Latest news and stories about siresp in Portugal for expats and residents.
The government promises to make a “very specific” announcement “within a few days” regarding the Integrated System of Emergency and Security Networks of Portugal (SIRESP).
Luís Neves explains that damage caused by severe weather is also an increased risk factor this year for the spread of wildfires.
Since February, the Government has held the report from the working group tasked with finding an alternative to the state's emergency communications network. SIRESP failed during the April 2025 blackout.
The government will, “as soon as possible”, acquire Siresp equipment to provide parish council presidents with the communications equipment needed to deal with situations like the one the country is currently experiencing.
Mafalda Anjos says the Government reacted late to the warnings and failed to prepare the emergency services, also criticising persistent problems with SIRESP. The CNN Portugal commentator says the political communication was 'lamentable' and inadequate in the face of the people's suffering.
MEP Bruno Gonçalves sent a written question to the European Commission, saying that recent bad weather exposed “a failure of the national system” — SIRESP.
The national commander for emergency and civil protection admitted on Friday that there were intermittent faults in the SIRESP network following Storm Kristin, but said they were rectified using mobile stations. “We had intermittent faults in the SIRESP network,” Mário Silvestre acknowledged at a conference (SIRESP — Integrated Emergency and Security Network of Portugal) ...
Rui Rocha, Secretary of State for Civil Protection, acknowledges that SIRESP 'may not have been operating at full capacity' at all times, but that it was 'the only means of communication' in many circumstances.
Problems reported by GNR officers are limited to difficulties establishing a connection on the first attempt or interference on calls, situations that are quickly resolved.
SIRESP failures are inevitable because the system has reached its capacity limits, warns the president of the Association for Protection and Rescue. João Paulo Saraiva says the cabled connections of the repeater stations remain the main problem and calls for a return to 'minilinks' between these communication systems.
André Morais, a Civil Protection specialist, recalls that Portugal's Integrated Emergency and Security Networks System (SIRESP) has, “for many years”, had grey areas where there is no coverage.
