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Portugal Pulse: Portugal News / Expats Community / Turorial / Listing

Old King Cinema in Lisbon again for sale for 1.7 million euros

A source from the General Inspection of Cultural Activities (IGAC) informed that the Ministry of Culture received a request in May to decommission the former Cinema King from its cinematic activity. However, it has not issued an opinion due to a lack of information from the owner.

“Upon reviewing the submitted request, it was found that several elements and additional clarifications were missing, prompting a request for further information from the applicant. As of today, a response to the notification issued by IGAC is still awaited,” the source explained.

In an online advertisement published by a real estate agency, the former Cinema King, which closed in 2013, is described as a “large commercial space in the heart of Alvalade” with “vast potential for multiple uses — clinics, office centers, gyms, educational, cultural or technological spaces, among others.”

With a sale price of 1.7 million euros, the space covers a gross area of 2,211 square meters spread over three floors. The images in the advertisement show the empty interior of one of the cinema’s theaters, without the chairs.

The advertisement does not specify that the space can return to screening films, but according to current legislation (decree-law 23/2014), demolishing cinema venues or repurposing them for activities other than film screening requires authorization from the governmental cultural authority.

This authorization is issued by the Ministry of Culture, based on opinions from IGAC.

The Cinema King had been operated since the 1990s by producer and exhibitor Paulo Branco, who decided to close it in 2013, citing the rent as “unaffordable.”

The former cinema went on sale before, but no sale was finalized. In 2014, shortly after its closure, there was an auction attempt, but it was canceled by the insolvency administrator and a creditors’ committee.

The facilities were owned by Olívia Real Estate Company, which went into insolvency, and at the time, some banks were among the creditors of the debts.

Cinema King featured three screens showing primarily independent films, with a bookstore and café service also available on site.

Originally, the building housed Cinema Vox before being named King, a single auditorium with over 500 seats, inaugurated in April 1969 and closed in January 1985.

In the 1980s, briefly, it hosted live concerts, mainly of Portuguese bands, under the name Espaço Voxmania.

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