There are many reasons why Portugal is drawing so many visitors each year. What’s interesting about this growing trend is that people not only want to visit, they also want to stay extended periods or live in Portugal permanently. Some of these reasons can be easily checked off by Portugal’s geography. Excluding the archipelagos, just the main continent has almost 1000 kilometres of gorgeous coastline, nearly 300 days of sunshine and warm temperatures. This picturesque, westernmost European country is a hop, skip and a jump away from other European hot spots like London and Paris, making travel around the rest of Europe short and sweet.

Other than its favourable geography, Portugal is a very safe country, and welcoming of immigration and diversity. The governments are stable and left-leaning, with access to health and education for all. Locals are learning at a young age to speak English, as well as other languages, such as French and German to support the strong tourism market. The food scene in Lisboa is also heating up as Michelin ranked chefs are growing their eminence internationally.

Now, we finally get to our list of top reasons why expats choose Portugal, distilled from our experience when helping clients to buy like a local.

• Able to apply for residence visas through property acquisition using the Golden Visa program, with lower spending thresholds than other countries.

• Lenient tax programs or tax treaties with home country and Portugal, designed to be attractive to expats

• Able to move freely around the EU once visas have been distributed

• Near full internet coverage within Portugal, which is great for those working remotely or from home.

• Sizeable expat communities around the country to join and find your tribe. (ie eco-friendly, or same country of origin etc.)

• Some sustainable builds and energy efficient upgrades may be funded by the government.

After a devastating Covid-19 pandemic and now a tragic Russian/Ukrainian conflict, the economic consequence is an increase in price indexes around the world. Although we are seeing similar effects, Portugal is still quite affordable in many metrics of living compared to other countries, especially in real estate.

Ate ja,

Mia and Rafael