AIMA & social security, inflation up & business red tape down - Portugal headlines - 16th July 2026

In today’s Good Morning Portugal news headlines (16 July 2026), PM Luís Montenegro will open the State of the Nation debate, facing pressure over the national exam grading crisis and public service efficiency. In migration news, AIMA will begin automatically assigning social security numbers to foreign residents later this month, aiming to speed up residency processing. The EU urged Portugal to prioritise affordable housing and healthcare investment while maintaining fiscal discipline, while Economy Minister Manuel Castro Almeida announced plans to cut business red tape by autumn, replacing prior notifications with technical declarations to ease small business setup. Portugal continues to hold the second-highest VAT rate in Europe, and national inflation reached 5%, though essential food basket prices saw a marginal dip this week. Other headlines included a major fire destroying ten warehouses in Paredes, a Science and Innovation Forum in Lisbon drawing over 1,000 organisations, an upcoming parliamentary debate on public ownership of Portuguese beaches, the CPLP Youth Summit in Cascais promoting integration and gender equality, continued US investor confidence in the Portuguese market, and news that an uninhabited island in Aveiro is set to be auctioned for luxury housing development.📰 Get the news headlines at www.portugalforeignersforum.com ... 💬 Discuss the news & learn more at www.theportugalclub.com ... ✈️ Get help moving to (and from) Portugal at www.portugaltalk.com#Portugal #PortugalNews #GoodMorningPortugal #PortugalTalkRadio #AIMA #Montenegro #PortugueseEconomy #Inflation #PortugalHousing #ExpatLife #PortugalClub #EUPortugal #CostOfLiving #PortugalPoliticsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-good-morning-portugal-podcast-with-carl-munson--2903992/support.Get help moving to and living in Portugal