Priced
out by tourists: Airbnb effect in Lisbon's historic centre
Thomas Cabral•July
24, 2016
Lisbon (AFP) -
Alfama, one of the oldest and most picturesque areas of Lisbon, is
becoming a victim of its own charm. Short-term lets to tourists are
driving up rents and driving out old residents.
"They want to
throw me out to rent my home to tourists," complained retired
salesman Antonio Melo, 70. His house has changed owners four times
over the last year and his new landlord has just told him his lease
will not be renewed.
"Soon there
will only be tourists in Alfama," he said. Melo has lived in the
district since he was five years old but now fears he will have no
choice but to leave because his 600-euro pension won't cover the rent
of any property there.
Local mayor Miguel
Coelho echoed the concerns of many in Alfama.
"Real estate
speculation in Lisbon's historic centre, which is particularly
evident in Alfama, is causing a lot of stress," he said.
"House prices
and rents are exorbitant and people are having to think about other
options," he added.
The mayors of three
of Lisbon's central districts have called on the government to
intervene urgently. They attributed spiralling prices to an
"excessive proliferation" of short-term rentals.
- 'Threatened
identity' -
Coelho said that
while tourism was a boon to the local economy, "when it becomes
excessive it's a real threat to the district's identity".
This is especially
so in Alfama, a pretty maze of narrow streets leading up from the
Tagus estuary that is one of Lisbon's biggest tourist attractions.
"Every day we
see estate agents going door to door to find people willing to
leave," said Ana Gago, a 28-year-old geography student who is
conducting a survey of people moving out of the district because of
the rising costs.
Airbnb, the world's
leader in short-term private rentals, says bookings in Lisbon using
its service doubled in 2015, to 433,000 visitors. The traditional
hotel sector saw bookings by foreign tourists rise by a more modest
7.5 percent.
In Lisbon, which is
among Airbnb's top 10 global destinations, those renting space via
the company are not just "hosts" offering a spare room to
"guests": over a quarter of owners place more than one
advertisement on the site, and 73 percent have whole apartments
available.
- Population flight
-
Cities like Berlin
and San Fransisco have taken steps to prevent landlords abandoning
residential leases in favour of short holiday lets, and have kept
rents in check as a result.
Conversely,
Portugal, hit hard by a financial crisis in 2011, levies less tax on
income derived on rent from tourists than it does on that from longer
term tenants.
The idea was to
attract foreign investment and boost the real estate sector, and the
policy has contributed to the renovation of many dilapidated
buildings.
But it risks
accelerating Lisbon's population flight: half a million people now
live in the city, against 800,000 in the early 1980s.
"It's good to
renovate, but the problem is all the work is aimed at tourists.
People who live here would like their children to stay in the
district, but that has become impossible," said Maria de Lurdes
Pinheiro, who heads the Alfama Heritage and Population Association.
Long-term rental
housing stock in Portugal has shrunk by a third over the past five
years. In Lisbon, rents rose by an average of 7.6 percent between
2014 and 2015.
Airbnb hosts in the
city earned 43 million euros in rent from tourists last year,
according to the company, which added that the visitors spent a
further 225 million euros during their stay.
"There's more
money going around but the local community is disappearing,"
said retired psychologist Leonor Duarte, 63, who has lived in Alfama
for five years.
Duarte has joined
forces with other Lisbon citizens to urge authorities to "halt
the bleeding-dry of the historic centre".
She is also among
many people from Alfama who complained about the noise tourists make
late into the night and the space they take up in the ancient trams
that snake through the district's narrow streets.
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