The topic was mentioned several times during the hearing of the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, in the Assembly of the Republic.

PS deputy Maria Begonha accused the Government of “liberalising local accommodation, which will grow, and will grow where it is not necessary”.

In the same sense, Marisa Matias, BE deputy, considered that the Government's measures for that activity will “aggravate the problem” and that “there is no shortage of local accommodation in Portugal”.

In response, the minister acknowledged that local accommodation activity “causes pressure” on housing.

“We know that”, he said. “But we also know that, upstream of this, there were fellow citizens who invested in the rehabilitation of their properties and we cannot change the rules in the middle of the game”, he countered.

“The State has to be a good person”, highlighted the minister, defending “predictability” in laws and policies.

Furthermore, Pinto Luz stressed, “local authorities will have the power to manage” local accommodation in their areas, where “all political forces can influence the limitation rules, if they so wish”.

The role of condominiums, which can also regulate, was also reinforced, he added, highlighting: “We have to keep monitoring.”

Representing the right, CDS-PP deputy Paulo Núncio appealed: “Leave the business owners and local accommodation workers alone".