Lisbon just voted to demolish a 95-year-old cinema for 19 apartments.

Good morning, Lisbon. It's Monday, 25 May. Twenty-two degrees, sunny. Bad Bunny plays the Luz tomorrow night. The Book Fair opens Wednesday. And last Thursday, the city council voted to demolish a 95-year-old cinema for 19 apartments.

🌬️ AIR QUALITY: 22 (Good).

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LISBON JUST VOTED TO DEMOLISH CINEMA PARIS FOR 19 APARTMENTS. THE HOUSING CRISIS IN ONE BUILDING.

Last Thursday, the Lisbon City Council approved the demolition of Cinema Paris on Rua Domingos Sequeira, between Estrela and Campo de Ourique. The building, designed by architect Victor Manuel Carvalho Piloto with interior decorations by Paulo Guilherme, opened in 1931 and held its last screening in 1985. It has been vacant for over 40 years.

In its place: a seven-storey residential building with 19 apartments (seven two-bedroom, nine three-bedroom, three four-bedroom), a ground-floor retail unit, underground parking for 37 cars, and nearly 6,000 square metres of construction space. The plans were first submitted to the city council in 2017.

This is not the first time Cinema Paris has faced demolition. In 2003, when a previous proposal was approved, residents and heritage advocates protested loud enough to stop the bulldozers. The city expropriated the building, and it sat there, deteriorating, for another two decades. The high ceiling, the big screen, the murals around the first balcony, the memory of adventure films and comedies projected onto the wall of a neighbourhood cinema that once served thousands of families in Estrela and Campo de Ourique. All of it behind a locked door, going nowhere.

The argument for demolition is simple and hard to argue with: Lisbon needs housing. Bank valuations hit €5,198 per square metre. Room rents have surpassed €600. 11% of listings are booked within 24 hours. A derelict building sitting empty for over 40 years on a street where families are struggling to find somewhere to live is not heritage. It is a failure of planning.

The argument against is equally real: Lisbon has already lost most of its historic cinemas. The Éden in Restauradores is now a hotel. Cinema Império on Alameda is a church. Cinema Monumental was demolished in 2019. Cinema Paris was one of the last surviving examples of 1930s cinema architecture in the city, and its demolition means another piece of Lisbon's cultural memory is replaced by apartments that, based on the location and the current market, will sell for well above average.

The council voted to approve. The 19 apartments will be built. Whether they will be affordable to the kind of families who used to go to Cinema Paris on a Saturday afternoon is a question nobody in the chamber appears to have asked.

Bottom line: Cinema Paris is being demolished for housing. Both sides of the argument are right. That's what makes it a housing crisis.

⚡ QUICK HITS

Two-thirds of Portuguese are now dissatisfied with the government. Montenegro's two-year anniversary poll shows 66% dissatisfaction. Labour reform without union backing, a general strike in nine days, inflation running hot, housing unaffordable, and the airport in chaos. The PM who came into office promising stability is presiding over one of the most turbulent periods in recent Portuguese politics.

The Lisbon Book Fair opens Wednesday at Parque Eduardo VII. The 96th edition of the Feira do Livro runs May 27 to June 14. Hundreds of stalls, author signings, children's events, and talks. Free entry. It is one of Lisbon's most beloved annual traditions, and the only outdoor event where the queue is for books rather than brunch.

The CGTP general strike is nine days away. June 3. SNPVAC cabin crew are joining, meaning TAP, Ryanair, and easyJet flights will be disrupted. TAP is still offering free date changes for bookings through June 15. If you have flights around June 3 and haven't rebooked, this is the week to do it.

🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

BY THE WINE (CHIADO)

Monday evening. You want a glass of wine and somewhere to sit that doesn't feel like you're choosing at random from a tourist menu. By the Wine, on Rua das Flores in Chiado, is the answer, and the ceiling is the reason you'll remember it.

When you walk in, look up. 3,267 empty wine bottles are arranged across the entire vaulted ceiling, creating a green glass canopy that runs the length of the room. It was designed by architect Tiago Silva Dias, and it is one of the most visually striking interiors in the city. Below it: a long wood bar, communal tables, cosy nooks, vintage photographs, and a pile of old wine barrels stamped with the JMF logo.

JMF is José Maria da Fonseca, the Setúbal wine producer that has been making wine since 1834. By the Wine is their first flagship store, opened in January 2015, and the concept is straightforward: every wine in the JMF portfolio is available by the glass. That includes the classic Periquita (the red that every Portuguese household has opened at some point), the Domini Plus from the Douro Valley, the Hexagon and José de Sousa Mayor at the super-premium end, and the Moscatel de Setúbal dessert wines that the winery is most famous for internationally.

You can also buy any bottle at cellar price and drink it in the bar, which is the kind of generous pricing model that makes you wonder why more wine bars don't do this.

The food menu is built for pairing: homemade Algarve bread, ibérico ham from Guijuelo, Azeitão cheese boards, Sado oysters, mussel salad, salmon ceviche, and carpaccio. The desserts are designed specifically to accompany the Moscatel de Setúbal, which is the move you didn't know you were going to make until the waiter suggests it.

→ A wine producer since 1834. Their first bar. 3,267 bottles on the ceiling. Check it out ←

Rua das Flores 41-43, Chiado. Monday: 6pm to midnight (evening only). Tuesday to Sunday: noon to midnight. Metro: Cais do Sodré or Baixa-Chiado. Phone: +351 21 342 0319. [email protected].

Insider tip: Start with a glass of Domini Plus and a board of Azeitão cheese and ibérico ham. Finish with a Moscatel de Setúbal paired with whatever dessert the waiter recommends. That's a full evening for under €30 and one of the best introductions to Portuguese wine you'll find without leaving the city centre.

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See you tomorrow morning.