Crowds take to streets in Almada over repeated cuts to water supplies

Thousands of residents marched through the streets of Almada last night after the municipality imposed overnight water shutdowns in response to a worsening supply crisis that has left large parts of the Lisbon district without reliable running water for weeks.

The protest, attended by more than 1,500 people according to local reports, came after Almada City Council declared a state of alert and announced that water supplies would continue to be cut overnight over the coming days to preserve the network.

The first scheduled shutdown took place between 10pm on Tuesday and 6am on Wednesday, leaving several neighbourhoods completely without water.

Residents, who had originally planned to form a human chain, instead marched from O Pescador shopping centre to the IC21 roundabout under heavy GNR police supervision.

Demonstrators blamed Socialist mayor Inês de Medeiros for the crisis, chanting: “Inês, get out — Almada is not yours.”

The worsening shortages (which many say have characterised recent summers) have triggered a political row between the municipality and the government over who is responsible for the crisis.

Portugal’s Environment and Energy Minister, Maria da Graça Carvalho, said Almada has the country’s highest level of water losses in its distribution network – and argues that years of insufficient investment have left the system unable to cope.

She said the municipality should make use of available funding to modernise ageing infrastructure and reduce leakage.

Mayor Inês de Medeiros rejected suggestions that underinvestment alone is to blame, saying one of the main causes has been illegal connections to the water network that have dramatically increased demand.

Speaking to Portuguese public broadcaster RTP, Medeiros warned that the next two weeks are likely to remain difficult.

“We are not managing to capture enough water for consumption, which has more than doubled this year, particularly in certain parts of the municipality,” she said, adding that officials had been “surprised by network diversions” (people managing to extract water) in locations where they had not expected them.

The mayor said she had spoken with the environment minister, who has agreed to visit Almada and may “clarify some of the statements” made about the crisis.

Medeiros also stressed that the municipality has already submitted a €10.7 million proposal under Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan to strengthen its local water network.

According to figures released by the council, average daily water consumption in Almada now exceeds 300 litres per person, compared with the national average of around 180 litres.

Overall water consumption in the municipality rose by an average of 4.3% during the first half of 2026, with the sharpest increases recorded in Charneca de Caparica (15.2%), Sobreda/Lazarim (15.0%) and Costa da Caparica (14.2%).

To manage the crisis, the council has stepped up monitoring of reservoirs and the distribution network, increased technical teams to repair leaks, expanded inspections targeting illegal or excessive water use, and guaranteed supplies to hospitals, health centres, care homes, firefighters and other critical infrastructure.

Water tankers will be deployed where necessary, while the municipality is also coordinating with neighbouring councils to maximise available resources.

Residents will be given advance notice of planned shutdowns, although the authority warns that their duration could change depending on conditions.

For as long as the state of alert remains in force, strict restrictions have also been imposed on non-essential water use. These include bans on watering public and private gardens, irrigating golf courses, washing vehicles, filling swimming pools, using beach showers and foot-washing facilities, operating ornamental fountains and artificial lakes, and washing pavements, roofs and exterior walls except where essential for building maintenance.

The council said additional consumption-reduction measures, including the temporary suspension of water-intensive municipal activities, remain under consideration if needed to stabilise the network.

“This is a collective effort,” the municipality said in a public appeal. “Every litre of water saved helps protect supplies for everyone.”

As this drama plays out in high summer, television news teams have spoken to people ‘on the ground’, one of which was a Portuguese who has been living in Switzerland for the last 40 years.

He told SIC that he had been considering returning to Portugal, but after so many years in a country “where everything works”, he has decided against it.

This is the nub of this whole water shortage issue: we are in the 21st century, and yet people are living without water in a Greater Metropolitan Area of a country that wants to be ‘at the cutting edge’; attract international investment, and be considered progressive.

Source: noticiasaominuto/ SIC Notícias