The Lisbon City Council’s expenditure for World Youth Day (WYD) amounted to 33.979 million euros, “one million less than what was foreseen in the original global budget” as determined by the municipality’s president, the municipality announced on Thursday.
In a statement, the authority led by Carlos Moedas (PSD) said that the expenditure of 33.979 million euros was lower than the initially planned 35 million euros and that the Lisbon City Council supported with the amount finally determined “additional costs of 1.3 million euros due to additional requests submitted throughout the process”.
These additional costs include rent “of screen, light and sound for the stage in Parque Tejo-Trancão”, of the “RX system, portals and metal detectors for major events” it is from “tents and chairs for the Tagus-Trancão Park”like “additional requirements for TV channels and newsroom structures in Parque Tejo and Parque Eduardo VII”.
According to the chamber, “the investment was 4.4% below the estimate”, equivalent to one million euros, a reduction achieved by the “decrease in investment value on the altar stage” and “strict management of contracts and respective price revisions”.
“Of the global amount of 34 million euros, approximately 23.9 million euros are investments that remain for the future of the city”the note reads, namely the Tagus Park, the bicycle-pedestrian bridge over the Trancão River, equipment and fleet for the Sapadores Fire Department, the Municipal Police and the Municipal Civil Protection and works in public spaces.
In Parque Tejo-Trancão, the expenditure of 16.35 million euros was divided between the rehabilitation of the Beirolas landfill (8 million), design and construction of the podium (fixed part) and the roof (1.28 million), foundations of the stage (1.2 million). million), Tejo-Trancão park infrastructure (1.27 million), inspection (600 thousand euros) and bicycle-pedestrian bridge (4 million).
The municipality assured that “in all processes, and despite the fact that the law expressly exempts this”, it “encouraged prior consultation to identify suppliers and assess market values”, duly “documented in the procedures carried out”.
The chamber specified that of the 236 procurement procedures, 15.30 million euros took place under the “general regime-public procurement”, 14.40 million euros through the “state budget law regime” and 2.2 million euros through the “general regime-other”.
“The exemption from prior inspection by the Court did not constitute an absence of supervision by that court. Information relating to all WYD proceedings was sent to the Court during the process for the purpose of simultaneous inspection”refers in the note and adds to it “The WYD final report will soon be presented at the Lisbon City Council”.
The council note assumes that “the economic returns of the WYD, for the country and for Lisbon, will continue to be assessed” and that “the responsibility for this research lies with the organizer of the event, the World Youth Days Foundation”.
In terms of the global perception of Lisbon, the chamber emphasized that “the data confirms that during the event on social media there were more than 234 thousand mentions per day of WYD and the city of Lisbon” and that through the media “A conservative estimate estimates that WYD and Lisbon were seen in more than 500 million homes around the world.”
“In terms of Tourism, the month of July ended with Lisbon growing by 22.3% in the number of guests, 19.4% in the number of nights and 35.0% in total turnover compared to the same period in 2022”pointed out the municipality, adding that “Lisbon was the municipality that grew the most in the number of overnight stays, almost 20%”.
The municipal council memorandum also focuses on the works that remain for the city “works in public spaces that were necessary and had been postponed for years”, namely the preservation of the Columns of Parque Eduardo VII and the statue commemorating April 25 by master João Cutileiro, the Heróis do Mar promenade in Parque das Nações, repair of sanitary facilities in the city and investments in public drinking fountains in Lisbon, with the doubling of drinking water points in the city.
The chamber emphasized that “Lisbon set an example and was exemplary,” as Pope Francis said “this was the best organized day,” and thanked the workers and municipal companies “involved in this epic organization and the citizens.”
WYD is the largest gathering of young Catholics from around the world with the Pope and took place this year in Lisbon in the first week of August, with the attendance of approximately 1.5 million people.
Source: DN
