WHERE DO THE PORTUGUESE LIVE?

The style of Portuguese domestic architecture varies from north to south, and from the cities to the rural regions: from humble, stone and slate-built dwellings, to apartments in old city-centre buildings, or modern flats and houses. Some Portuguese still live in rather poor conditions, whilst others live in style in luxurious villas or manor houses. The whole gamut of accommodation is represented.

Wherever the Portuguese live these days, the vast majority now benefit from electricity and piped water (although for some these have only come in the past couple of decades). Piped gas is still relatively rare; the majority of households rely on bottled gas (garrafas de gás) for all their needs. Ownership of domestic appliances has risen steadily over the last decade: in 1998, 97% of households had a fridge, compared with 94% at the start of the decade, washing-machine ownership went up from 68% to 85% over the same period. Fewer houses possess a freezer (55%), dish-washer (15%) or microwave (15%). Most residences, though, have the all-important window shutters (either wooden, or the pull-down metal type), the first line in defence against the elements of both summer and winter.

WHERE DO FOREIGNERS LIVE?

The vast majority of foreign visitors and residents buy or rent in the Algarve (75% of all purchases on the southern coast are by Brits), and a glance in the property section of any of the main English papers (especially weekend editions, see Chapter 4), serves to illustrate that in the main people tend towards modern apartments and villas. Along with the Dutch and Germans, the English have created their very own enclaves along the southern coast, with a host of English-oriented activities to make themselves feel at home. These include weekly whist and bridge meetings, car-boot sales and charity events, drama groups and a fair sprinkling of alcoholic-support groups! For more on enjoying life in Portugal, see Chapter 14.

Demand has started to outstrip supply in the Algarve, and despite the large number of developments still coming along, prices have really taken a hike in the last couple of years. People who bought as recently as a couple of years ago will, by now, have seen a hefty increase in the value of their property. Chapter 10, however, outlines the new Portuguese property tax regulations, which will affect numerous people who bought via an off-shore company, and which may see a number of people having to find an awful lot of money in back-payments.

Some people do venture outside the safety realm of ex-patriot communities, and renovate old farm buildings, or buy plots of land and have property built to their own specifications. You can even do this a few miles inland off the Algarve coast, and be in wild countryside, whilst maintaining a quick link to beaches and larger shopping locations. The price difference can be stunning. One couple interviewed said that had they bought their current house a few miles south of the main EN125 highway, rather than to the north, where it actually is, they would have paid three times more for it.

A number of foreign visitors stay (often renting) in areas around Lisbon, Oporto and Coimbra, usually for business purposes, or whilst studying or teaching. New, exclusive complexes have been developed in the Lisbon-Sintra-Coastal areas, and not only aimed at foreign investors. Adverts in Portuguese newspaper supplements extol the virtues of modern, luxury living within commuter distances of the capital. As for the more rural areas of central and northern Portugal, and the northern coastlines, it is quite rare to find foreign property-owners, although there are a few dotted about.

TYPES OF HOUSES

A typical Portuguese town does not look like its equivalent in the UK, as far more people live in flats, often above shops, and many in old buildings, some of which look quite neglected. However, the outskirts of towns often have a mix of detached houses with their own gardens, and modern apartment blocks. There is frequently a feel of the old mingling with the new, a state which may be said of Portugal on the whole, as it embraces the new technological era, whilst holding on proudly to its links with its great heritage.