Spain 
Italy 
Greece 
Historical Centres Experiencing an Excess of Local Accommodations and Desertification
8 November 2018
Historic Portuguese city centres are facing “generalised housing problems,” with “excess local accommodations” in tourist areas and desertification in the interior, the head of the association of municipalities stated.
Speaking on the sidelines of the XVII National Meeting of Municipalities with Historic Centres, the president of the Portuguese Association of Municipalities with Historic Centres (APMCH), Maria Joaquina Matos, argued that property owners are experiencing “excessive taxation” and that the local accommodation sector has had a “major role” in rehabilitation in those areas.
Ms Matos, also the mayor of Lagos, the problem is “to achieve a balance” between the tourism and the maintenance of the “intangible spirit” of the historic centres.
“The main challenges [that the historic centres face] are to reconcile the various realities and problems that we are practically all experiencing: how do we reconcile local accommodations with tourism and local residents? Maintaining the identity of the city centres is a generalised problem, especially for people working more with tourism,” said Maria Joaquina.
According to the official, “each municipality has to create safeguards that lead its centres to maintain their resident populations.”
Owners subjected to excessive taxation on rentals
“The municipalities on the coast, with lots of tourism, have one type of problem, while in the interior the problems go through desertification,” she said.
Ms Joaquina believes that the “general problem involves inhabiting the historical centre, but that problem has a number of facets.”
The mayor noted that some financial policies are obstacles, arguing for a “different policy regarding [property] owners”, stating that “there is excessive taxation in the rental market,” which has led to an influx of investments into “short-term lets,” which have become “more profitable.”
However, the president of APMCH sees the gains from local accommodations: “The existence of local housing units has played an important role in rehabilitation” and “has made and is making a major contribution to the physical rehabilitation of historic centres and the urban heritage.”
“We need academic training in urban rehabilitation…”
The secretary general of the association that includes more than 90 municipalities and towns, Frederico Paula, stated that “historical centres should be distinct from one another.”
“There is also the question of modern architecture in historic centres, which has created situations of mimicry, new buildings that try to look old, in an attempt to incorporate them into the historic centres,” the architect stated.
According to Mr Paula, “academic training is required at the level of urban rehabilitation and less so for the preparation for new construction,” adding that Portugal “is missing out” on that market.
“There is a very important market for rehabilitation in Europe, but it still corresponds to… less than 10% in Portugal,” he said.
The meeting in Guimarães will close on Saturday and counts on the presence of more than 40 municipalities, five universities, representatives of national agencies linked to housing, tourism and heritage, as well as guided visits to the local Historic Center, classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Original Story: Diário Imobiliário / Lusa
Translation: Richard Turner