Portugal’s Minister for Internal Affairs, Maria Lúcia Amaral, has vowed that the government has “done everything” to ensure that the travel chaos which paralysed Lisbon airport last month “does not happen again”.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday during the debate on the 2026 State Budget, Amaral admitted the situation at Lisbon airport remains “critical” but stressed that the fault does not lie solely with the Public Security Police (PSP), now responsible for border checks.
According to the minister, the responsibility “is also attributable to the management of the technological means that were and are required” by the new European border control system for non-EU citizens.
The minister was referring to the EU’s new Entry/Exit System, which came into effect on October 12 across Schengen countries. The system digitally records the entry and exit of travellers from outside the EU, replacing traditional passport stamps, and has caused long queues, especially in Lisbon.
Thousands of passengers have faced queues stretching for hours at passport control, with frustration boiling over as the system fails to provide a quick entry and exit process.
Amaral said a special task force has been created to tackle the issue, bringing together representatives from the Internal Security System, the PSP, and airport management.
“We’ve been following the situation very closely daily, together with the Internal Administration, Infrastructures and the Ministry of the Presidency,” she said.
Regarding the PSP’s new National Foreigners and Borders Unit (UNEF), which began operating in August, the minister said that “a deadline of six months has been set for all of UNEF’s territorial structures to be complete”.
“By then, I believe that the UNEF will be definitively constituted,” she said.
