PSD and CDS Table a Budget Change So No Parish Gets Less Money in 2027, as Parish Councils Decide on Monday Whether to Close on 4 November

The two governing parties have tabled a change to the 2027 State Budget that would stop any parish council from receiving less money next year than it did this year. Whether parish councils still close their doors on Wednesday 4 November, as their national association threatened, is not settled yet: the association's board meets on Monday 2 November to decide.

For residents, that means the junta de freguesia (parish council), where many people get residence certificates and other attestations, may or may not be open on Wednesday. The answer should come on Monday.

What the amendment does

The proposal, numbered 2C and signed by 11 PSD and CDS-PP MPs, is published on the parliament website. It amends article 80 of the budget bill (Proposta de Lei n.º 110/XVII) in two ways:

• it raises the general grant to parishes, paid through the Fundo de Financiamento das Freguesias (Parish Financing Fund), from 440,108,037 euros in the government's bill to 441,843,758 euros, an extra 1,735,721 euros;
• it adds a rule that the fund's distribution guarantees every parish at least the same amount as the year before.

The fix answers the complaint behind the protest threat. Although the total for parishes rises by about 8.2 percent on average, changes in the distribution criteria meant around 210 parishes would get less in 2027, the national association of parishes, ANAFRE, said in October, as Jornal de Negócios reported. Its president, Francisco Branco de Brito, said his own parish faced a 9 percent cut and one parish a cut of 21 percent. In Braga, nine of the municipality's 37 parishes were affected, the mayor said on 20 October, Notícias ao Minuto reported.

At a budget hearing this week, Economy and Territorial Cohesion Minister Manuel Castro Almeida said the PSD proposal would ensure "no parish will have less budget in 2027 than in 2026", ECO reported.

Is the 4 November closure still on?

It has not been called off. On 12 October ANAFRE's board called on every parish to close all its services on 4 November, as we reported at the time. No later statement appears on its website.

On Friday Branco de Brito told Lusa, in a report carried by Notícias ao Minuto, that the protest had been approved "on the assumption that there were no negotiations and no concessions", and that talks are now under way on a general increase in the fund. He expects the PSD proposal to pass and hopes for a further one before 4 November. The board will hold an extraordinary meeting on Monday to settle its position.

The cut for 210 parishes was only one of ANAFRE's demands. Its main one, raising the parishes' share of state taxes from 2.5 to 3.5 percent, is not in the amendment. Branco de Brito acknowledged there is no money for the full extra point, which he put at 175 million euros.

What it means for you

• If you need an atestado de residência (residence certificate) or another document from your junta, go on Monday or Tuesday, or wait until Thursday.
• Check your junta's website or noticeboard after Monday's ANAFRE decision. ANAFRE has not said how many parishes would take part.
• Monday may also be disrupted: a public sector union has called a strike that day covering local administration workers, according to ECO.

ANAFRE is due before parliament's budget committee at 11:00 on 4 November, according to the parliamentary budget calendar. The bill passed its first vote on 28 October, and the final vote is set for 24 November.