In a statement, the municipality says that the plan will be activated from 9 pm.

“The measure is due to the weather forecast for the coming days, which predicts the minimum temperature will drop to 0ºC for the next six days, with a forecast of -1ºC on the 10th, Saturday”.

The plan foresees the activation of the Emergency Accommodation Center (CAE), as well as the maintenance of the intervention of the Portuguese Red Cross Street Teams.

Civil Protection Councilor Altino Bessa told Lusa that the center has a capacity for 24 people and has a male and female wing.

“If necessary, the capacity can be expanded to 36 people,” he added.

Altino Bessa said that the last time the contingency plan was activated, in mid-January, the maximum daily number of users who attended that center was 13.

“One day, there were only four,” he said.

He stressed that the accommodation center “has rules” and that “not everyone wants to be subject to them.”

According to the mayor, Braga will register an average of 25 people living on the streets, “although this number is very volatile”.

“There are some who are ‘residents’ and others who vary,” he added.

The Contingency Plan for Homeless People aims to define and describe the coordination structure for response actions at a municipal level, their respective operational management, as well as the way in which existing resources to support the homeless population are mobilised and activated in a situation of homelessness due to periods of cold weather.

In Braga, the plan will remain active until Saturday, and then the situation will be reassessed and may or may not be extended depending on the weather forecast.