Anti-Displacement Social Movements in Lisbon: A Perspective from the Trenches in the Fight Against Transnational Gentrification

Between 2011 and 2014 in Portugal, a neoliberal turn of fiscal and urban policies emerged, driven by post-crisis capitalist international austerity intervention. Both national and urban governments discovered the potential of touristification in regenerating traditional inner-city housing areas to better the position of the city in the context of global urban competition. This resulted in the creation of aggressive programs to attract foreign investment (such as the Golden Visa and the Non-Habitual Residents Laws), a new urban lease law, a new tax regime for Property Investment Funds, and a new law for tourist lodging (short-rental). The chapter first addresses Lisbon’s neoliberal urbanism and how it produced a relevant economic strategy for local and national urban policies. Then it explores the relationship between short-rental tourist lodging, foreign investment programs, financialization of the housing market and the evictions which were the main consequence of this process. Following a detailed discussion of relevant critical theories, the chapter outlines and gives examples of the new spaces of contestation created by anti-eviction social movements in Lisbon that have potential for reversing the current housing crisis.