Welcome to the Week em Breve, a wrap-up of important Portuguese news to keep you up to date and in the know.
Lisbon’s Alojamento Local Referendum Barred by Court
The transformation of Lisbon into a high-priced heaven for short-term rentals (alojamento local, or AL) continues: Portugal’s Constitutional Court, in a judgment published Friday, has prohibited a planned referendum on AL, questioning the legality of the referendum and the method of collecting the necessary votes for the initiative.
The goal of the referendum, proposed by a group of housing activists and local residents, was to gauge the popular will for barring short-term rentals in residential buildings in Lisbon. Such a ban would free up roughly 20,000 rentals for more affordable long-term housing for locals, as housing costs in the city continue to soar.
Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas — whose government coalition of the conservative political parties PSD/CDS-PP (Social Democratic Party/People’s Party), had voted against the referendum — said the court’s decision was a “major defeat for the radical left supported by the [Socialist Party],” according to Lusa.
Indeed.
Crime on the Rise?
Speaking of Moedas, the mayor also told Diário de Notícias the other day that “there are more violent crimes in the city, and people are worried.”
Moedas didn’t cite any sources for this information, according to Observador — which presented data from PSP (Polícia de Segurança Pública) showing that crime was down in the first half of 2024 by 13.97%.
Two Teslas and a Beemer, Please
Affordable housing concerns, however, aren’t preventing drivers in Portugal from shelling out some serious money for cars: new data from ACAP (Automative Association of Portugal) shows a 5.6% increase in the number of brand-spanking-new cars bought in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Peugeot continues to be the most commonly bought brand, followed by Mercedes-Benz (because why not!) and Dacia, with BMW and Volkswagen also making the top-10 list, as was the case for Tesla — the most sold electric car in Portugal.
…And Some Wrapping Paper
What’s more, as consumers we’re doing great as well, inflation be damned: Portugal registered a 15% increase in the value of purchases made between December 1 and 24, according to SIBS Analytics.
Cover Your Ears
Lisbon’s got a noise problem, and much of it has to do with road traffic.
A new study cited by Público found that more than 74,000 Lisbon residents, which is more than 13% of the population, are exposed to traffic noise above 65 decibels (by comparison, a running vacuum cleaner produces 60 db or so — and sounds above 70db can damage hearing in the long term, according to the Hearing Health Foundation).
The noise is so loud that it’s even masking the sound of airplane traffic, according to the study.
Getting the Good Stuff
Foreign buyers bought houses that on average cost 67% more than those bought by citizens this summer: €353,437 and €212,099, respectively, according to National Institute of Statistics (INE) data cited by the real estate website Idealista.pt.
What’s more, foreigners from outside the European Union spend twice as much on a home as the Portuguese, on average.
But foreigners are buying fewer houses, which Idealista says coincides with the end of tax incentives.
The average price of a home for sale in Portugal has reached a record €2,827 per square meter in 2024, which was 10.4% higher than in 2023, according to Idealista’s most recent analysis.
