In 1994, the process of exploiting the areas of the Port of Lisbon not used in its core activity began, which was and still is "port operation" - see definition in art. 3, no. 1 of Decree-Law no. 336/98 of 3 November, diploma that approved the Statutes of APL - Administração do Porto de Lisboa, S.A. (Port of Lisbon Authority)

It was therefore chosen to confer the areas, plots and buildings no longer used in the core business, some economic and financial utility, as a means of leveraging investments in the port area, thus allowing private individuals to exploit them for various purposes, such as offices, restaurants, etc....  

Such a management policy was initially ensured through the signing of protocols and from the publication of the aforementioned legal diploma, with recourse to the conclusion of concession contracts and the granting of dominial licences, as a result of which the Port Authority was given powers to define the "public interest for the purposes of concession" with regards to "complementary, subsidiary or accessory" activities - art. 3, numbers 1 and 2, paragraph a) of the above mentioned legal diploma.

With the transposition into national law of Directive 2000/60/EC, of the European Parliament and Council, of 23 October (Water Framework Directive), through the publication of Law 58/2005, of 29 December and Decree-Law 226-A/2007, of 31 May, APL, S.A. (the Port Authority), now assigns its domain spaces in two different ways, through a public tender or through a competitive procedure, with or without pre-emptive rights. 

The interested party who wishes to be attributed a property or space of the public, water or general domain, under Port jurisdiction, should, in the case of vacant premises, plots or spaces, as a general principle, take part in a public tender, or, when permitted, submit a request organised in accordance with the provisions of paragraph a), of paragraph 5, of art. 21, of Decree-Law No. 226-A/2007, of 31 May, addressed to the Directorate of Desenvolvimento do Território (Property Management) of this Port Authority, located in building Infante D. Henrique, 1399-012 Lisbon, or via e-mail geral@portodelisboa.pt.

Clients already installed have the right of pre-emption when wishing to continue to operate in the premises / spaces.

In any case, please consult the Edicts on this website.