What Portugal searched for on 18 September 2026

Most searched in the 24 hours to 22:20: onda de calor (50K+), 2027 (10K+), esposende (10K+), a1 (5K+), semaglutide (2K+), guarda nacional republicana (2K+).

• onda de calor50K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  IPMA has issued a yellow heat warning. From 9am on Saturday 19 September until 8am on Monday 21 September it covers the districts of Coimbra, Leiria and Lisboa, and from Sunday they are joined by Viana do Castelo, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Santarém and Setúbal: nine districts out of eighteen. The reason given for all of them is the same: ‘persistence of high maximum temperatures’. At IPMA the term ‘onda de calor’ has a precise meaning, six days in a row with maximum temperatures 5° above normal, so what has been announced now is a ‘Tempo Quente’ warning, not a heatwave as such. Yellow is not an emergency, but it is a sign that the weather is dangerous for people who cope badly with heat: older people, young children, and people with heart conditions or blood pressure problems.

  The other side of this weather is fire. According to IPMA's calculation for today, 100 of the country's 278 municipalities are at ‘very high’ fire risk and another 22 at maximum; most of the red on the map is in the inland north and centre. These two levels trigger bans: you may not light fires, burn cuttings and forestry debris or set off fireworks, and some machinery work in forests is also banned. IPMA lists exactly what is banned today in each municipality right next to the fire risk map.

  What to do: drink water before you feel thirsty, move heavy outdoor work to the early morning, keep windows and shutters closed during the day and air your home at night, and on days like these keep an eye on elderly neighbours and parents. The current weather and five-day forecast for all districts, Madeira and the Azores are on our Weather in Portugal page; why Portuguese flats are stuffy in summer and cold in winter, and how people here live with it, is explained in our guide Weather and climate in Portugal.

  Source: ipma.pt

  

• 202710K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  On its own the number means little, but right now there are two conversations about money behind it. The first is the minimum wage. On 18 September the labour minister, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, said that from 1 January 2027 it will rise to €970 a month gross: this is written into the 2024 tripartite agreement between the government, the UGT union and employers' associations, and there are no plans to revise it. At present it is €920 on the mainland, €980 in Madeira and €966 in the Azores. The unions want more: UGT is asking for €1,000, Fesap for €1,050 and CGTP for €1,100, while employers oppose any rise beyond the agreed €50. The final figure is approved by a separate decree, usually in December.

  The second conversation is the 2027 budget. The government must submit it to parliament by 10 October, and decisions already taken account for almost €4.8 billion of it. The budget is also where it will be decided whether there will be a new income tax cut on top of the September one.

  Why the minimum wage matters even to those who do not earn it: income thresholds for visas, immigration cases and renting are calculated from it, so more depends on the January figure than it might seem. What these thresholds are and how they are calculated: How to choose a visa for moving to Portugal and How to rent a home in Portugal. We cannot say why people started searching for this number today in particular: we found no single event on 18 September behind the searches.

  Source: sol.iol.pt

  

• a15K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  People were not searching for the motorway as such, but for whether they could get through on it. At 12.30pm on 18 September a fire broke out in woodland in the parish of Eixo e Eirol near Aveiro and spread towards the A1 motorway, and at 2pm the motorway was closed in both directions between the Aveiro Sul and Albergaria junctions, from kilometre 233 to 249. Traffic was diverted onto the A25, the A17 and the N235 national road. The motorway reopened at around 8pm, so the country's main north–south road was closed for six hours.

  A large operation fought the fire: by the evening 315 people, 86 vehicles and 11 planes and helicopters were on the scene. No homes were in danger and no injuries were reported. The fire broke out on a day when IPMA had more than a hundred of the country's municipalities at very high or maximum fire risk. On such days it is forbidden to burn branches or light fires in the countryside, and this is not a formality.

  What this means for drivers: on high fire-risk days, check the fire map and road closures before a long journey rather than setting off blind, because a motorway can be closed within ten minutes. Where to check, what to do if a fire is near your home and how IPMA warnings work are covered in our guide Heat and wildfires in Portugal.

  Source: observador.pt

  

• semaglutide2K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  Semaglutide is the active ingredient in the Ozempic and Wegovy injections and in Rybelsus tablets. In Portugal the state pays for it only as a treatment for type 2 diabetes that cannot be controlled by standard means: in that case the SNS reimburses 90% of the price, or 95% for pensioners. In February 2026 eligibility was widened: previously a body mass index of 35 or more was required, whereas now obesity with a BMI of 30 or more, or high cardiovascular risk at any weight, is enough.

  It can be prescribed by an endocrinologist, an internist, a paediatrician or a family doctor, and the prescription must refer to this rule; without that reference the pharmacy will charge the full price. For weight loss without diabetes there is no reimbursement at all, and people pay for Wegovy themselves. It will not get cheaper in the coming years: the patent on semaglutide in the European Union runs until 2031, and the cheap copies on sale since the spring in India, Brazil and Canada will not reach Portugal. How to get a doctor who will write the prescription: Family doctor in Portugal.

  We do not know why people started searching for it now: we found no Portuguese news on 17 September. That day it was mainly Brazilian media writing about semaglutide.

  Source: infarmed.pt

  

• guarda nacional republicana2K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  The GNR is the gendarmerie that keeps order outside the big cities, and since the end of October 2023 it has also been checking foreigners' documents across 94% of the country. On 17 September the GNR reported on almost three years of this work: 103,212 people checked, 459 foreigners detained, 1,068 served with a notice to leave the country voluntarily and 8,670 offence reports drawn up.

  There are more checks every year. There were 17 detentions in 2024 and 210 in 2025, and in the first eight months of 2026 there have already been 232; notices to leave voluntarily over the same eight months total 649, against 372 for the whole of last year. The checks are not only on the roads: they also take place in the street, in shops, on building sites and in factories, at railway and bus stations, and in hotels and restaurants.

  What this means if you live here legally: it makes sense to carry your residence card, or the document showing that your application has been submitted to AIMA, rather than keeping it in a folder at home. How to book an appointment and renew: How to book with AIMA and renew your residence permit in Portugal. If your permit has expired and the renewal has not come through: Removal from Portugal: what to do if your residence permit has expired or not been renewed.

  Source: rr.pt

  

• novas tabelas irs2K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  People were searching for the new income tax withholding tables: on 17 September the Council of Ministers approved a bill cutting IRS in the first six brackets. In the first and sixth brackets the rate falls by 0.3 percentage points, and in the second to fifth by 0.5. The bracket limits stay the same.

  People will see the difference in their pay in November and December. The cut applies from January 2026, but there will be no month-by-month recalculation: the tax office will issue new withholding tables, and the difference for the past months will come back through lower withholding on November and December salaries, including the Christmas bonus. The government puts the total at €400 million across 2.9 million households, but the amounts per person are small: Portuguese newspapers have worked out about €65 a year on a gross monthly salary of €1,500 and about €12 on €1,000.

  At the same meeting the government approved a one-off supplement for pensioners, paid with the December pension: €200 for pensions up to €537.13, €150 for pensions up to €1,074.26 and €100 for pensions up to €1,611.39. For now this is only a bill: before the money arrives, parliament has to pass it and the withholding tables have to be published in Diário da República. How the tax works and how the rate is calculated: How to calculate and pay IRS income tax in Portugal.

  Source: portugal.gov.pt

  

• novas taxas irs2K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  This time people were searching not for the news of the tax cut but for the rates themselves: the bracket limits stay the same, and only the percentages change. In the first bracket (income up to €8,342 a year) and the sixth (from €29,397 to €43,090) the rate falls by 0.3 percentage points, and in the second to fifth (from €8,342 to €29,397) by 0.5. Above €43,090 a year nothing changes.

  Over a full year, according to calculations by the Portuguese website Doutor Finanças, this comes to about €12 on a salary of €1,000 a month, €65 on €1,500, €100 on €2,000, €133 on €2,500 and €172 on €3,500. Those figures are for a single worker without children; for a couple with two children earning €2,500 and €1,500 it adds up to about €200 a year. The cut applies retroactively from January 2026, but it will only show up in November and December: for the nine months so far tax has been withheld at the old rates, so the whole adjustment will be squeezed into two salaries and the Christmas bonus.

  For now this is a bill approved by the Council of Ministers on 17 September: the retenção na fonte tables have not yet appeared in Diário da República, and a vote in parliament and publication are still needed. The autumn relief also has a downside: less withheld now means a smaller refund in the spring, since the spring refund is simply what was overpaid during the year. How the tax works and what makes up the rate: How to calculate and pay IRS income tax in Portugal; what exactly was approved and how much pensioners will get: our article of 17 September.

  Source: portugal.gov.pt

  

• juro2K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  Juro means interest on a loan, and people searched for it on the day the statistics office INE published its August mortgage figures. The average rate across all existing home loan contracts rose to 3.162%, the fourth monthly rise in a row and the highest figure since October 2025. The average monthly repayment rose to €418: €4 more than in July and €24 more than a year ago. The average outstanding debt is €80,188, the highest INE has ever recorded. For contracts signed in the last three months the rate is still lower, at 2.910%.

  Why repayments rise on their own: most mortgages in Portugal have a variable rate made up of two parts, the market Euribor rate and the bank's margin (spread), which is fixed for the life of the contract. Euribor is reviewed every three, six or twelve months, depending on what the contract says, and on the review date the repayment changes automatically, with no letter and no need for your consent. Six-month Euribor is now at a two-year high and close to 3%, so borrowers whose review falls in the autumn will see their repayments go up.

  What to do: check in your contract which Euribor it uses and when the next review is due, and compare your margin with what banks are offering today, since you can move the loan to another bank. Paying off early, however, has become more expensive this year: the temporary fee waiver in force since 2022 ended on 31 December 2025, and since 1 January 2026 banks can once again charge up to 0.5% of the amount repaid on a variable-rate loan and 2% on a fixed-rate one. What to look out for when buying a home and in the loan contract: How to buy a home in Portugal; what a square metre costs in each district: our housing prices page.

  Source: eco.sapo.pt

  

• esposende10K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  On Thursday a 57-year-old employee of the parish council of Fonte Boa e Rio Tinto died while working at the municipal composting centre in Esposende. According to initial reports, he was taken suddenly ill and could not be saved. This is a local story and does not change any rules or services.

• alta velocidade ferroviária2K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  The searches were prompted not by construction but by a court case: on 17 September, at the ‘Operação Marquês’ trial in Lisbon, former public works minister Mário Lino said that speeding up the high-speed rail tender in 2008 was his own idea, not that of the then prime minister José Sócrates; the prosecution claims the opposite. This has nothing to do with the line being built today: the first section of the Porto–Lisbon line, from Campanhã to Oiã, has already been awarded to a contractor, and trains are promised by 2029.

  Source: rtp.pt

• política2K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  On 18 September, at the Socialists' request, the Portuguese parliament held an urgent debate on the rising cost of living. The opposition demanded cuts to VAT and to the ISP fuel duty, Chega also called for zero VAT on the basic food basket, and the government refused, pointing to the income tax cut it had already announced. Nothing has been decided yet: Chega's bills and the Socialists' recommendation will be put to a vote on 24 and 25 September.

  Source: rtp.pt

• coimbra1K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 23:09

  Coimbra is under a yellow heat warning from Saturday, and from today until 27 September the city, like the rest of the country, is hosting European Heritage Days: more than 400 events, almost all of them free, including tours of palaces, monasteries and castles, evening visits to excavations, and exhibitions. In Coimbra, entry to the rooms of the city museum is free on 26 September. We do not know why people searched for the city today in particular.

  Source: dn.pt