“In my opinion, the campaign message did not reach the right recipients: foreigners and young people. It was very heavy / complicated.

It would have had more impact with a simpler message,” says the president of the local residents’ association Mora Gente, in a written response to news agency Lusa.


For Isabel Sá da Bandeira, “a campaign is not enough, much more is needed”, especially in terms of supervision, “something that does not exist”.


“And when they call the police for noise, they say they have much more serious things to solve. So, like many other things, it’s a long way off being solved,” she adds.


According to the representative, the participation of other parties is also necessary - the owners of hostels and local lodgings should draw the attention of customers to respect for residents, which “does not happen”.


Isabel Sá da Bandeira also states that “in order to have any result, the Lisbon City Council will have to work harder and in defence of the residents, which does not happen, and there is no political will to change things.”


In the same vein, the president of the Misericórdia Residents Association (a parish that includes Bairro Alto and Cais do Sodré, areas with many nightlife venues) considered, in a statement to Lusa, that the campaign “has not had much impact”.


“In practical terms, if the Camara does not take other measures this campaign has little awareness,” said Luís Paisana, advocating more control on the consumption of drinks on the street.


According to Isabel Sá da Bandeira, this marketing campaign was the idea of the local authority taking advantage of a proposal of the association under the Participatory Budget of 2017, which provided for an online platform for complaints of night noise.


The awareness campaign has the participation of seven residents of Bairro Alto, Bica and Santa Catarina, who give face and share their personal experience. The initiative is visible on posters and coasters in the city.


It is “aimed primarily at customers of bars, restaurants and local accommodation in the historic districts with the highest nightlife offerings (Bairro Alto, Bica and Cais do Sodré),” notes the camera in a note published on its website.


Asked by Lusa, an official source in the Lisbon Chamber, said only that the campaign “is going well”, noting that “it is too early to take stock”.


In October, at a decentralised meeting to listen to the residents of the parishes of Santo António, Santa Maria Maior and Misericórdia, the mayor, Fernando Medina (PS), argued that it is “essential to control the consumption of [alcoholic] drinks outside the door of bars and establishments from a certain time”.


“This is not easy to do. But there is no other solution, if we do not think of an answer on how to regulate the consumption of drinks outside, on the public road, from a certain time,” he reiterated.


Medina also said that “the problem is no longer within the establishments” and comes from “tens of thousands of people who spend hours in public spaces”.