This is according to the state secretary for tourism, who was speaking at a presentation at the Lisbon Tourism Fair (BTL) on moves to cut red tape in the tourism sector.
By far the largest of digital platforms facilitating short-term rentals is Airbnb, which has expanded rapidly in Portugal over the past few years.
I moved from Ibiza to Lisbon last year - and owning an apartment in Berlin and being often with friend in Barcelona I got quite involved in the problems of short-term-rentals.
Airbnb and Homeaway/Owner's direct feel like a blessing to home owners as they can create a nice income. But this is very short sighted: If rental permits are given out freely the local long term rental market collapses. And even if home owners decide to rent out long term again, being tired of hiring cleaners, having interiors destroyed or quarreling with neighbours who get annoyed about the constant change-overs, noisy and ruthless foreign visitors, they calculate the nightly fee and rent out their apartments for 1500-2000 Euro a months. Who can afford this? Wealthy foreigners on NHR-resident scheme. No average Portuguese person can afford paying those high amounts. What follows: The infrastructure changes badly, small shops disappear, luxury brands move in. In the end the reason why people come to visits cities simply disappears! The local culture: gone. Especially we expats need to be very aware of the changes we bring and have to be sensitive about it. Government, stop airbnb etc, please! For your own good, for the good of the Portuguese!
By Elfie Arato from Lisbon on 03 Mar 2018, 10:54