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More than 1,100 New Local Accommodations Opened in a Month in Lisbon

27 August 2018

The amendments to the Local Accommodation (AL) law, recently approved and published in the Diário da República – will enter into force in October 2018. The looming changes are causing a rush to register new tourist accommodations. In just over a month, 1,108 new registrations were made in Lisbon alone, more than double in the same period last year. Most are in Lisbon’s historic neighbourhoods, which the law aims to protect.

While the new rules will only come into effect in two months, their effects are already being felt. This is because one of the new regulations state that the municipalities can limit the establishment of new ALs within specific areas, setting maximum quotas the concession of licenses. These areas are generally expected to be in the capital’s historic neighbourhoods, the regions that are feeling the most pressure.

The weekly edition of the Diário de Notícias noted that 316 new local accommodations had been registered in the parish of Santa Maria Maior since the National Assembly passed the law, a 10% increase compared to the 3,666 units already existing in that area. The parishes of Misericórdia and Santo António saw 179 and 126 new registrations. The three parishes together, according to the publication, accounted for more than half of new registrations of tourist accommodations in the capital.

Original Story: Idealista

Translation: Richard Turner