Portugal’s interior minister insists undeclared tourism company was ‘oversight’ – Portugal Resident

Pressure continues to pile on Portugal’s Interior Minister Luís Neves who today has said his failure to declare a tourism company, owned by his wife, in his official interests register was the result of a “mere oversight”.

This has not stopped headlines from screaming: “Luís Neves hid family business” – very much as they did with the prime minister over his family business, Spinumviva.

According to Correio da Manhã today, the company, Alcampos, was registered in 2023, but was not included in Neves’ declaration of interests until May 2026 – three months after he took office as interior minister.

In a statement to Observador, the minister’s office said the omission was “a mere oversight” that was corrected when Neves submitted an updated declaration following the contracting of a new loan.

Under Portuguese law, public office holders must declare assets and business interests held by their spouses. Neves, who is married under Portugal’s community property regime, was therefore required to disclose the company.

Alcampos – which is wholly owned by the minister’s wife – operates short-term tourist accommodation on two rural properties owned in the Alentejo region.

The company is at the centre of a growing controversy because it hired Construbarcelos, a construction company that carried out works worth around €2.3 million for the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) between 2019 and 2025 (while Neves was serving as the force’s national director).

The contractor was hired to carry out work on at least one of the couple’s rural properties. Neves has said he paid €5,000 for the work but has yet to publicly produce invoices confirming the payment.

The construction works, including a swimming pool—which the minister has described as a water tank—were also not reported to Odemira Municipal Council, which is now investigating possible planning irregularities.

Yesterday, Observador reported that three companies supplied goods and services to Alcampos worth a total of €23,118.19, citing documentation provided by the Interior Ministry. The online said Construbarcelos issued two invoices for €5,000 in February 2025, although those invoices have not been made public.

Contractor linked to Luís Neves has history of insolvencies and debts

The building contractor hired privately by Luís Neves ‘won’ 17 contracts from Portugal’s Polícia Judiciária between 2019 and 2025, despite a business history involving insolvencies, company closures and debt disputes, reports have explained.

João Carvalho, a Barcelos businessman described as a friend of the minister, secured contracts worth about €2.3 million through his company Construbarcelos. Neves has stressed that he did not know Carvalho when he initially started construction work for the PJ.

According to Público, Carvalho has been linked to 14 companies operating in sectors ranging from construction and restaurants to accounting, freight transport, car rental and tobacco retail.

Only two remain active: Construbarcelos and property agency Medicuca. Several of the others were dissolved or entered insolvency proceedings, while some accumulated debts or became involved in court disputes.

Público has also reported that baseball caps bearing the name of Construções João & Martins – a company later declared insolvent – were found at the minister’s property, where work is still under way.

Construbarcelos itself has faced several legal actions over the past four years, including claims involving alleged unpaid debts to suppliers. The company has also appeared as a creditor in insolvency proceedings involving other businesses.

Neves has said he first met Carvalho in late 2023, as Construbarcelos completed work for the PJ in Guarda, and that their friendship began in 2024. At some time during that year, he asked Carvalho for technical advice on work planned for the São Teotónio property.

Particular attention has focused on the construction of what has been described as a swimming pool, but which Neves still calls a “tank”.

The minister has acknowledged that, with hindsight, he should not have hired a regular PJ contractor for private work. “Knowing what I know today, naturally the course taken would have been different, without ever denying the friendship,” he told a NOW television interviewer last week.

Asked how Construbarcelos was selected, the PJ has said a history of insolvency, debt or legal disputes involving directors or shareholders is not in itself grounds for excluding a company from public procurement.

The police force said Construbarcelos entered its supplier pool through public tenders and provided all legally required documentation. It has added that it had no information at the time of the contracts indicating any legal barrier to hiring the company.

Observador has meanwhile reported details of 108 invoices issued by 13 companies for materials and work at the São Teotónio property.

The documents were reportedly provided by the Interior Ministry, although Neves’ office declined to share them with other media organisations.

Construbarcelos issued the largest total, receiving €5,000 through Alcampos. The amount was covered by two invoices dated February 11 and February 20, 2025.

Neves has said he will provide no further explanations about the building work until the project is complete.

Stepping back from the frenetic reporting on this ‘controversy’, one has to appreciate that much of the detail concerns the past of a building contractor, which is not in fact anything to do with the present of the minister of interior administration. But something has ‘snapped’ in this story, making ‘everything’ about Luís Neves – the man who until a couple of weeks ago appeared entirely focused on keeping the country safe through the worst of the wildfire season.

More will doubtless follow during the State of the Nation debate this afternoon.

Source material: Expresso/ Executive Digest/ SIC Notícias