The Portuguese real estate market is warming up for the 2030 World Cup
Portugal will host more than ten games in three stadiums at the 2030 World Cup. In Lisbon, at the Luz Stadium and Alvalade Stadium. And at Dragão stadium in Porto. One of the semi-finals could also be held in Lisbon, at Luz Stadium.
Portugal's stadiums and sports centers
The three stadiums that will host the games were built for the 2004 European Championship. They're all classified as FIFA level 1, fully ready for the 2030 World Cup.
Luz Stadium hosted the European Champions League final in 2014 and 2020. Dragão Stadium hosted the European Champions League final in 2021 and the Nations League final in 2019. Alvalade Stadium hosted the UEFA Cup final in 2005 and the European Champions League semi-final in 2020.
The three stadiums will undergo improvements. In 2025, the Alvalade Stadium will increase its capacity with an additional 2,000 seats. In the following years, it will undergo extensive architectural remodeling. The Luz Stadium will have an additional 5,000 seats, boosting capacity to 70,000.
The Portuguese government has already announced it will invest in other sports infrastructure, namely in training centers, which could serve the national teams that play in Portugal, but also those playing in Spain and Morocco.
In the Algarve, the southern region of Portugal, there are training centers for teams that will compete in the 2030 World Cup, including those that will play in Spain and Morocco. They're served by two airports (Faro and Beja), are close to the coastal area, close to Morocco and southern Spain, namely Málaga and Seville where games will also be held.
In the North of Portugal, there are also several training centers that could be subject to improvement works. It's close to Porto, with its airport, and the north of Spain. And it has a comparatively cooler climate in the summer compared to other regions. These are relevant factors for the teams choosing their training camps for the 2030 World Cup.
The infrastructure of the future
The infrastructure works to be carried out for the 2030 World Cup haven't been defined yet. But the execution of several new relevant infrastructure works over the next ten years have already been defined.
Lisbon will build a new airport. It will come into operation in 2034, at an estimated cost of EUR8 billion. Until the 2030 World Cup, the current Lisbon airport will increase the number of flights per minute, and it will increase the number of terminals, accessibility, runways and taxiways to improve the quality of service.
It's expected that in 2030, 39 million passengers will pass through Lisbon airport.
When the new Lisbon airport comes into operation, the infrastructure of the current airport will be dismantled. The land – around 700,000 m2 located close to Lisbon's CBD – will be used to build a new hub in the city, with around 2,000 units, for residential, offices, commerce and tourist accommodation.
When it comes to rail transport, a TGV line will be built to connect the main Portuguese cities and to connect Lisbon to Madrid and Galicia (northern Spain). Some sections of the TGV will be ready for the 2030 World Cup. By 2027, new sections will be built that will reduce the journey time between Lisbon and Madrid to 6 hours – reducing from the current 18 hours. When the line is fully operational, the connection between Lisbon and Madrid will be 3 hours. Internally, by 2030 World Cup, the connection between Porto and Coimbra (in the center of the country) will be completed, with the line between Coimbra and Lisbon completed by 2032.
In terms of road network, Portugal is very well served. It has the second largest network of highways per inhabitant in Europe and the fourth longest network of highways in Europe.
The sustainable growth of real estate and tourism
The real estate market in Portugal has seen considerable growth, both in terms of residential and hospitality, with a notable development in office, retail, shopping centers and the logistics, industry and data center sectors.
The main Portuguese cities have undergone significant renovation, especially in historic areas. They have excellent capacity in terms of hotels and F&B, to absorb the ever-increasing number of tourists. The national real estate sector isn't only developing in terms of quantity, it's also been growing in quality, including a notable implementation of the best ESG standards. Porto city is ranked as the fourth best city in the world to live in for people's health (Healthnews, 2024).
In 2023, over 20,000 construction projects have been licensed (National Statistics Institute), with more than 15,000 housing units. In recent months, a new simplified legal licensing procedure for construction, renovation and execution of works was approved, with the aim of rapidly increasing supply in the residential and hospitality sectors. The 2030 World Cup will be a driver for the growth of new residential complexes on the outskirts of large cities. The 2030 World Cup will create tens of thousands of temporary jobs, boosting demand for housing, especially in the peripheral areas of Lisbon and Porto.
In recent years, Lisbon has hosted important international events, with a major adaptation in the capacity of the real estate market. In 2023 it hosted the World Youth Days (with around 1.5 million visitors), since 2016 it has hosted the Web Summit. For two consecutive years Portugal hosted the European Champions League final, in 2020 in Lisbon and in 2021 in Porto.
In August 2024, the hospitality sector registered 3.8 million guests and 10.5 million overnight stays, reaching a new historical maximum for a single month. The net bed occupancy rate has remained constant during the month of August for the last three years, with around 70% and 65% in the months of July and September.
In 2023, the global number of tourist arrivals in Portugal was around 26.5 million, more than two and a half times the Portuguese population. And Portugal is considered the seventh safest country in the world (Global Peace Index 2023 and 2024).
After the pandemic, the number of hotel beds recovered quickly and surpassed pre-pandemic numbers, going from 225,000 (2019) to 250,000 (2023). There was a significant increase in 5-star hotels (plus 9,500 beds) and 4-star hotels (plus 14,000 beds). In local accommodation, the recovery after the pandemic was a little slower: only in 2023 did it return to 2019 levels of 91,000 beds.
Over the next two years, 36 new hotels will open in Lisbon, with 4,425 rooms. This puts Lisbon third in terms of European cities where the most hotels will open by 2026 (Europe Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report). Nationally, 114 hotels with 14,247 rooms will be built, putting Portugal fifth in European countries with the most hotels under construction by 2026.
Portuguese tourism has received numerous international recognitions in recent years, namely the Europe´s Leading Destination (World Travel Awards 2023, 2022 and from 2018 to 2020).
With its long coastline of amazing beaches, excellent food, completely renovated historic cities, high safety standards, fantastic hospitality and lots of sun, Portugal will be ready to welcome the teams and fans to the 2030 World Cup.
