Key figures — as of 2026-09-02: Portugal reaches 171 detention places by September 2026, up from 79 before this year's works — versus the 300 beds originally pledged in February 2025 — meaning capacity lands at just 57% of target, a 129-bed shortfall; the €30 million purpose-built centres promised for June 2026 have still not broken ground.
The number that undercuts the pledge
Portugal's Ministry of Internal Administration has confirmed to public broadcaster RTP that the country's network of migrant detention facilities will reach 171 places this month. The government confirmed to RTP Antena 1 that next month the centres through which migrants illegally in Portugal pass will reach 171 places — a number that falls short of the 300 places originally planned with the two temporary installation centres. For a government that has made faster returns of irregular migrants a central plank of its immigration reform, that gap matters: fewer beds means fewer people can be legally held pending deportation.
From two purpose-built centres to a patchwork of container units
In February 2025 the Government approved the construction of two temporary installation centres with capacity for 300 people, budgeted at around €30 million and financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan, with a completion deadline of 30 June 2026. One was slated for Odivelas near Lisbon, the other for the North, though the exact site was never fixed. Those centres never materialised. As officials later admitted, the new units never moved past the Recovery and Resilience Plan stage, and some of the proposed locations were contested by local councils.
Faced with that delay, the government pivoted to expanding existing sites instead of building new ones. A secretary of state explained that the country needs between 300 and 600 places but had only 80 left by the previous government across the two Temporary Installation Centres in Porto and Lisbon.
Where the extra beds actually come from
The bulk of the increase comes from Porto, the country's only true CIT. The PSP moved ahead with a container-based solution at the Santo António Housing Unit, adding roughly 80 extra places. Before any of this year's work, figures given to RTP by the PSP and the Ministry of Internal Administration showed just 79 places across Porto, Beja and Faro.
The rest comes from smaller, uneven gains. Expansion works took place at the Porto CIT alongside refurbishment at Faro and Beja — though at the Algarve post capacity actually falls, while the Alentejo site gains beds for the first time. Beja's EECIT moves from zero beds to four. Lisbon, meanwhile, sees no fresh construction: the PSP now sets its official capacity at 25 beds, with no recent works mentioned at that EECIT. The works in Faro and Beja were expected to wrap by the end of August, with the Porto expansion on the same timeline.
GrowIN analysis: what 57% of target actually means
Run the numbers and the shortfall is stark. Against the 300-bed target announced in February 2025, 171 places represents 57% delivery — a 43% capacity gap, or 129 missing beds, achieved not through the promised new-build centres but through stopgap container units and refurbishments at facilities never designed for this scale. The €30 million earmarked for the two purpose-built CITs remains, as far as public records show, unspent on actual construction — money committed to a 2026 deadline that has already passed without a foundation poured.
Why this matters for foreigners in Portugal
Detention capacity is the bottleneck behind Portugal's return system. Without enough beds, migrants flagged for removal after a negative asylum decision or an irregular-entry finding are often released pending a final decision — precisely the dynamic officials point to when explaining low deportation numbers. The government has simultaneously pushed a tougher removal law through parliament: the reform ends automatic suspension of removal proceedings when someone lodges an asylum claim, letting the two processes run in parallel, and extends the entry-ban period following compulsory removal. Tighter rules paired with a capacity shortfall creates friction: more people legally subject to removal, but nowhere near enough space to hold them while it happens. For anyone navigating residency status changes, it's worth tracking alongside the broader shifts covered in our visas hub, since enforcement capacity often shapes how strictly other rules get applied in practice.
What to watch next
Watch for confirmation that the Faro and Beja works actually closed out by end-August as promised, and whether parliament's debate on the new removal law — still working through committee — ties additional funding to genuine new-build CITs rather than further container fixes. As GrowIN Portugal Editorial puts it: a detention system running at just over half its promised capacity cannot deliver the fast returns the government keeps promising.
Foreigners with pending residency or removal cases should assume enforcement capacity remains constrained for now, and seek professional legal advice before assuming any outcome either way.