Leiria, Portugal, Feb. 26, 2026 (Lusa) - Car body and windscreen replacement workshops have been extremely busy in Leiria, in central Portugal, due to the demand from motorists to repair cars affected by the storm that hit the region about a month ago.
"Given the damage caused by the storm, there has been a 1,000% increase in demand," Jorge Bajouco, a partner in the company that represents one of the firms certified by insurance companies to replace windscreens in the district, told the Lusa news agency.
This first month has not been easy for the Leiria-based company, which has around 30 employees and receives new requests for windscreen replacements and phone calls from customers who are waiting, increasingly impatiently, for repair work every day, he noted.
"I have no idea how many hundreds of cases we have to replace windscreens," said Jorge Bajouco, who remembers the hustle and bustle of the first few days with people at his company wanting to hand in their insurance papers to get the process started.
While he initially estimated a two- to three-week turnaround time for the cases, he now says that there will be a waiting list of at least two to three months.
"Today, I no longer give a specific date for when the car will be repaired," said the company's partner.
In addition to the avalanche of requests, which continue to arrive, the company also had to deal with the damage that storm Kristin caused to its workspaces, with a third of the 2,500 square metres of pavilions damaged and initially working with a generator, he said, estimating losses of around €500,000.
The workers have "all been working overtime and Saturdays" to try to respond to people's requests, he said, but the effort and demand to work more has also had an impact.
"We have three people off work because of the effort we are making," he lamented, recalling that, at the same time, another of the certified windscreen replacement companies in Leiria became inoperative when the storm passed, overloading the remaining ones.
In view of the demand, Jorge Bajouco has already hired another technician, but acknowledges that he "needed two or three more," in addition to the teams that have been coming from other parts of the country to try to speed up the process.
"I get calls on a daily basis from people who say they need their car for work, who are impatient, but we can't do it, no matter how much we want to," he said, recalling that there are several cases of three or four broken windows in a single car, which means "a morning's work".
In addition to replacing windscreens and car windows, the company also provides mechanical services and works with partners for painting and bodywork, he noted, adding that there is also "a crazy rush to repair cars that look like they've been stoned by roof tiles".
Márcio Santos, who is part of the management of a bodywork repair shop in Leiria, complains about the same thing: "High demand, a lot of work and not enough people to do it".
There is also a waiting list there, at a workshop that deals with damage to roofs and pavilions and which, after a month, is still not working at 100% capacity, having been closed for the first week, he said.
"There aren't enough hands to go around and the cars have a lot of damage. There is a lot of work to do on each car. We have a week or two's worth of work," said Márcio Santos.
For Jorge Bajouco, the large influx he has seen, despite representing more revenue, ends up making him uneasy.
"This keeps me awake at night a little, because I want to respond to people who have cars and need them, and I can't. The country has no idea what happened here in Leiria. It was like a bomb dropped," said the manager, who, in addition to the workshop, is still dealing with damage to his home, where it is still raining.
JGA/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
