On June 1, 2026, the Amadora Municipal Council deployed demolition crews and heavy machinery to the former Santa Filomena neighborhood in the Mina de Água parish, launching a sweeping land clearance operation that critics say left current occupants without warning or legal recourse.
Why This Matters
• Immediate impact: Residents reported machinery arriving without prior notice, raising questions about due process in municipal eviction procedures.
• Legal challenge: Advocacy group Vida Justa has declared the intervention illegal under Portuguese housing law, which mandates advance notification.
• Scale: The operation covers 17 hectares of municipal land and targets all remaining precarious structures, fencing, rubble, and pollutants.
• Future use: The cleared terrain is slated for a private-market urban development, though up to 10% may include affordable housing.
What Happened on the Ground
A resident interviewed by the Lusa news agency described a sudden arrival of council workers and excavators, with no advance written notice or explanation. The municipality characterized the work as "cleaning, clearing, and requalification" aimed at removing unsafe structures and accumulated debris. The Socialist Party-led municipal administration said the operation also seeks to regrade the terrain to prevent rainwater pooling and fire hazards—chronic issues in abandoned informal settlements.
However, the council's description of "former" residents clashes with the lived reality of people who still occupy makeshift dwellings on the site.
Your Housing Rights Under Portuguese Law
Portuguese law is clear: councils must provide written advance notice before demolishing homes and must offer specific rehousing alternatives—not just a place on a waiting list.
Patrícia Bastos, an attorney with the Vida Justa movement, explained that the demolition violates Portuguese housing law, specifically Law 83/2019 and Decree-Law 89/2021. These laws require public authorities to:
• Give advance written notice to occupants before demolition (with a reasonable timeframe).
• Guarantee a suitable housing alternative for families in housing distress—this means actual housing offered, not theoretical promises.
• Consult residents and keep them informed of municipal housing plans.
Vida Justa argues the Amadora council has systematically bypassed these obligations. In April 2026, the movement reported that police were deployed during a separate demolition wave in the same neighborhood, evicting families with "the street as the only alternative." In January 2026, the council demolished a family home in Quinta da Lage despite ongoing negotiations over rehousing.
Background: Two Decades of Contested Clearances
Santa Filomena was once a sprawling informal settlement in Portugal's Lisbon metropolitan area, home to nearly 2,000 residents in 2012 when the first wave of demolitions began. The clearance campaign has unfolded under the Special Rehousing Program (PER), a national initiative established in 1993 to eliminate informal housing and rehouse eligible families.
By law, households registered in the neighborhood before 1993 qualified for social housing. The Amadora council relocated 327 families by 2015 to municipal estates. Yet families who moved in after the 1993 cutoff—many migrants from Cabo Verde, Angola, and Brazil—found themselves in legal limbo, ineligible for the program but with nowhere else to go.
The Portugal Ombudsman's Office has monitored the demolitions since 2012, flagging insufficient oversight and failure to account for residents settled after the official census. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has also raised concerns about alleged forced evictions without adequate alternative accommodation.
If This Is Happening to You: Practical Steps
Document everything: Photos, videos, and notes of when machinery arrived, what was demolished, and any interactions with authorities.
Know your rights: If you receive no advance notice, this violates Portuguese law. Contact a housing rights organization or lawyer immediately.
File a complaint: The Portugal Ombudsman accepts housing complaints and can mediate between residents and authorities.
• Website: provedor-jus.pt
• Complaint process: You can file online, by post, or visit in person at Rua de Santa Justa, 56-58, Lisboa
Seek legal support:
• Vida Justa movement: Works with residents facing demolition and offers legal guidance
• Habita Collective: Provides housing rights support across the Lisbon area
• Free legal consultations: Many municipal social services offer initial consultations
Organize collectively: Residents' associations have the statutory right to participate in municipal housing diagnostics. Join or form a committee to strengthen your bargaining power.
What Happens Next
The cleared land is earmarked for urban development, with future housing projects potentially reserving up to 10% of units for affordable and controlled-rent housing under the "1º Direito" program. Whether this will meaningfully address the displacement of former residents remains unclear.
Santa Filomena is not an isolated case. Similar informal neighborhoods across the Lisbon metropolitan area have been dismantled over three decades, often displacing long-standing communities of migrants, elderly residents, and low-income families. The PER program, now over 30 years old, has rehoused tens of thousands of families but has not kept pace with new waves of housing precarity.
The Amadora Municipal Council has indicated demolitions will continue throughout 2026. Residents facing similar situations in other Lisbon-area informal settlements should document all interactions with authorities and seek legal advice immediately. Your right to adequate housing is guaranteed under Article 65 of the Portuguese Constitution—knowing how to invoke it could be critical.
