Since the pandemic, Lisbon has been considered a paradise for digital nomads. Last year, the Portuguese capital took first place in the "Nomad List", a ranking of the best cities for digital nomads. According to official estimates, up to 19,000 foreign professionals have settled in Lisbon. Rents, which have been rising sharply for years, have once again skyrocketed as a result. Locals have been unable to afford the prices for a long time. Now the housing shortage seems to have reached a new dimension.

The government has fueled the influx with tax breaks and visas. For example, expats who can provide evidence of training in certain professions pay a fixed tax rate of 20 percent, which is usually less than locals whose income follows a progressive tax system. In other words: anyone who earns 850 euros a month already pays more taxes than a newcomer. In addition, thanks to a new government program, professionals who do not come from the EU can settle in Portugal for a year if they earn at least 2800 euros a month. "We now have neighborhoods that are mostly Airbnb," a Portuguese teacher complained to Politico during a protest march in November 2022.

Many locals blame the short-term rental platform, which is popular with digital nomads, for the housing shortage. Foreigners buy or rent the most beautiful apartments in the city - for locals, space is becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. According to a report in the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (FAZ), a small two-room apartment in the center of Lisbon costs more than a thousand euros. And "in a country where more than half of the citizens earn less than a thousand euros," says the article. The "Spiegel" also reported on the wide gap between the salaries of Portuguese and foreign workers. While Germans earn more than 4,000 euros gross per month on average, the Portuguese average income is 1,400 euros and the minimum wage is 705 euros per month.

Because digital nomands simply earn a lot more, rental prices are going through the roof. For expats, life in Lisbon is still affordable, often even cheap. The locals, on the other hand, are forced to leave the city. Even the apartments in the outskirts can hardly be afforded by many. "Whole families live there in just one room, which costs 450 euros a month," said activist Rita Silva from the "Habita" organization of the "FAZ". Those who can no longer afford the rent build their own place to stay – out of tin and wood. Hundreds of such barracks are currently being built in the urban area of ​​Loures, which borders on the Portuguese capital. Poor neighborhoods are developing, some of which are only 30 minutes from the city center, but according to "FAZ" they are more reminiscent of favelas in the Third World.

Locals' anger at rising property prices and gentrification is growing - and with it, resistance. For months, one strike has followed the next in Portugal. Railway workers, teachers and doctors want more money. More and more organizations like "Habita" are calling for large-scale demonstrations. The government is aware of the problem. An upper limit for Airbnbs and holiday apartments was already set in October 2021. In the future, licenses should only be granted in less developed rural areas. However, current developments show that this restriction has so far hardly had the desired effect.

Another measure with which the government wants to create more living space quickly relates to the vacancy rate. In Lisbon alone there are around 48,000 vacant properties, some of which are publicly owned, but mostly privately owned. They are the result of inheritance disputes in which those involved could not come to an agreement. And they are also the result of a policy that, unlike today, has banned rent increases for years, making the property unprofitable for homeowners to invest in.

The government wants to rent these vacant houses as quickly as possible, if necessary by force. There is great skepticism about the announcements, and there is hardly any trust in housing policy. If they have the appropriate qualifications and the finances, Portuguese specialists do the same as the digital nomands - they emigrate.

Sources: "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung", "Nomadlist", "Politico", "Spiegel"