Francisco Mouta Rúbio, writer and author of the novel "Behind the Writing", publishes a reflective chronicle on the Mensagem de Lisboa portal where he describes his search for a traditional tasca in the city, which leads him to question the future of Lisbon as a habitable space for its residents. The author feels like a stranger in his own city, surrounded by tourists, tuktuks and tour guides, unable to find a restaurant that offers simple and authentic food, without Instagram-worthy gastronomic experiences.
The chronicle argues that Lisbon has transformed into a company that seeks to please visitors instead of liking itself, losing its local identity. The author describes how Lisbon's hospitality has become superficial, serving breakfasts that residents cannot afford and recommending neighborhoods from which they have been expelled. The city is saturated with tourists and housing prices have made it impossible for many Lisbonites to continue living there.
Mouta Rúbio imagines a post-mass tourism future, with empty hotels, dusty check-ins and cruise terminals transformed into skeletons along the Tagus. He proposes that each hotel should contribute housing for its workers, community structures and transportation, and that the tourist tax should be used to buy houses, support housing
