In a private meeting of the city council, the proposal was unanimously approved, and must now be submitted to the Lisbon Municipal Assembly.

The reduction in the value of fees charged at municipal markets and fairs was initially presented by PCP councillors, in November 2024, who proposed a 50% reduction in fees, but the document was agreed upon with the PSD/CDS-PP leadership, which resulted in the proposal for a 30% reduction.

“The financial impact of this measure is estimated at around 490,629.36 euros”, is stated in the proposal, to which Lusa had access.

A 30% reduction is expected in the value of occupancy fees at fairs managed by Lisbon City Council, namely Galinheiras, Ladra (except for the sale of used items) and Relógio (permanent and occasional spaces), and in the occupancy fees of municipal markets (shops and spaces), but “spaces occupied by dealers are excluded from this reduction”.

The proposal also determines that the Economy and Innovation department, under the responsibility of councillor Diogo Moura (CDS-PP), must carry out “an assessment, together with the parish councils responsible for managing municipal markets, of the impact of applying the reduction in fees”, through a particular analysis of the reality of each facility.

As a result of this assessment, the Department of Economy and Innovation must, together with the discussion of the Action Plan for Municipal Markets, present to the chamber “a proposal, within a maximum period of 90 days, of concrete measures regarding the fees to be charged”.

According to the document signed by the PSD/CDS-PP leadership and the PCP, the value of the fees charged to market vendors and traders can be “adjusted to better reflect the type of business in question and create the most favourable conditions for the development of their activities”, in order to help them achieve a more significant return, taking into account the change in consumption patterns in the city of Lisbon.

At the meeting, the council also unanimously approved a proposal from the PSD/CDS-PP leadership to reduce the occupancy rate for traders at the Alvalade Norte Market by 50% between January and September, due to constraints resulting from the construction work on the new car park. The proposal will still have to be submitted to a vote by the municipal assembly.

The commercial fabric of the Alvalade Norte Market is made up of 37 traders between stalls and shops, according to the council.

To mitigate the anticipated constraints, with a “negative impact” on the economic activity of traders at the Alvalade Norte Market, the city council, responsible for the work, and the Alvalade Parish Council, which manages the equipment, decided to reduce the costs borne by these small business owners.

In this sense, the council proposed “a 50% reduction in the value of occupancy fees during the months of January to September 2025”, a measure that has an estimated financial impact of “around 103,374.79 euros”, which corresponds to the effective loss of revenue for the Alvalade Parish Council.

The amount will be divided between the council, which will assume 60% of the reduction as compensation, and the Alvalade Parish Council, which will bear the remaining 40%, according to the proposal.