According to the local authority, located in the Aveiro district and the Porto Metropolitan Area, the investment focuses on telecommunications and energy autonomy but also aims to expand emergency accommodation capacity and improve responses to other crises.

“We must be prepared for various scenarios and ensure that the Municipality maintains the ability to operate essential services during critical situations,” stated Jorge Ratola, Mayor of Espinho.

Quoted in a municipal statement, the mayor added that the investment will allow for “strengthening autonomy, creating redundancies, and equipping the area with resources that can make a difference in an emergency.”

The newly announced measures were determined based on findings from reports regarding the 2025 Iberian blackout and the series of storms that struck the region in early 2026—events that caused prolonged disruptions to communication services.

For Jorge Ratola, these emergencies demonstrated that both the municipality and the country need to strengthen their response capabilities. He noted: “We are learning from recent experiences and turning those lessons into investment and preparedness. It is this capacity for anticipation that we want to continue developing.”

Regarding emergency communications, for instance, the City Council is set to acquire “new Starlink terminals” to equip the municipality’s four parish councils with independent communication capabilities in emergencies. This will ensure “satellite communications in the event of a failure or unavailability of conventional networks.”

In this same context, the Social Democratic mayor announced three additional measures: the acquisition of a new satellite phone to supplement the two already in use; the installation of “a second municipal VHF communication network with its own repeater”—using high-frequency radio transmissions to extend the range and independence of operational contacts; and a complete renewal of the radio terminals used by lifeguards, aiming to boost the “reliability and quality” of communications for the beach safety teams across Espinho’s various beaches by 2027.

As for energy, the Council pledges, on the one hand, to “acquire generators to bolster the autonomous power supply capacity for municipal facilities, equipment, and operations in the event of a public grid failure,” and announces, on the other, the purchase of “two fuel tanks with a capacity of 1,000 litres each” to ensure both the operation of the electric generators and the mobility of emergency vehicles.

Specifically regarding floods, the municipality has announced the acquisition of a “set of electric pumps for wastewater”, along with the necessary generators for autonomous operation during power grid failures.

Also concerning water, but for consumption, the municipality says it will purchase “tanks for transporting potable water, equipped with their own pumps,” to ensure greater supply autonomy during prolonged operations or when conventional services are disrupted.

Emergency accommodation facilities, needed in the event of fires, floods, or other crises, will be improved by purchasing “35 mattresses and 25 camp beds,” bringing the municipality’s total capacity for such alternative sleeping quarters to 100 beds.

The €250,000 investment also covers additional signalling, demarcation, and emergency lighting equipment, including safety barriers, traffic signs, cones, lighting units, and the corresponding power supply systems.

“These measures cover areas deemed essential for ensuring greater autonomy, redundancy, and operational capacity, thereby strengthening the municipal response to power outages, the unavailability of conventional communication networks, floods, adverse weather events, or prolonged interruptions to essential services,” the municipality concludes.

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