[4.1] Almada

Brief geographic and social description of the Council

Geographic Location and Organizational description


View from Almada towards Lisbon - the 25th April Bridge joins the two river banks

Located on the south bank of the Tagus River across from Lisbon, the City Council of Almada is integrated administratively in the district of Setúbal. It is also one of 18 municipalities within the Lisbon Metropolitan Region.

The City Council of Almada and the Municipal Services of Water and Sanitation (SMAS) employ approximately 2.000 people, and its competences include among others urban planning and management, traffic and mobility, environmental planning, waste collection and disposal, water and wastewater drainage and treatment, street cleansing, parks and green areas, primary schools and sports and cultural facilities.

The Council is mainly urban, has an area of 72 km2 and integrates within itself 11 local administrative areas (freguesias). Of the total territory, 24% corresponds to forestall area, namely the Caparica Coast Protected Landscape of the Fossil Cliff and the Medos Forest, which have a heritage of great natural richness.

The boundaries of the Council are in great part waterfront: the riverside, from Cacilhas to Trafaria, and the Atlantic Ocean front, with a beachfront that extends for approximately 13 km between Trafaria and Fonte da Telha.


Ginjal – riverfront area in Almada

Population and Economy

Almada has a population of 160 825 inhabitants (2001 Census), 49.4% of which are under 40 years old. The Council is predominantly tertiary (76% of the active population) – commerce and public services are the main employers.

Following the decline of the naval industry since the 80’s, tourism gained increasing strategic importance in what concerns the level of development of the Council. Tourism is centered on two main areas of interest: leisure and cultural offer centered on the local beaches and natural areas, on old town areas and on the Sanctuary of Christ the King. Almada receives around 8,000,000 visitors per year, mainly visiting the local beachfront. The primary sector represents only 1% and the secondary sector around 23%. At present around 50% of the active population resident in the council also works here.


The Convent of Capuchos

Environmental Concerns

The CCA elaborated policies to guarantee the preservation of the environment and the safeguard of the planet and acted addressing these concerns. In accordance with the principles of sustainable development, Almada has ratified both the Aalborg Chart, also known as the European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign, and the Aalborg Commitments. The CCA has also triggered the process of elaborating its own Municipal Environmental Plan as part of Local Agenda 21 (Almada 21).


The Council's sensitive receives millions of visitors per year



View towards Costa da Caparica

Activities in the Environmental Field and Sustainable Development
This commitment towards the principles of sustainable development is made in an unequivocal way, as in the strategy defined by Almada for the first decade of the new millennium: the “Decade of Sustainable and Solidary Development”.

In order to attain the goal of “Sustainable and Solidary Development”, Almada has intervened and taken action along six strategic lines:

  • Develop the educational, cultural and sportive systems.
  • Create new forms of mobility; improve accessibility and parking areas.
  • Promote urban redesign, environmental and local development.
  • Create opportunities for young people; further develop solidarity and security of the population.
  • Improve information to population and promote their participation.
  • Protect, renew and improve public services, giving value to employees input.

There are many projects within these six strategic lines of development, however, one could highlight the following: The Ecological Footprint, involving work on sustainable consumption; the monitoring of Green House Gases emissions and the Definition of a Local Strategy for Climatic Change; the Management of the Municipal Energy Bill; the European Green Procurement Project setting up a database on sustainable procurement; the Environmental Certification of the Municipality by EMAS and the Efficiency Programme as a ‘best practice campaign’; within the municipal services. Almada has also been involved in a number of European Projects under different EU funding programmes.