Holiday Strikes Could Shut Portugal’s Top Museums and Monuments Again

Once again, the familiar metal gates that protect Portugal’s most visited museums and monuments are expected to stay shut during upcoming public holidays, as frontline staff say they have run out of patience with the government’s slow-moving negotiations on extra pay.

Why another walkout matters now

A fresh strike is planned for the next round of national holidays, raising the prospect that landmark sites such as the Jerónimos Monastery, the Tower of Belém, Porto’s Palácio da Bolsa, and the Conímbriga Roman ruins will be off-limits to locals and tourists alike. The stoppage comes at the tail end of the summer season, when Portuguese families traditionally squeeze in museum visits and city breaks before the colder months. For Lisbon’s hospitality sector – still nursing the hangover of pandemic losses – every closed door means forfeited revenue. Public-sector unions argue that holiday shifts generate record ticket sales for the state, yet the workers who sell those tickets receive no special compensation.

What the unions want

At the centre of the dispute is a decades-old rule that grants cultural-heritage employees a 25% wage bonus for work performed on designated holidays. Staff representatives say the extra payment has not been systematically applied since 2021, despite repeated assurances from two successive culture ministers. The three unions coordinating the action – SINTAP, STFPSSRA, and FNSTFPS – insist they will keep calling one-day strikes on every holiday until the Ministry of Culture signs a binding agreement and covers arrears going back four years. They also demand additional hires to ease what they describe as “dangerously thin” staffing levels that jeopardise both visitor safety and conservation standards.

Impact on visitors and local economy

Portugal welcomed nearly 30M foreign tourists last year, and heritage sites accounted for a sizable slice of that traffic. With entry fees at top monuments ranging from €6 to €12, every lost holiday can shave hundreds of thousands of euros off state revenue streams that are earmarked for restoration projects. Tour guides warn that cancelling pre-sold group tours at short notice will further dent the country’s reputation for reliability. Meanwhile, small cafés clustered around high-traffic attractions – especially in Belém, Sintra, and Coimbra – fear another wave of no-show customers. “We live off spontaneous walk-ins,” says Ana Barros, who runs a family pastelaria near the National Palace of Sintra. “If the palace closes, we close too.”

Government’s response and political backdrop

Culture Minister Rita Figueiredo acknowledges in parliamentary hearings that the outstanding bonuses amount to roughly €2.4M. Her office maintains that a budget realignment is necessary before payments can resume, citing broader fiscal constraints tied to the EU’s post-pandemic recovery rules. Yet critics on the left contend the standoff reflects a deeper pattern: heritage services receive less than 0.6% of the national budget, far below the 1% target repeatedly promised in coalition agreements. The main opposition party has seized on the strike to accuse the minority government of underfunding the cultural sector while boasting about record tourist receipts.

What happens next

The unions have filed notice for walkouts on 1 November, 1 December, and 8 December – three holidays that traditionally see long queues at the country’s UNESCO-listed sites. Unless a last-minute deal materialises, visitors may encounter locked gates or reduced opening hours. Travellers are advised to check the Direção-Geral do Património Cultural’s website or social-media channels before setting out. As one negotiator put it, the outcome will signal whether Portugal’s heritage workers feel heard or sidelined in the race to showcase the nation’s past while monetising its future.