Lisbon, July 23, 2025 (Lusa) - Opposition councillors in Lisbon city council on Wednesday deemed “unacceptable” the presence of the mayor, Carlos Moedas (PSD), at the presentation of the ‘Benfica District’ urban development project, accusing him of “electioneering” and questioning his impartiality and transparency.
The criticism and concerns of the opposition, namely PS, PCP, Livre, BE and Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), were expressed at a private council meeting, in the absence of Social Democrat Carlos Moedas, the main target in this issue, since he was present on Tuesday at the presentation of the “Benfica District” development project.
The project, which aims to increase the capacity of the Estádio da Luz, was presented by Benfica president Rui Costa, who is running for re-election in October this year.
In response to the Lusa news agency, a source from Carlos Moedas' office said that the mayor attended the presentation of the “Benfica District” “as he does many other presentations of projects relevant to the city in a wide range of areas”.
“It is a potential investment that seeks to boost and add value to the development of an area of the city, based on the redevelopment, modernisation and transformation of an entire area open to the people of Lisbon,” said the mayor’s office.
The same source said that, in addition to the mayor of Lisbon (CML), the event was attended by “many other representatives, including from the government”: “It would be impossible and would make no sense for their presence to represent any support for the ongoing SLB [Sport Lisboa e Benfica] election process.”
“In fact, unlike previous CML mayors, Carlos Moedas has already guaranteed that he will not be part of any honorary committee for candidates for the leadership of football clubs,” he explained, in an allusion to the socialists António Costa and Fernando Medina, who were included in the 2020 honorary committee for the re-election of Luís Filipe Vieira as president of SLB.
On Tuesday, at the Lisbon Municipal Assembly meeting, the councillor for Urban Planning, Joana Almeida (an independent who is part of the PSD/CDS-PP leadership), stated that “no application for the ‘Benfica District’ has been submitted to the city council’s Urban Planning department”.
For the PS councillor, the presence of Social Democrat Carlos Moedas at the presentation of the “Benfica District” urban development project was “an unacceptable exploitation for political gain”.
“It is unspeakable to use a club’s campaign to serve your local election campaign,” said socialist councillor Pedro Anastácio, accusing the mayor and PSD/CDS-PP/IL coalition candidate in the local elections on 12 October of behaving like “some kind of owner of everything” by using the city council’s resources for self-promotion.
The PCP considered that Carlos Moedas' presence at the Benfica event was "a regrettable electoral manoeuvre, which does not take into account the institutional duties inherent to the office of mayor of Lisbon", explaining that the urban development project in question is likely to require interaction with municipal services at various levels, including licensing and inspection.
“The mayor is required to do everything to maintain the honesty, integrity and impartiality of the services he directs above any doubt or suspicion,” complained the communists.
From Livre, Councillor Rui Tavares questioned “a possible breach of the PDM [Municipal Master Plan] regarding impermeable areas” in relation to the ‘Benfica District’ project, noting that the deputy mayor, Anacoreta Correia (CDS-PP), replied that “this is not yet a project, at the moment it is just a notion, an idea, a vague concept that will one day be a project, which will be evaluated and decided when it reaches the city council”.
“What happened, and which we view with disapproval, was that Mayor Moedas pre-empted any assessment of the project by the city council and, with his presence yesterday [Tuesday], politically validated this project in order to reap political dividends for his election campaign,” accused Livre.
The Left Bloc (BE) expressed “serious concerns about the impartiality and transparency” of urban planning procedures in the city, following Moedas’ presence at Benfica’s presentation, with “a project that, to date, has not been licensed by the local authority and whose compliance with the Municipal Master Plan has not been publicly verified”, demanding documentation on this matter.
For Cidadãos Por Lisboa, the Social Democrat Moedas should not publicly assume, “without reservation and in advance, support for an urban development project which, due to its contours and size, will require rigorous and impartial analysis by the local authority”: “Unless, rather than as Mayor of Lisbon, he is already speaking as a candidate for the local elections in October”.
SSM/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
