Temporary guards at the Rally de Portugal are “cheap labor at a private party”

The GNR also admits that around 200 temporary guards, attending the Guard Training Course, will join the security device. The presence of these elements still in training is justified “from the perspective of learning and sharing experience, a situation that is part of the training/internship”.

The GNR states that temporary guards “have already been used at major events, as happened at World Youth Day”. “These soldiers are not part of the personnel appointed for the Rally Operation”, he explains.

However, for the president of APG/GNR, the two events cannot be compared. “The Rally de Portugal is a private event”, he recalls. The association leader does not suspect that this measure is intended to prevent last-minute protests by the military, but argues that it is “counterproductive” to send temporary guards to the car race, because, in his opinion, they should “be accompanying patrols”.

Thus, César Nogueira only understands the decision as a way of having “cheap labor at a private party”. “Many guards do not want to do a job that does not offer the minimum hygiene conditions and the temporary guards serve to complete the necessary staff”, he criticizes.