The thousands of buses carrying World Youth Day (WYD) pilgrims will be parked on Lisbon’s north-south axis, a road that will be cut off “totally or partially”, the national director of police said today.
“With the team defining the mobility plan, the solution [for bus parking] has already been found. It will eventually involve cutting off all or part of a main road in Lisbon,” Manuel Magina da Silva told reporters, when asked if the place where the thousands of buses will be parked during WYD had already been chosen.
The National Director of the Public Security Police said that “everything points to the fact that it will be the north-south axis”, as this solution is closed.
Magina da Silva, speaking to journalists after a visit to two properties acquired by the PSP’s social services to house the security force’s police officers, recalled that the powers of control and coordination of the entire WYD security operation “are attributed to the secretary general of the internal security system”.
Considered the biggest event of the Catholic Church, the WYD will take place from August 1 to 6, and some 1.5 million people are expected to attend – almost three times the population of the city of Lisbon. Pope Francis will also be present.
The day’s main ceremonies will take place in Parque Tejo, north of Parque das Nações, on the banks of the Tagus River, on land owned by the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures.
