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.