this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2024
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Portugal is dealing with a major housing crisis. Due to excessive tourism and privileges for digital nomads and foreign retirees our population is being priced out of our own country.
Everybody knows lots of people who were forced to emmigrate. Families broken apart, relationships ended, etc. Everybody has multiple stories like that. I mean EVERYBODY.
To make matters worse, tourism needs low pay workers, but there's a lack of workers willing to live and work for 800 euros in a city where rents start at over a 1000. Instead of improving conditions for its citizens the solution was to bring in a wave of immigrants from very poor countries who are willing to work here in deplorable conditions. Right now our own capital is overrun by tourism and you can barely hear Portuguese being spoken. And it's spreading to the other cities.
More and more people just give up and leave every day. Universities are failing to fill their quotas because it's no longer affordable to live in their cities. Politicians and elites don't care because they have their interests in tourism.
In the bigger cities, when you enter a shop or restaurant, you can feel the annoyance as soon as they hear you speak Portuguese because they think you won't spend much. It's not improving at all and the only measures we had to improve it are half-assed. Right now I'm wondering how long until I give up and leave to join the others.
So should I visit Portugal as a tourist? Is that helping or hurting, or doesn't really matter either way?
Short answer: it's hurting the country but it's making a few people very rich.
We always welcomed visitors and we had a reputation as an hospitable people but we saw that change drastically in the last years.
Some people will criticize my complaints, that tourism brough development to degradated city centers. The fact is those city centers were renovated but not for us. We are not welcome in our own city centers. The traditional neighborhoods of Lisbon and Porto and its culture that attracted so many tourists? Dead. Those people are long gone. Dead or pushed out of the city. Those traditional neighborhoods were Fado was born? Gone. Every last house is an Airbn'b now.
Lisbon is pretty much a Portuguese Theme Park. If you want to experience its culture you won't find it there. Save your money. Porto is well on its way to be as bad. Braga will get there too.
Portugal, unlike most of Europe, used to be a 100% homogeneous country. There were no national minorities. We have Roma people but they're considered just as Portuguese as the others. Right now, 20% of the population are foreigners from digital nomads to third world immigrants. I wouldn't care much if they weren't taking the place of nationals who are being driven out. And it's increasing. Some would call it colonisation but I guess we're in the wrong continent.
Open Facebook and it's full of ads trying to sell retirement in Portugal to Americans. And they're coming in droves, some attracted by our universal Healthcare that we pay for while they barely pay taxes. Those ads selling paradise and completely ignoring the fact there are people already living here is so reminiscent of the old ads convincing white settlers to come to African colonies, it's disgusting.
This sounds exactly like what is happening in Cape Town, South Africa