A new sports-shoe factory opens in Barcelos this month, with 210 jobs in a first phase and a target of 580 by 2030. Its first production runs are for the Salomon brand.

By Miguel Sarmento

Image: Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Portugal's first-phase university applications opened on 20 July and run to 6 August, online via DGES. Results on 23 August — and this year, double-check your grades.

It has begun: the first phase of Portugal's Concurso Nacional de Acesso — the national competition for places in public higher education — opened this Monday, 20 July, and runs until 6 August, exclusively online. If you have a student at home (or are one), these are the dates to carve into the fridge door: apply by 6 August, results on 23 August, complaints until the 28th. Update, 20 July: this year the opening arrives with an extra jolt, after exam…

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FLAD's POV essay contest challenges Portuguese-Americans aged 18 to 23 to write about the Portugal-US relationship. The winning essay earns 2,000 dollars; applications close September 20.

There are 2,000 dollars waiting for the young Portuguese-American who best puts into words what ties Portugal to the United States. FLAD, the Luso-American Development Foundation, has launched the 2026 edition of POV — Point of View, an essay contest marking 250 years of American independence, and applications are open until September 20. Young people aged 18 to 23 who are US citizens of Portuguese descent. The essay must be original, written in English,…

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Portugal's PEPAC indicative plan has been updated: 177 million euros in agricultural and forestry calls for the second half of 2026. How to get an application ready.

If you farm in Portugal — or are thinking about investing in land here — write this number down: 177 million euros. That is what PEPAC, the Portuguese arm of the EU's common agricultural policy funding, plans to mobilise through calls in the second half of 2026, according to the newly updated indicative calendar of application windows. The money targets investment, competitiveness, sustainability and resilience across the farming and forestry sectors. The…

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Portugal's 2026 Environmental Fund incentive gives private buyers €4,000 towards a new electric car, requires scrapping a 10-year-old combustion vehicle, and ends on 27 July.

If you've been eyeing an electric car in Portugal, you have ten days to do the maths: the Environmental Fund's zero-emissions vehicle incentive pays private buyers €4,000, and this phase's applications close on 27 July — or earlier, if the money runs out first. And it might: grants are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. The second phase of the Mobilidade Verde Passageiros programme opened on 12 June with a global budget of €10 million, and the…

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Portugal's IEFP tender to support the Qualification of People with Disabilities has an 80-million-euro budget, 85% funded by ESF+, and accepts applications from training providers until 6pm on 30 July 2026.

There are 80 million euros on the table to train and qualify people with disabilities in Portugal — and anyone who wants a share has until 6pm on 30 July. The IEFP tender supporting the Qualification of People with Disabilities (PCDI) has been open since February, and the deadline, already extended once, is now in its final stretch. Training providers — institutions working in professional rehabilitation and in training people with disabilities. This…

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Applications for the extraordinary support scheme for storm Kristin, extended nationwide by ordinance 181/2026/1, end on July 20. What is still open and where to apply.

Straight answer for anyone hit by storm Kristin at the start of the year: the application window for the extraordinary support scheme, in its version extended to councils nationwide, closes on July 20 — Monday. If you have documented losses and have not yet applied, you have precisely one weekend left. The scheme grew out of the calamity declared in February and has been fine-tuned by successive ordinances; the one that matters for this deadline is…

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Portugal's StartUP Voucher Innovate 2025-2026 backs entrepreneurs up to age 29 with a 900-euro monthly grant for 9 months, milestone prizes and a 2,000-euro completion award. Apply by 25 August.

A business idea in your head and zero euros in your account — the classic portrait of many young would-be founders in Portugal. StartUP Voucher Innovate exists precisely for that gap: it pays a 900-euro monthly grant for nine months to turn an idea into a company, and this edition's applications close on 25 August. Young people up to 29, with a degree, who aren't working, studying or receiving other income, with tax residence in the North, Centre or…

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Call PESSOAS-2026-8 funds women's leadership capacity programmes with 5.8 million euros from ESF+. Social partners and business associations in Portugal can apply until 12 August 2026.

There are 5.8 million euros waiting for projects that put more women in decision-making roles in Portugal — and the window closes on 12 August. Call PESSOAS-2026-8, under the PESSOAS 2030 programme, funds Women's Leadership Capacity Programmes, with 5 million coming from the European Social Fund Plus and management handled by the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG). Here's the nuance worth catching: applications are not individual.…

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Companies in Portugal have until 31 December 2026 to withdraw their Labour Compensation Fund (FCT) balance. Miss it and the money is gone. Who qualifies, what it can pay for, and how to claim.

If your company has hired anyone in Portugal since October 2013, there is a good chance you have money sitting in the Labour Compensation Fund — and you have until 31 December 2026 to claim it. After that the balance passes to the Guarantee Fund and your company loses access. An estimated €517 million is still unclaimed. For almost ten years, every company signing a new employment contract had to deposit a small percentage of the worker's pay into the FCT…

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Portugal's +Emprego measure helps companies that hire unemployed jobseekers on permanent contracts. Here is who qualifies, the conditions and how to apply.

The +Emprego measure is a support from Portugal's public employment service (IEFP) for companies that sign a permanent, full-time contract with an unemployed jobseeker registered at the job centre. It lowers the cost of hiring on a stable basis — and the value of the support is tied to the IAS index, which in 2026 is 537.13 euros. It is an incentive for permanent hiring. The state covers part of the cost when a company genuinely creates a new job and…

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Empresa na Hora lets you incorporate a company at an IRN desk in under an hour for 360 euros. What's included, what documents to bring and what comes next.

Starting a company in Portugal can take less time than lunch: through the Empresa na Hora ("company in an hour") service, a company is incorporated at a single desk, in a single sitting, for 360 euros. It is probably the Portuguese public service most praised by newcomers — and in 2026 it remains the fastest route from idea to a company with a registration number. The base fee is 360 euros, paid on the spot, and it covers the essentials: the commercial…

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Registering as a freelancer with the Portuguese tax office is free, online and takes minutes. VAT, social security and first-year exemptions, explained.

Before you can issue your first recibo verde — Portugal's freelance invoice-receipt — there is one mandatory step: opening activity ("abrir atividade") with the tax office. The good news fits in a sentence: it is free, done online on the Portal das Finanças in under 15 minutes, and first-year exemptions soften the landing into self-employment considerably. On the Portal das Finanças, with your tax credentials, look for "Início de Atividade" and fill in…

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Programa Regressar halves your income tax for five years and adds an IEFP relocation grant that can top €6,500. 2026 is the last guaranteed year of the scheme — here's who qualifies.

The short answer: Portuguese emigrants who move back and become tax residents again can pay half the income tax (IRS) for five years and claim an IEFP grant towards the cost of the move — that's the Programa Regressar package, in force until December 31, 2026. If you've spent years putting the move off, the calendar has become an argument: 2026 is the scheme's last guaranteed year. The design is simple: it's for people who were previously tax resident in…

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Company applications for Portugal's IEFP internship schemes Estágios INICIAR and +Talento close at 18:00 on 30 July 2026, or when funding runs out. Here is how they work and who can apply.

The first application window for two IEFP internship schemes — Estágios INICIAR and Estágios +Talento — closes at 18:00 on 30 July. The window has been open since February, but there is a catch worth knowing: applications close earlier if the budget runs out first. If you have a vacancy to fill or an internship in your sights, do not leave it to the final week. They are support schemes from IEFP, Portugal's employment institute, in which the state…

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