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Lisbon: “British Quarter” to be sold
20 December 2017
The sale of the land of the so-called “British Quarter” in the Estrela area of Lisbon will take place “very soon,” a source from the United Kingdom’s embassy stated.
The signing of the contract is “imminent,” said the same source, declining to disclose, “for reasons of commercial confidentiality”, the name of the buyer and the amounts involved.
The lands sold include the former British Hospital, the Royal British Club, the old British Parsonage, the Jewish cemetery – whose “continuity is assured” – and Estrela Hall, a space that has been a home to the theatre company The Lisbon Players for more than 70 years.
According to the same source, the land where the English cemetery and the Anglican church are situated are excluded from the sale.
Squatter’s Rights: Court Rules in Favour of the British Government
In July 2013, the British Government linked the sale of the land to “the strategy followed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to dispose of properties abroad that are not related to its diplomatic activities.”
The British Government claimed possession of the entire area utilising ‘usucapião’ (a Portuguese law that allows an entity or individual to claim possession of a property based on the years of occupation, i.e. squatter’s rights or adverse possession) in 2009. It added that “most of the stakeholders agreed that lands were to be sold together.”
However, the English Theatre Association The Lisbon Players contested the move in court, but the court ruled in favour of the British Government.
The lands were initially ceded by the Portuguese crown, in the eighteenth century, for the cultural benefit of the foreign communities residing in Portugal, mainly the English and Dutch.
Original Story: Diário Imobiliário / Lusa
Translation: Richard Turner