Protest on 25 April Bridge due to fuel prices

Drivers on 25 April Bridge held a horn-honking protest on 25 September against fuel prices and demanded the resignation of the Minister of the Environment and the return of teleworking, said Aristides Teixeira of the association that called for the protest.

By TPN/Lusa, in News · 25 Sep 2026, 09:33 · 0 Comments

Credits: Unsplash; Author: Tobias Reich;

In statements to the Lusa news agency, Aristides Teixeira, from the 25 April Bridge Users Association, said that the horn-honking protest, which began at 8 am on 25 September, aims to demand the resignation of the Minister of the Environment, Maria Graça Carvalho, to request the reinstatement of teleworking, as in the Covid-19 pandemic, and the suspension of toll payments as well as VAT and ISP on fuels.

Form of protest

“This honking is a way of expressing our indignation and disapproval regarding this recent phenomenon of a minister who, when she finally emerges from her cocoon, does so to issue opinions that are provocative and disrespectful to those who work, study, and have to resort to private vehicles to get around because they have no alternative with public transportation,” said Aristides Teixeira.

Criticism of the Minister

Aristides Teixeira was referring to statements made this week by the Minister of the Environment about the need to save fuel, suggesting that citizens reduce their speed and opt for carpooling.

“The Minister reduces the solution to this problem we are facing regarding fuel prices to appealing for a new behaviour from citizens, which would be to drive slower; that is, even in cities and urban centres we already drive at 30 and 50 kilometres per hour, as well as hitchhiking, almost attributing to citizens, who are the largest sector of the country, those who work and study, for not having these behaviours that the Minister is suggesting,” he said.

In Aristides Teixeira's understanding, the Minister’s statements are “disrespectful and offensive to those who work, those who study, and those who have difficulty putting food on their children's table.”

Therefore, the Association argues that Maria da Graça Carvalho should resign or be dismissed, considering that the minister is “completely out of touch with reality.”

Home office and toll suspension

The Association also asks the Government to urgently reinstate teleworking as practised during the pandemic and suspend all tolls.

“Suspending all tolls always creates some relief for the people who keep the five million vehicles in the country moving, and for the ISP [Tax on Petroleum and Energy Products]. We also demand zero VAT, which is imperative for food and medicine,” he stressed.

The Association also believes that distributors of essential goods should be reimbursed for the fuel prices paid since the beginning of the war in Ukraine until today.

“These are the measures that seem to us to be priorities and that the Government is pushing aside or trying to ignore,” he said.

This honking comes as a slow march organised by earthmoving sector entrepreneurs is underway, starting at 7:40 am at the Lordelo entrance on the A42, with more than a hundred vehicles, to demand "concrete answers" to the increase in fuel prices.

The initiative's promoter, Miguel Machado Mendes, estimated that nearly five hundred heavy vehicles are expected at the site for the protest, which will gather along the route to Coimbra.

The plan for this slow march is to head towards the A41, in a north-south direction, and then along the A1, in the same direction, to Coimbra Sul, where it will end.