The SNCGP says most prisoners would spend 22 hours a day in their cells, with no food parcels and one visit a week, as guards press the government over overtime pay and stalled promotions.
Women jailed in the south now go to Tires, near Lisbon, and those from the central interior to Santa Cruz do Bispo, in Matosinhos. The prison service says the two jails will take men, as part of a plan to ease overcrowding while Lisbon Prison closes.
Five of the six young adults left in specialist care units had a serious mental illness, the Ombudsman's inspectors found. A unit for young offenders recommended years ago has still not opened.
The anti-torture mechanism's 2025 report finds the prison service's own inspectors requested CCTV too late, skipped witnesses and let cases lapse.
Two decree-laws in Wednesday's gazette rebuild the careers of the people who supervise prisoners and ankle tags, backdate the package to 1 July 2025, and abolish the prison administrator career outright. Paragraph 6 leaves the guard corps out.
A collective complaint at the Custoias jail says the food is poor and blames it for recurring gastroenteritis. The prison says its nutritionist found no irregularity. Article 31 of the sentence execution code sets the standard, and a 2021 regulation sets the clock.
Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers set Portugal a September 2027 deadline to show tangible progress on a 103.4% prison occupation rate, after the 9-11 June 2026 Strasbourg session read deteriorating conditions; Lisbon EPL closure now pushed to 2028.
