Alojamento Local in Madeira 2026 - the parish-by-parish map

What DL 76/2024 changed

Before the July 2024 decree, AL licensing was national. National containment zones existed but enforcement was inconsistent, and transferability of AL licences between owners was restricted. DL 76/2024 moved the rules to the 11 concelhos. Each municipality can now:

• Declare containment zones (áreas de contenção) with parish-level or sub-parish granularity.
• Suspend new AL registrations for up to 6 months at a time, renewable.
• Set quotas on AL per building, per freguesia or per concelho.
• Restore transferability of existing licences with their own stamp-duty rules.

The upside: more responsive local policy. The downside for buyers: a patchwork where the rules in Calheta differ from Funchal, which differ from Machico, which differ from Santa Cruz.

Funchal: suspended since August 2025

The Funchal Câmara Municipal resolved on 7 August 2025 to suspend all new Alojamento Local registrations for six months, with a review due in February 2026. Existing AL licences continue to operate. Transfers between owners have been paused pending review.

Practical impact for buyers: if your Funchal purchase thesis depends on registering a new AL, stop. If you are buying an apartment with an existing AL licence, your lawyer must verify whether the existing licence transfers cleanly - this is currently jurisdictionally ambiguous and lawyers are charging a premium to opine.

Machico: consultation underway

Machico's Câmara Municipal is conducting public consultation on its own AL containment zones through Q2 2026. The likely model follows Funchal - contention on the historic centre and tourism-saturated parishes, continued openness inland. Follow the municipal assembly calendar.

The rest of the island

As of April 2026, the remaining nine concelhos (Calheta, Santa Cruz, Ribeira Brava, São Vicente, Câmara de Lobos, Ponta do Sol, Santana, Porto Moniz, Porto Santo) have not declared contention zones. New AL registrations proceed via the standard Balcão do Empreendedor municipal flow. This could change concelho-by-concelho; we maintain per-concelho status below and re-date when a municipal vote changes it.