Anadia, Aveiro, Portugal, July 18, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's Minister for Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, said on Friday that it is urgent to carry out an updated survey of the number of illegal slum dwellings or shanty towns in the country.
“It is urgent to carry out a more up-to-date survey, not least because the situation in Loures is an example of this. As we know, the shacks that were demolished were built in the last three months, which means that this is an urgent phenomenon, it is happening now, so this survey has to be carried out,” he said.
At the entrance to the inaugural session of 16 low-cost housing units in the northern district of Anadia, Pinto Luz pointed out that the Institute for Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU) itself has such situations.
“We are conducting this survey. It will be up to everyone, the local authorities together with the IHRU and the central government, to find ways of taking stock of the situation,” he said.
He also told journalists that the government has made available, in terms of the budget, “the largest investment in public housing since April 25, 1974.”
“This alone is a sign of our commitment. We did not stop at 26,000 houses, we financed all the others. The 133,000 houses that are in local housing strategies will also find possible financing, and this is a revolution,” he assured.
According to the Minister for Infrastructure and Housing, this “revolution” will not happen overnight and “cannot be resolved in two days” or “even in a year”.
“It is a problem that must be resolved with more public and private supply, but we also need to change many rules and incentive systems to bring about positive change in the markets. We do not believe in rent ceilings, we do not believe in constraints of any kind on the market,” he pointed out.
In his view, the market has to function, with the State regulating it.
“[The Government] has to ensure that the market is fair and that there are no situations of injustice and Portuguese people who do not have access to housing,” he concluded.
The municipalities of Loures and Amadora this week carried out operations to demolish illegal slums, evicting several families in the two districts.
On Monday, Loures began an operation to demolish 64 slums, home to 161 people, in the Bairro do Talude Militar neighbourhood.
On the first day, 51 buildings were demolished, with operations being suspended on the second day by the Lisbon Administrative Court following an injunction filed by 14 residents.
In Amadora, on Estrada Militar da Mina de Água, in the old neighbourhood of Santa Filomena, all 22 illegal buildings are scheduled for demolition, where around 30 adults and 14 children and young people live.
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