Isaltino Morais, the mayor of Oeiras, criticized national and local housing policy during a visit to Madeira. According to the mayor, recently approved measures, such as fiscal changes and revisions to rental laws, are merely palliatives for a problem that requires concrete solutions.
Morais highlighted that Funchal needs approximately 4,000 homes, while the country requires 300,000. He warned that inaction will not solve families' housing problems and argued that the real solution involves "putting excavators on the ground."
The mayor also compared Portugal's public housing rate (2%) with other European countries like Spain (10%), the European average (25-30%), and Austria (65%), ironically commenting on the situation. He cited the work in Oeiras, where 700 new public housing units are being built, aiming for a total of 3,000.
