Graham Denby column: Licensed premises

Mar 31 2010 by Graham Denby

THE rules keep changing, the goalposts keep shifting. If you have paying guests in Portugal you need accreditation.

Towards the end of 2009 we received, via email, notification from the Tourist Board that we needed an ‘Alojamento Local’ licence.

This was part of the Government’s new rental licensing law which specifically covered local lodgings, as opposed to the full classification and ‘star’ rating which governs the larger, usually hotel, properties.

Ours fell into the houses, apartments and guest houses first tier.

Requirements were things like floor plans, safety certificates for gas (bottled) and electrical installations, first aid kit, fire extinguishers, fire retardant blankets and so on.

One way or another we had most of these things but we weren’t sure if what we had met the spec. And when we went to the local Camara neither were they because all they had to check it against was a newly-issued legal booklet.

Still, they were as helpful as possible, given the lack of instruction they had received, other than the written word, so we attempted to comply, got everything we thought correct together, filled in the application forms and paid the fee(s).