More than 43,000 elderly people living alone or in vulnerable situations were identified this year by the GNR (National Republican Guard), more than 6,000 of whom are in the districts of Faro and Beja, the authority reported.
In a statement sent out to report on the findings of Operation Senior Census 2025, which took place between October 1st and November 16th of this year, the GNR indicated that during the initiative it carried out several actions of direct contact with these people to alert them to “the need to adopt safety behaviors, minimizing the risk of becoming victims of crime.”
After Guarda (5,852 elderly people) and Vila Real (5,167), the districts where the most elderly people were identified were Bragança (4,191), Faro (3,414), Viseu (3,304), Beja (2,749), Évora (2,381) and Castelo Branco (2,316).
In the 2025 edition of Operation Senior Census, the GNR (National Republican Guard) reveal that they have carried out a series of community centre and door-to-door projects, reaching a total of 35,143 senior citizens.
Experts say the region’s demographics are partly to blame. The Alentejo is one of Europe’s “oldest” regions, with more than a quarter of its population sitting in the over 65 camp - the Algarve’s own proportion of over 65s isn’t far off, sitting just below a quarter of the total. Depopulation outside of holiday towns and often vast distances between houses and health centres compound the risk of being cut off, both physically and socially.
Whilst the Algarve is known for its tourist buzz during the peak season, many local older residents who live outside urban centers are left without nearby family support due difficulties that their working relatives may have finding employment, and rising housing prices for first-time buyers and renters, thus funneling younger family members elsewhere, often abroad.
This growing trend of social isolation amongst the elderly isn’t only an issue of loneliness, but a symptom of the country’s wider failure to support young people in finding gainful employment, and getting onto the property ladder in the communities in which they grew up.
Source: LUSA
