Expats explain reason ‘everything is great’ in Portugal

According to Portugal’s Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) over 714,000 British expats live in Portugal. While some choose to live on the coast in Portugal’s Algarve, many settle in Lisbon, the capital city.

The InterNations Expat Insider survey asks expats around the globe to rate their home based on several important factors.

Lisbon was ranked the fourth best city for expats in the world, just behind Valencia, Dubai and Mexico City.

A whopping 98 percent of expats in Lisbon said they were happy with the city’s climate and weather.

According to the survey, around 17 percent of expats moved to Lisbon to experience a better quality of life.

One expat said: “Everything is great here. The climate, the people, the food and nature.”

Almost 90 percent of expats were happy with the city’s nightlife and culture while almost 95 percent thought there were good opportunities for sport.

The city also scored well on safety with more than nine out of 10 expats saying they felt safe in Lisbon.

Over 90 percent of expats said they found it easy to get around on foot and by bicycle in the Portuguese capital.

It’s easy for expats to stay fit in Lisbon as the city is known as one of Europe’s hilliest capitals, with plenty of cobblestones to get muscles moving.

Moving to a new country can be hard but expats said that local residents in Lisbon were very friendly.

One expat said: “I love the hospitable, patient and easygoing Portuguese people. They are helpful, kind and polite.”

Over 80 percent of expats said they found the local residents were generally friendly while they also said it was easy to adapt to the local culture.

Portugal also scored highly when it came to cost of living with over 70 percent saying their disposable income was enough to live a comfortable life.

While the majority of expats were very satisfied with the Lisbon lifestyle, some had a few issues with their career and salary.

One expat said that “wages in general are very poor in Portugal” while 27 percent of expats said they were unhappy with their salary.

Just under 30 percent of expats surveyed said that moving to Lisbon hadn’t improved their career prospects.

Despite some unhappiness, over seven in 10 expats rated their work-life balance positively in Lisbon.

Lisbon has attracted a lot of attention from tourists in recent years and even Madonna had made her home there.

The ‘Queen of Pop’ settled in Lisbon after falling in love with the city on a tour. She posted on Instagram that she felt “very creative and alive here”.

Italian fashion model and former Bond Girl, Monica Bellucci, also owns an apartment in Lisbon’s historic city centre.

John Malkovich and Scarlet Johansson are also reportedly fans of the Portuguese city and its climate.

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