Businesses in Lisbon’s Santos area to close early at weekends

Businesses in the Santos area, in Lisbon, will close at 23:00, between Thursday and Sunday, in order to control the night gatherings, informed the president of the Parish Council of Estrela to Lusa.

The establishments will thus close three hours earlier than usual.

After meeting with business owners on Wednesday evening to discuss the issue of security in the area of Largo Vitorino Damásio and around Jardim de Santos, Luís Newton (PSD) explained that the purpose of bringing forward the closing time is to create conditions to support the work of the PSP police and ensure that there are no “gatherings after 02:00”.

“This is, above all, an experimental measure to try to understand if a solution of this nature is effective. The truth is that we continue to see daily gatherings, and situations of conflict on public thoroughfares, which have led to people being injured,” he warned.

Highlighting the “act of civic sense” of the businessmen, after having suffered from falls in invoicing in the last year and a half, Newton said that with people more dispersed it is “easier to maintain public order”.

According to Newton, there have been gatherings of “three or four” thousand people in the area.

In recent weeks, Lisbon has recorded situations of violent crime in the context of nightlife, particularly in Bairro Alto, Cais do Sodré and Santos, with occurrences of stabbings.

The gradual lifting of restrictions on the basis of Covid-19 vaccination started on August 1, with rules applicable throughout mainland Portugal, including the limit on closing times until 02:00 for restaurants.