The Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), presented by then Prime Minister António Costa as the European "bazooka" that would be largely executed by local municipalities, ended with a final deadline of August 31st to complete works or have them at 90% execution. Six years later, mayors from across the country identify a series of problems that hindered the execution of European funds, including excessive bureaucracy, public tenders left vacant due to lack of companies and labor, overly tight deadlines and delays from the Institute for Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU).
Municipalities point to IHRU as one of the main obstacles to executing housing funds. In Oeiras, Vice-President Francisco Gonçalves states that the municipality lost 104.4 million euros from the PRR, mainly in housing, due to delays of more than a year in project validation by the institute, which lacks the technical capacity to assess the volume of investment. In Amadora, President Vítor Ferreira highlights that IHRU took more than a year to respond to the housing construction process, with the application submitted in early 2024 and the responsibility term arriving only in December 2025. The president of Alcanena City Council, Rui Anastácio, considers that "IHRU received a poisoned gift" and that the structure was not prepared to manage this volume of investment.
The lack of contractors and labor in the construction sector was another significant problem. José Ribau Esteves, president of the Centro Regional Coordination and Development Commission, explains that many vacant tenders began to emerge, with companies unable to respond to the increase in construction demand. In Leiria, the January and February storms worsened the situation, with regional contractors suffering impacts on their construction sites and their own homes. Rui Anastácio also notes that overly tight deadlines generated an "inflationary effect on prices," with construction costs rising from around one thousand euros per square meter to two to three thousand euros.
Municipalities like Amadora and Lisbon successfully executed PRR projects, using their own funds to advance works before formal approval. In Amadora, the executive launched contracts without waiting for the European funding, benefiting from a "financial cushion" that allowed them to secure constructors at an early stage. In Lisbon, Vice-President Gonçalo Reis highlights the 905 million euros invested, with the PRR assuming 584 million, enabling "optimal execution" in housing and other facilities. However, José Ribau Esteves warns that "the overwhelming majority of councils do not have the financial conditions to sustain execution without community funds," anticipating difficulties in the next community frameworks, where the 100% PRR funding will no longer be the norm.
