Municipal regulations on local lodging

As a result of the changes introduced by Decree-Law 76/2024 of 23 October to the Legal Framework for the Operation of Local Lodging Establishments, approved by Decree-Law 128/2014 of 29 August (Regime Jurídico da Exploração dos Estabelecimentos de Alojamento Local – RJEEAL), the following provisions came into force on 1 November 2024:

• In the municipalities with more than 1,000 registered local lodging establishments, the municipal assembly must decide whether to approve a administrative regulations designed to govern local lodging activities within the municipality. This decision must be made within 12 months of the municipality reaching the relevant registration threshold (Article 4(6) of the RJEEAL).
• In these regulations, municipalities can determine the rules that will apply within their territory in relation to containment and sustainable growth areas (Articles 15-A to 15-C of the RJEEAL).
• Municipalities can also suspend the authorisation of new registrations in certain areas within their territory for a maximum period of one year and until the regulations come into force (Article 15-B(2) of the RJEEAL).

However, several municipalities have yet to adopt or amend regulations governing local accommodation activities.

In order to address these issues, Decree-Law 151/2026 of 30 July (DL 151/2026) was approved and came into force on 31 July, remaining in force until 31 December 2026. It establishes a temporary and extraordinary framework to enable municipalities to comply with the provisions of the RJEEAL (Article 1 of DL 151/2026).

DL 151/2026 applies to municipalities intending to adopt regulations governing local accommodation activities in their territory, in particular, to municipalities that had reached 1,000 registered local accommodation establishments by 31 December 2025 (Article 1(a) of DL 151/2026). The Decree-Law allows:

• Municipalities without municipal regulations governing local accommodation to draft and adopt them by 31 December 2026 (Article 2).
• Municipalities to extend, once only until 31 December 2026, any suspension of new registrations of local accommodation establishments that remains in force on the date Decree-Law 151/2026 enters into force. The extension must be approved by a municipal assembly resolution based on a proposal from the municipal council (Article 3).
• Areas where the suspension of new registrations of local accommodation establishments has already expired may be made subject to a further suspension (pursuant to Article 15-B(2) of the RJEEAL). The municipal assembly may approve that additional suspension once, following a proposal from the municipal council and in any event no later than 31 December 2026 (Article 4 of Decree-Law 151/2026)

Decree-Law 151/2026 further provides that any extension or additional suspension of new registrations of local accommodation establishments will automatically cease upon the first of the following occurring (Article 5 of Decree-Law 151/2026):

1. The entry into force of the municipal regulation or any amendment to it;
2. An express resolution of the municipal assembly bringing the suspension to an end;
3. The expiry of the extension or additional suspension period; or
4. 31 December 2026.

Registrations of local accommodation establishments that were validly made prior to the municipal assembly’s decision to extend the suspension or implement an additional suspension of registrations will not be affected and will remain in force (Article 6 of Decree-Law 151/2026).