Lojas com História

Bureaucratic struggle for an authentic Lisbon. Simply browse through the website.

The ”Shops with History” are a response to the city’s sell-off during the last economic crisis and have been resisting demolition and Airbnb since 2015. Today, about 150 retailers and eateries throughout the city proudly display the initiative’s sign, often across from H&M or similar establishments.

Don’t hesitate to step inside, browse, and chat — you won’t be scolded for making a purchase. Admittedly, some shops are quite unique, as tourists might not necessarily need new borders for old curtains or alterations to wedding dresses. But in the city center, you’ll also find cosmetics, wine, or truly authentic canned goods. The fact that not every applicant needs to be hundreds of years old is evident, for example, in the area around Avenida de Roma: coffee & cookies at Cafélia, records & books at Sinfonia. A visit to Lisbon’s arguably most beautiful bakery is worth it in Príncipe Real.

The project ”to preserve and protect the material, historical, and cultural heritage of the city with traditional and historical businesses” is managed by the city administration and operationally quite complicated: you submit an application, then local arts and culture employees assess it, followed by bureaucratic paperwork at City Hall and external sociological evaluation, before it goes to a council of architects and urban planners. Besides the object itself, evaluated are craft traditions and methods, tools used, or furnishings.

Once you’ve got the stamp of approval, there’s a kind of monument protection for the first five years, optionally with an additional application and a €25,000 grant. Clearly, a lawsuit is currently pending regarding the fundamental assessment of whether guaranteed preservation is legally permissible. Not surprisingly, major investors are behind this lawsuit. What the Administrative Court has to say about this remains to be seen, especially since the law seems one-sided, as a case of abuse shows: a jeweler initially secures protection, only to turn his prime location shop into a souvenir store a few days later, whose tenant allegedly pays €8,000 in rent — as a corporate lawyer, one could see this as an indication of the ineffectiveness of the regulation.