What Portugal searched for on 22 September 2026

Most searched in the 24 hours to 19:20: pedágio (2K+), action (2K+), a33 (2K+), praia do norte (1K+), cadaval (1K+).

• pedágio2K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 06:07

  Pedágio is the Brazilian word for “toll”; in Portugal the same thing is called a portagem. Almost all the news stories using this word over the past two days have been Brazilian, about price rises on the BR-262 and BR-364 highways. In Portugal itself there was only one story: a picture of a “SIC Notícias report” spread on social media, claiming that diesel cars more than 15 years old would have to pay a higher charge to enter Lisbon and Porto. It is fake. On 22 September Polígrafo checked and found no such report, either in the SIC archive or from any other outlet. The picture was AI-generated: the road signs carry symbols that do not exist, and the number plate has five characters instead of six.

  How it really works. Tolls in Portugal depend only on the vehicle class, which is set by the number of axles and the height over the front axle, not on the vehicle's age or fuel. Portuguese cities have no entry charges like those in London or Milan. To get into Lisbon from the south you pay to cross a bridge, either the 25 de Abril or the Vasco da Gama, and that is an ordinary road toll, not an entry charge.

  It is worth getting into the habit of checking pictures like this. How to spot a fake, and what to do if you have already fallen for one, is explained in the guide How to spot fraud in Portugal. We do not know why the spike came on the Brazilian word pedágio rather than the Portuguese portagem.

  Source: poligrafo.sapo.pt

• action2K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 06:07

  Action is a Dutch discount chain selling crockery, household bits and pieces, tools and stationery, almost all of it under two euros. It has 33 shops in Portugal, the first of which opened a little over two years ago. The 34th opens on 24 September in Vialonga, near Lisbon, at Rua Professor Egas Moniz, 71b, and will be open from 9:00 to 21:00. We do not know why people started searching for it today in particular.

  Source: grandeconsumo.com

• a332K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 06:07

  The A33 is a motorway on the south bank of the Tagus, running from Monte da Caparica to Montijo. People searched for it because of a police operation: at around 2am on 22 September the GNR stopped a car on it that was subject to a seizure order and arrested two people: the 23-year-old woman driving and a 24-year-old passenger who was found with 148 doses of amphetamine. A search of their home turned up more drugs and 20 rounds of 9mm ammunition. Traffic on the motorway was unaffected, and nothing changed regarding the rules of the road or tolls.

  Source: diariodistrito.sapo.pt

• praia do norte1K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 06:07

  Praia do Norte is a beach in Nazaré, the one famous for the world's biggest waves, which are surfed there in winter. People searched for it because of a death: on 21 September the body of a woman of about fifty was found in the sea off the São Miguel Arcanjo fort, the Maritime Authority said. The Polícia Judiciária is investigating the cause.

  Source: amn.pt

  

• cadaval1K+ searches
  Published 5 November 2026, 06:07

  Cadaval is a small town in the Lisbon district, north of the capital. People searched for it because of an earthquake: at 15:04 on 22 September a magnitude 2.7 tremor struck eight kilometres east of the town (IPMA initially put it at 2.8, then revised the figure). It was felt most strongly in Cadaval itself, at intensity IV on the Mercalli scale, at which windows and dishes rattle, and less strongly in Bombarral and Torres Vedras. No one was hurt and there was no damage.

  Source: noticiasaominuto.com