Lisbon, Dec. 4, 2024 (Lusa) - Lisbon's Municipal Assembly has approved a resolution to refer to Portugal's Constitutional Court the popular initiative for a local referendum on new restrictions on short-term rentals in Lisbon, namely to ban all new licences in residential buildings, or to ban all such licences, including existing ones.

The conversion of the popular initiative for a local referendum on local accommodation into a resolution of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly (AML) was approved with votes in favour from the opposition Socialist Party (PS), Left Bloc (BE), Greens (PEV), People-Animals-Nature (PAN) and Livre, and the non-attached assembly members Miguel Graça and Daniela Serralha (elected on the Cidadãos por Lisboa ticket as part of the PS-Livre list). Against were members from the mayor's Social Democratic Party (PSD), the conservative People's Party (CDS-PP), the Liberal Initiative (IL), the People's Monarchist Party (PPM), the Alliance party and far-right Chega, as well as the non-attached member Margarida Penedo; the Communist Party (PCP) and Earth Party (MPT) abstained.

At the meeting, assembly members discussed the report of the temporary committee set up to analyse the petition for a local referendum on short-term rentals of Local Accommodation as it is legally known in Portugal, with the recommendation that "the initiative be converted into a deliberation for consideration by the AML plenary session."

At issue is a petition organised by the Referendum for Housing Movement (MRH), which proposes two questions: "Do you agree to change the Municipal Regulation on Local Accommodation so that Lisbon City Council, within 180 days, orders the cancellation of local accommodation registered in residential properties?" and "Do you agree with amending the Municipal Regulation on Local Accommodation so that local accommodation is no longer allowed in residential properties?"

The AML will now refer the decision whether to hold the referendum to the Constitutional Court, which is to validate it or not.

The representative of the MRH in the assembly, Teresa Mamede, thanked the deputies for analysing an initiative by more than 11,000 people who signed the petition, by a "movement that dared to activate, for the first time" in Portugal's "history, a direct democracy tool provided for in the Constitution."

Assembly member Isabel Pires (BE), author of the report of the committee set up to look at the local referendum legal rules, emphasised this "unprecedented moment" in Portugal's democracy, saying that she would therefore like to see the city council "much more represented" - after the mayor, Carlos Moedas (PSD) and other councillors left the session.

Assembly member António Morgado Valente (PAN) explained that his party "is not against local accommodation, however in cities like Lisbon or Porto there are serious problems with the lack of properties on the rental market" but that "unfortunately no action was taken in time" to solve these problems.

For José Sobreda Antunes of PEV, the initiative is based on the difficulty of "access to housing" - with the unbearable price of houses forcing locals to leave the city, and the lack of measures by "public authorities" that have led residents to defend a right in the Constitution, quoting the song ‘Hostel da Mariquinhas’ by Gisela João - a riff on a traditional fado, but in which the Mariquinhas's house has now been turned into accommodation of tourists.

Natacha Amaro of the PCP argued that "the unregulated growth of local accommodation" within the general disorganised framework of tourism in the city "is one of the causes of the problem of the lack of affordable housing, but we also need to intervene on the rental law and interest rates on bank loans" to tackle the housing problem.

"We've realised that they don't want to regulate local accommodation; they want to put an end to it," noted Angélique Da Teresa of IL, accusing the initiative of a “witch hunt” and noting that with “clinics, diagnostic centres, offices, boarding houses, study centres, hairdressers, beauty centres, political party headquarters and hotels” there is apparently “no problem” for the movement.

PS member Ricardo Marques, by contrast, highlighted the historic moment that deserved to be attended to by "the entire council, from all parties" thanks to the initiative of the referendum movement, stressing that the assembly was not going to "debate local accommodation" but rather whether the 6,550 signatures of residents deserve to be heeded with a referendum, giving as an example the recent popular consultation in the Benfica civil parish on priced parking zones.

For Martim Borges de Freitas of the CDS-PP, "the referendum, if it exists, will not be for housing" but would be "completely against local accommodation" - an economic activity that, he said, due to its characteristics is undertaken by "families and small owners" of residential properties.

Livre member Ofélia Janeiro, meanwhile, welcomed the "citizens’ initiative" - which she noted “is provided for in the law” and which she said defends “the right to housing” - noting that it therefore falls to the Constitutional Court for “legal verification” and not to the municipal assembly.

PSD member Ana Mateus argued that the questions put to the Constitutional Court "fall within the scope of matters excluded from the local referendum" as they are issues regulated by a legislative act or relating to local authorities.

LFS/ARO // ARO.

Lusa