Living in Portugal

Many of us at Portugal Property Hub are expats. We have been in your shoes making the move — although when most of us came over there were far fewer agents here, and we learned the hard way that moving country can be stressful and, at first, a little lonely.

Settling in

We remember the slightly scared feeling that comes with driving up to your new property and setting foot in it as its owner. We all remember thinking: we've made it — now what? Who do I speak to? How do I sort everything out, and where do I start?

Because we have been there, we do not abandon clients once the deeds are signed. If you want us to, we will guide you through the red tape, registering for utilities, finding tradesmen who turn up on time, and looking at healthcare options and schools. A little hand-holding goes a long way.

The expat community here grows by the day, so it is not just us. In the Algarve it is the outdoor lifestyle that fuels most of it: golf, weekly bike rides, walking and running clubs, tennis, bowls — plus theatre groups, social clubs and charities. Most are advertised in the two English-language newspapers, the Portugal News and the Portugal Resident.

Cost of living

One of the most appealing things about Portugal is its affordability. Whether it is a coffee, a beer or a prato do dia, day-to-day living is cheaper than in most European countries.

Eating out can genuinely be cheaper than eating in. In countryside towns and villages a three-course lunch can still be around €10 — bread, cheese and olives to start, a main, pudding, and a coffee to finish. Evenings, the coast and Lisbon are all more expensive.

The exception is cars. Buying and running a car in Portugal goes sharply against the country's affordability score, and fuel is expensive relative to the rest of Portuguese life. Motorways carry tolls. Buying in the north of the country can knock thousands off the price if you are willing to travel for it.

Household help — gardeners and cleaners — tends to be inexpensive outside Lisbon. Buildings and contents insurance are similar to elsewhere in Europe, and utilities and broadband are roughly the same or a little cheaper.

Climate and seasonality

From October through April, Portugal averages five to six hours of sunshine a day with daytime highs around 16°C. Winters can be chilly and wet, which is why heating matters as much as air conditioning when you choose a property — many Portuguese homes, especially older ones, are built to keep you cool in summer rather than warm in winter.

Summer averages 25–30°C with eleven to twelve hours of sunshine. In the Algarve, temperatures are cooler the further west you go; head inland and the sea breeze drops away and you get the real heat. Spring and autumn barely feature — you tend to go from a cold, rainy April to brilliant sunshine in May and straight into summer.

Food and language

Portuguese food does not steal the headlines the way French or Italian cooking does, but it should. Fresh fish, usually grilled, is everywhere, along with octopus, squid and cuttlefish. Pride of place goes to bacalhau — salted cod, the iconic ingredient of Portuguese cuisine, and ironically the only fish not eaten fresh here. There are said to be over a thousand recipes for it.

Meat dishes are popular too: piri piri chicken, porco preto, carne de porco à alentejana, cozido à portuguesa. And a pastel de nata will ruin ordinary custard tarts for you permanently.

Portuguese is the fifth most spoken language in the world. It is a hard language to master — even our Portuguese friends agree. But give it a go with a smile and good humour and you will get by. Where it matters — doctors, hospital, police, fire service — English is spoken almost universally. Along the Algarve coast English is excellent; head into the Alentejo or the Silver Coast and those lessons become considerably more useful.

Healthcare

The Portuguese health system, Serviço Nacional de Saúde, is broadly similar to the UK's NHS, providing hospital and local health centre services. It is generally excellent and English is widely used — the World Health Organisation ranks it twelfth, ahead of the UK at eighteenth. The main difference is that all citizens pay nominal charges for everything from blood tests to GP visits.

The hospital network is modern and well equipped, and the Integrated Medical Emergency System has rapid response times. Portuguese life expectancy averages 81 years.

EU nationals, and those from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, need their European Health Insurance Card and passport to access low-cost care. Overseas citizens holding Portuguese residency must register at a health centre and hold a medical number, obtained by presenting proof of residence. Non-EU expats also need a social security card.

Private clinics exist throughout the country and typically charge around €40 for a GP appointment. All private medical centres and hospitals work with international insurers, and there are reciprocal agreements with UK providers.