Lisbon regional body bids for EU funds to test pay-as-you-throw waste charging in five municipalities
The Lisbon and Tagus Valley regional coordination commission (CCDR LVT) has submitted an application to the EU's LIFE Programme for a pilot of a new regional waste-management model. Under the 'pay-as-you-throw' principle, users would pay according to the waste they produce, encouraging better separation of recyclables. The project aims to cut mixed waste by 20% and raise separate collection by 25%. If approved, it would run for 48 months, with pilots in Lisbon, Oeiras, Cascais, Santarém and Golegã. Partners include municipalities, waste operators and universities, and the project is meant to help local authorities adapt their tariffs to 2030 EU and national targets.
Germany and Ireland set prison terms for breaching EU deforestation rules
With less than three months to go before the EU regulation against deforestation applies, Germany and Ireland have already defined penalties for those who breach it. The headline points to prison terms of up to five years in Berlin and three in Dublin, and asks what Portugal will do. The excerpt available gives no detail on Lisbon's plans.
Record tourism figures raise question of who benefits, citing Lisbon's €83 million tax
Following the release of Portugal's 2025 tourism statistics, this commentary argues that record arrivals do not by themselves mean local development. Lisbon's tourist tax of four euros per night, capped at seven nights, is estimated to have raised about €83.2 million in 2025, yet the money is not tied to heritage conservation. In low-density inland areas the challenge is the opposite: tourism rarely creates lasting jobs or income. The author calls for municipalities to publish annual accounts of what they collect, spend and achieve, and for rural projects to prove they generate lasting local activity.
Madeira's CDS leader puts housing and tax relief at the heart of next budget
José Manuel Rodrigues, who leads the CDS-PP in Madeira and is the regional economy secretary, named four government priorities at the swearing-in of the party's new Santana branch: housing, care homes for an ageing population, higher wages and a contained cost of living. He said next year's regional budget will keep the 30 per cent IRS reduction, cut VAT to 12.6 per cent and retain reduced IRC in four municipalities. A "Habitar + Madeira" fund will support rental apartments, and the minimum wage is set to rise from 980 to 1,050 euros.
Algarve tourism body opens third round of free training for sector workers
Turismo do Algarve has launched the third edition of Competências do Futuro Algarve, offering free, certified training to tourism professionals in the region from October 2026 to May 2027. It combines online sessions with in-person bootcamps. Topics range from artificial intelligence and digital transformation to management, leadership, hospitality, entrepreneurship, sustainability and ESG, while bootcamps cover water efficiency, wine tourism, financing, nautical and sports tourism. Run with Turismo de Portugal through its hospitality and tourism schools, the programme began in 2024; earlier editions delivered over 700 training hours and 1,214 certificates. Registration is through the Academia Digital do Turismo de Portugal.
