Oulu sends 16 officials on €33,000 study trip to Portugal amid daycare and library closures

A 16-member delegation from Oulu, including city council leaders and senior officials, will depart Tuesday for a four-night study trip to Portugal at a cost of over €33,000 to taxpayers, public broadcaster Yle reports. The trip comes as the northern Finnish city moves to shut down 12 daycare centers and consolidate libraries in a bid to cut costs.

The delegation—comprising 10 city board members, the city council chair, and five top administrators, including Mayor Ari Alatossava—will stay in a five-star spa hotel in single rooms. Flights account for €11,161, accommodations €17,808, and ground transport €3,320, with additional per diem payments for participants. A planned Lisbon city tour was scrapped due to scheduling conflicts.

City communications director Harriet Urponen confirmed the trip is funded by municipal coffers, though a representative from local newspaper Kaleva—part of the official delegation—will cover their own expenses. Urponen defended the trip as compliant with Oulu’s strict travel policy, which typically restricts staff trips to essential business and mandates minimal duration and cost. She noted the policy applies differently to elected officials, who are not city employees.

The stated purpose of the visit is to study Lisbon’s strategies for supporting startups, attracting foreign talent, and diversifying urban economies, with a focus on sustainable tourism and cultural heritage preservation. A city program draft cites Évora’s economic and tourism models as additional case studies.

Mayor Alatossava told Yle the trip is justified despite budget cuts, arguing it fosters “unity and shared understanding” among decision-makers. City board chair Jarmo J. Husso (National Coalition Party) added that such trips have been a longstanding tradition, occurring once per four-year council term.