In Portugal you can try to repair a broken kettle, coffee machine or other small appliance for free, even if the warranty has run out. At repair cafés, volunteers help you find the fault and show you how to fix it yourself. These meetups take place in Lisbon, Porto and other towns across the country. But the repair café is only one format in the circular economy — there are others. For International Repair Day, we explain what you can bring to be fixed, how to find the nearest meetup and what costs may come up.
What Is a Repair Café?
The first Repair Café was held in Amsterdam in 2009. In Portugal these meetups appeared in 2016 — the first one took place in Lisbon. The next Lisbon meetup is on 17 October; you can follow announcements on the project’s Instagram. Meetups are now also held in Porto, Aveiro and the Algarve. You can bring not only broken appliances but also clothes, toys, a bicycle or a small piece of furniture. What can actually be fixed depends on the skills of the volunteers at a given meetup.
At a repair café you don’t leave your item with a technician: it is repaired right there at the meetup. A volunteer helps find the cause of the fault and explains how to fix it. Where possible, the visitor does the work themselves, using the organisers’ tools. You don’t need any repair skills beforehand.
On the spot you can fix faults that don’t require special spare parts: for example, cleaning an appliance or restoring a loose connection. If a part is needed that the volunteers don’t have, they will help identify the fault and tell you what to buy. After that you will have to finish the repair on your own or wait for the next meetup.
There is no guarantee on volunteer work. Under the Repair Café rules, visitors take part in the repair at their own risk. So with particularly expensive equipment or dangerous faults, it is better to go to a professional repairer.
At some meetups you can come without a broken item, just to watch or to help.
In Lisbon, repair meetups are also held at the MAAT museum. The next ones are on 7 November and 12 December, from 10:00 to 13:00. Small household appliances are accepted here; clothes and furniture are not repaired.
An important detail: the repair itself at MAAT is free, but you need a museum admission ticket to take part. MAAT Friends members don’t need one. Sessions are held in Portuguese and English.
Repair Cafés Outside Lisbon
In Porto, the municipal environmental programme periodically holds appliance repair meetups. For the last one you had to sign up in advance. Each adult participant could bring one small electrical appliance. A new date has not been announced yet — check the schedule on the Porto Ambiente website.
Another option in Porto is the Bombarda Circular neighbourhood repair meetups. The first one was held in July in the Miguel Bombarda quarter. Local volunteers helped residents repair their things, and the organisers promised to repeat the meetup in October.
What can be repaired depends on the skills of the volunteers who come to a particular meetup; the organisers list what they will fix in their announcements.
In Aveiro, Repair Café is part of the programme of the municipal Ecocentro. Meetups take place on the fourth Saturday of the month; check dates and sign-up in the listings. In the Algarve, free sessions are run by the Benfazer association. You can follow upcoming meetups on the Repair Café Algarve website.
Each project has its own rules. MAAT meetups require advance sign-up. EcoPorto and Bombarda Circular also required registration for their last sessions. And at some repair sessions you can turn up without signing up.
If you need to sign up, you can give the appliance model and describe the fault when you register. Check whether such items are accepted and what tools or parts you should bring. At MAAT, help is available in Portuguese and English. At other projects, it is best to check in advance whether you can communicate in English.
Where to Learn Repair Skills and How to Volunteer
For International Repair Day, 17 October, the second Academia REPARA course starts in Lisbon. These are free classes for anyone who wants to learn to repair small electrical appliances. The programme is run by Electrão, Circular Economy Portugal and Repair Café Lisboa. Experienced volunteers will teach participants to use tools, take appliances apart safely, find faults and master the basics of soldering.
The course takes place at Entrajuda’s Banco de Bens Doados on Saturdays from 09:30 to 13:30, until 5 December. The organisers are planning for a group of 10 to 20 people. Registration has been announced as open; it is best to check with the organisers whether places are still available. The link to the sign-up form is in the Repair Café Lisboa announcement.
For those who already know how to work with appliances, Repair Café Lisboa offers the chance to volunteer. You can write to repaircafelisboa@circulareconomy.pt. In Porto, EcoPorto and Bombarda Circular are also looking for volunteers. Watch for announcements of new sessions and volunteer sign-up.
And for those who want to set up a repair café in their own town, Circular Economy Portugal has prepared a free guide in Portuguese. It explains how to find a venue, attract volunteers, gather tools and organise participant sign-up. The guide can be downloaded from the project’s website.
