Ricardo Gomes, 57 years old, had worked with tires his whole life and received a pension of only 400 euros, according to a report by Renascença published in March 2023. His testimony was collected in the Municipal Neighborhood of Viseu, during an official visit by President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister António Costa to the neighborhood that was being rehabilitated. When questioned about the situation, Ricardo stated that "they don't do anything for us," expressing little hope of improvement.
The neighborhood, inaugurated in 1948, was undergoing a rehabilitation operation funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan, among other funds. The intervention, which began in 2020, planned the rehabilitation of 40 dwellings for the families already residing there and the creation of 38 new units for low-income households. Rents would be calculated later based on the income of each family.
Ricardo was not the only resident in financial difficulty. Maria Teresa, 79 years old, received 417 euros in pension after working as a warehouse employee, and was already making choices in her food purchases, such as reducing the purchase of fish, to manage her budget. Adelaide Gaspar stated she had an income below 300 euros and depended on her son's help. The central heating installed in the rehabilitated houses was, for several residents, practically out of the question due to gas costs.
The person responsible for the municipal housing company Habisolvis explained that rents would only be updated after rehabilitation and taking into account the residents' income. The report noted that the amounts reported corresponded to the time of its publication, in 2023, and that pensions had since been subject to different updates.
