"Portugal was class but fuck me the street sleeping and drug pushers did my head in."
The blunt assessment on r/TravelNoPics challenges the Instagram-perfect narrative surrounding one of Europe's hottest destinations. After a week split between Lisbon and Porto, the traveler described shocking levels of homelessness and relentless drug dealers that marred an otherwise beautiful trip.
"The amount of people sleeping rough in both cities was genuinely shocking," they wrote. "Like not just one or two, whole streets of people in sleeping bags, doorways packed, families with kids begging."
The observations align with recent data from Portuguese housing advocates showing homelessness in Lisbon increased 43% between 2023 and 2024. Porto has seen similar spikes.
The connection to tourism: Airbnb and the housing crisis
Portugal's tourism boom—arrivals increased from 16.4 million in 2015 to over 30 million in 2024—has dramatically reshaped housing markets in both cities. Portugal restricted Airbnb rentals in 2024 after housing activists demonstrated the connection between short-term rentals and the homelessness crisis.
"Landlords realized they could make more renting to tourists for a week than to locals for a month," explains Rita Silva, a housing advocate with Habita Portugal, in interviews with Portuguese media.




