Travel snapshot – aqui podia viver gente!

Today’s travel snapshot I dedicate to a topic that occupied me a lot in Lisbon. Lisbon is alive, but behind the façades it is crumbling. At first glance, the city appears lively, cheerful, lively, and not only by tourists but also by locals. In the old town, however, I was taken aback by the sight of the buildings. A second glance reveals a dreary state of the buildings. In the Baixa in particular, there are buildings for sale, many of which are abandoned. The ground floors are still mostly used as retail space, but above them there is a yawning emptiness.

“Why is that?” I asked myself and was already mentally drawing wild development plans. Just think about this untapped potential in the most central location, which is now rotting away until it finally crumbles into dust. Beautiful houses in the center with an immense vacancy rate and outside in the periphery they are building cheap concrete apartment blocks…

On the last day, we happened to pass this brightly painted house including a saying that couldn’t better describe the current state of affairs: “Aqui podia viver gente” – People could live here – yes!

I would like to know more about the reasons for this problem – too high rents, too little investment capital, too much debt…? If I ever emigrate to Portugal, I will buy a house in the center, build beautiful rental apartments in it and revitalize it with many happy people. That’s what houses are made for. Promised.