2025 accounts.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy has given SDR Portugal, the entity managing the bottle deposit system known as Volta, two weeks to present an action plan to resolve urban cleaning issues. The system, which involves the Deposit and Refund System (Sistema de Depósito e Reembolso or SDR), has led to trash accumulation on streets as people remove containers from public bins. The government expects concrete solutions by October 16 to mitigate these impacts.

Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have submitted their final, improved proposals to Parpública for the acquisition of a 44.9% stake in the national airline, TAP. The state holding company will now evaluate the bids and submit a report to the government, which expects to select a new shareholder by mid-October. Both groups have emphasized their long-term commitment to Portugal, with Air France-KLM highlighting Lisbon as a key hub for Southern Europe.

The second phase of the national access competition for higher education has placed 9,116 students, an increase of 292 compared to 2025. Despite these placements, 4,069 vacancies remain, primarily in polytechnic institutions located in the interior of the country.

The seasonal vaccination campaign for autumn-winter 2026-2027 against the flu and Covid-19 officially begins today. The National Health Service (Serviço Nacional de Saúde or SNS) has acquired 2.7 million vaccine doses to support the effort.

Multinational companies in Portugal must submit their income tax returns for the Global Minimum Tax Regime (Regime de Tributação Mínima Global or RIMG) by the end of the day. The government had previously granted a three-month extension for this obligation.