Lisbon's Rossio Christmas market removes banners banning protests after residents' complaint

The rules on the poster

The Rossio Christmas market in Lisbon opened under a set of visitor rules printed on a large poster credited to the Associação de Dinamização da Baixa Pombalina (ADBP). The poster, headed 'Mercado de Natal Rossio: Normas de utilização destinadas aos visitantes e consumidores', banned gatherings, protests and displays of flags, banners and leaflets without authorisation. It also barred visitors from lying on the ground in circulation areas and ran a ban on commercial, political or institutional campaigns inside the market. The organisers reserved the right to refuse entry to anyone who said they intended to break those rules.

Residents complain and the banners come down

Residents photographed the poster on Saturday, 14 November, and the residents' association Vizinhos em Lisboa filed a formal complaint that day with Mayor Carlos Moedas, the parish council of Santa Maria Maior and the commander of the municipal police. The association argued that a private-law association has no competence to restrict rights, and it asked for access to the contract behind the market. The poster also carried the logos of the city council and the parish council, which the complaint said suggested an institutional endorsement that did not exist. The parish council responded on its Facebook page.

“The Junta de Freguesia is neither the promoter nor the licensing entity of the event.”

The parish council added that it had asked for the material to be removed urgently, and the organisers agreed promptly. All banners carrying the rules were taken down on the morning of Sunday, 15 November.

Council distances itself

The city council, answering press questions on Sunday, 15 November, said it was neither the author of the text nor responsible for it. It stated that the ADBP had removed all banners with the information that morning. The council did not say whether it had pre-approved the rules or authorised the use of its logo, but its reply suggested the content had not been vetted by the municipality. Carlos Moedas had pushed to hold the market, which he regards as one of the biggest events of the season for families.

Protest moves to Restauradores

Housing campaigners moved their protest from Praça Dom Pedro IV to the nearby Praça dos Restauradores, where they set up about 40 tents overnight on Saturday, 14 November. The banners were removed a few hours after the activists made that move. The market was inaugurated on the morning of Sunday, 15 November, after the camp had left Rossio. Housing camp activists also staged new protests in several cities over the weekend of 14 and 15 November.

What remains open

The sources do not report whether the city council has answered the request for access to the contract. The council has not said whether it validated the rules before they were printed. The complaint's constitutional argument, that a private association cannot restrict rights in a public square, has not been tested by any ruling reported in the sources.