In October 2023, Patrícia Craveiro Lopes and Inês Valdez were informed that the building housing Casa Independente was to be sold, resulting in the non-renewal of their lease. At that time, they learned they had until March 2026 to vacate the premises and find an alternative location.
In a statement released today, they announced that Casa Independente “will remain open until December 2026, with no possibility of the project continuing thereafter.”
The extension “is due to a recent agreement with the building owner, allowing for an additional year of operation.”
Patrícia Craveiro Lopes and Inês Valdez mention that “various attempts were made to find a solution that would allow Casa Independente to stay open beyond 2026, but negotiations were insufficient.”
“The owner followed the current trend in Lisbon, where hotels and condos are valued higher than cultural projects serving the community,” they lament, adding that “even attempts to lease a municipal space with local government support yielded no results, highlighting how the city continues to lack responses to protect its independent spaces.”
The decision, “which is not taken lightly,” to end the project “stems from the inability to rehabilitate or secure a new space in a city where real estate speculation leaves no room for cultural projects, as it does for many residents.”
Last October, Patrícia Craveiro Lopes revealed that discussions were ongoing with Lisbon City Council to help the two founders find a place to rent, “because the market is absolutely impossible.”
In the statement released today, they claim that Lisbon “is experiencing structural exhaustion,” arguing that “the real estate pressure and unaffordable rents are leading to the conversion of historic buildings into hotels and luxury condos, while simultaneously weakening cultural and community life.”
“Casa Independente’s fate is not an isolated case: it reflects a city whose center, once vibrant with independent culture, is now depleted,” they warn.
With rising rental and property purchase costs, residents and associations have been forced to relocate or permanently close. This has happened in recent years to entities such as Grupo Excursionista e Recreativo Os Amigos do Minho, on Rua do Benformoso, Sport Club do Intendente, at Largo do Intendente, and Crew Hassan, in the Anjos area.
Spaces like Arroz Estúdios in Beato, Sirigaita and Zona Franca dos Anjos in Anjos, and SMOP — Sociedade Musical Ordem e Progresso in the Janelas Verdes area are also at risk.
Casa Independente opened in 2012 at Largo do Intendente, during a time of revitalization in an area previously dominated by prostitution and drug trafficking and use.
“Over the past 13 years, the space has been a pillar of cultural transformation in the city, accompanying and driving the new life of Intendente, which has become a symbol of Lisbon’s revitalization and a meeting point for residents, artists, and visitors,” they recall.
For the founders of Casa Independente, the closure “is also a reflection of an Intendente showing signs of abandonment again, marked by a lack of vision and public investment to preserve its role as a center for community and cultural life, taken over by luxury real estate developments.”
Until the closure date in December 2026, Patrícia Craveiro Lopes and Inês Valdez assure that the space “will maintain an intense program, asserting itself as a place of resistance, diversity, and celebration.”
The two founders invite everyone to join them until Casa Independente’s closure, “turning this announced end into a time of sharing.”
Casa Independente has hosted concerts, exhibitions, book launches, films, roundtables, conferences, artist residencies, and performances.
