In the parliamentary hearing on the proposed State Budget Law for 2026 and questioned by the PCP about the declassification and closure of cinemas, Margarida Balseiro Lopes said that "the issue of declassification is at the top of the government's priorities".

According to the minister, a working group was created with the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual (ICA) and the General Inspectorate of Cultural Activities (IGAC) "to assess the best way to respond to the increased demand this year for the reclassification of cinemas".

The Lusa news agency reported in September that the districts of Beja, Bragança, and Portalegre do not have regular, diverse, and daily commercial cinema screenings, and that there are cinema complexes in the country, within shopping centres, where the reclassification of cinema activity in several screens has been requested.

According to IGAC, at the time, Arrábida Shopping, in Vila Nova de Gaia, was authorized to reclassify cinema activity in nine of the shopping center's 20 screens, due to "economic viability" issues. According to IGAC, this year there were also requests for the reclassification of other cinema screens in shopping centers in Viana do Castelo and Braga.

In Beja, the Melius Beja cinema, the only commercial cinema in the entire Alentejo district, closed in August for renovations, with no reopening date set, following an inspection by IGAC (General Inspectorate of Cultural Activities). NOS Cinemas, the country's largest exhibitor, closed its cinemas at MaiaShopping, in the Porto district, and at Tavira Grand Plaza, in the Faro district.

In October, Público newspaper reported that NOS Cinemas also closed six cinemas it operated at Fórum Viseu and that the exhibitor Cineplace closed cinemas at Algarve Shopping, in Guia, Madeira Shopping, in Funchal, and Rio Sul Shopping, in Seixal.

According to ICA (Portuguese Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual), in 2024 there were 563 cinemas, of which 172 were concentrated in the Lisbon region, 166 in the northern region and 122 in the central region. The remaining 38 were in the Alentejo region, 36 in the Algarve, 15 in the Azores, and 14 in Madeira.

The most recent ICA data from 2025, compiled up to September and which may not reflect all of these closures, indicates that the commercial exhibition circuit had 550 cinemas.

Margarida Balseiro Lopes was speaking in parliament during the specialized review of the State Budget Law Proposal for 2026, in the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee, with the Culture, Communication, Youth and Sports Committee.