The announcement comes amid criticism from many residents of Lisbon’s historic central neighbourhoods that tourism is taking over the area, eroding the very charms that have drawn record numbers of foreign visitors in recent months.
Speaking at an event to present the programme at his campaign headquarters in the capital, Medina said that it had been drafted after a “broad public debate with civil society [with] the contribution of many hundreds of thousands of citizens” and aimed “to be up to the needs of the city’s future”.
Among the 25 main measures to be implemented by 2021 is one that foresees changes to rules on ‘local lodging’ - short lets, usually for tourists, in private homes - “so that the municipality can have the power to authorise [or prohibit] ... local lodging in certain areas”, namely the city’s historic neighbourhoods.
“The council has no power over the subject” at the moment, Medina stressed, adding that setting a quota, to be determined by the city, would help ensure “balance with permanent accommodation” for local residents.
Also in the housing field, Medina wants “urgent” legislative changes in personal income tax to reduce the rate to 10 percent for income from renting out residential property for more than 10 years. At present, he noted, landlords pay 28 percent on such income, while income derived from short lets is taxed at 10 percent.
The programme also foresees the renting out of 6,000 council-owned homes across the city for rents of between €20 and €400 a month, as well as the extension of the same provisions to private developments, with 25 percent of homes to be rented out at controlled rents.
Another declared aim is to secure central government investment in public transport, with the updating of the red line (which would be relaid underground between Belém and Alcântara) and the creation of bus lanes on the A5 motorway between Lisbon and Cascais and other major roads into Lisbon.
“The number of cars that enter the city every day is unsustainable,” Medina said.
His team also wants to expand the tram network, and give bus and tram operator Carris (which has been managed by the council since February) the capacity to conclude 3,000 parking spots to encourage people to use buses, as well as extending the city’s network of cycle lanes by some 200 kilometres.
The PS has allied itself with the Livre party and the independent movements Cidadãos por Lisboa and Lisboa é Muita Gente.
The other top candidates in the 1 October elections in Lisbon are Assunção Cristas (People’s Party), João Ferreira (Communist-led CDU), Ricardo Robles (Left Bloc), Teresa Leal Coelho (Social Democratic Party), Inês Sousa Real (People-Animals-Nature), Joana Amaral Dias (Nós, Cidadãos!), Carlos Teixeira (independent), António Arruda (PURP) and José Pinto-Coelho (PNR).