Government renews urgent expropriations to extend the Red Line to Alcântara

The declaration of public utility, on an urgent basis, for the expropriation of the properties necessary for the second phase of the expansion of the Lisbon Metro’s Red Line, between São Sebastião and Alcântara, has been renewed by the Secretary of State for Mobility. The decision is contained in Order No. 13718/2026, signed by Cristina Maria dos Santos Pinto Dias on November 2 and published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 218, on November 10, 2026.

The order was issued by the Office of the Secretary of State for Mobility, within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and responds to a request from Metropolitano de Lisboa, E. P. E. The company requested the renewal to avoid losing the effects of the previous declaration, formalized by Order No. 12654/2025, of October 16, published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 209, on October 29, 2025.

That first order declared the public utility, also on an urgent basis, of the expropriation, the establishment of administrative easements, and the temporary occupation of real estate and the rights inherent to them, and approved the area map and the parcel plans that are an integral part thereof. The renewal is decided under paragraph 5 of article 13 of the Expropriation Code, approved by Law No. 169/99, of September 18, and takes effect from October 30, 2026.

Why renewal was necessary

The Government assumes that it will not be possible to conclude the expropriation, administrative easement, and temporary occupation processes before the 2025 declaration expires. The order identifies three bottlenecks:

• the removal of the project from the PRR (Recovery and Resilience Plan) and the need for new funding sources for the work;
• the complexity of the property vacation processes, which involve dozens of families and small and medium-sized trade and service enterprises;
• various bureaucratic difficulties that delayed the procedures.

The executive maintains that the grounds for the original declaration remain, particularly the public interest in carrying out the work, and that renewal is the path provided by law to preserve the procedures already launched.

Owners, tenants, and businesses on the ground

The declaration covers real estate and inherent rights located along the route of the extension between São Sebastião and Alcântara, in a second phase of the contract. Among those affected are dozens of families and small and medium-sized trade and service enterprises, whose vacation the order itself describes as one of the factors for the delay.

The order determines that all acts performed in the meantime remain valid, which preserves the work already done in the expropriation, administrative easement, and temporary occupation processes initiated under the 2025 declaration and the parcel plans approved at that time.

Funding secured

Metropolitano de Lisboa, E. P. E. continues to have financial coverage to support the costs of expropriations, administrative easements, and temporary occupations. According to the order, this coverage is registered under budget item 31B — RI Transfers — Inter-agency Loans.

For those who live or have a business on the axis between São Sebastião and Alcântara, the renewal means that the expropriation and vacation processes do not expire and can proceed. The order does not set new deadlines for indemnities or for the handover of properties, leaving the calendar open for the affected owners and tenants.

Source: Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 218, November 10, 2026, Presidency of the Council of Ministers — Office of the Secretary of State for Mobility, p. 1/1 (official reference: Order no. 13718/2026).