The Administrative Court of Lisbon has provisionally sided with the Pessoas-Animais-Natureza (PAN) party, urgently granting an injunction against the Lisbon City Council concerning the removal of the party’s political billboards along the central axis connecting Avenida da República, Avenida de Berna, and Praça do Campo Pequeno, the party announced in a statement.
The party highlighted the specific billboard advocating the abolition of bullfighting, which reads: “Bullfights only in bed and with consent.”
“The PAN applauds this decision by the Administrative Court of Lisbon. Beyond the excessively short 24-hour timeframe for removing the billboards—ordered by Councillor Diogo Moura of Carlos Moedas’ administration—the court recognized the harm it posed to the party’s interests while exercising its political rights, particularly as another local election and its campaign approach,” stated Inês de Sousa Real in the communiqué.
The PAN has communicated with the municipality to “reinstall the party’s propaganda supports, which were abusively removed, in their original locations within 24 hours.”
“Alternatively, the municipality must inform the party of the location of the supports so that services can be contracted for their transport and reinstallation, with such costs borne by the municipality. For each additional day the propaganda supports remain absent from their posted locations, due indemnification from the Lisbon City Council to the PAN will accrue,” it added.
In late May, the party Nova Direita accused Lisbon’s Mayor, Carlos Moedas, of “political instrumentalization” for ordering the removal of party posters in central Lisbon months before the local elections, alleging an attempt to “weaken political competitors.”
On February 24, according to a dispatch seen by Lusa, the Lisbon City Council notified various parties to remove their political panels and posters from Lisbon’s “central axis,” including areas like Marquês de Pombal, Entrecampos, Campo Pequeno squares, and Avenida da República.
The municipality justified the removal request by citing the presence of several buildings classified as monuments or of public interest along the central axis. Additionally, the “Avenidas Novas Plan,” which aims to “safeguard significant areas of tree and vegetation” between Marquês de Pombal and Campo Grande and create a “more harmonious setting” for citizens, is underway.
