Landlords in Portugal will have a maximum period of 100 days to rent empty houses

the owners will have a period of 100 days from the receipt of a rental proposal from the municipal authorities to re-let an empty property “in habitable conditions”, according to the proposed law of the Government of Portugal published this Saturday for public consultation.

“Properties for residential use classified empty“will be able”to be the subject of a forced lease by the municipalities for their subsequent subletting in the field of social housing programs”, according to the text published on the portal Glossary of queries.

It will be the municipalities, each owner will have ten days to confirm your receipt. In case of refusal or absence of response, “property returned more than 90 days ago may be subject to forced lease”.

The Government explains that if it is necessary to carry out work on the property, these can be carried out “in a coercive manner by the municipalities (…) in charge of the rents”.

The government explained that will not be affected as a general rule, second homes, homes of emigrants or those of those residing abroad for professional, training or health reasons, those acquired for resale by natural or legal persons or those are “inside a tourist enterprise and are registered as local accommodation”.

The standard fits in the package More accommodations presented by the Portuguese socialist government on 16 February and which is available for a period of public consultation until March 10. The plan includes a cost of 900 million euros.

In another order, Portugal wants to harness the potential of tourism for the LGTBI+ communitywhich represents a tenth of the country’s visitors, and has opened its own space in the Lisbon Tourist Exchange (BTL), the largest trade fair in the sector.

More than a dozen companies are gathered in this space, managed by Variações, the Portuguese Association of Trade and Tourism LGTBI, and whose objective is “the national and international promotion of these companieswhich are most often micro-enterprises”.

“10% of the tourists who visit our country belong to the LGTBI+ community,” he explained to the news agency. EFE the Vice President of Variations, Kiki País de Sousawhich indicates that it is an audience with “specific needs”.

Look for “safe destinations” and Portugal is increasingly positioning itself among them: “It is known for having excellent hospitality. We speak Portuguese, English, French…”, insists Pais de Sousa.

Among the businesses that this BTL space houses, there are nightclubs, saunas, hotels or real estate consultants specialized in the LGTBI+ community, and they all agree: they have been growing steadily in recent years. in Portugal.

Eddy Van Wallendael He has owned Bar 3 Lisboa since 2010 and assured that the business has “duplicate» Since then, so much so that in 2019 he decided to also open Villa 3 Caparica, a hotel designed for gays from 25 years old but « open to all ».

Between 80% and 90% of customers are foreignersfrom the United States, Australia and Europe, much of Spain.

“In Portugal, the LGTBI+ market will be represented by 50% foreigners, it’s very large,” he said. EFE Director of Assets, Marc Marcier.

Trumps started as a nightclub and grew to become a brand, and is at BTL showcasing a project to promote queer artists and another to train businesses to speak better to LGTBI+ customers.

“It is very important that tourism recognizes the LGTBI+ reality and the need to have specific products for their community», Considers Mercier.

At the fair there is also the Trombeta Bath sauna, where half of the customers are foreigners, especially from Spain, according to its owner, Joao Costa.

For Costa, the fact that Portugal is a safe destination for the community is no longer in question: “We are a country of the European Union. We were one of the first countries to have same-sex marriage,” he recalls.

(With information from Europa Press and EFE)

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