Portugal: The Beautiful Crumbling City of Porto

Porto, the second-largest city in Portugal, has become a popular tourist destination in recent years. The city boasts beautiful buildings with red-tiled roofs built on a gentle slope, offering stunning views overlooking the Douro River. In 1996, UNESCO listed Porto’s old town as a World Heritage site. Despite its growing popularity, Porto remains one of the cheapest European cities to visit without sacrificing excellent food and breathtaking views. It’s no surprise that Porto was voted the best European destination in 2012, 2014, and 2017.

Porto is the second-largest city in Portugal and has seen a steady increase in tourism over the past two years

Port wine and Harry Potter

Porto is famous for its export of Port wine, and visitors can explore many beautiful cellars worth visiting in the Vila Nova de Gaia area. Additionally, J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, lived in Porto for 18 months just before publishing the first book. During that time, she taught English during the day and spent most nights creating the story of the wizard boy in a café called the Majestic Café. Like Café Tortoni in Buenos Aires, the Majestic Café is also listed as one of the top 10 most beautiful cafes in the world, making Porto an important city for many Harry Potter fans.

The old town of Porto is listed as World Heritage. It is full of tastefully designed old buildings.

Porto is a relaxing city to explore on foot, and if you’re here to check it off your travel list, it’s possible to see the city in just one day. While there are several famous Port cellars, churches, and cathedrals worth visiting, it’s the abundance of abandoned buildings in the city center that truly sets Porto apart. These decaying structures lend a unique charm to the city and offer a glimpse into its rich history and culture.

An old church with an old tram in Porto. A classic spot to take a picture in Porto.

What caused our obsession with these abandoned buildings

We were unaware of the abundance of abandoned buildings in Porto before we arrived. However, we became extremely curious about their cause. These deserted structures were scattered throughout the city, including many in the prime real estate of the city center. As the second-largest city in Portugal, we had anticipated a bustling and prosperous metropolis, but instead found a landscape dotted with empty and dilapidated buildings. The government and tourism industry had painted a different picture of Porto than what we experienced. Although there are undoubtedly beautiful parts of the city, it’s important to acknowledge this lesser-known side of Porto that we only discovered once we visited.

Porto is very beautiful just like the prints on these two pillows.

Where we stayed in Porto

We chose to stay in Vila Nova de Gaia, located directly south of Porto City, which was only a 15-minute walk from the city center. The famous Ponte de Dom Luís I bridge connects Vila Nova de Gaia to Porto City. Accommodations in Vila Nova de Gaia were significantly cheaper than in Porto City itself, despite the close proximity to the city center. As mentioned before, Vila Nova de Gaia is famous for its cellars which house the Port wines.

Ponte Luís I was completed in 1886. It stretches across the Douro river at a total length of 172 meters. At that time it was the world’s longest river!

First encounters with abandoned buildings

Although our Airbnb was nicely refurbished, it was located next to an abandoned mansion. From our accommodation, we could look straight into the abandoned block, which was surrounded by overgrown vegetation, with shattered windows and tiles. The place had an eerie, haunted feel to it. This was our first encounter with an abandoned building in Porto, but as we explored the city, we discovered that there were many more abandoned buildings like this.

The abandoned mansion next to our Airbnb was quite scary to walk past at night time.

Under the bridge

The first time we crossed the Ponte de Dom Luís I Bridge, we were amazed to see a spectacular carpet of vines growing over a vast expanse of abandoned buildings directly under the bridge. It was truly beautiful in its own way, and we hadn’t seen anything like it in the city center. The vines were sprouting purple-colored flowers at that time of the year, adding to the beauty of the scene.

The view of the carpet of vines on the Ponte Luís I Bridge! it was truly beautiful!

After initial shock, we began to wonder what happened to these abandoned buildings.

Porto from Ponte Luís I Bridge (Video)

We were instantly enamored with this breathtaking view, but it also sparked numerous questions in our minds. Why were there so many abandoned buildings in such a prime location of Portugal’s second-largest city? It was as if you wouldn’t expect to see anything abandoned like this around Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia.

Zooming into the courtyard of a house. The place almost looks like a ghost town.

Uncovering the Mystery Behind Porto’s Abandoned Buildings

During the global financial crisis, the world’s attention was fixated on the bankruptcy of Greece. However, many of us were unaware that Portugal was also facing a challenging period. In 2011, Portugal received a bailout from the EU to avoid bankruptcy. Nevertheless, this alone does not explain the widespread abandonment of houses in Porto. When we visited Athens, Greece in 2015, we did not recall seeing abandoned houses in the city, although we did notice an abundance of graffiti.

Once you leave the main streets in Porto, you can see many of these abandoned buildings. This was taken at one of the side streets just off the main road.

Unfavorable cheap rents

In the early 20th century, the Portuguese government introduced a law to protect the poor by making it impossible for landlords to raise rent and evict their tenants. While this was good for the tenants as they could live in the city center at an affordable cost, it had unintended consequences. Landlords, unable to earn sufficient rental income from their properties, were not incentivized to maintain or renovate them. As a result, many of these properties were left to deteriorate and rot, with tenants living in appalling conditions. During our walks around Porto city, we observed many such tenants living in substandard housing.

Even this building at one side of Ponte Luís I bridge was abandoned. The building has a great view and would be a great location for a high-class restaurant or hotel

Inflexible building codes

There are strict building regulations in place that prevent significant changes to the appearance of buildings in the city centre, in order to preserve their heritage. As a result, any renovation work can be quite expensive. Additionally, younger generations are increasingly choosing to rent or buy homes in the suburbs, where living costs are lower and property prices are more affordable. This further exacerbates the issue of vacant properties in the city centre.

The rumbling sound from the train on top of the bridge was causing a huge racket.

Financial crisis: The final nail in the coffin

The financial crisis only exacerbated the problem, as many companies went bankrupt and many Portuguese left the country in search of jobs elsewhere. By 2011, approximately 18.8% of houses in Porto were abandoned, meaning that 1 in 5 houses was left empty. Even Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, had around 15% of houses in the city abandoned. The primary reason for people abandoning their houses and investments is the lack of potential buyers. Even if people wanted to sell their houses, not many had the necessary funds to make a purchase, and foreign investors were also scarce. Moreover, many investors are not interested in buying properties that require extensive renovations. This has led to a growing number of abandoned buildings throughout the city.

The front yard of this abandoned building serves as one of the best touristic viewpoints in the old town.

Golden Visa

The Portuguese government attempted to improve the situation by releasing 2,800 “Golden Visa” aimed at increasing foreign investment. The Golden Visa program grants permanent residency in Portugal to foreign investors who purchase property in the country. Around 80% of these Golden Visas were taken up by Chinese investors seeking residency in Europe.

The cheap rents kept some families staying in these houses which are literally crumbling to pieces under the bridge.

Families living in shambles

When most of the surrounding buildings are in shambles, many locals choose to move away, leaving only tenants who are living off their cheap rents. As mentioned before, landlords are leaving these houses to rot, and we saw many families living in these decrepit homes. The row of houses underneath the Ponte Luís I bridge left the strongest impression because we actually saw people living in these ruins. While some of the houses still retain their facades, they are merely empty shells.

Some of the houses are just empty shell which seems normal when we walked in front of them but quite horrific when seen from the top.

As we walked around and observed the extremely poorly maintained houses, we were surprised to find that many of them were actually occupied. In certain parts of Porto, we felt like we were walking through an apocalyptic movie set based in Europe. It was difficult to comprehend that we were actually in the city center of the second-largest city in Portugal. It’s a melancholic thought to consider how splendid these buildings must have appeared in the past, during Portugal’s peak of prosperity.

With the lack of tenets and inability to sell these houses, the property owners choose to leave these houses to crumble.

Porto’s saviour: Ryanair

Thankfully, in recent years, Ryanair started flying to Porto at affordable prices. The government used this opportunity to promote Porto as a popular tourist destination, which helped to attract more visitors. With more tourists coming to the city, opportunities opened up for locals. They realized the potential value of renovating the abandoned buildings, as there was a growing demand for apartments and Airbnb accommodations for tourists.

Some of the graffiti on these abandoned buildings are quite tasteful

The Worst Tour

Many other tourists have also been surprised by the large number of abandoned buildings in Porto. We noticed that many people were asking the same questions online. There is even a company called “The Worst Tour” that takes tourists to see the “Real Porto.” On this tour, the company shows visitors the abandoned buildings and explains the stories behind these crumbling structures.

These abandoned buildings were quite fascinating to us.

The Portuguese government in denial

“The Worst Tour” is not appreciated by the Portuguese government, as they are putting in a lot of effort to improve the image of the city. The tourism industry wants to showcase Porto as a beautiful, historic port city rather than a place filled with abandoned buildings. However, I believe that these buildings are what make Porto truly unique. They reflect the city’s history and culture. Seeing the crumbling buildings in Porto is like experiencing the favelas in Rio. They add character and authenticity to the city.

I’m sure Porto will soon see better days. The tourism industry has already picked up in recent years.

Porto’s Revitalization: Progress in the Making

Porto is still a beautiful city despite the abandoned buildings, and the tourism industry has significantly grown in the past two years. The Portuguese government is also limiting the number of new construction projects, which has led to more locals renovating these old houses to rent or live in. As the tourism industry continues to grow, better job opportunities are becoming available in the city center. More people are willing to move back to the city to live.

There are many old mysterious alleyways you would love to explore at getting lost in.

Our fascination with the abandoned buildings in Porto led us to share what we discovered. We do not intend for this article to be viewed as negative. We wanted to encourage people to explore beyond the usual tourist attractions and gain a deeper understanding of this remarkable city.

Porto is a truly beautiful city and we loved our stay there! Some places are exactly like the cover in magazines!