Government Declares Urgent Expropriation of More Than 900 Plots in Ovar and Santa Maria da Feira for the Porto to Lisbon High-Speed Line
An order in today's Diário da República lets AVAN Norte take immediate possession of about 125 hectares for the high-speed line's third sub-section. Here is what owners in Ovar and Feira are entitled to, from the site survey to the compensation offer.
The government has declared the public utility, with urgent status, of the expropriation of land for the third sub-section of the Porto to Lisbon high-speed line, which crosses Ovar and Santa Maria da Feira in Aveiro district. Despacho n.º 13198/2026 (order no. 13198/2026), signed on 19 October by the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Hugo Espírito Santo, was published in the Diário da República (the official gazette) on 29 October.
The order covers the Porto (Campanhã) to Aveiro (Oiã) section between kilometre points 33.2 and 49.9. Its parcel map runs to 936 entries, numbered 4000 to 4882, some plots split in two; by The Brief's count of the published table, they total about 125 hectares. The owner is listed as unknown on 164 entries. Parishes affected include Válega, Esmoriz, Maceda, Cortegaça and the Ovar town union in Ovar, and the Santa Maria da Feira, Travanca, Sanfins and Espargo union and São Miguel do Souto and Mosteirô in Feira.
Who takes the land
The beneficiary is AVAN Norte, the company formed by the LusoLAV consortium, which signed the concession contract with Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP, the state rail and road manager) on 29 July 2025 and holds the expropriation powers under it. Its board resolved to expropriate on 16 September. The order authorises AVAN Norte to take administrative possession of the plots because of the urgency and says the company bears the costs, backed by bank guarantees and other financing. No amount is stated.
What affected owners should know
The procedure follows the Código das Expropriações (Expropriation Code, Lei n.º 168/99):
- Notice. Known owners must be told of the declaration by registered letter with proof of receipt (article 17), and must report any change of address to the company in writing (article 17.º-A).
- Possession first. Urgent status gives immediate administrative possession (article 15). Owners must be notified of the place, day and time it is taken (article 20).
- The site survey. A court-appointed expert records the state of the property before work starts, in a vistoria ad perpetuam rei memoriam. Owners get at least five working days' notice, may attend and put written questions, and have five days to object to the report (article 21). Attend with photographs and documents.
- The deposit. In urgent cases the deposit of estimated compensation may follow possession, but within 10 days; late payment carries interest (article 20).
- The offer. Within 15 days of publication the company must send a compensation proposal by registered letter. Owners have 15 days to reply and may back a counter-proposal with their own expert's report (article 35).
- Fair compensation. It must reflect the property's real, current value at the date of publication, excluding any rise caused by the declaration itself (article 23).
- Arbitration and court. Without agreement, arbitration fixes the amount (article 38), and its decision can be appealed to the local court within 20 days of notification (article 52).
- The whole plot. If only part is taken and the rest no longer offers proportionally the same use, or has no economic interest, the owner can ask for the whole property to be expropriated (article 3), within the arbitral appeal deadline (article 55), or agree it in an amicable deal (article 34).
Owners can find their plot in the table and plans annexed to the order, which give each parcel's tax and land registry references and holders' names. Works on the Porto to Oiã section were scheduled to start at the end of September, while Gaia still opposes its station at Santo Ovídio. Our guide to when the state expropriates your land explains the wider process.
