Fernando Ruas, the mayor of Viseu, is requesting that the Internal Administration Minister proceed with the more than two-decade-old idea to establish an alternate national civil protection centre in the municipality. The mayor noted that the selection of Viseu is related to the region's status as one of the least earthquake-prone places in Portugal, adding that there is land available for its construction.

As the mayor told Lusa News agency, “A meeting with the Minister of Internal Affairs has already been scheduled. We are going to raise the issue of the alternative civil protection centre again” considering that “there is no way this impasse can continue”. The mayor also noted that this has been the goal for a long time and that Viseu was chosen because it is "one of the least prone to earthquakes."

Figueiredo Lopes, the Internal Affairs Minister at the time, declared in January 2004 that Viseu would house a "copy" of the National Relief Operations Centre (CNOS), which would function in the event of a disaster in the Lisbon area. As Figueiredo Lopes explained back then, “It has to be a kind of copy of what exists in Carnaxide, which has a nationwide operations room where all information from various sectors is received. It is a nationwide operational centre that must provide coverage of the resources and the allocation of resources”.

Figueiredo Lopes further emphasised that although it is a hypothetical situation, it may happen, and it is essential that a backup is created since there are extremely essential documents that cannot be at risk of being lost.