Why is Lisbon getting so much dirtier?

If you have noticed more rubbish on the streets around your neighbourhood over the past few months, there is a specific reason, and the city government has acknowledged it. It's Sunday, 26 July. Twenty-nine degrees. Here's what you need to know.

🌬️ AIR QUALITY: 23 (Good).

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WHY IS LISBON GETTING SO MUCH DIRTIER?

The "Volta" deposit return system, which launched on 10 April this year, gives a 10-cent refund for every bottle or can returned to a collection point. The idea is sound: incentivise recycling and get packaging out of landfill. The unintended consequence has been less sound. Across multiple neighbourhoods, people are now rummaging through street bins and containers looking for returnable packaging, and leaving the rest of the contents spilled across the pavement.

The Câmara de Lisboa (the city council) acknowledged the problem on 10 July, confirming it has records of incidents across different areas of the city. "In some cases, containers and street bins are being searched through or even emptied onto the public road by people looking for packaging covered by the Volta system, in order to obtain the respective refund," the council said in an official statement.

The complaints came from the juntas. Carla Almeida, president of the Junta de Freguesia da Misericórdia (the local parish council covering the Bairro Alto, Cais do Sodré, Príncipe Real and Chiado), told the newspaper Público that the problem is not limited to people in vulnerable situations. "We have observed people from different social strata rummaging through bins, looking for packaging. Some are well-dressed. You can see they are doing this to supplement their income." The presidents of the juntas of Santo António and Arroios, Filipa Veiga and João Jaime, both reported a significant deterioration in urban cleanliness since Volta launched.

The city council's response so far has been to monitor. It said the system "represents an important instrument for increasing the collection and recycling of packaging" and framed the problems as part of "an initial implementation phase in which a period of adaptation is to be expected."

That framing has not satisfied residents. On 20 July, the residents' association Vizinhos em Lisboa (Neighbours in Lisbon) submitted a formal proposal to the council and the juntas, calling for dedicated Volta collection points to be installed next to existing bins and recycling stations. Their argument is simple: if people could deposit returnable packaging without rummaging through mixed waste, the problem would largely resolve itself.

What this means for you: if your street is dirtier than it was six months ago, the Volta system is likely a contributing factor, though it is not the only one. The city has a cleanliness problem that predates Volta, but the recycling scheme has made it visibly worse in many neighbourhoods.

Bottom line: a well-intentioned recycling policy is having an unintended effect on Lisbon's streets. The city council knows about it, residents have proposed a fix, and so far the response has been to watch and wait. If your neighbourhood is affected, Na Minha Rua LX (na-minha-rua.lx.cm-lisboa.pt), the council's online reporting tool, is the formal channel for flagging hygiene issues, and it does generate a response.

⚡ QUICK HITS

Parking charges in Lisbon are going up for the first time in 15 years. The city council has proposed its first increase in EMEL (the city's parking authority) tariffs in more than a decade, based on the cumulative rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) between 2024 and 2025, estimated at 4.82%. Under the proposal, green zones would rise from €0.80 to €0.85 per hour, yellow zones from €1.60 to €1.70, and brown zones from €2.00 to €2.10. A new black zone rate of €3.15 is also proposed, up from €3.00, though no black zones have been introduced anywhere in the city yet. The proposal was signed by Vice Mayor Gonçalo Reis and will go to the city council's next executive meeting for approval. If you have been parking in the same zone for years and never noticed a price change, that is because there has not been one since roughly 2011.

Around 50 municipalities in the Portuguese interior are at maximum fire risk. The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) placed districts including Vila Real, Viseu, Bragança, Guarda, Coimbra, Santarém, Portalegre, Castelo Branco and Faro at the highest level on Thursday, with a further 70 at very high risk. The Lisbon district is at high risk, one tier below. IPMA expects the risk to climb through Monday, when nearly the entire country is expected to be at maximum or very high risk as the heat rebuilds. If you are heading inland or into open country this weekend, check IPMA's fire risk map before you go.

AIMA's new EU renewal portal is not working for everyone. The Portal das Renovações (the renewals portal) went live on 1 July for EU permanent residence certificate and card applications, but users across Reddit and expat forums are reporting errors including not being recognised in the system. The Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) has said the portal will expand progressively, and applications submitted before 30 June through the old contact form will still be processed. If you are affected, the formal route is an email to AIMA or an in-person submission.

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🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

ANTIGA WINE BAR (SÉ)

On Rua Santo António da Sé, a few doors from the cathedral in the old Madalena quarter, Antiga is a husband-and-wife-run wine bar with a 4.7 on both TripAdvisor (nearly 280 reviews) and Google (over 1,200 reviews). The operation is small by design: a tight room that fits maybe 20 people and a small team running the floor. That is the point. The wine list is curated rather than long, leaning toward Portuguese producers, and the staff will guide you through what is open if you ask.

The menu is built for sharing: garlic prawns, belly pork, octopus, charcuterie and cheese boards, with a short list of larger plates if you want more. Reckon on about €15 to €25 a head depending on how many plates and glasses you work through. The pace is relaxed, so treat it as a slow evening rather than a quick stop.

Worth knowing before you go: the room is small and fills up fast, especially on weekends. Book ahead or arrive early. It is open daily, noon to midnight.

→ See the menu and find them here ←

Insider tip: start with the charcuterie or cheese board and ask the staff to suggest a glass to go with it.

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