Read today's Portuguese stories delivered to your email sanitation and waste can exceed €650 between municipalities with Amarante (Porto) and Fundão (Castelo Branco) being the places where you pay the most which analyses water bill tariffs (which includes water sanitation and waste) and covers 308 Portuguese municipalities there are significant disparities between municipalities The analysis was carried out based on tariffs in force in June 2024 water resources fee (TRH) and waste management fee (TGR) demonstrating the existence of differences in invoices putting at risk equitable access to essential services for an annual consumption of 120m3 (120 cubic meters) of water a family in Amarante pays an overall bill of 494.47 euros while in Vila Nova de Foz Côa the cost of the three services is just 94.09 euros – a difference of 400 euros” In the case of higher annual water consumption the discrepancy in the overall bill worsens saying that Fundão has a bill of 776.74 euros and Foz Côa of 125.92 euros Albergaria-a-Velha and Baião are the five municipalities where the overall bill (120 m3/year) is highest Vila Flor and Vila Nova de Paiva record the lowest values the ‘top 5’ of those with the highest bill is occupied by Fundão the same five municipalities led by Vila Nova de Foz Coa” of the 20 municipalities with the highest bills only five apply tariffs for large families on water “Deco PROteste does not find valid justifications for these disparities which cannot be explained solely by differences in investments in network rehabilitation or by inefficiencies in systems management” The consumer protection association also warns of “the financial unsustainability of some services Deco welcomed the strengthening of the powers of the Water and Waste Services Regulatory Entity (ERSAR) evaluate and audit the setting and application of tariffs that tariff harmonization has the necessary conditions to occur in the not too distant future “Deco PROteste has always rejected price increases when systems are inefficient Greater regulation and consequent harmonization will allow for more justice in access to essential services,” she said We appreciate that not everyone can afford to pay for our services but if you are able to we ask you to support The Portugal News by making a contribution – no matter how small You can change how much you give or cancel your contributions at any time Send us your comments or opinion on this article Reaching over 400,000 people a week with news about Portugal whether partially or fully 5% of personal income tax paid to the municipality The measure will cost approximately 558 million euros with 43 of the 200 municipalities fully returning the IRS paid by taxpayers to the City Hall in Lisbon 96 municipalities will not return the taxes to the citizens; thus the taxpayers will keep paying the IRS to the City Hall the number of residents paying IRS in their respective residence areas is lower than the previous year when 112 municipalities wanted to keep receiving the taxes did not report their IRS participation rate to the Ministry of Finance Lisbon municipality will refund the whole 5% of taxes paid by its residents in a measure that will cost 86 million euros Arganil and Lagos will also fully return the taxes to residents Porto reduced the taxes residents will have to pay residents will pay 0.3% less taxes than in 2024 Seixal and Guimarães will not return anything to their residents out of 308 did not make any changes to their IRS policies The municipal benefit is automatically applied to citizens the moment they present the IRS declaration to the Tax Authority (AT). When the taxes are declared, the refund will come automatically, depending on the area of residence, and in case of submitting the data on the established deadlines. The calculation will be done by AT, and, if applicable, the refund will be made. Deeply in love with music and with a guilty pleasure in criminal cases, Bruno G. Santos decided to study Journalism and Communication, hoping to combine both passions into writing. The journalist is also a passionate traveller who likes to write about other cultures and discover the various hidden gems from Portugal and the world. Press card: 8463. We appreciate that not everyone can afford to pay for our services but if you are able to, we ask you to support The Portugal News by making a contribution – no matter how small. You can change how much you give or cancel your contributions at any time. No surprise Coimbra is not returning the tax considering the millions of euros they have spent and will continue spending on the ill-conceived Metrobus system. Send us your comments or opinion on this article. Reaching over 400,000 people a week with news about Portugal, written in English, Dutch, German, French, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Turkish and Chinese. Text description provided by the architects. Located in a village in the interior of Portugal, Touro - Vila Nova de Paiva. Designed by José Morgado, a designer who lives and works in the village. This work was born out of the desire and generosity of the people of the small village to build a temple dedicated to St John the Baptist. torn by stereotomy and subtracted from the stylised form of the "house" shape is intended to be the home of St John the Baptist in the village who wears a simple appearance indicating the streak of light as a divine symbol You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. Julie Sheppard joined the Decanter team in 2018 and is Regional Editor for Australia New Zealand and South Africa & Spirits Editor she worked for a range of drinks and food titles including as managing editor of both Imbibe and Square Meal associate publisher of The Drinks Business senior editor of the Octopus Publishing Group and Supplements editor of Harpers Wine & Spirit she has over 20 years\u2019 experience writing about food drink and travel for a wide range of publications Time Out and national newspapers including The Telegraph and The Sunday Times The Douro river is the beating heart of Portugal’s Port wine region Terraced vineyards are planted on its steep valley slopes and for centuries it was used to transport barrels from the wineries downstream to the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia for ageing So there’s no better way to get acquainted with the region than by visiting the river And there’s no better place to experience the river than Octant Douro Built into the hillside terraces of Castelo de Paiva in the lower Douro and stretching right down to the river bank Conveniently located between the city of Porto and the vertiginous vineyards of the upper Douro it makes a perfect base for exploring the Douro Valley – which celebrates its 20th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site this year The stunning scenery is an integral part of the hotel’s design with floor-to-ceiling windows offering different vistas from every corner you turn Take a dip in either of the two outdoor infinity pools and you’ll instantly feel at one with nature Each of the 55 luxurious rooms and six suites has stunning river views including a private pool suite and a panoramic suite to maximise those Instagram-worthy moments Design in neutral shades contributes to the sense of calm – especially in the hotel’s spa Here the indoor pool and sauna again benefit from full-length windows so you can soak up the views as you relax or enjoy a bespoke treatment If you’d prefer to unwind closer the water – and step back in time – book a boat-trip in Octant I This carefully restored rabelo boat pays homage to the cargo vessels once used to convey barrels and people along the Douro Guests can also hire private boats to explore the twists and turns of the 897km river; a morning tour includes a picnic breakfast of fresh local produce on a secluded island Hire a kayak to explore the river under your own steam Electric bikes are also available if you’d prefer to stay on dry land; or put your best foot forward on hiking trails that head up into the mountains surrounding the hotel Hotel staff can arrange winery visits and tastings – it takes around an hour-and-a half to drive to the heart of the Douro’s vineyard region along winding roads Octant Douro champions both regional wine and food producers on its menus embracing the concept of localism by sourcing ingredients from nearby organic farms The hotel’s ‘Producer Week’ series invites different winemakers to visit the hotel to give tutored tastings; while chef Dárcio Henriques prepares an accomplished six course fine-dining menu pairing their wines with dishes in the elegant Raiva restaurant – an ideal location to savour the sunset as you dine Visiting wineries have included Real Companhia Velha Ports from fifth-generation family producer Vieira de Sousa took centre stage Pairings included rosé Port with an eye-catching beetroot and radish carpaccio garnished with edible flowers; and extra dry white Port with zucchini flower stuffed with turbot and shrimp In fact the hotel has over 150 Port references on its list, including vintage bottles such Quinta do Noval Nacional 1963, selections from Niepoort and notable single-quinta wines such as Croft’s Quinta da Roeda 2012. Look out for top Douro table wines too: bottles such as icon red Chryseia 2019 from Prats & Symington and Casa Ferreirinha Barca Velha 2011 For more local flavour drop into one of the tastings hosted by the hotel’s sommeliers daily at 5pm in English and Portuguese The more casual A Terra Bar & Canteen serves salads The peaceful terrace overlooking the Douro is a perfect spot to enjoy a Portonic and go with the flow… But however you spend your time here you won’t fail to fall in love with this unique Portuguese wine region during your stay See the Octant Duoro website for further details This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon We help you navigate a myriad of possibilities Sign up for our newsletter for the best of the city By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush) Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. Porto Centro Interpretativo do Património da Afurada is unmissable for those interested in learning about torches and examples of traditional dress are some of what you can expect to find at this interpretive centre They trace the life of this community in an exhibition divided into six themed sections: Place Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! instagram About us Contact us Freepik Editorial Team 11 August 2023, 12:00The municipalities where it is cheapest to buy a house are in the interior of the country, show INE data analysed by idealista/news. In Portugal, buying a house cost €1,509 per square metre (€/m2) in the last 12 months ending in March 2023 (+12.1% compared to the same period of the previous year), data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) published this Thursday (13 July) indicate. This means that those who went ahead with the purchase of a 100 square metre (m2) house spent, on average, around €151,000. But the truth is that in 251 of the 300 municipalities with data available for the same period (out of a total of 308 municipalities), houses were sold for prices well below the national average. Of these, there are 193 municipalities where the prices of dwellings were less than 1,000 €/m2 and 64 municipalities with prices of less than 500 €/m2. Photo by MART PRODUCTION on PexelsThe 10 cheapest municipalities to buy a house are...You have to travel to the interior of the country to find out about the cheapest municipalities to buy a house, where a home costs, on average terms, less than €30,000, as shown by data from the national statistics office. Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo is even the municipality in the country where it is possible to find the cheapest houses of all, having registered the average price of 143 euros/m2 between April 2022 and March 2023. In other words, a 100 square metre house cost around 14.3 thousand euros in this municipality in the district of Guarda. The second cheapest municipality to buy a house in Portugal is Sernancelhe, in the district of Viseu (201 €/m2) and the third is Fornos de Algodres, in the district of Guarda (217 €/m2). In these two municipalities, a house sold in the last year ending March 2023 cost, in average terms, €20.1 thousand and €21.7 thousand, respectively. The 10 cheapest municipalities to buy a house are spread across the districts of Guarda (4 municipalities), Viseu (3), Castelo Branco (2) and Santarém (1), all in the interior of the country. As you might expect, it is in the country's major urban centres - the districts of Lisbon, Faro and Porto - that you will find the most expensive municipalities to buy a house in Portugal. In first place is the country's capital, where houses were sold for an average price of €3,965/m2 in the last year ending March 2023. That is, in the municipality of Lisbon a house cost almost 400 thousand euros. Cascais and Oeiras, also in the district of Lisbon, followed, where the prices of houses sold stood at 3,574 euros/m2 and 3,093 euros/m2 in that period, data from the Portuguese statistics office also reveal. In this list, four Algarve municipalities follow: Loulé, Lagos, Aljezur and Vila do Bisco, where buying a house was more expensive in the last year than in the Invicta city. It should be noted that the municipality of Porto appears in 8th place, with the average house price at 2,609 euros/m2. At the bottom of the list of the 10 municipalities where buying a house is most expensive is Albufeira (€2,586/m2), in the Algarve, and Odivelas (€2,448/m2), in Lisbon. just one kilometre from Faro's city centre "This is one of the largest projects in both the Algarve and Portugal," says Finangeste in a statement The project is being developed in partnership with an undisclosed international investor The plan includes the construction of 1,641 residential units there is no shortage of places outside Invicta that surprise with their beauty or unique characteristics We've compiled a list of some of these places Almost a century old, the Ponte de Arame de Lourido is one of the places near Porto that is worth a visit. After almost three years ofrehabilitation, it was inaugurated at the beginning of March this year. The infrastructure connects the municipalities of Celorico de Basto and Amarante, in the districts of Braga and Porto, and is one of the most recent tourist attractions in the northern region due to the beauty of its landscapes. Just an hour from Porto, in the mountains of Fafe, is the fascinating Casa do Penedo, known as “the strangest house in the world”. This unique building, perfectly integrated into the mountainous landscape, has become an international tourist attraction, offering guided tours and exclusive experiences. Opened in 1974 as a vacation home, today it allows visitors to immerse themselves in a bucolic atmosphere, without electricity or modern technology, providing a real disconnection from the outside world. We begin not with a specific suggestion, but an area in its own right: the Parque das Serras do Porto. Comprising the municipalities of Valongo, Gondomar and Paredes, it includes several towns and access routes. So, before you leave home, it’s a good idea to check on the Internet which route to take. This is so that you don’t get lost, but also so that you can make the most of the natural wonders of Parque das Serras do Porto. Affectionately known as “Ilha dos Amores”, it lies at the junction of the Paiva and Douro rivers, in the area belonging to the municipality of Castelo de Paiva. With traces of ancient times, today it stands out as a tourist attraction for the summer season. View this post on Instagram Mills of Apúlia Beach In the municipality of Esposende there are a number of typical windmills with a circular plan These buildings stand out for their schist and granite giving this bathing area a unique landscape you can stroll along the walkway or sit on the wooden benches while you feel the tranquillity and the breeze of the wind This is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful castles near Porto Located just half an hour’s drive from Invicta Santa Maria da Feira Castle becomes even more beautiful in August when it serves as the backdrop for one of Europe’s largest medieval re-enactments as the setting of the monument on top of the hill and the surrounding woods takes you back to a fairy tale Where: Alameda Roberto Vaz de Oliveira, 4520-201 Santa Maria da Feira this religious temple looks like something out of a painting with its back to the sea and on top of a rock the chapel is sought after by many photographers due to the spectacular scenery Quinta da Aveleda is part of the Vinho Verde Region and stands out not only for its wine production Located just over an hour’s drive from Porto Serra da Freita covers the municipalities of Arouca This place is a perfect nature destination and has several points of interest For those who love salt water but don’t like sand the Piscina das Marés is an excellent option Located in Leça da Palmeira, this is a refreshingspot for the summer The Piscina das Marés was designed by the famous architect Siza Vieira and has been classified as a National Monument since 2011 then it’s time to take a trip to the municipality of Paredes this area stands out for its scenic beauty being nestled between mountains where the river Sousa flows The scenery you’ll find there is practically dreamlike and will look great in any photograph Classified as a National Monument in 1910 the Monastery of Leça do Balio is one of the fantastic places near Porto that you must visit this is an excellent example of fortified religious architecture It was the first seat of the Order of the Hospital in Portugal and witnessed important events in Portuguese history such as the wedding of King Fernando I and Leonor de Teles in 1372 It also played an important role in assisting pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela It’s hard to believe that there are still beaches like this, with a long stretch of sand and surrounded by pure pine forest. There is only one bar here, which delights bathers in the summer Praia de São Pedro de Maceda is sought after by surfers but also by all those looking to ‘escape’ the hustle and bustle of urban beaches it can sometimes be difficult to park nearby View this post on Instagram the truth is that it’s full of nooks and crannies to admire This is one of the most fantastic natural places to visit near Porto is a destination to consider for the summer View this post on Instagram the Boa Nova Tea House is a symbol of architecture and gastronomy Designed by the famous architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, it was classified as a National Monument in 2011. It is also a Michelin restaurant this is one of the largest pedestrian suspension bridges in the world and one of the great attractions of the Porto Metropolitan Area Made up of steel railings and cables, the infrastructure in the municipality of Arouca is 516 meters long 1.20 meters high and 175 meters above the waters of the Paiva River Crossing this bridge is a unique experience in one of the most fantastic places to visit near Porto This is one of the secret villages near Porto that you really must visit Located on the terraces of Serra da Freita its restoration for tourism has given it a new lease of life and today it is an excellent destination for those seeking tranquillity View this post on Instagram The municipality of Penafiel never ceases to amaze. In addition to its enchanting villages and swings this is where you’ll find one of Portugal’s most surprising hill forts This is truly one of the most fantastic places to visit near Porto View this post on Instagram They say this is the largest natural lagoon on the Iberian Peninsula but what really impresses is not its size but its beauty are a good destination for those who enjoy walking in nature We already know that footbridges are a ‘trend’ that is here to stay with more and more of them appearing in recent years But nature is also synonymous with the sea That’s why we recommend a stroll along the Ecovia do Litoral Sul you can walk along around 6000 meters of wooden walkways View this post on Instagram Lanhoso Castle, in the municipality of Póvoa de Lanhoso, is one of the most beautiful in the northern region. Located more than an hour’s drive from Porto, this medieval fortification served as a refuge for D. Teresa, mother of D. Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal. Where: Rua do Pilar, 4830-513 Póvoa de Lanhoso When it comes to architecture, Siza Vieira dominates the references in this article. It’s not just Matosinhos where you can find incredible works by the Portuguese architect. In the municipality of Maia, the Gramaxo Foundation Museum was recently inaugurated. Located in Quinta da Boa Vista, this seven-hectare manor house is now a center for art and culture. Where: Rua Conselheiro Costa Aroso 601, Maia With 19th century features, the sculptures and the swimming pool (one of the best in Greater Porto)