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Following what is taking place in many cities of Southern Europe, some neighbourhoods of the historic center of Lisbon appear marked by the coexistence of two processes of socio-urban transition: the establishment of non-European immigrants and the development of marginal gentrification, whose simultaneous occurrence has led to cultural and ethnic diversity. Using the Mouraria neighbourhood in Lisbon as an example, this text aims to contribute to the understanding of the interactions and potential tensions that emerge between the two groups playing the key roles in these processes and also between them and the "traditional" local neighbours. A special attention will be given to the marginal gentrifiers, trying to detect paradoxes between a tolerant and locally committed discourse and real practices that seem to be poorly integrated in local social networks, therefore displaying a limited potential to contribute for the revitalization of the place of Mouraria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]