More than 1.8 million families live in the 115 Portuguese municipalities that this year received last November the Green Flag of “Family‑Responsible Municipality” for investing in the development of an integrated policy to support families. Fourteen of the twenty most populous municipalities in the country stand out for effective practices supporting families and will receive, on 19 November in Coimbra, the “Family‑Responsible Municipality” flag.
In its 17th edition, the Observatory of Family‑Responsible Municipalities (OAFR) distinguishes 115 municipalities with the Green Flag of “Family‑Responsible Municipality”, a number that represents a 5% increase compared to the 110 entities awarded in the previous edition.
This recognition results from a survey carried out by the OAFR, an initiative of the Portuguese Large Families Association, whose main patron is the Millennium bcp Foundation.
According to Filipa Baker, coordinator of OAFR, “the continuity of support for families reflects the current context we are living in, as well as the response capacity of municipalities, confirming proximity as a decisive factor in public policies.” “Local governments have indeed been providing responses with relevant impacts for thousands of families; therefore, it is important to strengthen and disseminate the good practices that already exist for the benefit of all: municipalities and residents. Nevertheless, many challenges still lie ahead, among them ensuring that the concept of equity is always embedded both in the design of new measures and in the reformulation of those already implemented.”
In the overview of the country, one highlight goes to fourteen of the twenty most populous municipalities in Portugal, which stand out for effective practices supporting families and will receive, on 19 November in Coimbra, the “Family‑Responsible Municipality” flag. These are Lisbon, Sintra, Cascais, Loures, Braga, Amadora, Matosinhos, Oeiras, Odivelas, Coimbra, Maia, Vila Franca de Xira, Santa Maria da Feira and Vila Nova de Famalicão.
Six municipalities have received the OAFR distinction for 17 consecutive years: Angra do Heroísmo, Cantanhede, Torres Novas, Torres Vedras, Vila de Rei, and Vila Real. These receive a flag with four clovers, each one representing four years of distinction. For the first time, six Portuguese municipalities receive the distinction for “family‑friendly” policies: Chamusca, Chaves, Mafra, Matosinhos, Viana do Castelo, and Vila do Conde.
The district with the highest number of distinguished municipalities is Coimbra (15 municipalities), followed by Porto and Lisbon (12 each), Aveiro (11), Santarém (9), and Braga, Faro, and Guarda (8 each). Madeira and the district of Bragança do not include any of their municipalities among those distinguished in this edition of the OAFR, whose data refer to the year 2024.
What do municipalities do for families?
Of the 115 municipalities distinguished in the 17th edition of the OAFR, 104 (90%) provide a Family Water Tariff, while 106 (92%) offer a Social Water Tariff and 111 (97%) offer Family Municipal Property Tax (IMI).
There is also significant concern among the awarded municipalities in responding to the housing crisis. A total of 104 municipalities support the rehabilitation of degraded housing, 63 support new construction, and 102 support rental schemes.
Arcos de Valdevez, for example, has a rental‑support policy with different programs, including municipal rent subsidies, affordable rent program, youth rental support, and supported rental. In 2024, 215 families were supported in the municipality. In the same municipality, there are also several incentives for youth housing, including exemption from IMI and IMT and a reduction in fees for building or rehabilitating homes for young people between 18 and 40 years old.
Vila de Rei has a Municipal Program to Support the Rehabilitation of Degraded Housing that offers construction materials and fee reductions to owners wishing to recover houses in poor condition. This measure covers the entire municipal territory, and support can reach 50% for families registered in the municipality.
In the case of Almodôvar, new construction is promoted through the sale of lots for urban construction to individuals aged 18 to 40, with evaluation criteria considering household composition and the number of children living with the applicant.
Also in the Alentejo region, in the municipality of Gavião, families are encouraged to settle with financial support of €2,500, either for construction on their own land or for purchasing housing, provided that one member of the couple is up to 35 years of age.
In the area of support for motherhood and fatherhood, 77 municipalities (67%) promote the creation of childcare equipment banks, with items that can be reused, such as cribs/beds, strollers, playpens, bouncers, high chairs, and toys. Although not universal, the “Baby Bank” project of the Cascais municipality is implemented in two locations and aims to provide free support to pregnant mothers and babies up to 3/4 years of age.
Regarding support for families with chronically ill people, people with disabilities, or dependent elderly members, 112 municipalities report providing home‑care support, either directly or through support to institutions providing this service. Coimbra City Council, through its “A Table for Grandparents” project, has been providing free meals to vulnerable and isolated elderly people on weekends and holidays, days not covered by other existing responses.
Support for informal caregivers is part of the agenda of 77 of the municipalities distinguished by the OAFR. In the North, for example, Matosinhos has a pool of informal caregivers offering 4 hours per day consecutively, or twice a week for minimum periods of 2 hours per day.
Eighty municipalities (69.6%) declare offering the possibility of on‑demand transport as a complement to the public transport network or in cases where it does not exist. Oeiras, for example, offers a free regular or occasional transport service to residents with reduced mobility through adapted vehicles, enabling greater autonomy in daily life by facilitating access to various community resources such as educational institutions, vocational training, physical rehabilitation services, and socio‑professional reintegration, or by providing diverse support to dependent elderly residents.
In the cultural field, 56 municipalities (48.7%) state that they have regulated guidelines regarding ticketing policy for cultural, leisure, and free‑time activities. Since 2022, Lisbon has offered free admission to more than 40 cultural venues for all residents aged up to 23 and aged 65 or over, broadening access to cultural facilities and spaces.
Support for people in situations of social vulnerability is also a central concern of these local governments and is identified in 100% of the distinguished municipalities. This support includes the donation of food items (reported in 112 municipalities), the donation of medicines (reported in 94 municipalities), and support for payment of expenses such as water, electricity, or rent (reported in 113 cities).
The Observatory survey
The OAFR, created in 2008 by the Portuguese Large Families Association, has as its main objectives monitoring, rewarding, and disseminating the best practices of Portuguese municipalities regarding family responsibility policies for families in general.
In this 17th edition, a total of 155 municipalities responded to the survey, in which municipal family policies were analyzed in areas such as support for motherhood and fatherhood; support for families with special needs; basic services; education and training; housing and urban planning; transport; health; culture, sports, leisure and free time; cooperation and social participation, among others.
The award ceremony for the Green Flags recognizing the “Most Family‑Responsible Municipalities” will take place on 19 November in Coimbra, in the auditorium of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra, at 2:30 p.m.
Millennium bcp Foundation – Main Patron of the Observatory of Family‑Responsible Municipalities
The Millennium bcp Foundation’s mission is to contribute to the development of society, promoting the defense of cultural and social values and maintaining a solid commitment to sustainability principles. With this purpose, the Foundation seeks to support initiatives that not only strengthen the cultural and social identity of communities but also broaden access to knowledge and encourage inclusion and social cohesion.
In the field of Culture, the Foundation is dedicated to valuing historical and artistic heritage, promoting its restoration, conservation, and dissemination, to guarantee that this legacy is preserved for present and future generations. In addition, it supports projects that enrich the cultural offering, encouraging creativity, innovation, and diversity in the national artistic landscape.
In the area of Social Solidarity, the Millennium bcp Foundation invests in strengthening and empowering institutions that work for the benefit of the most vulnerable communities, promoting their autonomy and sustainable development. At the same time, it recognizes the importance of knowledge and scientific research as drivers of progress and innovation, supporting initiatives that stimulate the production and dissemination of knowledge in different fields.
Through these actions, the Millennium bcp Foundation reaffirms its commitment to a sustainable and inclusive development model, contributing to a more balanced, culturally rich, and socially responsible society.
