Money
Tax, currency, banking, and property, the financial mechanics of living in Portugal.
Portugal's Tourism Growth Becomes More Uneven as Porto and the North Outperform
Porto and the North accounted for three out of every four additional overnight stays recorded nationally in the first half of 2026. Lisbon and the Azores saw weaker occupancy and revenue.
Number of Portuguese Workers Earning Above €3,000 a Month Has More Than Quadrupled in a Decade
A Randstad analysis found that the number of workers earning more than €3,000 net per month rose from 28,700 in 2016 to 125,000 in 2026, though most salaries in Portugal remain far lower.
Breaking the Inheritance Deadlock: Portugal Moves to Let One Heir Force a Sale
Parliament has given the government six months to design a legal path around Portugal's most common estate deadlock. At least 3.4 million rural properties are caught in it.
Darty Portugal Gets the Green Light to Buy 11 Staples Stores
Portugal's competition authority cleared Darty Portugal to buy 11 Staples stores spanning from Viana do Castelo to Santarém, roughly a third of the chain's national footprint.
Portugal's Real Estate Networks Are Posting Record Revenue Despite Fewer Home Sales
Home sales fell 7.7% in the first half of 2026, but the major real estate networks that shared their numbers still grew revenue.
Portugal Approves €1.58 Billion to Upgrade the Electricity Grid, a Year After Regulators Signed Off
The government approved a five-year investment plan for Portugal's high and medium-tension electricity network, with about a fifth of the funding tied to last year's major Iberian blackout.
New Mortgage Credit Rules Take Effect August 1
Banco de Portugal's revised lending recommendation cuts the maximum debt-to-income ratio and closes a 100% financing exception on bank-owned properties, while giving younger buyers longer loan terms than before.
Work From Home in Portugal? The Tax Authority Says That Could Cost You Your Capital-Gains Exemption
Portugal's Autoridade Tributária ruled that using even part of your home as a workspace can disqualify you from the capital-gains tax exemption. A tax lawyer says the ruling adds a requirement the law never actually imposed.
Why Europe's Biggest Airlines Want TAP
Air France-KLM and Lufthansa are bidding for a stake in Portugal's flag carrier. The financial turnaround matters, but analysts say the real prize is a route network that would take years for a rival to build.
Bank of Portugal Moves to Make It Easier to Compare Banks
Portuguese banks have consistently ranked among the lowest-paying in the euro area for retail term deposits, and Banco de Portugal is now building a comparison tool, following a pointed recommendation from the country's competition watchdog.
Portugal's Banks Kept Lending Through the Iran War and US Tariffs: Unlike Every Crisis Before It
A new Banco de Portugal survey finds bank credit tightened in every major instability period since 2008, the financial crisis, the sovereign debt crisis, the pandemic, except this one.
Portugal Writes Off Record €10.4 Billion in Uncollectable Tax Debt
The tax authority wrote off €10.445 billion in unpayable debt last year, the highest figure in at least the last decade, and nearly two-thirds of it is concentrated among just 20,000 large debtors.
Investment Funds Are Emerging as a Bigger Force in Portugal's Housing Price Acceleration
New first-quarter data show institutional and corporate buyers' prices rising 33.8% a year, nearly double the pace for Portuguese families, even as foreign individual buyers still pay a real premium of their own.
Inflation Across Europe Remains Above Target as ECB Decision Looms
Fuel prices have climbed for two straight weeks amid renewed Middle East oil-market tension, and Portugal was one of only four eurozone countries where inflation didn't ease last month, keeping the possibility of another rate increase alive as the ECB meets this week.
Portugal's Debt Story Has Changed. Here's Why That Matters.
Fifteen years after its international bailout, Portugal holds A-range credit ratings and its debt ratio has fallen below 90% for the first time since 2009. The question is shifting: less about whether Portugal can borrow, more about what it costs in a higher-rate Europe.
Caixa Geral de Depósitos to Hire 1,000 Staff Over Five Years, Mostly for AI
CGD's CEO says the state-owned bank will hire roughly 1,000 people over the next five years, concentrated in artificial intelligence and data analytics, backed by up to €1 billion in tech investment.
Did Portugal's Housing Incentives Just Push Prices Higher?
One widely reported index says home prices fell 3.4% last quarter. Portugal's transaction-based data tells a different story, and a peer-reviewed study suggests the tax break itself got absorbed into higher asking prices.
Government Moves to End Rent Caps and Phase Out Decades-Old Frozen Leases
Landlords would get full pricing freedom and easier evictions, while most pre-1990 tenants lose their protections.
Portugal's New "Multibanco + Perto" Brings Basic Banking Back to the Interior
A pilot program puts payment terminals in parish council offices, aiming to reach the 740,000 people living far from a bank branch or ATM.
Weak US Jobs Report Pushes Euro Higher, here's What It Means for Your Dollar Transfers
A dismal US payrolls number and a rock-steady Eurozone job market are pulling EUR/USD in opposite directions.