Government declares urgent expropriation of land for Sub-section 3 Porto-Aveiro

The Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Hugo Morato Alface do Espírito Santo, has declared as being in the public interest, with urgent character, the expropriations of real estate and the rights inherent to them necessary for the execution of the “Porto (Campanhã)-Aveiro (Oiã) Section — Sub-section 3, of the High-Speed Railway Line”. The decision is contained in Order no. 13198/2026, signed on October 19 and published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 210, of October 29, 2026, accompanied by an area map and parcel plans consisting of 175 pages.

An order of October 19 with 175 pages of annexes

The order declares the public utility of the expropriations and identifies the assets in the area map and parcel plans published in the annex, “with the elements contained in the property description and the land registry entry of the rights and encumbrances affecting them, as well as the names of the respective holders”. The map is dated October 1, 2026, and covers Sub-section 3 (ST3) between kilometer 33+200 and kilometer 49+900 of the route.

The legal basis invoked is clause 26 of the concession contract, paragraph a) of no. 1 of article 14, nos. 1 and 2 of article 15, and no. 1 of article 19 of the Expropriation Code. The Secretary of State acts using the competence delegated by Order no. 12445/2025, of October 15, from the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, published in the 2nd series no. 205, of October 23, 2025.

The resolution to expropriate was approved by the board of directors of the concessionaire on September 16, 2026. The costs are borne by the concessionaire, which “attests to having financial coverage ensured through bank guarantees and other financing instruments”.

Parcels from Válega to Esmoriz, with unknown holders

The area map identifies the affected properties in the district of Aveiro, in the municipalities of Ovar and Santa Maria da Feira, with parcel numbering ranging from 4000 to 4882, in addition to sub-parcels such as 4014/1, 4260.1, or 4832/1. The areas to be expropriated range from a few dozen square meters to more than 9,000 m² in a single parcel.

Among the parishes and unions of parishes mentioned in the map are:

• Válega, in the municipality of Ovar;
• Esmoriz and Maceda;
• the Union of Parishes of Ovar, São João, Arada, and São Vicente de Pereira Jusã;
• parishes of the municipality of Santa Maria da Feira, such as Cardiela and Rio Meão.

Among the identified holders are individuals, estates, and companies, such as Imobiliária Alves da Rocha, S. A., Cordex-Companhia Industrial Textil, SA, Corticeira Ataíde, Lda., Manuel José de Oliveira & Companhia, Lda., and Montaluga, as well as tenants such as Proeza Rentável, Lda. The map also includes dozens of plots whose holder is listed as “Unknown” and several estates, in cases where the identification of the owners is made through estate administrators and heirs.

Authorized administrative possession

Point 2 of the order authorizes AVAN Norte — Gestão da Ferrovia de Alta Velocidade, S. A., “for the purposes of the provisions of paragraph 2 of article 15 of the Expropriation Code,” to take administrative possession of the plots. The Government justifies the urgency based on “the public interest underlying the swift and effective execution of the projected work.”

In practice, administrative possession allows the concessionaire to occupy the land before the compensation process is completed, which subsequently follows the procedures of the Expropriation Code.

From Sub-section 1 to Sub-section 3

The concession for the design, project, construction, financing, maintenance, and availability of the infrastructure was awarded to the LusoLAV Consortium on October 10, 2024. The contract was signed on July 29, 2025, between the grantor Infraestruturas de Portugal, S. A., and the concessionaire AVAN Norte — Gestão da Ferrovia de Alta Velocidade, S. A., established by the consortium.

The launch of the public-private partnership was approved by Order No. 253-A/2024, of January 11, and the section is part of the first phase of the New Porto-Lisbon High-Speed Railway Line, provided for in the National Investment Program 2030, approved by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 192/2023, of December 26. Sub-section 1 had already been declared of public utility by Order No. 11947/2026, published in the 2nd series No. 191, of October 1, 2026, signed on September 18.

The relevance for readers is direct: owners, heirs, and tenants with land in Sub-section 3 are now subject to expropriation on an urgent basis, and may be dispossessed before an agreement is reached on the compensation value. The published map allows for a plot-by-plot verification of whether a property, an estate, or a company is affected and who is listed as the holder.

Source: Diário da República, 2nd series, No. 210, of October 29, 2026 (official reference: Order No. 13198/2026).