When the night cools down. On the touristification of the former redlight district of Cais do Sodré and the authenticity of Lisbon's nightlife

Abstract

This article examines the spatial, social, symbolic and heritage impacts derived from the expansion of tourism-oriented nightlife in Cais do Sodré, the former red-light district of Lisbon (Portugal). After a brief geohistorical contextualization, the article presents a critical ethnography carried out between January 2020 and June 2024. The presentation of the changing cartographies of nightlife in Cais do Sodré during this period will be followed by an ethnographic discussion of the replacement of traditional nightlife venues by new formulas focused on attracting city-breakers. Furthermore, the results point to an unstoppable Disneyfication of the space, transforming and threatening the existing tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the Cais do Sodré nightlife. The final section
of the article will underline the urgent need to develop new actions, initiatives and strategies to catalogue and protect the so-called «night heritage» of the area. The article will conclude by proposing the extension of this new vision on the importance
of protecting what we might term «the nocturnal heritage» not only from Lisbon but many other cities from the Iberian and
European context. 

Keywords:

nightlife, touristification, city-breakers, heritage, Lisbon

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