Following a closed-door meeting of the municipal executive today, Rui Moreira discussed the ongoing concerns regarding traditional vendors at a city market. This issue arose when, in the summer of 2024, the Administration of the Ports of Douro, Leixões, and Viana do Castelo (APDL) requested the cancellation of their licenses through a letter to the Historic Center parish council.
After resolving the responsibility issue with APDL, there remained a matter concerning vendors’ licenses, which are set to expire this December.
“By December, the next executive will have to choose between two options: organizing a public auction to lease the spaces or holding a draw. This draw wouldn’t be limited to the traditional vendors and would be open to anyone,” explained the mayor.
Therefore, the municipality proposed forming an association with all vendors, which Rui Moreira noted are “families who have done this work for a long time,” contributing to the city’s “cultural and social heritage.”
“This proposal ensures that neither the upcoming municipal executive nor the vendors face the void we sought to avoid,” concluded the mayor.
Representing the PSD, Mariana Ferreira Macedo supported the proposal, emphasizing the preservation of “the Porto soul and city character,” maintained by “these deeply rooted individuals.”
Socialist Rosário Gambôa highlighted the measure as “politically significant,” as it ensures that “those who have always been there, the natives of Ribeira, can continue their work.”
Joana Rodrigues from CDU expressed initial concern about the agenda’s mention of a private market creation. However, she found the discussion “very enlightening,” with the proposal “defending the city’s heritage,” preventing “private interests from appropriating that space.”
According to the proposal accessed by Lusa, “all economic agents with assigned selling spaces at ‘Mercadinho da Ribeira’ requested the Porto City Council’s authorization to run the market as a private entity,” establishing a non-profit private law association named “Associação Mercadinho da Ribeira.”
The proposal notes, “Despite losing its primacy due to emerging new hubs, the market survived through its popular and traditional character. The 20 vendors operating the market have remained the same.”
The document, signed by councilor Filipa Correia Pinto, responsible for Economic Activities, proposed to dissolve Mercadinho da Ribeira as a municipal public market, authorizing the promoter “Associação Mercadinho da Ribeira” to install and manage a private market of twenty stalls at the same location.
“The Office of Fairs and Markets of Porto Municipality has no objections to the proposed private market setup and management,” it states.
The market attracts “a large number of tourists” daily and operates from Thursday to Sunday, between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. during winter months, and from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. in summer months, “primarily selling products related to Porto.”
