Mayor of Lisbon wants to "end visual pollution" in Marquês de Pombal Square, an "emblematic area of the city".
The Mayor of Lisbon wants "stop visual pollution" at Marquês de Pombal Square, a "emblematic area of the city" representing "a great heritage value of the city". Carlos Moedas notified "all parties and associations" for them to remove the large billboards that usually fill this part of town.
The information was publicly communicated, this Thursday, September 8, via Twitter. According to Observadorthe City of Lisbon is giving 10 days for parties and other entities to remove the posters on their own initiativeOtherwise they will be removed by the municipality itself, with the costs and fines associated with this process.
The Parque Eduardo VII and the Praça Marquês de Pombal represent a great patrimonial value of Lisbon. I have notified all parties and associations to remove their billboards. We are determined to put an end to visual pollution in this emblematic area of the city.
- Carlos Moedas (@Moedas) September 8, 2022
The pandemic of the great billboards of propaganda, which visually pollute the city, not only affects the Marquês de Pombal, but also other emblematic areas such as Avenida da República (namely the Campo Pequeno area) and the Alameda. As we explained in this article, a political propaganda in public space is regulated in Portugal, but there seems to be no will to comply with these guidelines or to interpret them in a consensual way. This issue has already been covered by the foreign press for its uniqueness; in 2019, it called these posters the "political propagandist walls" of Lisbon.
The presence of large political propaganda posters in the city center started in 2001, when Pedro Santana Lopes, for the PSD, brought them into the city that elected him as mayor. Until then, these types of panels were "seen as a peripheral thing, to put in vacant lots"as it is told by the newspaper O Corvo in a 2013 article; and political campaigns in the city were done with small posters, stickers and flags. Santana put up the big billboards "in emblematic places of the capital and where, until then, no one had dared"As O Corvo reports: Marquês do Pombal, Terreiro do Paço, Largo Camões and Rossio.
The presence of these billboards intensifies during election periods, although it is constant throughout the year. In February of this yearHenry, an artist living in Lisbon for more than six years, left a protest message on the back of one of these posters: "Take this shit off. We want trees!" ("Get this crap out. We want trees!"in Portuguese).
The Observer writes that the entities with posters on the Marquês de Pombal were notified this week, so the 10-day deadline will end next week. The Lisbon City Hall is said to be justifying the decision because the posters are "in the Special Zone of Joint Protection of the classified buildings of the Avenida da Liberdade and surrounding area"i.e., they are improperly placed in "protection and enhancement of cultural heritage". Those involved can "express yourself in writing" about the situation.
The presence of these large-scale elements in the middle of the city is a situation without parallel in other Portuguese capitals. So far no mayor seemed committed to solving this problem.
