More than 30,000 students now pay the entire cost of school lunches, instead of 50%, in the new PSD/CDS-PP/IL proposal. Carlos Moedas renewed the PS’s free provision last year. Now, he’s against it.
The PSD/CDS-PP/IL leadership in the Lisbon Chamber wants eliminate the 50% discount in meals for students not covered by social action, in force since 2024, with criticism from the opposition, which defends universal gratuity.
At issue is news this Friday about a proposal from the Councilor for Education, Rodrigo Mello Gonçalves (IL), who is going to next week’s council meeting and which excludes the current 50% discount on school meals for children and young people who do not benefit from School Social Action (ASE) — around 60% of students who attend public schools in Lisbon — in the next academic year.
A proposal maintains 100% contribution to school meals for students at levels A and B ASE and those with Special Health Needs (NSE), as well as a 50% discount for ASE C level students.
One Meal in public schools costs around 1.50 euroswithout a discount, but, in Lisbon, since 2024, the more than 30 thousand students without ASE pay only half, after the approval of a PS proposal in the City Council.
Moedas renewed the measure last year. “It’s a political choice”
The measure was renewed in 2025, again at the PS’s proposal, and also for 2026, this time at the proposal of the leadership of Carlos Moedas (PSD), presented in 2025. For socialist councilor Alexandra Leitão, this happened because it was an election year, with the executive now returning to do as in 2023 and 2024, presenting a proposal, to which Lusa had access, that excludes that reduction.
“If we compare it with support that is being given to incredibly elitist events, such as ‘Chic-Nic’, or even municipal fee forgiveness that is being given to events whose return at this point is already very debatable, I think it is a question of political choice where to put the expense, because it is not such a high expense for a Chamber like Lisbon“, defended Alexandra Leitão, speaking to Lusa.
Leitão was referring to the picnic that recently took place at Parque Eduardo VII, associated with the program “Um Domingo na Avenida”, announced as an experience with open-air shows, cuisine from restaurants on Avenida da Liberdade and picnic baskets reserved for those who paid between 150 and 300 euros, with a support of 75 thousand euros from CML Lisboa for the event promoted by a private company.
At the next meeting of councilors, the leadership will also present a proposal to exempt the Kalorama music festival from paying municipal taxes againat a value not yet known.
The socialist councilor stated that the party “cannot vote in favor” of eliminating the discount and added that she will present a proposed amendment next week with a view to making school meals completely free for all students, a measure that was included in her electoral program for the city.
“Unacceptable”
In the same sense, the council of the BE accused the majority leadership of Moedas of taking a “political option” that “represents the worst that can be done at the current moment”, in which “families face a situation of enormous hardship, marked by the brutal increase in the cost of living, with a special impact on essential goods, fuel and, above all, housing”.
In a statement, BE considered it “unacceptable that, in a city with the cost of living levels of Lisbon, measures are being taken that worsen inequality and put even more pressure on family budgets” and added that it will present a proposed amendment that would ensure universal free school meals covering all children and young people from kindergarten to 12th grade.
Also the Book spoke out against the measure in question, which he considered “counterproductive”, highlighting, in a statement sent to Lusa, that “this level of ‘savings’ will be residual in terms of the municipality’s management” and defending “robust policies of school social support and unequivocal support for families in Lisbon”.
Already the PCP argued that, in the current context of rising costs of living, “what would be expected from the municipality was the increase and reinforcement of School Social Action measures and not their reduction”.
Considering that Lisbon has the conditions for this reinforcement, “all that is missing is the political will of those who, by cutting back on education and support for families, have been wasting resources, whether to feed clientele (an example of which is the recent public support for private events), or by granting tax exemptions worth millions to the city’s highest-income families and entertainment multinationals, among other examples”, he added.
At the next council meeting, the PCP will once again present the proposal “There is a taste – school meals in August”, which guaranteed the extension of school meals to the month of August, for children who need them, and which will no longer be guaranteed in 2027 with the predictable approval of the proposal from Carlos Moedas’ leadership.
“Total insensitivity”
For the He arrivesthe CML proposal “is completely socially insensitive”, therefore expressing a “clear position” against the measure. “The Chamber ‘spends’ millions of euros in support for LGBT organizations, 80,000 euros in luxury restaurants for left-wing caviar film festivals and then it will touch our children’s food”, criticized Chega in a written response to Lusa.
ASE level A is granted to the most needy students with a family reference income of up to 3,759 euros, B up to 7,519 euros per year and C up to 12,783 euros.
