Lisbon residents call for vote on banning tourist lets in residential blocks

Petition demands council hold binding referendum on issue after local people say they have been priced out

Housing activists in Lisbon are to hand over a petition, signed by more than 6,600 residents, calling on city officials to agree to hold a binding referendum on banning tourist lets in residential blocks.

The effort, months in the making, is aimed at prompting decisive action in a city where the cost of housing has drastically outpaced local salaries. Short-term rentals take most of the housing space in Lisbon's historic centre," said Raquel Antunes, a member the group Movement for a Housing Referendum. We need to put the brakes on this."