If you’ve already been here on holiday, why don’t you stay to live? In addition to all of the reasons that you are already aware of, you should know that Portugal offers attractive conditions for making your investment here. Imagine living in a country where you can find a huge diversity of landscapes and environments in a small area: sandy beaches as far as the eye can see, golden plains and mountains, vibrant and cosmopolitan cities and a millennial heritage. Here you can practice water sports, play golf on the best courses in the world, contemplate nature, experience the most novel well-being treatments, or just get out into the country and discover unbeatable heritage, wines and cuisine.
In terms of climate, our winters are mild and summers are hot and dry. Did you know that the number of hours of sunshine per year reaches values as high as 3300 in the south of the country and 1600 in the north, some of the highest in Europe?
The Portuguese are gracious and friendly, welcoming all visitors regardless of where they come from. And, in fact, visitors do come here from all over the world, as the country is located on the western coast of Europe and, as such, is a point of entrance into the Schengen zone. A large part of the population speaks foreign languages, specifically English.
Portugal has an excellent geographical location. At the meeting point between three continents – Europe, Africa and America -, it has always been central to the most important international routes. Here you can find international airports all over the country – Lisbon, Faro and Porto have regular connections to major cities in the world. Did you know that Lisbon is just two and a half hours away from Paris and London by plane? If you want to discover the beauties of Portugal, the country has a modern road network waiting to be explored: it only takes two hours to get from Lisbon to Porto or Faro, the major cities in the north and south of the country. Madrid is just six hours away.
With almost nine centuries of well defined geographical borders, a democratic parliamentary regime with political stability prevails in Portugal. Portugal has been a member of the European Union for 26 years and forms part of the European Monetary System, using the European single currency. According to the World Bank, Portugal is the 43rd largest economy in the world, with one of the highest GDP growth rates over the last 40 years among the OECD countries. Portugal is the 17th most peaceful country in the world out of a sample of 153 countries (Global Peace Index 2011) and holds 32nd place out of 182 countries in Transparency International (Corruption Perception Index 2011): Portugal holds 32nd place out of 182 countries.
In 2010, the European Consumers Choice Awards rated Lisbon (capital of the country) as the “Best Destination 2010” and in 2011 it was voted one of the 42 cities in the world with the best quality of life, by the Worldwide Quality of Living Survey 2011.
Most foreigners consider the cost of living to be low. According to UBS (Prices and Earnings 2010), the price indices are attractive: Food: 68.2 (index: New York = 100); Clothing: 53.3 (index: New York = 100); Services: 67.9 (index: New York = 100); Metro ticket: € 1,40 (journey of approximately 10 km); Bus ticket: € 1.80 (journey of approximately 10 km); Restaurant: € 40 (3 course meal in a good quality restaurant).
Portugal is also one of the best countries for buying a house, because it has clear and transparent tax rules and offers facilities for obtaining residence permits, as part of new legal provisions that are more attractive to foreign investors. It also has a special regime for non-habitual residents, aimed at attracting foreign investors through very favourable income tax rates.