A new law coming into effect on July 1 means that the Portuguese government can start renting out the country’s historic monuments. The plan is to court film and entertainment companies and rake in as much cash as humanly possible.
Prices will start from as little as €50 a day for a museum to as much as €40,000 a day for crème-de-la-crème sites like Lisbon’s 15th century Jerónimos Monastery.
Legislation published in Diário da República establishes a total of 23 monuments to be exploited for their “rentability based on quality and, above all, in the interests of their specificity and prestige”.
They include Lisbon’s Torre de Belém (daily rate: €1,500-€1,700), the national coach museum (€10,000 for a dinner in the Salão Nobre), Alcobaça and Batalha Monasteries (from €200-€7,500 depending on the occasion) and the stunning Palace of Mafra (between €1,500-€6,000).
