From Saturday July 1st, accommodation rental websites such as Airbnb, risk fines up to €32,500 if they run ads for properties in Portugal without displaying AL registration numbers.
A new decree law from the Ministry of the Economy reads that "The electronic platforms that make available, advertise or market accommodation ... must demand and display on the platform the respective National Tourist Registry number."
This law covers both the website and the property owner or promoter and a scale of fines has been published.
The owners of the tourist rental properties already have an obligation to register under the Alojamento Local scheme but only around 20% have bothered leaving the government open to criticism that it did not mind the illegal sector as it served hundreds of thousands of tourists who spend money in the country.
For owners whose properties have AL registration numbers, these need to be added to their chosen rental website or both parties will be breaking the new law as from Saturday July 1st.
The fines for property owners are between €125 and €3,250 for individuals and between €1,250 and €32,500 if the owner is a company.
Fines for the hosting websites are the same with sites owned by companies attracting fines of between €1,250 and €32,500 and sites owned by individuals receiving fines of between €125 and €3,250.
The new law also claims to simplify the AL licensing procedure but this appears to benefit only the small hotel sector. New accommodation sectors such as glamping, also come under the new regulation and the law also outlines safety rules for the use of swimming pools in tourist accommodation.
Before midnight on Friday June 30th, accommodation websites face the task of including a special field for the property’s AL number on every listing for Portugal, if this is not already included in the listing.
The government’s idea is for Illegal rentals to be pushed off accommodation websites in an effort to fix the self-inflicted problem of illegal rentals that successive administrations have failed to address in a sensible, well-planned manner.
The large rental websites such as Booking, Sapo Casa and OLX may not have enough time to add the necessary field for the AL numbers and those owners with AL numbers will be obliged to remove their listing until such a field is made available.
The illegal rental market will continue as, like water, sooner or later it will find a way around around this latest obstacle.
The government has failed time and time again to make this local accommodation sector a success and with only 20% adhering to the set of laws, the AL scheme can be categorised as unfit for purpose.
This new move punishes, in the short-term anyway, those with AL licences unable to use their chosen websites and will drive the illegal rental sector to create different communication models.
If the new law actually worked and 80% of the short-term tourist rental market closed down, the effects on the Algarve's economy would be significant, the powerful hotel lobby would be delighted and tens of thousands of holidaymakers who prefer to rent privately simply will choose a different country in which to spend their hard-earned holiday.
The Local Accommodation Association in Portugal (ALEP) today asked for "some common sense and tolerance" in the first days of applying the fines to bookings websites advertising local housing for rent, warning that there may be some website owners who are unaware of the new rules.
ALEP president Eduardo Miranda said that most of the digital platforms are already prepared for changes to the Alojamaneto Local regime, however "small platforms eventually were not informed."
Miranda considered that "it is technically impossible to demand that in two or three days the platforms adapt", since the new legislation, which takes effect on Saturday, was only promulgated on Wednesday by the President of the Republic and published today, Friday June 30th in Diário da República.
"It is only natural that there is some flexibility to adapt," said Miranda, arguing that a "short period of adaptation" is needed.
The Secretary of State for Tourism was asked whether the websites are ready to comply with the new legislation, to which Ana Mendes Godinho said that the platforms "were consulted and informed on all the issues involved in this process.”
"The aim of this measure is to bring as much as possible into the formal economy. This is a way of guaranteeing the rules of fair competition," said the secretary of state.
For Miranda, the new rules reinforce the message that the registration of local accommodation establishments is mandatory and shows that combating illegality is one of the government’s priorities, adding that, "the legalisation of all operators is the number one focus."
__________
For property owners looking to go legitimate, contact the National Association of Local Lodging Establishments at www.nalle.pt and/or ask afpop for information.
