Police Pay Battle in Lisbon May Snarl Travel and Services

Lisbon commuters heading to work last Thursday were met with an unusual soundtrack: drums, whistles and a sea of dark-blue uniforms filling Avenida da Liberdade. The officers were not escorting a dignitary; they were demanding that the government put more money on their payslips. From the size of the crowd—just over a hundred at its peak—to the slogans aimed at the Ministry of Internal Administration, the scene signalled that police unrest, dormant since winter, has flared up again and could spill into broader public-sector action later this month.

Sirens without blue lights: why officers took to RossioBanners reading “Serve and protect, not survive” framed a procession that began outside the Public Security Police (PSP) national headquarters and wound its way to Rossio, the square that usually hosts football celebrations. Protesters blasted sirens from hand-held speakers, symbolically replacing the blue-light convoys they run on duty. Organisers from the Union of Police Professionals estimate “slightly above a hundred” participants—enough to keep traffic stewards busy but small compared with winter rallies. Still, officers say the mobilisation delivered a message: the recent €200 top-up to the risk supplement is welcome but insufficient given inflation, rising rents and what they call an out-of-date pre-retirement age. Union leaders warn that if no breakthrough appears in the draft budget, larger demonstrations could follow the same route.

What sits at the heart of the pay disputeAt issue is the fixed Service-and-Risk allowance, frozen at €100 for fifteen years until the July 2024 deal lifted it to €300 and scheduled €50 extra for 2025 and again in 2026. Unions now insist on €700 in total, or at the very least the €400 they floated as a compromise in August—backdated to January 2024. They also want the allowance indexed to 20 % of the base salary, a new evaluation grid, quicker promotion and the scrapping of entrance caps on pre-retirement. "Colleagues in Madrid work with similar street risks, yet they carry home nearly €2,700 in Lisbon purchasing-power terms," argues Paulo Macedo, who chairs the largest PSP union. Internal polls circulated by the National Republican Guard (GNR) officer association suggest discontent is spreading to the rural gendarmerie as well, complicating the government’s attempt to ring-fence talks to the urban police.

Government’s calculus and the politics of the budgetPrime Minister António Costa’s minority cabinet prides itself on striking the "largest police raise in democratic history" but faces competing claims from nurses, teachers and a looming public-sector strike on 24 October. The Ministry of Internal Administration has reopened negotiations, promising a full career-statute overhaul by late November while signalling that any new cash must fit within the 2026 State Budget ceiling. Finance officials privately concede that shifting an extra €60 million a year toward the risk supplement would ripple through other uniformed bodies, from prison guards to customs officers. Opposition parties smell opportunity: the centre-right PSD proposes transferring savings from the defence capital budget, while the radical Left Bloc calls for a special solidarity tax on short-term rentals to fund public-safety pay.

Comparing the pay cheque across the borderPortugal’s starting-rank officer currently pockets around €1,985 before tax—one of the lowest figures in western Europe. Using Expatistan’s cost-of-living index to convert foreign salaries into Lisbon terms, a rookie in Spain’s Policía Nacional controls purchasing power of roughly €2,700; his counterpart in Germany’s Bundespolizei enjoys the equivalent of €4,484. France paints a contradictory picture: junior Paris officers sit near Portuguese levels on an adjusted basis, yet the average gendarme’s wage climbs well above €3,000 after five years. The disparity reinforces union claims that, despite Portugal’s record tourism boom and falling unemployment, public-safety careers remain under-funded, feeding recruitment shortages. Training academies struggled to fill quotas in the last two intakes, forcing the PSP to reopen applications twice.

Next flashpoints on the calendarIf no compromise emerges, the National Police Union has already booked gatherings for 21-24 October—effectively merging with the wider civil-service stoppage. A decision on a symbolic “blue flu” (mass sick-leave) around All Saints’ weekend is on the table, along with a threat to boycott overtime at Lisbon’s airport during incoming UEFA Champions League fixtures. Senior commanders fear that a simultaneous airport slowdown and an end-of-month strike could strain holiday policing rosters just as the city hosts Web Summit’s successor event. A sustained overtime boycott would likely translate into longer security-queue times and potential delays for delegates flying in for the tech conference. The Ministry of Internal Administration says contingency plans are ready but declines to specify how many GNR officers could be redeployed to urban duties.

Beyond the police: the broader cost-of-living squeezeLisbon rents have jumped 34 % in three years, according to Confidencial Imobiliário, while food inflation still hovers near 7 % despite energy relief earlier this year. That means a first-year police officer spends close to half his take-home pay on a one-bed flat in the outer ring of the capital. Economists from the University of Minho calculate that the real purchasing power of a PSP wage is now 11 % below its 2009 level. Similar erosion afflicts other public-sector professions, fuelling the narrative that Portugal’s post-pandemic boom has not reached frontline workers.

Voices behind the visor“I arrest people for minimum-wage theft and then wrestle with my own landlord about a 9 % hike,” says Constable Sofia Antunes, who joined the force in 2018 and now splits rent with two colleagues. Sergeant Rui Santos, a twenty-year veteran, recalls the early 2000s when overtime shifts paid for a small mortgage in Setúbal: “Today my son thinks twice before enlisting.” Their stories echo through WhatsApp groups organising the protests, mixing humour—memes of empty wallets under Kevlar—with resolute talk of respect. Whether the forthcoming budget delivers that respect may determine how loud the sirens will sound in Lisbon’s streets this autumn.