Holiday-makers ‘hit with two-tier pricing’ by restaurants in Lisbon

Eateries in Lisbon are allegedly charging different prices to locals and tourists. Photo / 123rf

Restaurants in Lisbon are reportedly charging tourists higher prices than local diners, operating a system of secret cheaper rates for Portuguese people who are in the know.

Eateries in Lisbon’s scenic historic centre show tourist prices on menus in several languages.

But a lower price for locals eating the same dishes is “transmitted verbally, in whispers or indicated on menus placed in inconspicuous or even hidden areas”, according to a report by Expresso, the Portuguese weekly newspaper.

Industry experts told Expresso that charging different prices for food based on nationality is “completely illegal”.

Portugal’s AHRESP hospitality industry association said it was not aware of restaurants having discriminatory prices for tourists. It said that rates for dishes must be equal for all customers and displayed “in a totally transparent manner”.

Revelations of the alleged two-tier pricing practice come amid a backlash against the impact of mass tourism in parts of Portugal and in neighbouring Spain.

Residents of Lisbon have recently launched campaigns to reduce the negative impact of what they see as “overtourism”, including a ban on tuk-tuk three-wheeler taxis typically used by sightseers.

A group campaigning for affordable housing has presented a petition with 9000 signatures, sufficient to trigger a referendum, in Lisbon on ending short-term Airbnb-style rental accommodation for tourists.

Lisbon (population 570,000) received 6.5 million foreign visitors in 2023.

Rents in the Portuguese capital have soared by 94% since 2015, with house prices rising by 186% in the same period, according to housing data specialists Confidencial Imobiliario.

Barcelona, Spain’s most popular city for tourists, recently decided to terminate by 2028 the licences of the 10,000 legal short-term rental apartments it currently allows.

There are an estimated 20,000 tourist apartments operating in Lisbon.

Lisbon’s city council agreed last month to increase its tourist tax on overnight stays in the capital from two to four euros per night, a measure due to come into force next Sunday.

Portugal received 26.5 million foreign tourists last year, an increase of 19.2% compared with the previous year and 7.7 above the pre-pandemic year of 2019.