The Lisboa Brief, Week of 17 October 2026: Moedas Moves to Pull the Scooters, Two More Metro Strikes, and Affordable Housing Draws Restart

Lisbon's mayor wants every shared e-scooter off the streets by the new year, and the council votes on Wednesday. Also this week: the Metro lost a whole day to a strike and has two more mornings coming, the council restarted its affordable housing draws, and the CGTP marches through the Baixa this afternoon.

Moedas Moves Against the Scooters

Carlos Moedas will ask the council on Wednesday 21 October to suspend the shared scooter system. He says the council collects more than 1,200 badly parked scooters a month and that accidents have risen 80 percent since 2023, and that fleet caps, no-go zones and geofencing have not worked. If the vote passes, operators would have until the end of the year, or January at the latest, to clear their scooters. Gira bikes stay, and privately owned scooters are not affected. Observador reports that his executive has a majority on the council. It comes two weeks after the ACP said it had 20,000 signatures for a referendum on the same question.

A Lost Wednesday on the Metro, and Two More Mornings

Command-post supervisors shut all four lines for 24 hours on Wednesday, after arbitrators refused a minimum service. The unions have now called two more strikes, from 05:00 to 10:00 on 28 and 30 October, covering the morning rush. The Metro will ask again for a minimum service, but if you travel before 10:00 on those days, plan a bus, train or ferry route now.

Housing: Draws Restart, Ceilings Set

The council drew 25 affordable homes for under-35s on Monday, its first draw since 19 June. Meanwhile the Ministério Público has opened a monitoring file on the Habitar Lisboa platform after a Deloitte audit found gaps in it. If you applied to a paused round, check the platform: no timetable has been published.

The government has also published the rent ceilings for its new affordable-rent scheme. Lisbon's are the highest in the country, at 1,309 euros a month for a two-bedroom flat, followed by Cascais at 1,254 and Oeiras at 1,172. Landlords who stay under them pay no income tax on the rent. In Vila Franca de Xira, 37 people still live in shacks without water, power or toilets, five years after the council's housing strategy listed them.

Today on the Streets

The CGTP marches from Cais do Sodré to Rossio at 14:30 against the cost of living, and a housing camp has been called for Rossio at 17:00. From 08:00 to 20:00 Carris is diverting or cutting short several routes in western Lisbon for a sporting event, including the 15E and 18E trams. The Saharan dust is still about, with Lisbon forecast "Moderate" for fine particles today, so check QualAr before a long run. On Wednesday at 17:00, students protest outside the seat of government against proposed literacy, numeracy and English thresholds for university entry.

Cascais and the South Bank

Cascais has bought the Atlântida Cine in Carcavelos for 600,000 euros and promises that film will stay at its heart, though no reopening date is set. Creditors of Ovom Care, the Cascais fertility clinic that shut in August, voted to liquidate it; stored embryos and eggs are now at Ava Clinic in Lisbon. And the Religious Freedom Commission found that the Patriarch's blessing at the opening of the new Escola Secundária de Cascais broke the rule that official acts are non-confessional. The finding carries no penalty.

Across the river, Zero says the regional authority found licence breaches at the Amarsul landfill on the Moita and Palmela border. Amarsul says it has been told of no conclusions.

Buildings, Budgets and Bottles

The restoration of the pink Palácio Burnay on Rua da Junqueira now runs to 2030, and the Armed Forces Hospital's new surgical wing has climbed to 20.27 million euros, with spending stretched to 2029. Arroios gets one of Turismo de Portugal's first three funded climate refuges, around the Mercado do Forno do Tijolo. A government draft would bar bus operators from running coach terminals, giving Sete Rios up to four years to change hands. Moedas also declined to meet the operator of Volta, the bottle deposit scheme, and took his complaints about it to Brussels instead.

And last Saturday Barack Obama told more than 10,000 people at the Meo Arena that democracy is fragile and that governments move too slowly on artificial intelligence.

On in Lisbon

Rui Veloso plays Sagres Campo Pequeno tonight at 21:00 as a guitar trio on a 360-degree stage (27 to 81 euros). Also tonight at 21:00, the University of Lisbon's Orquestra Académica opens its season at the Aula Magna with Debussy and Haydn's "London" symphony, free subject to seating.

Tomorrow at 18:00 at the Gulbenkian, the Trio Amatis plays Schubert, Shostakovich and Rebecca Clarke between readings of First World War letters and diaries by the singer Thomas Quasthoff (17 euros). Earlier, at 11:00, EPAL's Museu da Água leads a two-hour walk across the Águas Livres aqueduct to the Mãe d'Água reservoir in the Amoreiras, starting from Calçada da Quintinha 6 (12 euros, ages 6 and over, on Ticketline).

That is the capital's week. The Lisboa Brief returns next Saturday.

Feature image: shared e-scooters and bikes on the riverside by the Terreiro do Paço, by DiogoBaptista (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons.