Volunteer Firefighters in Portugal Press for €49 Million Budget Lifeline

Portugal’s volunteer fire brigades are asking lawmakers for a funding leap that, if approved, would mark the most substantial boost in a decade. They want the 2026 State Budget to guarantee at least €49.38 million—a figure they say simply reflects today’s real costs of keeping engines running and teams on call. The debate, however, goes far beyond the number: it touches on wage policy, rural safety and the country’s standing among European neighbours.

Why the new benchmark matters

When summer flames roar through the Serra da Estrela or the Alentejo plains, citizens assume fire crews will arrive within minutes. But behind the heroics lies a chronic pattern of sub-financing that, in the words of one brigade chief from Viseu, forces stations to “patch hoses with duct tape”. By asking for €14.6 million more than 2025’s allocation, the Liga dos Bombeiros Portugueses (LBP) wants to close the gap between public expectation and the resources actually delivered. The figure would also acknowledge the jump in the minimum wage—now used widely as a yardstick for operational costs.

How the calculation was built

LBP president António Nunes insists the request is not plucked from thin air. The league multiplied the €5 hourly value of the Remuneração Mínima Mensal Garantida by the 9.86 million residents recorded in the 2021 census, arriving at the headline €49.38 million. He argues that indexing funding to a clear economic indicator offers a transparent, automatic way to update budgets without annual wrangling. “If wages go up, so should safety spending,” he told reporters in Coimbra this week.

Looking back: 2023-2025 in numbers

State support for volunteer brigades edged from €31.7 million in 2023 to €32.6 million in 2024, and is set to reach €34.78 million in 2025. While those upticks outpaced inflation, commanders say they were swallowed by soaring fuel, insurance and equipment prices. Brigade treasurer Ana Monteiro notes that a single wildfire-ready truck now costs almost €400,000, double the 2018 price tag. In her view, “small linear increases no longer keep pace with the reality we face each fire season.”

Contracts-programa: a possible game-changer

Beyond the headline amount, the LBP is lobbying for contracts-programa—multi-year agreements that would spell out duties and payments for each association. Advocates claim such deals would bring predictability, tie funding to measurable performance and end the annual scramble for Parliament’s goodwill. The Interior Ministry has signalled “openness” but warns any overhaul must respect EU procurement rules and Portugal’s fiscal targets.

How Portugal stacks up in Europe

Eurostat shows Lisbon devotes 0.3 % of GDP to fire protection, ranking among the bloc’s lowest. On a per-capita basis, Portugal spends €22, far below the EU average of €61 and dwarfed by Finland’s €106 or the Netherlands’ €104. Critics argue that the country’s Mediterranean climate, marked by longer droughts, demands higher per-capita investment than the European mean, not less.

Political temperature ahead of the Budget

Inside the Assembly, the Socialist minority government sees the firefighters’ plea as morally compelling but fiscally thorny. The centre-right PSD voices sympathy, yet questions whether linking funding to the minimum wage could create an “unsustainable automatic escalator”. Smaller parties—Bloco de Esquerda and PCP—are backing the proposal and pushing for an ISP fuel-tax exemption for emergency vehicles, another long-standing demand.

Voices from the front lines

In the mountain town of Manteigas, commander Luís Santos runs a 60-volunteer unit that last year responded to 1,207 incidents, from bushfires to roadway rescues. His 1998-vintage ladder truck fails inspection every other quarter, and diesel bills alone exceed €3,000 a month. “People applaud us on the streets,” he says, “but applause doesn’t replace brake pads.” For firefighters like Santos, the upcoming budget vote is more than a ledger entry—it is the difference between resilient civil protection and a system running on goodwill and worn-out gear.

Throughout autumn, parliamentary committees will sift through amendments; the government must present its final text by mid-October. Whether the €49.38 million demand survives that process will signal how Portugal values the invisible safety net woven by its bombeiros volunteers.