According to a report by ECO, the group won the competition launched by the Associação do Turismo de Lisboa and will invest €3.5 million in the rehabilitation of this area, which will have spaces for restaurants and leisure, as well as a regular cultural agenda between March and October for most of the year, with objective being “to transform the dock into a space for everyone and for everyone”.

Always closed to the public, Doca da Marinha was the target of a “public investment”, having been inaugurated in 2021 “as a new leisure space open to the entire city”. “It is the beginning of the realization of an ambitious dream”, says Bernardo Delgado, CEO of Lean Man, in the presentation of the plans for that area, who added that he wanted to “transform the dock into a space for everyone and for everyone”.


“Over the next 15 years, we want to give life, in a disruptive and surprising way, to the investment that was made here”, he continued. The project aims at “creating a new lifestyle” and more than 100 jobs.

There will be a restaurant (which will open its doors in February) and three kiosks (already open). A strong commitment will be made to events, through a regular program with gastronomic markets, plants and flowers, handicraft products, jazz concerts, Dj Sets with new talents, urban art exhibitions, etc., said Bernardo Delgado.


Also present at the ceremony was the deputy president of the Lisbon Tourism Association, José Luís Arnaut, who said that this investment is “another of the moments that mark the path of initiatives that give new life to this Lisbon next to the Tagus“. “The Tagus is being given back to the people of Lisbon, it is a clear bet that we made (…), so that Lisbon continues to be the mark of international excellence”, he said.


Connecting the people to the river


Carlos Moedas highlighted this project as being “essential” in his vision of the city of Lisbon. “The first feeling I had when I arrived in Lisbon was the lack of connection between Lisbon and the Tagus“, said the mayor of Lisbon, recalling the years he lived outside Portugal. “This project is the first that we are launching that has this direct connection between the Tagus and people”.


The mayor also referred to the importance of the tourist tax. “The tourist tax is this. We are here and we see the application of the tourist tax, tourists leaving their contribution to the city”, he said.


“But this contribution has to be made by everyone”, continued Carlos Moedas, referring to the fee of two euros that will be charged to all cruise passengers arriving in Lisbon. “I want everyone arriving on cruises to contribute to the tourist tax. It is important that they also contribute. So those who arrive here will have a better Lisbon, with more innovation”, he said.