Covers Baixa, Chiado, Alfama, Castelo, Mouraria and Martim Moniz. By day, the historic core is a long-running pickpocketing hotspot for tourists, with repeated reports of wallet-theft rings around Alfama's viewpoints, the Baixa grid and the trams, and PSP still making frequent arrests (six Romanian pickpockets detained in a single 24-hour period, July 2025). By night the picture is more serious: Rua do Benformoso and Rua da Amendoeira in Mouraria host an open-air drug market police describe as serving '50 to 60 customers an hour' from noon to 2am, and Martim Moniz has seen a stabbing brawl that injured seven people (January 2025), an alleged rape that alarmed residents, and a contested PSP crackdown operation. Sources checked: Jornal SOL, 23 Apr 2026 – "Mouraria. A 'crackolândia' de Lisboa"; Folha Nacional, 17 Jan 2025 – "Nova rixa no Martim Moniz acaba com facadas e sangue na rua"; Observador, 28 Jan 2025 – "Operação policial no Martim Moniz divide plenário da Assembleia Municipal de Lisboa"; Observador (special report) – "Violação no Martim Moniz. Moradores preocupados com falta de segurança pedem mais câmaras e mais polícias"; Público, 12 Jan 2018 – "Vaga de assaltos a turistas atinge a zona histórica de Lisboa"; Jornal de Notícias – "Turistas a saque em miradouros de Alfama"; Público, 17 Jul 2025 – "Seis carteiristas romenas detidas em 24 horas em Lisboa".
Santa Maria Maior — Lisbon, Portugal
🟡 Local-source safety assessment · 24 areas reviewed individually Methodology →
In detail
This link is already scoped to this area (not the whole city), using the neighbourhood's real coordinates.
Frequently asked questions
Is Santa Maria Maior safe?
Wandroz currently rates Santa Maria Maior in Lisbon as roughly average compared to other neighbourhoods in Lisbon during the day and an area where the data suggests extra caution relative to other neighbourhoods in Lisbon at night. This comes from a structured local-source assessment: an area-level review of credible local sources — local and national news, municipal and police-published material, and official surveys where they exist — consolidated across sources rather than taken from a single report. Lisbon publishes no comparable neighbourhood-level crime dataset; where a city does, Wandroz uses it instead.
Is Santa Maria Maior safe at night?
At night, Santa Maria Maior is rated as an area where the data suggests extra caution relative to other neighbourhoods in Lisbon. If you're unsure, it's worth checking recent local reviews for your specific street or block, since a neighbourhood-wide rating can't capture block-by-block variation.
Is Santa Maria Maior a good area to stay in as a tourist?
Santa Maria Maior's day rating (roughly average compared to other neighbourhoods in Lisbon) is the more relevant one for typical daytime tourist activity; check the night rating too if you'll be out late. The Booking.com link on this page searches Santa Maria Maior itself.
Is there official crime data for Santa Maria Maior?
Not an official government crime feed — Santa Maria Maior's rating comes from Wandroz's own current local/national press and survey research for this specific area instead (see the note on this page for what was checked and the sources used). An absence of recent negative coverage is treated as inconclusive, not as proof the area is safe. If you live in or know Santa Maria Maior well, you can suggest a correction using the link below.
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