Welcome to the Week em Breve, a wrap-up of important Portuguese news to keep you up to date and in the know.
Portuguese citizenship could take up to 10 years
The Council of Ministers has approved a proposal to increase the period for Portuguese naturalization to seven years for members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and ten years for everyone else, CNN Portugal reports.
The bill will now move to the Assembly of the Republic for discussion and a vote.
The proposal will also count the time for naturalisation from the moment a residency permit is obtained rather than the time of application, as it was previously.
There are also plans for “assessment tests” beyond language requirements and a signed declaration of adherence to democracy, according to CNN.
During the same session, the Council of Ministers also approved new rules that will stop those born in Portugal to foreign parents from getting nationality by default.
Parents will need to have been legal residents for at least three years and express “a positive will” for nationality, the publication reports.
International buyers spend twice as much as locals on property
People from outside the EU paid an average of €451,000 for property in Portugal in the first quarter of 2025, compared to €225,000 paid by locals, Bloomberg reports.
This contributes to the rapidly increasing property prices, which make housing “out of reach for many locals,” the publication writes.
Houses were €2,851 per square meter last month – two and a half times more than in 2015, according to Idealista, Bloomberg reports.
New app maps vacant homes in Lisbon
Despite a hot housing market, Portugal’s major cities have many abandoned properties.
In response, a group of activists has launched an app to map vacant homes and push for their use, Expresso reports.
The app, Devolutos, allows users to upload the location and photos of abandoned properties to the map.
The aim is to “build the most accurate portrait possible of the national shame of having urban centers dilapidated and without people living there while calling for more construction,” Nelson Vassalo, a member of the collective behind the app, told Lusa news agency, Expresso reports.
The National Association of Property Owners has called the app “illegal” and is allegedly considering legal action.
Demonstrations for affordable housing take place across Portugal
Members of Casa para Viver (Homes to Live In) demonstrated across the country this Saturday, calling for decent housing and an end to the “unsustainable” crisis, Público reports.
Around 2,000 people gathered in Lisbon, marching across the city despite the extreme temperatures.
The demo included members of Vida Justa who highlighted the demolition of shacks in the Talude neighbourhood, where residents get as little as 48 hours’ notice before their homes are pulled down, Público reports.
40,000 immigrants notified to leave Portugal
During a radio interview this Saturday, Deputy Secretary of State for the Presidency and Immigration, Rui Armindo Freitas, said that around 40,000 immigration requests have been rejected, Público reports.
This builds on the 18,000 rejections that were reported earlier in the year.
The minister noted, however, that Portugal doesn’t currently have the tools to expel those who do not voluntarily comply, the publication writes.
The Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (Agência para a Integração Migrações e Asilo, AIMA) have how processed 440,000 cases and rejected almost half, according to Armindo Freitas, Público reports.
Free scooter use for Lisbon Navegante pass holders
Lisbon residents with monthly public transport passes will be able to use shared scooters for free from September, Expresso reports.
Navagante holders will gain access to a network of around 6,000 scooters as part of Lisbon City Council’s plan to integrate “soft mobility” into the public transport system, the publication writes.
There will also be greater restrictions on where the scooters can be used, with bans on bus lanes, parks, pedestrianised zones, and major avenues such as Avenida da Liberdade.
