Budget approved by Coins for 3 stages in Lisbon is 705 thousand euros
Six months before World Youth Day (WYD) bring the expected 1.5 million pilgrims to Lisbon, it’s not the event, but as you can tell what makes the news. Last week, after the cost of the stage for the final mass was known, a project was announced for one of the key moments of WYD, the reception of the Pope, which would cost more than 2 million euros. It was, as confirmed by the Lisbon Chamber, one of the four versions rejected by Coins for not fitting the budget.
DN knows that the total budget approved by the Lisbon City Council for the three structures that will be built in the city, one in Parque Eduardo VII, another in Terreiro do Paço and another in Alameda, does not exceed 705 thousand euros plus VAT.
Similar to what happened, for example, in Madrid, the Day in Lisbon will have the highlights (including the Welcome to the Pope and the Via Sacra) in central locations in the city, with the capacity to receive the crowd of faithful expected for the event, Portuguese and foreigners. In the chosen locations, they will be assembled according to the structures, complying with the past specifications. The final project for Parque Eduardo VII has yet to be approved, since the formulas already developed did not fit into the budget.
What is certain is that the three stages set up in Lisbon will have to meet all the requirements, namely capacity and safety, staying within the established limit for expenses: the said 705 thousand euros plus VAT. Remember that, six months before the event, more than half a million pilgrims are already registered to come to Portugal between the 1st and 6th of August.
Palco do Trancão is the size of a football field
Last week, after knowing the value of the altar-stage where the final Mass of the visit to the Pope will take place, the head of the WYD Foundation, D. Américo Aguiar, came to promise that the expenses would be reviewed in meetings that would take place this week , between the Church, Lisbon City Council, Urban Rehabilitation Society and other institutions involved in the organization – which also includes the government, which has a budget of 37 million allocated to the event and in 2021 has appointed former Lisbon councilor José Sá Fernandes to a committee to monitor the Journey -, in order to try to lower costs. Confirming, even so, the terms of reference, “similar to those of the other journeys”. And emphasizing that this review could not “call into question the essential”.
In question were the 4.2 million that Moedas budgeted – of the 35 million approved by the CML for the expenses of the municipality with the World Youth Day -, for the altar-stage of Parque Tejo. The work was delivered, with the Expresso confirmed, to the company that presented the least expensive proposal, Mota-Engil. Other projects taken to the Coins table to comply with the terms of reference came to cream twice as much.
A lot of money? No doubt. But it is necessary to understand what is awarded – and that, as the auxiliary bishop himself assumed, was passed to the Lisbon municipality in the terms of reference, replicating the requirements of previous journeys.
Designed to support 2,000 people simultaneously (1,000 bishops, 300 concelebrants, 200 choir members, 90 orchestra musicians, 30 sign language translators from different languages, technical staff and guests), the stage-altar has the size of 5 thousand square meters. It is the equivalent of a second division football field.
To give you an idea, the stage set up for the end of the year at Terreiro do Paço is less than 300 square meters: it is seventeen times smaller than the one where the final WYD mass will be celebrated. And this structure will be permanent, with the intention that it will help to energize that area of the city.
With estimated costs of around 80 million euros, distributed by the government, Lisbon and Loures, in this order of magnitude, it is expected that the World Youth Day will bring to the country an immediate return more than four times greater than the expenses: about 350 million euros.
