More than 70,000 short-term rental properties (Alojamento Local) in Portugal are currently at risk of having their licenses cancelled.
The reason: many property owners have not submitted proof of valid liability insurance as required by Decreto-Lei No. 76/2024, which came into force in March 2025.

According to ALEP (Associação do Alojamento Local em Portugal), local councils are now notifying property owners who must respond within 3–10 days and present valid insurance documentation. Failure to do so may result in the cancellation of their AL registration.

There are around 124,000 active Alojamento Local registrations nationwide, but only about 50,000 owners have so far provided proof of insurance. It’s estimated that between 30,000 and 50,000 properties may actually be inactive.

The required insurance policy must cover damage caused by guests, and the average cost for a standard apartment policy is around €80 per year.

Municipalities with more than 1,000 active AL registrations (including Lisbon, Porto, and several in the Algarve) have until November 2025 to implement their own local regulations for short-term rentals.

In the Algarve, which accounts for roughly 40 % of all AL properties, many owners are foreign nationals who may face language barriers and have greater difficulty keeping up with the new administrative requirements.