Bought a dwelling, living in tourist accommodation. Hundreds could lose the right to live in the house they bought.

Aldemento-tourist settlement in Palmela, funded by the former BES, now has 6,000 permanent residents. By law, the zone is supposed to be fully touristy, but tourism here is negligible. Many owners claim they have been cheated.

In a time of serious housing crisis, when so many people are looking for houses they can't find, an exclusive investigation by TVI (owned by the same concern as CNN Portugal) has uncovered a story that is a real paradox: a lot of homeowners are living a real "nightmare" in a huge residential complex built in the style of a protected village in Palmela. Palmela Village residents that TVI spoke to feel cheated: they bought the properties with permits for'' 'residential use', with official documents issued by the municipality, but in recent years they have realized that they are in fact living in an 'accommodation facility' intended for tourism. The difference in names may seem insignificant to those unfamiliar with urban planning law, but the practical implications are serious.

Hundreds of invalid licenses. No one can be banned from living in a tourist settlement, the official classification of Palmela Village, but living in such a settlement has several disadvantages. A home with a tourist license cannot be rented out for living and is generally worth less than a home with a residential license. In addition, the owners' attorneys argue that no one would be able to take out a home loan. On the other''side, tourist accommodation has to pay high fees to the private operating organization of the settlement and loses certain tax benefits, such as exemption from income taxes on the sale of permanent housing. Even more serious: the conclusion of two law professors from the University of Coimbra (Fernanda Paula Oliveira and Dulce Lopes) states that hundreds of accommodation licenses issued by the municipality are in fact invalid because they are contrary to the law. Furthermore, after the audit, Tourism Portugal is preparing to revoke the settlement's status as a tourist destination precisely because of the lack of tourism.

"Empty" perspective.

A hotel and camp center on paper. Aldeimento-tourist Palmela Village, a project with houses designed by architect Tomas Taveira, was always a "slightly megalomaniacal" tourism venture, as the current mayor of the municipality admits. It was never completed and did not have the hotel or camp center that was originally planned (and the golf course closed after years of operating without a license), but today 1,150 houses (or accommodation units, depending on the terminology used) have been built here, housing about 6,000 permanent residents. By law, in this area, originally intended for rural plots,''commercial prospectuses, and in the contracts-promises and public deeds of sale. The latter also explicitly referred to the founding document of the tourist settlement," Pelicano - Investimento Imobiliário assures, adding that the 'vast majority' of owners have no complaints and that the transactions went through lawyers, notaries and official bodies.