In response to Lusa, "the chamber confirms that it has given its assent to this PIP", however, noting that this approval "is not the same as a licensing".

That is, underlines the municipality, "Time Out will now have to submit a license application to continue the process."

According to the "Virtual Counter" page of the Porto Chamber, "prior information is a non-mandatory procedure and may or may not precede a licensing or prior communication of building works: construction, reconstruction, expansion, alteration and demolition"

This procedure, read on that page, will allow your applicant to obtain information on the feasibility of carrying out a particular urban operation, as well as its legal or regulatory constraints.

The favourable decision of the PIP binds the competent authorities in the decision on the license application and in the successive control of urban operations subject to prior notification, provided that it is submitted within one year from the date of the decision.

"We plan to present the project for licensing by the end of the year, already anticipating that technical issues may arise," said the president of Time Out Market, João Cepeda, in a statement to Lusa.

He stressed that the process now begins, so it is at this stage, after the "most political cycle" has been completed, that technical questions need to be answered.

"We are closer than we have ever been, but it is only the beginning. From now on the process begins," he said.

On August 20, Lusa reported that the Time Out Porto Market project for the south wing of São Bento station was approved by the Directorate General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC) in May, despite UNESCO's criticism of the "intrusive size" of the 21-meter tower designed for the site.

In a written reply to Lusa, that entity also informed that "the project was not changed after the opinion of ICOMOS / World Heritage Centre / UNESCO National Commission".

The opinion of the DGPC was received on 5 September by the Porto Chamber, which has now approved the Request for Prior Information.

On 24 September, the mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, said that UNESCO's heritage advisory body, ICOMOS (International Council of Monuments and Sites), has an "archaeological view" of the city.

The mayor's statement came after a request from the left-wing deputy Pedro Lourenço, during the Porto Municipal Assembly, to clarify the measures that the chamber was "going to take to safeguard the concerns transmitted by UNESCO [United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture], ICOMOS and the Directorate General of Northern Culture (DRCN)" within the scope of the Time Out Market project for the São Bento station.

"The BE largely subscribes to the concerns of heritage technicians, considering an attractiveness that is already overly verified and that the 21-meter tower should not be approved," said Pedro Lourenço.

In reply to the deputy, Rui Moreira admitted not to "say whether he likes or dislikes the project", arguing, however, that as a citizen "liked the city of Porto to have a public building of architect Souto Moura".