Richard Matoušek is a journalist who covers sociopolitical issues in Southern Europe and Latin America. He is also a social researcher at Kantar Public.
In Lisbon, soaring tourism has turned tens of thousands of apartments into Airbnbs, pushing out ordinary renters. A referendum on banning short-term rentals in residential buildings could change that.
Housing costs in Lisbon are so high that it’s ranked even more unviable for renters than New York. Attempts to solve the issue through “market efficiency” have made the problem worse.