The Lisbon City Council (CML) announced today that the project to implement green spaces in Parque Tejo, officially designated Parque Papa Francisco, will begin in 2027.
“The Parque Tejo, which is not how it is designated, is Parque Papa Francisco, and has been self-titled as such since 2023. We are talking about 48 hectares, equivalent to 48 football pitches, a project that we are nearly finished with—the execution project with revision. We want in 2027 to launch this large public works undertaking, naturally phased,” said Councillor Joana Baptista (independent, appointed by PSD).
The official responsible for the city’s green structures answered questions from PS councillor Carla Madeira about the status of the project for that area in the parish of Parque das Nações, where, in 2023, World Youth Day took place, organized by the Catholic Church, the Portuguese State, the Lisbon City Council (CML) and the Loures City Hall.
The socialist councillor showed a video of that area, which she described as “an authentic desert,” and recalled that at the time of World Youth Day it was announced and more recently again that the whole area would be rehabilitated and that there would be large green spaces.
Carla Madeira also recalled that the entire area sits on a landfill site, which means that all planting requires a major intervention, and she also questioned what happened to the stage removed from the site in 2023 and what its intended use would be, without receiving an answer to this question.
Joana Baptista acknowledged the existence of a landfill site “deactivated for more than 30 years, daily monitored by specialized companies for this purpose,” considering that it does not pose a constraint.
“We have many decommissioned landfills where, after decades, urban parks were built, and that is what we will do with many plantings of trees, with many shrub plantings, pedestrian paths, and therefore it is another park we will offer to the city, as soon as possible, with the first phase of the project to be launched in 2027,” replied the councillor.
