Located in the northeast of Portugal, the remote region of Terras de Trás-os-Montes aims to bring citizens closer to public services and combat the isolation of the most vulnerable people. To do this, the nine municipalities of the intermunicipal community (CIM) have been circulating, for four years, electric vehicles equipped with digital access offering more than 240 national and local administrative services. Serving dozens of villages, sometimes barely populated by a handful of very old inhabitants and unfamiliar with administrative procedures, are these “Balcões móveis” or “mobile counters” a bulwark against the accelerated depopulation of these lands often rough and rugged? Nearly four years after the launch of the service, the debate still animates the elected officials and the inhabitants of this region located “beyond the mountains”.
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“Balcões móveis”: in Portugal, public services try mobility
