Portalegre, Portugal, Dec. 19, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese interior minister on Friday justified the increase of 80 Public Security Police officers at Lisbon airport over the next two weeks to avoid the "terrible experience" of the queues at border control seen this week, which "reached unsustainable proportions".
"The combination of the unpredictability of possible technological failures and the exponential increase in passenger numbers led us to believe that it was urgent to further reinforce the workforce for the next 15 days. It was precisely this week's terrible experience, with queues for non-Schengen passengers reaching unsustainable proportions," said Maria Lucia Amaral.
The interior minister, Maria Lúcia Amaral, was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Honour Commitment ceremony for the 57th National Guard (GNR) Training Course in Portalegre.
"The situation at the airport has been very difficult for passengers arriving and departing from outside Europe, from outside the EU's external borders, outside Schengen, because of changes in European rules," she added.
Maria Lúcia Amaral recalled that there had been technical and human failures and assured that, as of today, Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport has 80 more Public Security Police officers to prevent further constraints.
The failures are, as always, both technical and human, and this week there was a major disruption because of the two failures, technical and human. That is why it was decided, and today that decision began to be implemented in terms of the human component, to increase the number of police officers by 80, who are starting work at Lisbon Airport," she added.
According to the minister, 50 officers will start work today and on Monday there will be a further 30 to try to make up for the shortcomings in the coming period, which is "a more demanding period".
The new European border control system for non-EU citizens came into force on 12 October in Portugal and the other Schengen countries, and since then waiting times have worsened, particularly at Lisbon Airport, with passengers sometimes having to wait several hours.
This situation led the government to set up an emergency task force at the end of October to manage this crisis.
Since 10 December, the second phase of the new border control system has been underway with the collection of biometric data, which consists of obtaining photographs and fingerprints of passengers, which has further complicated the situation.
In parliament this week, where she was questioned about the long queues at border controls at Portuguese airports, the measures adopted and the expected timeframes for their resolution, the minister also said that 236 Public Security Police officers are currently assigned to Humberto Delgado airport, while 270 are needed.
The minister stated that officers must be accredited with the border guard training course organised by the European agency Frontex, and stressed that "without this course and without this training, it is not possible to place police officers at the airport".
The minister said that "10 border guard training courses are planned to be held progressively in 2026".
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Lusa
