ISP (fuel tax) elimination
Finance minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento has told the debate on the proposal for the 2026 State Budget that the government has no choice but to eliminate the discount in force on the tax on petroleum and energy products (due to this being an obligation of the European Commission) – but that it will be done “as gradually as possible, so as not to have an impact on the final price of petrol and diesel”.
In an analysis of the budget bill, the Public Finance Council (CFP) has estimated that the elimination of the current ISP discount, and the update of the carbon tax, if confirmed, will bring additional revenue to the State coffers of €1.132 billion.
Vegetarian outcry
Lisbon City Council has informed parents of children attending public schools in the municipality that from 2026 vegetarian school meals will no longer be indiscriminately available. They will be the reserve of “pupils whose families assume this dietary regime as an integral and permanent part of their lifestyle”. In other words, there can be no more ‘picking and choosing’: unless you are the son/ daughter of a strictly vegetarian family, you must choose from the omni-selection. The change has elicited outrage among parents, and potentially pupils – leading to the raising of a petition, demanding that the vegetarian option remains in place.
School exodus
Over 200 schoolchildren have had to be removed from their ‘monobloc’ classrooms in two schools in Almada (Greater Lisbon) due to safety concerns. Some media sources describe “risks to the preservation of human life”, without explaining what is the problem with these so-called monoblocs. For the time being, the various classes of 4th/ 5th and 6th years are to be absorbed into other schools which are not affected by the monobloc issues.
Auto sector dismissals
Coindu, one of a number of companies in the auto sector experiencing ‘crisis’, has had to announce a second tranche of collective dismissals, due to a decline in orders. The company based in Vila Nova de Famalicão dismissed 123 employees in May, put another 237 on lay-off – and that was after closing its factory in Arcos de Valdevez at the end of 2024. The company stresses that it made every effort to avoid this latest decision, but without new redundancies it could not ensure the business’s survival.
116% of salary
A report by the European Commission has identified Lisbon as the EU capital where citizens have to pay the highest percentage of their salary to secure a roof over their heads. With the Commission now actively intervening in the housing crisis throughout the bloc – and most prominently in Portugal – the report suggests that citizens have to pay 116% of their salary to secure a home. This has led to newspapers like Correio da Manhã headlining with “Citizens in Lisbon without income for housing”. A meeting in Brussels on this crisis began yesterday and ends today. Meantime, the government has put 16 unused public buildings and plots of land on sale, with the intention that proceeds will go towards funding public housing projects.
TAP hammered over wrongful dismissals
Flagship airline TAP – looking for private buyers – has finally accepted that it must pay cabin staff wrongfully ‘sacked’ during the pandemic, which implies a bill of around €300 million. A source for the company has said the debt is unlikely to affect the sale, albeit the final buyer/s may reduce their offer…
Patriots of Europe
The PS (Socialist party) parliamentary group has asked culture minister Margarida Balseiro Lopes why she thought it appropriate to allow the extreme right wing Patriots of Europe movement to hire a room at Belém Cultural Centre (CCB) for a meeting last week. Speaking to Lusa, PS MP Paulo Lopes Silva argued that although the socialists are not looking for the CCB to be managed from a perspective of ideological control, it is not possible for an event with ideas contrary to the construction of a democratic and plural society to take place in a space that should be defending the opposite values.
Ana Gomes upsets Solverde
Former Socialist euro MP and regular television commentator Ana Gomes is once again an ‘arguida’ for comments made in the public space. This time, it is casinos giant Solverde that considers her comments made on air damage the company’s good name and reputation. Ms Gomes was speaking with regard to prime minister Luís Montenegro’s links with Solverde, through his family’s business, Spinumviva. Her criticism ventured into the sphere of online gambling and the “alleged fragilities to money laundering”, says Correio da Manhã today.
Spiked caipirinha
A woman in Coimbra ‘cannot remember anything’ after accepting a caipirinha from a friend – and waking up naked on his sofa some time later. In a panic, the woman went to a hospital for an examination and thus discovered that she had been sexually assaulted. According to Notícias de Coimbra, the ‘friend’ also made transfers via MB Way to the value of around €500 from the woman’s account to his own. PJ police are now investigating.
