Traders in the city of Lisbon said today that they were “more relaxed” with the “draft” Mobility Plan that was presented to them for World Youth Day (WYD) as it ensures the movement of workers in the sector.
The guarantees were given this afternoon at a meeting organized by elements of the internal security system and the Lisbon City Council to present a preliminary mobility plan for the WYD to merchants and businessmen.
This meeting was also attended by representatives of the GNR, PSP and Lisbon Port Authority.
At the end of the meeting, in statements to the Lusa news agency, Carla Salsigna, president of the Union of Associations for Trade and Services (UACS), said that the information released at the meeting made traders “much calmer.”
“We came up with a plan that leaves us very calm. It seemed to us that the plan was very well developed,” he stressed.
According to the President of the UAC, one of the measures that most reassured traders is the guarantee that during the event it will be possible to carry out loading and unloading and that there will be corridors for those who need to travel around the city to work. .
“So that people working in the field of trade, catering, the service sector do not fall into circulation, there will be a kind of appeal that people will bring with them and prove that they work in this area,” he explained.
The rest of the WYD mobility details will be released by the government this week.
The official also indicated that the number of pilgrims registered for the WYD is 340,000 and that the authorities estimate that the number of participants will be an “exponential” increase from August 5.
Lisbon has been chosen by Pope Francis for the next World Youth Day, which will take place from 1 to 6 August this year, with the main ceremonies taking place in the Eduardo VII Park and Tagus Park, north of the Park. das Nações, on the banks of the Tagus River, on land in the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures.
WYD was born at the initiative of Pope John Paul II after the success of the meeting organized in 1985 in Rome as part of the International Year of Youth.
The first meeting took place in 1986 in Rome, having already passed, in its current form, in Buenos Aires (1987), Santiago de Compostela (1989), Czestochowa (1991), Denver (1993), Manila (1995), Paris. (1997), Rome (2000), Toronto (2002), Cologne (2005), Sydney (2008), Madrid (2011), Rio de Janeiro (2013) ), Krakow (2016) and Panama (2019).
This year’s edition, which will be closed by the Pope, was originally scheduled for 2022 but was delayed due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Pope Francis was the first to register for WYD Lisbon 2023 on October 23, 2022 at the Vatican after the Angelus celebration.