Portugal’s municipalities expand CCTV: 60 new requests and 1500 cameras already approved

Local councils across Portugal are spending millions to roll out public-space video surveillance systems, including in municipalities with low crime levels. Nationwide, there are already 1500 cameras trained on city streets.

The expansion looks set to continue: the Ministry of Internal Administration has received a further 60 applications for new installations from north to south. Even smaller places with low crime rates are choosing not to forgo these technologies. In many of these areas, the main drivers are curbing vandalism and easing residents’ sense of insecurity.

Police authorities report that thousands of images captured by systems already in operation have supported investigations and are being used as evidence in court proceedings. Security specialists, however, warn that safeguards are needed to ensure offenders do not simply relocate, and that there are enough personnel available to monitor video surveillance systems effectively.

In Lisbon, the capital plans to more than double its coverage, moving from 96 existing cameras plus 40 in the final stages of installation, to a total of 251. In Porto, 117 additional cameras were added to the 79 installed in the first phase, and the aim is to keep expanding the network into the western and eastern parts of the city and into Ramalde (50 devices).

Only 379 crimes in 2025

Viseu is another example of this push. It has 44 cameras spread between Aquilino Ribeiro Park and the 21 August Market-areas with “heavy footfall”, where “concern about vandalism, theft and the deterioration of public space” had been growing, according to the mayor, João Azevedo. Over the next four years, the council intends to install more cameras, completing a project costing “more than three million euros”, paid entirely from the municipal budget because “there is no support”. This approach is paired with a strengthening of the Municipal Police (hiring 12 more officers) and increased inspection activity.

In Macedo de Cavaleiros, there are 55 cameras in the town and 12 at the Azibo reservoir. A third phase provides for nine more at the reservoir and 25 more in the town, taking the council’s total investment to 164 thousand euros. Although, according to figures from the National Statistics Institute, 379 crimes were recorded in 2025 in this municipality-far below the totals in major urban centres such as Lisbon (32.821) and Porto (16.400), or even Braga (4553)-the council says the investment is justified by “increasing vandalism of public spaces”. The reported incidents include graffiti, the theft of taps from public toilets, and the theft of solar panels from lighting along the cycle path.

The council recalls that in 2024, when the first devices became visible, there was “a significant decrease in vandalism”. Later, however, it became public knowledge that the systems were not yet recording, and “the problem worsened again”. Video surveillance has “become a crucial tool to guarantee public safety and the development of smart cities”.

Across Portugal, 25 towns and cities have public-space video surveillance. Over the past two years, the country moved from 1000 to 1500 approved cameras.

According to the Ministry of Internal Administration-which authorises these installations after an opinion from the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD)-60 cases are currently under way (24 with the GNR and 36 with the PSP) involving councils from north to south (see infographic). In parallel, three other cases are progressing at more advanced stages: two are awaiting CNPD opinions-namely, portable cameras attached to drones for rural fire prevention, and video surveillance at the Boat Quay of the Coastal Control Sub-Unit in Vila Real de Santo António-and one is waiting for the PSP’s view on the system to be installed by Câmara de Lobos council in Madeira.

The applications include large municipalities such as Lisbon, Cascais, Vila Real, Maia, Matosinhos and Braga, but also lower-density areas such as Anadia, Campo Maior, Coruche, Ferreira do Zêzere and Porto de Mós.

No studies

Where cameras are already operating, footage has fed into various court cases (see related article). The PSP says the use of images “is frequent and tends to increase”, both because of “the growth in the number of cameras available” and because of their usefulness in investigations-although this requires allocating resources.

Even so, the absence of studies means neither the PSP nor the GNR can state whether these systems are actually reducing crime. The PSP says it has the “conviction that there is a reduction in reported crime” in covered areas; however, this may “not correspond to a real decrease in the overall volume of crime, but rather to displacement, which can only be assessed through more careful evaluation over a longer period of time”.

"There is no miracle cure against crime"

Colonel Ludovico Jara Franco, president of the Assembly of the Association of Security Directors of Portugal and a lecturer at the Autonomous University of Lisbon, answers our questions.

What explains this increase in video surveillance by local councils?
It is a trend that has been developing in Europe. It is linked to deterring crime-possibly the more opportunistic kinds-and to reinforcing the population’s sense of security.

Are these systems helping to reduce crime?
In Europe, there are studies from some cities showing certain gains. Vandalism and opportunistic offences tend, at least in those spaces, to fall. But this is not a miracle cure. What often happens is that some of this crime simply moves elsewhere, leaving that location for another.

What advantages do they bring?
From a forensic perspective, for instance, as evidence. They are also used for crowd management at events or in squares with heavy footfall; the police often resort to this tool.

Do they reduce the right to privacy?
This has to be carefully weighed: CCTV [closed-circuit television] is not installed just anywhere-there must be criteria. The images are also deleted after thirty days. Only the footage required as evidence in proceedings is retained, by court order. Anyone who uses images for other purposes should be punished.

With the multiplication of video surveillance systems across the country, what should we be paying attention to?
We need to be mindful of the resources this involves. In Portugal, unlike other countries, CCTV monitoring is limited to police forces. That will require additional human resources from the police, who may have to be taken from other duties-perhaps even from responding to crime. There are countries that use municipal police, private security or trained civilians for the monitoring component.

Should Portugal rethink how oversight of these systems is being done?
Some municipalities with approved systems have fewer residents than the number of people who pass through a large shopping centre each day. We have to move past this fundamentalism, otherwise it becomes yet another drain on police staffing.

Should these systems be accompanied by other strategies?
It is important to have eyes on the street, but at the same time the ability to intervene when there is a situation that needs correcting. If we cannot intervene, we are left with a false sense of security.

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