Lisbon, Nov. 5, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese police professionals trade union association (ASPP/PSP) is holding a plenary meeting this Tuesday morning at Lisbon airport to denounce the "poor conditions" of police officers, who are "completely exhausted and demotivated".
In addition to the plenary session, which will take place between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. at the Control and Border Police Station, ASPP leaders will also distribute information to passengers outside the airport about the current situation regarding passenger control at airport borders, a responsibility that the Public Security Police (PSP) inherited two years ago after the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) was done away with.
This plenary session is taking place on the day when there are the most flights to and from outside the Schengen area (the European area of free movement of people and goods), which could cause further constraints, as the new Entry/Exit System (EES) has been causing problems, particularly at Lisbon and Faro airports.
"We believe that Tuesday would be the ideal day, because we need to have some impact and give some dimension so that, once and for all, both the Government and public opinion understand the real state of the service at airports and the difficulties we are experiencing, because it seems that no one wants to listen to us," the ASPP leader told Lusa.
For Paulo Santos, it is important not only to hold the plenary session to hear the police officers, but also to be outside the airport, in the arrivals area, to distribute "some information to citizens to explain why delays often occur".
The leader of the largest Public Security Police union stressed that he cannot understand the reasons that led the Government to create a National Foreigners and Borders Unit (UNEF) "in a PSP force that is totally depleted in terms of personnel".
"We are constantly seeing the country's commanders losing capacity in police stations to carry out their mission in the UNEF," he denounced, stressing that the police officers working at airports, mainly in Lisbon, are "completely exhausted and demotivated by this situation".
According to Paulo Santos, the ASPP has received several complaints from police officers about "exhaustion, burnout and demotivation".
"We are seeing our colleagues overworked, but also with the idea that is often conveyed to the outside world that the delays, difficulties and constraints that exist at airports are the responsibility of the police, and we do not accept that," he said.
The reason for these delays, he said, "does not stem from the police service itself, but rather from the lack of resources and even structural capacity at the airport," he stressed.
The ASSP leader lamented that the police officers carrying out this mission are "bearing the brunt of the negative impacts of the current airport situation," which "is not in tune" with the volume of passengers.
Paulo Santos argued that, in addition to increasing police numbers, it is also necessary to create technological and spatial working conditions, but above all to stop treating police officers "as “low cost” police", considering that they should be "valued and compensated" with the allocation of an airport supplement, as was the case with former SEF inspectors.
CMP/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
