Lisbon

The mayor of Lisbon has turned it into a magnet for European startups

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Carlos Moedas does not feel like a conventional politician. The current mayor of Lisbon and former European Commissioner for Innovation recently insisted in which his training as an engineer marked his management. The idea: less rhetoric and more structural solutions. And it certainly seems to carry out this proposal, because it is leading a transformation that seeks to position the Portuguese capital not only as a tourist destination, but as one of the most relevant technological nodes in Europe. unicorn factory. The nerve center of this transformation is the call Unicorn Factorya hub of innovation that was launched in 2022 and that has become the flagship project of its mandate. Since its creation, this initiative has multiplied its size by five, and today it already houses thematic divisions specialized in cutting-edge sectors such as AI, blockchainhealth or green technologies dedicated to the agricultural field. The success is tangible: 17 “unicorn” companies (valued at more than $1 billion) have moved their operations to the Portuguese capital. Attracting startups. Moedas explained in comments to Financial Times how the real challenge of Lisbon is not to see companies born, but to help them grow. The project attracted 300 companies in 2025, a figure that represents notable growth from 250 the previous year. Among them there are companies with founders from the US, Brazil, or Denmark. Favorable conditions. To attract these startups Moedas has used several levers. The first is to sell Lisbon for what it is: a safe capital with a great quality of life. The second is to highlight that the tax regime for qualified immigrants is advantageous, and there are also tax credits for R&D, which of course is a strong argument for companies that consume a lot of resources in those initial phases and can thus receive aid in this process. But. The road, Moedas openly acknowledges, is not without potholes. Portuguese bureaucracy remains complex – the same thing happens in Spain – and that can deter entrepreneurs. The mayor of Lisbon states in the interview that a good part of his time is spent talking on the phone with foreign founders and helping them overcome these bureaucratic barriers. “Politicians do not create jobs, the markets create them,” he repeats: their job is to facilitate, not hinder, or at least that is the message. Competence. Although the activity is notable, there are founders of companies who know that the market is raffling them off. María Ribeiro Soares, from Immersiv Studios, warned of the difficulty retaining talent compared to markets with higher wages such as the United Kingdom or Germany. The other venture capital. There is another peculiarity in this entrepreneurship market. Lisbon startup founders have realized that while traditional venture capital is cautious, the so-called family offices are very willing to bet on these projects. These investors, often experienced, high-net-worth former founders, provide funding but also advice. Lisbon is not alone. The rise of Lisbon as a technological node is also accompanied by other Portuguese innovation centers such as Braga and Porto, where, for example, the biotechnology sector flourishes. There is also a direct connection with universities oriented to this market, and in that northern region of Portugal alone there are already some 1,200 startups with a combined valuation of close to 9 billion euros, according to the FT. The other great challenge. Portugal’s efforts to attract external talent have led to the arrival of numerous digital nomads, but this has had a counterproductive effect: it is causing an exodus among young Portuguese. They cannot access a housing market adapted to the pockets of those nomads, who charge triple. Rental prices have skyrocketed, and that has created tension that the mayor must manage. Image | EU2017EE Estonian Presidency | Aayush Gupta In Xataka | Portugal’s radical proposal to stop touristification: an underwater cable that connects with the US

Portugal and Spain have proposed that traveling between Lisbon and Madrid be as comfortable as in 1881. This is excellent news

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31 years after the first promise, we will have a high-speed train from Madrid to Lisbon passing through Extremadura. We will have it, of course, if the plans are fulfilled. And four years later we will be able to travel the space that separates both capitals at high speed. 2030 and 2034. At least that’s what they’ve committed to. Portugal, Spain and the European Commission, who have reached an agreement to bring the connection between Lisbon and Madrid back to life in 2030 with a conventional train and in 2034 with a high-speed line that should make the journey in three hours. The calendar. To launch the line between the capitals, the project requires various phases and actions. Poceirão-Bombel section: new line that will begin construction in 2026 and should be completed in 2029. Évora-Caia section: this high-speed section should be ready in 2026. Lisbon-Évora section: the project study should be completed in 2027. Plasencia-Talayuela section: should be operational in 2028. Madrid-Lisbon at high speed: the new lines should allow travel between the Spanish capital and Portugal in three hours from 2034. In addition, the possibility of opening a Caia-Badajoz-Elvas high-speed line has been raised to reduce times and reach three hours if the planned times are not being met. Target: airlines. One of the great objectives that the European Union has with this new high-speed line is to reduce the number of flights between both cities. They point out in elDiario.es There are currently about 40 daily flights between Madrid and Lisbon. For years, European institutions have been working to reduce the volume of air traffic by improving rail connections. Spain either France These are some of the countries that want to implement policies to reduce them. A 600 kilometer railway line to travel in three hours is exactly the type of trip that can do a lot of damage to airlines if it works correctly. A good example is the Galician runner which, despite requiring more travel time, has made passengers turn their backs on the plane. And Galicia? If travelers who aspire to take their trains from Madrid are the big beneficiaries, Galicia seems to be the big loser. In recent yearsPortugal had insisted that its true intention was to create a high-speed line between Lisbon and Vigo with an intermediate stop in Porto. The project now takes a back seat, however, since they will have to focus efforts on high speed between capitals. In Atlantic They highlight that the European Union has already dedicated more than 250 million euros to promoting high speed in Portugal and more than 750 million euros to do the same in the connection between Extremadura and Madrid, so it seems logical that the first corridor to support this. A continental network. The project to link Lisbon and Madrid on a high-speed line is part of the European Atlantic Transport Corridor. The project plans to link Portugal, Spain, France, Germany and Ireland with intermodal connections that include roads, airports, ports… and railway lines. Regarding the latter, the connection with Madrid would allow connecting Barcelona with Lisbon in less than six hours. It would be a key stage for unite Lisbon with the rest of the European Union by train since, at the moment, the Portuguese capital is isolated by rail. In addition, it would allow rapid connection with other hot spots on the Spanish high-speed rail network, such as Valencia and Alicante or connections with Asturias and Cantabria. The exit to Vigo with the high-speed network that was already planned is the other possibility to reach the north of the Peninsula. The eternal promise. The connection between Lisbon and Madrid is a promise that has been going on for more than 20 years. In The World Order They highlight that the railway connection between both cities is worse today than in 1881 when a train line was opened between both cities for the first time. Between Berlin and Warsaw, they point out, there is a similar distance traveled by seven trains a day. Despite the first promises of having a cross-border AVE ready in 2010the line is still not operational. With the latest advances in the high-speed line, already present between Plasencia and Badajoz, the travel time between Lisbon and Madrid has been reduced to just over eight hours, as explained in The World Order but you have to take three different trains. In 2022, the same trip exceeded 11 hours, collected in The Country. At least 144 years ago, travelers only had to take a train and wait for it to drop them off in one of the two cities. Photo | Phil Richards, Annie Sprat and 야스민 ㄹㅁㅅ In Xataka | A hydrogen train has crossed Spain and Portugal for the first time: 10,000 km of route, including the Pyrenees

We have been talking about high speed between Lisbon and Madrid for years. Portugal is looking elsewhere: Galicia

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Galicia and Portugal share cultural, economic ties and a intense very intense cars flow forced to circulate on one of the highways more dangerous from Spain. That last could change in a few years. Portugal has activated His administrative machinery to build the first high speed between Aveiro and Porto, a key piece of the Lisboa-Oporto railway corridor that looks beyond Portugal and aspires to link with Galicia. With the echoes of the debate of whether Lisbon, high speed must be prioritized with Madrid or Galicia, the public body infrastructure of Portugal (IP) is very light: Aspires to link Lisbon with Vigo and A Coruña to leave a population bag of 11 million people only three hours from the Portuguese capital. What happened? That Portugal has just given A key step For the implementation of the Lisbon-Porto high speed line, a railway corridor that will link the two main cities of the country and will continue north to the border with Galicia. A few days ago IP and Advance Norte- Gestão Da Ferrovia de High Speede signed A concession contract of the first high speed between Lisbon and Porto: 71 km between Porto and Oiãin the Aveiro district. What exactly agreed? What they signed is a concession and financing contract, which in turn clears the design, construction and maintenance of the Porto section to Oiã for 30 years. “When it is finished, it will allow the connection between Lisbon and Porto in an hour and 15 minutes, with an expected use of almost ten million passengers a year,” Clarify Carlo Fernandes, from IP. In addition to the 71 kilometers of line, the project will incorporate a station in Vila Nova de Gaia, a bridge over the Duero and an electrical substation in Strare. And what about investment? The signing of the agreement also served to present the financing agreement between Advo Norte and the European Investment Bank (BEI) for 875 million euros, part of the global loan of 3,000 million euros approved in 2024 by the BEI to support the new line. Vigo lighthouse It states that in the first phase the Next Generation funds will also contribute 447 million. “This is a true turning point,” Celebrate Nadia Calviñoformer Minister of Economy and current president of the BEI. And why is it important? Because those 71 km are the first step of a much more ambitious race, the first phase of the new Lisbon-Support line. In total that initial corridor will be extended 143 km Between the Porto-Campanhã and Soubo station, in Coimbra. The high -speed corridor between the two major cities of Portugal, Lisbon and Porto, is divided into several phases that extend to Oiã, from that town to the district of Coimbra and the latter to the Lisbon area. A few months ago, In MayInfrastructure of Portugal also guaranteed that its objective is that the works for the new line between Braga and Valença do Minho, already at the northern end of the country, touching the border with the south of Galicia, start in 2028 and that the infrastructure is completed shortly after, in 2032. But … how does Spain affect? How important is the future high -speed future line between Lisbon and Porto or plans to extend the infrastructure even further north of the country? Simple. Procedures such as that of a few days ago, which seems to have cleared the future of the Porto-Oiã section, gradually shaping the new railway axis that will link the Portuguese capital with the north of the country and, ultimately, will link with the Galician rail service. It is not theory. Although the project takes time on the table and over the last years has taken both steps forward and backwards, the high speed connection with Galicia is linked to the development of the Lisbon-Oporto corridor. It He has made clear Fernandes himself, vice president of IP: “We will get with the Lisbon-Porto-Vigo axis to place A Coruña and about 11 million inhabitants at a distance of three hours from Lisbon.” The objective is not only to connect the lusas (large and intermediate) cities but to extend through the Atlantic strip. Is it the only project? No. The Lisbon-Porto High Speed Line and its connection with Galicia has been on the table, but in the neighboring country they handle another key project: the corridor Between Lisbon and Madrid. What is a priority? Which one is most interested in Spain? And to Portugal? In the past both countries have signs that their answers to those questions do not always coincide. During the summit Hispanic-2004 The Spanish government promised to “boost high speed between Madrid and Lisbon by 2030”. On the section of Porto to Vigo, assured “Share with the Portuguese Executive the commitment of 2032”. For the Portuguese president, Luis Montenegro, things seem to be somewhat different. After the bilateral assembly, he wanted to “make clear” that his “priority” is the Galician connection and that Madrid is actually a “second priority.” Is it the first time that happens? At all. It is not the first time that dissonance is revealed. In 2020, with António Costa in the Portuguese Government, it was even clearer when after the XXXI Hispanic Summit the Minister of Cohesion Territory, Ana Abrunhosa, left black on white Your posture. “Our priority is not the connection between Madrid and Lisbon because from Madrid to Lisbon we go by plane. We already have connection. Our priority is the Lisbon Atlantic Axis, Porto and Vigo”, He stressed Abrunhosablunt. Galicia and Portugal share economic ties and an intense flow of vehicles, which converts the A-55 highway, into Vigo, into The great door for filmed traffic between both countries. The Lisbon-Madrid connection that would limit the three-hour trip is expected a priori by 2034. Images | John Worth (Flickr), Nuno Morão (Flickr) and Infrastruturas of Portugal In Xataka | Renfe has just published his first punctuality report. Result: the bird is not punctual

Felipe II wanted to build an XXL channel from Madrid to Lisbon. Now the city has recovered it inspired by ancient Egypt

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When the workers are excavated in a city with the solera and patrimonial wealth of Madrid the ground can become a box of surprises. The team in charge of the expansion of Metro Line 11, which during its excavations at the future Madrid Rio station recently proved it. He found himself With a wall of the Real Canal del Manzanares, the Gran river path dreamed by Felipe II. The structure has value, that was clear from the beginning, but it was so delicate and was in such a complicated area that a doubt arose: how to rescue it? Simple: ‘Looking’ to Ancient Egypt. Underground Award. If Spanish architects know something, it is that when you hurt a shovel in a city and excavas enough it is not strange that archaeological remains begin to emerge. It has happened in the works of Expansion of line 11 of the Madrid Metro. A few months ago The operators who are responsible for horating the ground for the future underground network and the Madrid Rio station found more than rocks: they located remains of the Real Canal del Manzanares. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Curious yes, surprising no. The finding is interesting and will help us know better The old channeling who aspired to connect Madrid and Lisbon with barges, but did not catch off experts. “It has been no surprise to meet this section of the channel here,” I commented In spring a The country Archaeologist Esther Andreu. It is not the first finding in the environment and experts have been in charge of keeping tables and examining the area with laser scanners. What is the real channel? Maybe The craziest dream From Felipe II, that one day, back in the 16th century, he wondered why he could not have Madrid his own port with the Atlantic. Sounds macarronic, but what the monarch had in mind was to imitate the model of locks and channels he had seen In Flanders and create a river route that connected Madrid with Aranjuez and then continue through the Tagus to Lisbon … and America. The project, huge, required a 600 km navigable route capable of saving 650 m slope, as Pedro Gargantilla requires in ABC. With honey on the lips. The project advanced and In 1584 Felipe II himself came to travel from Madrid to Aranjuez to verify in situ the progress of the company. However, neither its real effort, nor that of the engineer behind the project, Juan Bautista AntonelliNor the implication of the monarchs that followed Felipe II on the throne (especially Carlos III) served to make the structure reach the size with which the Austria dreamed. Stayed in a channel of 22 kilometers of extension (far from the initial objective), 14 meters wide and three of draft, with ten locks, header, jetty and houses for workers. Against the project they played several factors, in addition to their considerable technical complexity. The first varapalo was the death of Antonelli in 1588, which happened complications with financing, the distancing Politician with Portugal and, already advanced time, in the 19th century, the growing competition of the railroad, which caused the infrastructure Stay in disuse. That did not prevent the Royal Channel from remembered as an emblematic project whose remains, as Metro has verified, continue to rest under the feet of Madrid. What to do with the remains? The million dollar question. The wall has a heritage and historical value, that is clear, so it would not be unreasonable to do the same as in other stations and expose the vestiges in Madrid Río itself. But one thing is to remove and handle wood remains, small stones or metal parts and a very different manipulate a structure of several tons. How to move it? How to get it out of its original site without destroying it? The questions are brought because, like Andreu explains in ABCin the unearthed section the Royal Channel was about nine meters wide and 1.5 deep. “It was not very deep, it passed parallel to the Manzanares channel. The water flowed because it was built at the same water table of the river,” he recalls. Before the Brete of having to move that huge structure without deteriorating it, those responsible for the project made a curious decision: ‘look’ to ancient Egypt. “A very complicated order”. The company perhaps scared other archaeologists, but not Miguel Ángel López Marcoswith extensive experience in the recovery of the colossi of Amenophis III in Luxor and that it has already been involved in the ‘rescue’ of other pieces of the Madrid heritage, such as The last vestiges from the San Gil barracks. That callus and previous knowledge have helped him to face the Real Canal project, a task that admits, it was not simple. “The commission was very complicated by the situation of the wall embedded in the tunnel and the characteristics of the fragile and mechanical resistance,” account. Metal cage and steel rollers. How did he solve it? The first conclusion reached by López Marcos is that “the extraction should be in block.” “Disassembly would cause the disintegration of the wall, which does not have the necessary consistency,” Clarify The expert before pointing out that conventional engineering lacks resources to “guarantee” the conservation of that kind of structures. It is nothing new. The same challenge has already been found in Egypt, where he can often resort to heavy machinery that facilitates the task. To solve it López Marcos and his companions had to pull ingenuity. The team designed a protective cage, a shield that allowed it to dig under the structure and dispose of a base with steel bars. Everything firm enough to endure a 14 tons structure. Hydraulic beams and cats allowed them to advance the operation and descend the remains of the wall at a sufficient height to move it to a crane truck. To facilitate the movement of the cage with the stones the team also handled steel rollers. Objective: … Read more

Mexico City wanted to shine as Lisbon did. Now they have the same problems: Gentrification and Digital Nomads

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In recent weeks, Mexico City has been the scene of a wave of protests that have put in the center of the debate the coexistence of its inhabitants. The increase in housing prices, due to the gentrification of the most popular neighborhoods in the city, and the uncontrolled tourist They have put the Digital nomads In the spotlight causing an unprecedented social reaction in the Mexican capital. Mexico City is thrown out. Thousands of people went to protest through the streets of the most central and busy colonies (neighborhoods) like Rome and Countess, where rental prices have increased above 100% In the last three years. What began as a peaceful manifestation against the gentrification and the increase of life in those colonies, soon took a more violent look: Several businesses frequented by tourists and digital nomads were attacked under slogans From “Gringo, go home!” Some protesters carried banners with “gringos written messages, stop stealing the house”, while demanding laws to regulate the tourist and policies that allow access to a home at affordable prices for the premises. “They are expelling us from our own neighborhoods,” the protesters shouted. The government responds and the US does not lose Comba. The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, He expressed his outrage before the violence registered in the demonstrations and condemned Xenophobic attitudes that the protesters showed against the digital nomads and tourists who found in their path. “It cannot be that due to a lawsuit, however legitimate, that is gentrification, the demand is ‘any nationality of our country,’” said Sheinbaum. “Mexico is a country open to the world and is not discriminatory; then xenophobic attitudes cannot be justified.” The increase in tension against digital nomads, mainly Americans, also have a response component from citizenship to deportation policies That the Government of Donald Trump is applying, expelling many Mexican citizens from the US, while these digital nomads now occupy the homes in which the protesters lived. “Gentrification is colonization!” Some of the banners exhibited in the demonstration. For its part, far from showing a conciliatory message, the US National Security Department, on which mass deportations depend, threw more firewood by the fire by publishing In his X profile The message: “If you are illegally in the United States and want to join the next protest in Mexico City, use the CBP Home application to facilitate your departure.” THE ORIGIN OF THE PROTEST: Gentrification. Such and As I pointed out The president of Mexico in her speech, the origin of the discomfort of the population of Mexico City has as a backdrop Gentrificationa process that has accelerated in recent years. During this period, the local government promoted the investment of foreign real estate funds and the Use of platforms such as Airbnbracing the way for the arrival of professionals with high purchasing power from the global northern. As a result, the price of housing in central colonies It has doubled In the last decade, and the cost of living has become unsustainable for many residents resulting from the pressure of investment funds for removing maximum profitability to their real estate investments. “When talking about real estate cartels, it is rightly said, because between cartels there are disputes over a territory or square, and today the (colony) Juarez is the center of a similar dispute,” assured In 2023 a BBC Neighborhood activist Sergio González. The average rental of an house in Mexico City went from 16,100 pesos per month (about 738 euros to change) in January 2018 to 20,426 pesos (about 936 euros) five years later, although this figure shoots more than double in colonies such as the Countess. The minimum monthly salary in Mexico City is around 8,364 pesos, the equivalent of just less than 384 euros. Digital nomads are not the (unique) responsible. Although US digital nomads have become the main objective of protests, Expert voices like that of the lawyer and activist Carla Escoffié indicate that her presence is only A part of the problem. The mere presence of a few thousand people with high purchasing power in a city like Mexico City does not elevate prices alone, explains Escoffié in his book ‘Country without a roof’. The true Gentrification Motor They are the real estate fundsthe greats LESSORSand the Tourist Rental Platformswhich modify the nature of the neighborhoods building luxury homes and replacing the local trade by multinational chains. President Sheinbaum pointed out that foreigners rejection is a response to mass arrival of digital nomads After the pandemic, mainly from the United States. These “visitors” have much greater purchasing power than the local population and its presence It increased In 60% compared to figures in 2019, and currently, some 700,000 Americans live in Mexico. The precedent: Portugal. Lisbon would have served of Canarian in the mine For the Mexican government to anticipate what would happen in the colonies of Mexico City, since Lisbon has suffered the same symptoms that the Mexican capital now presents. Such and as analyzed in The Guardian The researcher at the University of Lisbon Agustín Cocola-Gant, Portugal promoted for years a low taxation for real estate investors foreigners and launched “golden visas“To attract digital nomads and investors, granting tax advantages over local inhabitants. These policies caused a 105.8% increase in the price of housing in Lisbon between 2015 and 2023, according to published data by The confidential. The result was the expulsion of thousands of Portuguese of its traditional neighborhoodsunable to face the increase in life and housing. As Cocola-Gant explained, Portugal went from occupying the 22 of the 27 countries with the most expensive housing in 2015, to occupy first place today. In Xataka | Cities full of empty houses and neighbors incapable of finding housing: the cities of “Las Persianas descedas” arrive Image | Unspash (Keith Helfrich)

Years ago Lisbon set out to be a tourist capital. Now it has become the greatest tourist hell in Europe

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Lisbon is the mecca of the cream cakesfado, sardines and tiles, but if we talk about real estate market it is undoubtedly the city of change. Little (or nothing) has to do with today’s Lisbon with that of two decades ago, the prior to the financial crisis. The Portuguese capital has managed to sneak into the international investment map and establish itself as Tourist destinationbut it hasn’t left him for free. On the way it has become the city More “uninquerable” from Europe, with a real estate market more focused on Expats or tourists than in their neighbors. The former buy houses to use them as second residences Or in search of high profitability while the latter, the Lisbon, have seen how housing became so careful that many have renounced the perspective of renting whole floors and are content with rooms. Lisbon, “Insequible” city. The Lisbon real estate market fit several adjectives: it is dynamic, attractive For investors and with upward valuesbut there is another peculiarity in which it stands out about the rest of European metropolis: the Insequibility. According to Numbeopresents the ‘worst’ relationship between the average price of housing and available family income. At least from the perspective of the native population interested in buying a house. The platform assigns to the Portuguese capital An index of 21.1, above other large (and faces) European metropolis, such as London(18,6), Paris (16,9), Munich (15), Vienna(14,9) o Barcelona(12.5). Madrid occupies for example the 53rd position of The tablewith a result of 11.6 points. Prices and income. It is not so much that housing is More expensive in Lisbon that in those other cities as of their relationship with income in a country where minimum wage It is maintained low (despite Your progressive ascent) and the half -gross salary was around 2024 1,600 euros/ month. “In a country where 60% of taxpayers earn less than 1,000 euros per month, finding a rent below that price in the capital is only possible if you are willing to live in 20 m2 or less,” warns Agustín Cocola-Gantresearcher at the University of Lisbon, in a tribune of The Guardianin which it analyzes the challenges of the city. A percentage: 176%. Number data is not the only ones that reflect the change that the Lisbon real estate market has experienced during the last decade. Some calculations show that housing was more than 176% in a matter of a decade, between 2014 and 2024, a percentage that would be even more pronounced in the historic center. According to idealistIn 2015 the M2 in the sale market cost 2,206 euros. Today it would exceed 5,700. In the case of rent it passed From € 8.4/m2 to € 22.4/m2 During the same period. And the forecasts managed by the sector show that these values ​​will continue to climb. “It is expected that housing prices both in Lisbon and Porto will continue to grow in 2025, supported by an ongoing recovery after the previous market corrections,” Comment The Savills. “The market remains stable, with a constant growth that signs it a positive perspective for next year.” Although the Lisbon case is especially interesting, the price increase It expands to the whole of Portugal. Looking back. At this point the question is obvious … why is that increasing? How has Lisbon became the most unassumable city in terms of housing price? For cocola-grant The key is in the years after the financial crisis of 2008, when Portugal adopted a shock plan that, among other objectives, set out to make Lisbon a more appetizing destination for tourists and real estate investment. The formula to achieve this had little novelty, remember The expert of the University of Lisbon. The government flexible the rental market, turned to fiscal policy to attract investment funds and applied incentives to capture buyers who do not reside in Portugal, a formula that It has also been tested In Spain. In 2012, the country deployed its Golden Visa program in Portugal, which allowed him to accumulate an investment of thousands of millions of euros. Between tourists, nomads and Expats. The country not only set out to capture real estate investment. Another of its objectives was to claim as a destination to Digital nomadsstudents and travelers and tourists, both those interested in staying in hotels and in apartments through temporary rentals. The result was that thousands of homes The city began to be announced on Airbnb, displacing traditional tenants and Tensioning The market. The digital Mesagem of Lisbon remember that only between 2014 and 2018 the local accommodation (the short -term rentals) grew at a 100% annual rate in Lisbon, especially in certain areas, such as Mercy either Santa Maria Maior. “Dramatic levels”. Cocola-Gant Point out that in the Historic Center of Lisbon the airbnb rents have risen to “dramatic levels” and in the most tourist neighborhoods about 70% of the homes have a short -term rental license, a density that would exceed that of others cities hyperturistifiedsuch as London or Barcelona. Not just that. The hotel offer has shot, tripling since 2010 and with dozen new projects on the horizon. Hi, Gentrification. The researcher at the University of Lisbon Explain That, given the low interest rates and given the fiscal advantages offered by Portugal, investors were interested in Lisboeta real estate park. After all, the country offered them good conditions and houses that were revalued over time and were well received in the rental market. That investment allowed rehabilitating real estate, but had its ‘face B’: a Gentrification Until then almost unknown in much of the city. “Despite the improvements, the city center lost 25% of its population between 2011 and 2021”, Precise. According to their calculations, only 56.5% of the homes that were built or reformed throughout those years ended up becoming main residences. In other words: a good part of that work that allowed to rehabilitate the city resulted in homes that are empty today, are dedicated to temporary rental or are used as second residences. … Read more

Navigating from Madrid to Lisbon, the pharaonic real dream that gave rise to the failed Channel del Manzanares

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The Manzanares river in Madrid has become one of the protagonists of recent days. March is being an extremely rainy month, so much that it has caused Solar energy ceases to grow in Spainbut has also caused the River overflow throughout the country. One of those rivers is Manzanares, which is usually a thread of water and Now it’s a torrent. But the river has not only become news for the increase in flow, but because during the works of Metro line 11 they have found a section of the real historical channel of Manzanares, an ambitious project that It was centuries on the table and that had a target target: join Madrid, Lisbon and Seville by boat. Felipe II’s dream Felipe II It is not just one of the most remembered kings in Spain: it may also be from Europe. Under his reign, The Spanish Empire reached its peak And it was a monarch interested in finance projects of several sciences. He also liked the sea, starting maritime engineering projects, stimulating the creation of large warships and the most ambitious of all: the idea of ​​making The main rivers of the peninsula were navigable. Another detail for which Felipe II is remembered is for the move of the capital of the country: he decided that Madrid would be the ideal location, so he transferred the court in full. But of course, Madrid did not have direct access to the sea and this was something important, especially for trade and those expansionist ambitionsso the project To open Madrid to the sea, he made eyes to the king. And the task fell into the hands of the Italian engineer Juan Bautista Antonelli. Nothing, something simple: Tajo, Duero, Guadalquivir and Ebro, among other rivers, would become navigable, with channels among them that would allow Madrid to have a way out of the sea and a river connection with some of the main cities of the country. For commerce, this was an extremely juicy idea between cities and between Madrid and European, Chinese, African and Indian cities. Fourth Lock of the Real Canal del Manzanares Felipe supported the project And he released funds to be carried out, but it was not going to be simple: a slope of more than 600 meters had to be saved and the necessary adjustments first to open Madrid and, later, that the 600 kilometers that separates the capital from the Atlantic coast were completely navigable. HE I would continue The route of the river and They would create 10 locks between the Toledo bridge and the Vaciamadrid jetty, many for a distance of just 20 kilometers. The capital would join with Aranjuez and, through the Tagus, it would have an exit to the Atlantic by Lisbon. A road was also projected to Seville. He did not set. Although the works are They started Among the Madrid and Alcantara Madrid nuclei, the money was not unlimited and the cocktail of technical difficulties, issues with private properties and, above all, The financing of the invincible Navycaused the money to be redistributed and the interior navigation project was saved in the drawer. He also influenced that, in 1588 Antonelli died and, in 1598, Felipe would. Madrid with double exit to the sea Later it was tried to recover, but the decisive moment came under the reign of Carlos III. Businessman Pedro Martinengo took the witness and presented In 1769 the project to recover the ambitious plan of Felipe II. The construction began in 1770 when Carlos III approved the proposal and the initial funds were in charge of Martinengo himself and private investors he had gathered. Under the direction of the businessman, the project advanced completing eight of the ten planned locks, but the costs were being tremendous and ran out of funds to continue. Martinengo had ruined, but Carlos III liked the projectso bought and thus officially became the Real Canal del Manzanares. The tenth lock Nor do we think that the monarch invested too much: he maintained what there was. Nor is it that he caught the economy at its most buoyant time and the river itself was not the most appropriate for navigation, since it needed water transvases to be able to operate correctly. Some companies were established, such as furnaces, but the channel was being underutilized. With Carlos IV, the thing didn’t improve either. Again, invested just as to maintain it, But in 1799 the disaster arrived: strong rains took part of the Gasco dam, a new construction on the Guadarraman that was the one that was taking the money. Another lock This set of misfortunes, and seeing that the Manzanares channel had been stagnant decades without contributing what was promised, caused the abandonment of the project until the arrival of a Fernando VII who tried to recover it, building the ninth and tenth lock and carrying the work until the vicinity of Vaciamadrid. But the work was not finished. Progress arrived Upon stopping, the channel was degrading, but the last nail in the coffin was the passage of time. In the time of Felipe II, the project could make sense. With Carlos III too, but already entered the 19th, things had changed a lot. The development of roads and, above all, the arrival of the railroad made the priorities change. Why keep investing a fortune to open Madrid to the sea when there were faster than the ship to transport goods? Apart from what The Manzanares channel looked like a money background wellin 1851 the Aranjuez train was inaugurated and, although with Isabel II some boats had sailed through the channel, in the second half of the 19th century it was decided to cut the tap of the funds. When not staying and being water is for a long time, health problems began to appear. The channel became a danger and, although maintenance work began again, around 1860 it was decided Cancel Definitely the pharaonic project. The irony: the railway bridge over the Manzanares … Read more

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