27 January – The National Health Institute confirms that there are five positive cases of the Zika virus in Portugal. Described as "mild" with no need for hospitalisation, each case was imported from Brazil where an outbreak of the virus has been reported.[2]
10 February – President Anibal Cavaco Silva's veto against a measure allowing same-sex couples to adopt is overridden by MPs in the Assembly of the Republic. The measure, which was passed by MPs in November 2014, will be signed into law within eight days as per the constitution.[3]
12–14 February – Severe weather across areas of northern and central Portugal leads to flooding which claims the life of one person in the town of Albergaria-a-Velha in the Aveiro District. Transport links are also affected as the Águeda, Mondego, and Vouga rivers burst their banks and localised landslides and damage to trees occur.[4]
16 February – Figures from the Instituto Nacional de Estatística reveals that the number of foreign tourists visiting Portugal in 2015 topped 10 million for the first time, a rise of 10% over 2014. The number of domestic tourists also grew by more than 7%, contributing to a growth of more than 13% in the hospitality industry for the year. The travel and tourism sector is worth approximately 10% of Portugal's gross domestic product.[5]
9 March – Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is sworn in as the 20th President of Portugal.[6]
April to June
7 May: The Marão Tunnel in the Vila Real District opens four years after originally scheduled.[7]
7 May – The Marão Tunnel in the Vila Real District is officially opened by Prime Minister António Costa. Constructed at a cost of €137 million and delayed from its planned opening date of 2012 due to various financial and legal obstacles, the 5.7-kilometre (3.5 mi) tunnel is the longest of its kind on the Iberian peninsula.[7]
24 May – Frederico Carvalhão, a spy for the Portugal's intelligence service, is arrested in Rome after being accused of sharing classified information about NATO and the European Union with a Russian intelligence officer.[13]
7 June – The longest case of womb survival in a brain dead mother in Portugal is recorded after the birth of a boy in Lisbon's São José Hospital to a woman whose brain activity ceased on 20 February.[14]
July to September
5 August: Portuguese Olympians during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics10 August: Smoke from Madeira's wildfires as seen from space
5–11 August – A series of wildfires break out across Madeira and the Portuguese mainland after a spell of temperatures above 35°C.[16] On 10 August the National Authority for Civil Protection announces that more than 4,000 emergency workers were attending 176 active fires across Portuguese territory, one of which was threatening the Madeiran capital of Funchal. The day also sees the confirmation of four deaths with three in Madeira and one on the mainland.[16] On 11 August The New York Times reports that approximately 150 homes in Funchal have been destroyed by fire, forcing the evacuation of at least 1,000 people to temporary shelter.[17]
7 August – In cycling, Rui Vinhas wins the 2016 Volta a Portugal in a time of 40 hours, 56 minutes, and 57 seconds. He is the first Portuguese victor of the event since 2011.[20]
9 August – The European Union declines to financially penalise the Portuguese government for failing to abide by national deficit limits in 2015, citing "exceptional circumstances".[21] The government is given until the end of the year to bring its deficit down from 4.4% of gross domestic product to 2.5%.[21]
23 August – The government and the European Commission agree in principle to a €2.7 billion injection of cash for the struggling Caixa Geral de Depositos bank, which reported a loss of more than €200 million in the first six months of the year.[22]
27 September – Prime Minister António Costa announces that a series of artworks by Spanish painter Joan Miró under public ownership will remain in the country after plans to sell the collection in 2014 were shelved due to public criticism.[23]
8 November – Twenty members of a Neo-Nazi group are arrested by police across the country on charges including attempted murder and theft carried out between 2013 and 2015.[27]
^Queiroz de Andrade, Diogo; Valente, Liliana (19 January 2016). "Morreu António Almeida Santos". Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 September 2020.
^"Faleceu Ornelas Camacho". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 24 February 2016. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
^"Faleceu uma lenda..."Atlético Clube de Portugal (in Portuguese). 24 February 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
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