Mário Passos, president of the Municipal Council of Vila Nova de Famalicão, exercising the right of reply to news articles published by Opinião Pública and FAMA TV on August 31, 2026. The original news pieces, titled "Parking and neglect in maintenance: new urban center betrays small traders" and "Among loose stones and parking meters, local commerce in Famalicão fights to keep doors open," were presumably shared across the various platforms of these two media outlets, both owned by Editave Multimédia.
The mayor strongly contests the statement in the journalistic pieces that the requalification of the urban center "eliminated hundreds of parking spaces," classifying it as completely false. Mário Passos claims that the works regularized and reorganized the existing parking in Praça D. Maria II and Praça Mouzinho de Albuquerque, which currently have approximately 300 spaces, to which are added another 160 spaces next to CESPU, making a total greater than what existed previously.
The council president argues that the challenges of traditional commerce are not new and did not result from the renewal of the urban center. He defends that the municipality has played an active role in valorizing local commerce, in coordination with the Commercial and Industrial Association of Famalicão (ACIF), highlighting that electronic payments processed by SIBS increased from 102 million euros in 2023 to 126 million euros in 2025.
The editorial note from Opinião Pública clarifies that the original news article was prepared based on duly identified sources, maintaining respect for the truth of the facts and the principle of contradiction, and that the right of reply is published in accordance with the law.
