At the top of the Spanish protester's issues was the fact that short-term rental of apartments that would normally be available for long-term rental to residents was forcing prices out of reach of the local population. Sound familiar?

"It's not a message against the tourist, but against a tourism model that doesn't benefit this land and needs to be changed," one of the protesters told Reuters during the march in Tenerife's capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife.


Long-term rentals disappearing from the market

The shortage of long-term rental properties is causing problems both in the Algarve and Lisbon. Owners can make substantially greater income from renting to tourists and the main culprit in all this is Airbnb. The demand is there, especially as, according to people I have contacted, it’s cheap. Or to put it another way, it’s cheaper than conventional tourist accommodation.

Why? Hotels, apartments and villas rented through agents are insured, inspected, and controlled (to some extent). Proper hygiene and maintenance are in place, the operators are responsible to the authorities to offer safe and well-maintained properties. It probably doesn’t always work as well as it should, but it’s a whole lot better than totally uncontrolled or unsupervised accommodation.


Low standards in some properties

I had the occasion recently to visit an American couple who had rented a villa in Carvoeiro via Airbnb. The coffee machine didn’t work, there was insufficient toilet paper and a shortage of towels and bed linen. They asked me to translate with the maid. She was apologetic and embarrassed but said she wasn’t allowed to put more than tightly specified supplies in the villa. She said she knew it wasn’t sufficient, and was almost apologetic for Portugal, she loved her country and didn’t like to see visitors treated this way.


Few safeguards

I was curious about the safeguards that Airbnb may put in place. I went through the process (almost to the end) to put our property up for rent. The Airbnb website started by telling me how much money I would make. The only things the site wanted to list on my property were how many bedrooms, and bathrooms, details about the kitchen and what was on offer. At no stage did I need to confirm if the property was properly licenced for rental, insured, or any other legal information. Just send a photo and it will be listed. Dare I call that irresponsible, you can answer that question for yourself.

The Algarve, and probably Lisbon, do not need cheap tourism. Portugal is a quality destination; I would venture to suggest we don’t need to be a low-cost destination.

The other problem is that this type of accommodation is not under any control. You may feel that the government or tourist boards should not have any opinion, let alone control, over the tourist market. If you have that view, think, about who will support all the services needed to ensure visitors get everything they need. Roads, transport, police, etc. Somebody has to have some sort of oversight.


The legal situation

To legally rent out property in Portugal and start generating income, individuals must acquire an AL licence (holiday home rental licence) and register their business with the financial services offices, providing necessary documentation like a passport, fiscal number (NIF), and IBAN of their bank. Airbnb are not insisting you register for an AL licence. It would be simple for them to ask for your licence number as part of the registration process. I leave it to readers to decide why they don’t ask.

Further than that, how can the tourism authorities control and plan the market if they don’t know what tourist accommodation is on offer? A new hotel or development has to be planned and authorised, not least to see that it’s in a location where there is deemed to be a demand, local access, and services.

Rental agents are responsible for seeing that claimed standards are met, insurance and service, and, hopefully, that the owners pay tax.


Airbnb the downside

Among the myriad challenges that Airbnb hosts encounter, property damage stands out as a particularly vexing issue, with potential repercussions that extend far beyond mere inconvenience. Hosts may find themselves in the precarious position of needing to recover costs for damages inflicted by guests, a process that can involve relying on the Airbnb Host Guarantee, pursuing reimbursement directly from the guest, or resorting to their own insurance policies. The absence of a provision for charging a security deposit further compounds this challenge, leaving hosts with limited recourse in recouping repair expenses. This scenario is exacerbated by instances where guests blatantly disregard house rules, engaging in activities such as unauthorised parties that result in significant property damage, including broken kitchen cabinets or other forms of vandalism. Despite hosts' best efforts to vet guests and establish clear guidelines, the unpredictable nature of human behaviour means that they cannot fully insulate themselves from the risk of property damage, highlighting the inherent vulnerabilities associated with renting out one's space on platforms like Airbnb.


We need quality, not cheap tourism

Many years ago, when I started publishing, I visited the regional tourist board in Faro. This was back in the late 70’s. One thing I was assured was that ‘we are not going to make the same mistakes as Spain’. Spain was attracting the bottom end of the market. English breakfast and ‘tea like mother makes’. That’s not the market Portugal wants or attracts, perhaps except Albufeira. If all a visitor wants is cheap accommodation, and that’s what people like Airbnb offer, it’s a downhill path.


What are the consequences?

If staff can’t find accommodation to rent, they will have to move to other areas in Portugal or another country. That results in a shortage of staff, especially in the tourism industry. Otherwise, they will need much higher wages to pay for the accommodation they need, if they can find it. Either of these options hurts the tourism industry. Like it or not, tourism is the lifeblood of the Algarve and important for Lisbon.

No wonder people went on a protest march in the Canary Islands, this is a serious problem. The government needs to act.

Author

Resident in Portugal for 50 years, publishing and writing about Portugal since 1977. Privileged to have seen, firsthand, Portugal progress from a dictatorship (1974) into a stable democracy. 

Paul Luckman