The extension of the deadline for submitting proof of Local Accommodation (AL) activity in Portugal – from the 7th to the 13th of December – brought “some relief” to AL holders, according to the Local Accommodation Association in Portugal (ALEP - Associação do Alojamento Local em Portugal) in a statement.

This was, however, “a process (…) poorly conceived, resulting in numerous other constraints that must be taken into consideration, at a time when, out of a total of 120,000 AL registrations in the RNAL - National Register of Local Accommodation, 45,000 did not send proof”, they add, appealing to “the common sense and flexibility” of local authorities “to avoid undue or unjustified cancellations of registrations”.

The data released by the Ministry of Economy and the Sea and reported by idealista, shows that more than 60% of the total registered ALs submitted their contribution declarations on the platform created for this purpose, with the municipalities of Lisbon, Porto and Albufeira bringing together the largest number of submissions.

“Of the universe of 120,719 AL registrations, 74,972 valid contribution declarations were presented, and the subsequent processing is now up to the territorially competent municipalities”.

According to ECO, around 30% of active AL licenses in Lisbon and Porto will be cancelled. Of a total of 30,553 active licenses in the two cities, 8,866 did not provide proof to continue operating.

However, according to Expresso, the Lisbon and Porto chambers should only start analysing the lack of delivery of proof of AL activity in January.

Lisbon, which has the largest number of registrations, is also the city where non-delivery of proof was most prevalent: 42.6% of holders did not provide proof of activity out of a total of 19,917. In Porto, the situation is reversed, as 9,278 owners (88.7%) provided proof out of a population of around 10,500.

In the statement sent to newsrooms on December 15th, after the end of the deadline set for delivering proof of AL activity in Portugal, ALEP called on municipal councils not to make “hasty decisions” and to take “into consideration that the legislation contains serious gaps, in addition to the procedures being implemented under enormous time pressure, and without due care”.


“It is true that the chambers are not responsible for these errors, but rather the design of the law itself, which underlies this obligation proposed by the Government, however, it is also true that the chambers 'inherited' the problem and now have the burden of assuming responsibility for the consequences of the process”, the note reads.

The entity led by Eduardo Miranda wants local authorities, “in addition to continuing to be sensitive to the issue, to show increased care before deciding on any cancellation hastily, as they run the risk of committing some injustices or even illegalities”.

ALEP also warned of the fact that non-residents, especially foreigners, and the elderly are unable to submit the declaration by their own means because they do not have a citizen card with a digital mobile key or similar, the only way to authenticate themselves to enter the platform and comply this obligation.

“There is also the issue of those who do AL in their permanent residence for less than 120 days who, according to the text of the law, are exempt from sending any proof”, warns the association.