At a base price of 12.6 million euros, the Viana do Castelo City Council has approved the launch of an international public tender for the construction of a new municipal market on the site of the former Coutinho building. The new structure will be built on the location where the first market debuted in 1892, next to the city’s public garden.

The municipal executive revoked the decisions made at the July 2023 council meeting regarding the same procedures before voting on the matter, following the opposition parties' voting pattern. This was because the public tender that was decided at that time was not “formally initiated, since in the meantime it was found necessary to change the project and the economic feasibility study”.

The mayor, Luís Nobre, has proposed to open a public tender for 12,600,161.85 euros, which includes building construction and surrounding arrangements. The proposal notes that public investment is deemed critical for the municipality based on a cost-benefit analysis of the new municipal market. “It is estimated that the annual revenue generated by the project that goes to the municipality is around 21 thousand euros higher than the estimated expenses (…). Financial sustainability is guaranteed”, the document points out.

The document also states that “for every euro of investment there will be an increase in wealth of 1.11 million euros, potentially generating a 'positive global or social rate of return' on the investment”.