Lisbon’s Planeta Manas venue is closing down

Planeta Manas, a DIY venue based in Lisbon, has announced that it is to close its doors.

The popular queer space, founded in 2021 by the mina and Rádio Quântica collectives, announced it would host its final party on 25th July. In a statement released yesterday, 23rd April, the team said that they could no longer continue in its current space under the increased pressure from the police and Lisbon authorities.

“Even though we carry no regrets, we’ve reached a point where maintaining the physical existence of this incarnation of Planeta Manas is coming at such a human, emotional, and physical cost that we can no longer keep the space open without compromising our values and ideals,” the statement read.

“We’re closing our doors — but the dream isn’t over,” the statement continued. “We carry within us the energy and love you’ve so graciously shared with us all these years — and if the right time, place, and conditions arise, we’ll be ready to roll up our sleeves and build a new space where we can once again reimagine clubbing, raves, and festivals through a new lens.”

The team’s statement adds that they hope to one day find a space that is “big enough for our community, ideally at ground level, ideally in Lisbon city, with rent prices that wouldn’t make a London estate agent blush”.  

In February, the venue was raided by riot police for the fourth time in just five months. A fundraiser was launched to try to secure the venue’s future shortly after. Donations are still being accepted to help cover remaining costs associated with the raids, equipment rental, and venue maintenance during its final months. Donate here. 

At the time of the raid in February, the venue’s team stated that a group of plainclothes officers had forced their way into the building while an event featuring Gayance and DJ Caring was underway. A spokesperson for the venue said they had provided authorities with all the required documents and information and had cooperated with all police requests.

A post on the official Planeta Manas Instagram said: “In five months, this was the fourth time the police have used force illegally and violently to enter the private space of our cultural association.”

“Police agents in plain clothes forced their way into Planeta Manas without identifying themselves or showing a warrant. Given the violence with which they arrived and because we saw a gun, we thought it was a robbery,” they added.

Planeta Manas claimed that members of the association of which the club is a part of were “physically assaulted with truncheons” after armed and hooded police arrived.  “Once again, they illegally searched people without informing us of the reasons for the search,” they claimed. “They forbade filming to document the situation, threatening to seize mobile phones. This behaviour by the Police is totally unjustifiable.”

“[They] disrespected the principle of freedom of association enshrined in the constitution,” they said.

Keep up to date with Planeta Manas and its upcoming events ahead of July via Instagram and RA.