Air B and Bs in Lisbon/Porto

We always stay in hotels when possible.

The Air BnBs proliferation! Do you remember the years of 2009/2010, just after the financial crisis? Well, those were tough years, with lots of people getting unemployed. I have some friends that saw themselves middle aged and unemployed. I have some friends whose kids, in those days, were finishing their university graduation, and saw themselves not getting any kind of job, because economy was a disaster. The country was facing a severe crisis, and so Portugal had an intervention from EU, meaning financial help, supervized by Troika.

The city center (I'm talking about Porto, that's my city, but the same happened in Lisbon) was in ruins, no one wanted to live there, it was dangerous after 19h, the Census of 2011 showed a decrease of population of 50% since the previous Census.

The buildings of Rua Conde Vizela were ALL dedicated to prostitution, even during the day. The Sé neighborwood was all dedicated to drugs business (well... even now, if you to buy heroin, that's the place to go). First time, in my life, that I went through Rua Escura, was in 2016. Why? Because some visionary saw what was happening in other european cities with tourism seeking the city centers, and start buying those ruined buildings.

Many of my unemployed friends invested the money they received from getting unemployed buying some property, like ruined houses or buildings, and rebuilt them, and created a business: receiving tourists. Suddenly, the city center was getting renovated, and tourists started coming to Portugal. With that, other business started developing. Itaipú, a pastry shop at Rua Galerias de Paris, a small thing that used to be open between 8am to 7pm, started staying opened until midnight, with long queues of people wanting to buy "lanches" and "croissants", eating right there in the street.

These were the times to be an entrepeneur. The tourists arriving wanted simple things and local life. Bookshops, self-service laundries, grocery stores, attending mass on Sundays... and suddenly the city center was no longer that dangerous!

Many of the unemployed friend's kids, invested in business related to tourism: guide services, tuk-tuk, restaurants, etc.

The activity of "Air bnbs" was regulated in 2014, and again, with hard rules and a lot of taxes in 2016, and again many times after that, and finally now, exactly now, when this new member publishes this post, new regulation was aproved that is going to kill this activity.

It is naif to think that ending with short term rentals for tourism is going to help people renting a home. Or at least, it is biaesed. Without income, people cannot rent anything, and most of the income, for many families, is coming from the activities around "airbnbs".

But meanwhile, for those that only stay at a Hotel, we received a lot of people that just want to live in a Disneyland world. They don't want to move to a traditional restaurant, or a self-serving laundry, or having a local as a guide! They want the paradise hotels can give to their guests, where everything is gold and blue, and you have "Champagne" at breakfast, like Yeatman, for instance, provides.

Those are not interested in Porto, they are interested in the hotel facilities. And that was discovered by the big chain hotels a few years ago. 10 to 15 years ago, those that want a hotel for vacation would not come to Porto city center, as the only 5 stars hotel here was Infante Sagres. The other few 5 star hotels were located at Boavista, and were for business people.

So now, we have entire blocks that used to be residencial, transformed in Hotels. Like for instance IBIS at Rua Sá da Bandeira, and that is not even a 5 star.

Tourists staying at hotels are completely different from those staying among the locals. International hotels chains provide them restaurant, guides, tours, everything they might want, without mixing with the locals.

And the sad thing is that profits don't stay in Portugal, quite the opposite.

Thank you, Helena.

Thank you Helena.
I would prefer to not stay in a hotel. My plan is to find a short-term apartment or B&B so that I can stay among the locals. I always want to support the local economy.

Helena you nailed the larger perspective.

How do I put this without it sounding bad, because I really dont want to offend anyone who's opinions come from a good place in their heart. The concern of a person from Seattle (or where ever) for the livelyhood and happiness of someone living in Porto is admirable. We should all be concerned for our fellow man. But the assumption of anyone that they understand such a complex issue by reading webstories is somewhat less than helpful in the endevor of putting concern into action. To begin to get a handle on it you either have to live it or research like you were going to write a thesis. For the most part if you respect democracy, with all of its imperfections, you have to trust that the people of Porto have balanced all the issues and what is happening is the best solution for their values based on the whole of the matter.

That doesnt mean you dont care and you dont ask questions and you dont try and understand. But that does mean that it is inapproprate to tell people not to stay in AirBnb's in Porto if you care about the Porto society. Your good intentions could have consequences well beyond your good intent.

Helena, what you described in Porto is pretty much along the same line as what I have watched unfold in Budapest. The deteriated near slum conditions is turning into one of the better areas of town thanks in large part to short-term rental investments in renovation and urban rewnel. Now its where people want to live but many can not afford it. Well, 20 years ago they could have afforded it, but wouldnt have wanted to live there. Don't you just hate change in a community?

Budapest a few years ago decided that it was time to rope it in a bit. So they put a moritorium on new short term licenses and prevented licenses from being transfered with the property title. There will be a slow attrition of short term rentals. If that begins to result in a negative financial impact on the communties it can always be modififed. Reasonable approach I think.

My parent's moved away from the city center (Rua de São Miguel) to the city that was not in the city center, 60 years ago (to Ramalde neighborhood, more properly to "Pereiró"). Why? Because they wanted kids, so larger streets, quiet neighbours, a house with a garden, with bigger rooms. Many people from my family went abroad in those days. The others did the same thing as my parent's: moved to more distant neighborhoods, although inside the city. I, my self, 30 years ago, bought my home outside Porto, although very near my parents home, 10 minutes driving. Why? Because buying a property in Porto 30 years ago was choosing between the the cheap city center, full of dangerous things and ruined buildings, or the more distant from the city center neighborhoods, like Antas, Foz, or even Cedofeita ,that were really expensive, long before the "tourist thing".

I don't know about other countries, but I know about my own, or at least about my city. Rents or mortages are high, but that is not because of tourism. Not at all.