Coimbra, Portugal, June 17, 2026 (Lusa) - The president of the Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) announced on Wednesday that local authorities will provide financial support to newspaper outlets in sparsely populated areas of the country, ensuring that the entire population has access to the print media.
“We have given a favourable opinion to the idea that Portuguese local authorities should also play an active role and make their own contribution – which is also financial – so that these newsagents can remain open throughout the country,” said Pedro Pimpão.
At the end of the ANMP executive board meeting, which took place this morning in Coimbra, the mayor explained that a favourable opinion had been given to an agreement with the media task force – #PortugalMediaLab – which provides for the financial involvement of local authorities in maintaining newspaper outlets in areas with low population density.
“We have always been on the side of finding a solution and have said that it would never be down to us to prevent a consensus from being reached so that our entire population could benefit from this service, which we consider to be a vital democratic element for our country,” he added.
According to Pedro Pimpão, the support forms part of the second pillar of the national plan for newspaper distribution and provides for financial incentives for newsagents.
Establishments located in districts with up to 5,000 inhabitants will be eligible for support of €3,500, whilst those situated in districts with a population of between 5,000 and 10,000 inhabitants will be eligible for support of €2,500.
Local authorities may also top up these amounts by up to 20%.
In addition to the financial support, local authorities will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the measure and drawing up annual reports on the functioning of the sales outlets.
According to the mayor, ensuring nationwide distribution of newspapers depends above all on the first pillar of the programme, relating to the national tender for newspaper distribution.
“We know there is a national tender for newspaper distribution, and it is this tender that will ensure newspapers are distributed throughout the country. Our understanding is that, where there are difficulties in establishing sales outlets to sell these newspapers, this supplementary support will help small-scale entrepreneurs: we are talking about sparsely populated areas,” he explained.
Speaking to journalists, Pedro Pimpão also said he had no doubt that these business owners, who until now had shown little interest in setting up such sales outlets, “will be encouraged to do so with this additional support”.
“I believe the conditions are in place to guarantee the distribution of newspapers to the entire population, regardless of where they live,” he concluded.
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