👉 The Portugal Expat Lounge 👈

I'm not clairvoyant so without a link or directions I can't find this wonderful new "Expat Lozenge", is this meant to be a joke?

I'm not clairvoyant so without a link or directions I can't find this wonderful new "Expat Lozenge", is this meant to be a joke?
-@Strontium

It wasn't especially clear, but this thread is the start.

David Hallyday and his new project in Portugal:

Hollywood Reporter:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/busin … 235353500/

(David Hallyday is a French singer and songwriter, son of French singers Sylvie Vartan and Johnny Hallyday), founder and director of Tage Studios, has lived in Portugal since 2017)

___

Portuguese media:

https://cnnportugal.iol.pt/hollywood/es … 92250138a6

https://sicnoticias.pt/cultura/2023-04- … i-f7d08320

https://www.nit.pt/fora-de-casa/na-cida … -hollywood

Do you MOOC ?

If you put a bit of effort into a MOOC then you MAY learn something.

How about Uni Delft, as you know, has a specialist area in renewable energy so being Dutch they teach in English. They (and many other institutions) offer free - self paced courses in areas like Solar PV.

https://www.mooc.org/

https://www.edx.org/course/solar-energy … tocomplete

By the way, is this kind of equipment very common in Portugal?

By the way, is this kind of equipment very common in Portugal?
-@Mickael

I assume that you are referring to photovoltaic equipment. I would say it is quite common and one sees these systems installed on roofs of private houses more often than 7 years ago. To my knowledge there are government subsidies for the installation. 

There is a large range of renewable energy equipment available but Portugal being relatively poor (compared with other bits of EU) but blessed with sunshine has a lot of flat panel solar water heaters installed both as supplemental to botted gas fired water heaters (thus the water being pre-heated) and complete units with thermo syphon ones with insulated water tank on top which has an electric element inside tank if needed.

Large areas here have been earmarked for solar PV insulations on a commercial scale and even several years ago there were days when all Portugal's electricity consumed was renewable, lots of windmills. There is ongoing discussions about green hydrogen production and use but for domestic heating/cooking there is a lack of gas mains in most of the country where as some other countries (UK included) are already doing large scale trials of mains gas/hydrogen mix on domestic heating/hot water. There is a lot going on but compared to say Morocco it's not well developed. Morocco is talking about exporting electricity or green hydrogen via pipeline/cable to Europe.

https://helioscsp.com/noor-ouarzazate-s … wer-plant/

Those that are interested in where the electricity that is used all over Europe is coming from should have a look at this website https://www.energy-charts.info/index.ht … &c=PT. It only covers electricity and doesn't look into overall energy consumption (e.g. for heating purposes).

Those that are interested in where the electricity that is used all over Europe is coming from should have a look at this website https://www.energy-charts.info/index.ht … &c=PT. It only covers electricity and doesn't look into overall energy consumption (e.g. for heating purposes).
-@nz7521137

Isn't that just what the power companies are putting into their national grids and dosen't take into consideration the nett contribution of small producers whose power production is usually for local consumption so any power they produce replaces their grid consumption? My previous employer had a large flat roof building covered with PV panels and I was responsible for monitoring  the spontaneous and total outgoing and incoming power to the national grid, on a "good day" we exported power so the power stations then produced less but our contribution was not monitored as a power station output.

@Strontium Well, have a look at it. It is very detailed about what the numbers presented mean and it is updated all the time.

The data also tells us that Portugal is a net importer of electricity almost every day of the year.

What's the official cannabis situation in Portugal? Owning, buying, consuming, importing, growing etc?

What's the official cannabis situation in Portugal? Owning, buying, consuming, importing, growing etc?
-@Strontium

I think since 2001 in Portugal all drugs are decriminalised and since 2018 the country legalises cannabis-based medecine.

But it still forbidden to get your own personal cultivation of cannabis.

(I'd have to find this report from two years ago that talked about it in the French media).

I let the community contradict me if I am wrong

My impression has been that "decriminalize" means people aren't going to prison or getting criminal records, but it still isn't legal.  Like you don't get a criminal record for failing to stop at a stop sign, but it isn't legal.  If you get caught, you have to satisfy some requirements like attending some sessions, and multiple offenses and/or failure to meet the conditions of the offense could get into worse trouble.

The short version:  cannabis is illegal.  No owning, no buying, no consuming, no importing, no growing.

@donn25

I had been looking at legalities of growing cannabis and regulations in differing countries, Germany popped up as beginning to have deregulation on "home grown" cannabis for personal consumption. As there's no EU internal boarders i thought there be a slow move to harmonise the rules in member countries.

Hi all. I told my cousin I was interested in Portugal and he sent me  a Twitter feed about the drought. Is this a serious concern for those who live there? Thank you.

Sure is.

@donn25
I had been looking at legalities of growing cannabis and regulations in differing countries, Germany popped up as beginning to have deregulation on "home grown" cannabis for personal consumption. As there's no EU internal boarders i thought there be a slow move to harmonise the rules in member countries.
-@Strontium

There are EU borders for a number of countries and Germany is one of them.

@SimCityAT

Strange, but  last time I went "home" there was no coustoms or pass checks going into Germany.

@Strontium This is a little off the subject but my difficulty with Portugal has not been utilities. My very serious difficulty has been with renting and purchasing property in the Algarve in general and Tavira in particular. I have to say I have not had issues in Cascais. I had over $30,000 in cash and property stolen by a real estate agent. Just before she broke into my apartment (I caught them in the act), I  signed with a builder to purchase a condo. I have given the builder 50,000 euros and he seems to be following the Tavira real estate agent. If she had acted a few days earlier, I would not have purchased a property in Portugal. I should say, attempted to buy in Portugal. I have an attorney to deal with the builder and only God knows how much that will cost me. Please  feel free to offer suggestions such as various governmental organizations who may act on this sort of thing. I filed police reports...of course. They do not take action on such cases in Portugal apparently. I have heard the Portugese police are very weak in many areas including documenting crime scenes and recording them... so it is better we keep all documantation and photos.Please feel free to offer any suggestions.

@Strontium Usually there is no passport control when traveling between Schengen countries. Certainly there might be exceptions for a specific reason (e.g. during Corona)

hmmm.... Sorry to hear of this bad experience for you and the loss of your money and belongings. This is weird though and can't say that I agree with the police being weak in these areas.

The police in Portugal many many years ago were weaker, possibly because there was much less crime or need for police protection but they are so much better and efficient now so it is hard for me to imagine them not taking action on a situation such as a large amount of stolen money and property. 

Maybe look into getting a better attorney is my suggestion because if they are the ones telling you this, maybe they are not willing to work hard enough to earn what you will pay them.

I do hope you get your stuff and it all resolved

I filed police reports...of course. They do not take action on such cases in Portugal apparently. I have heard the Portugese police are very weak in many areas including documenting crime scenes and recording them... so it is better we keep all documantation and photos.
-@marclarsson50

The police work well, the problem is that the courts are slow indeed, but if you have proofs, sentence will be favourable to you.

Have you filed a complaint with the Portuguese entity that regulates this sector against the estate agency and the agent?

@marclarsson50 you must have clear and irrefutable proof. If you don't, there isn't much the police can do. Why would you give 30000€ to an agent? That's not how it is supposed to be done. Did you checked if it was a legit agent? Again, why did you paid 50000€ to a builder?  It it a developer? Where you aware of all the time frames? Did you research the company? It's hard to understand the whole picture, but one should take the appropriate measures and careful when doing businesses of such amounts, specially in a different country where you are not so familiar with the system and the law. I am really sorry that you had this experience and hope everything turns out for the best.

There are crazy people everywhere. This sect founded by a former cook / football player from Sudan/Denmark (?), has decided to ""create"" an autonomous kingdom inside Portugal, near the city of Oliveira do Hospital. This group thinks the earth is flat and that man has not yet been to the moon.... ....

https://kingdom-of-pineal.org/en

https://sicnoticias.pt/pais/2023-07-16- … a-ac58d277

Does anybody know what is going to happen to LX Factory? These days it is crammed in with all new buildings and streets have been constructed almost all around. 10 years ago it was a cool place in a very underdeveloped area, but that has changed a lot.

I don't understand why anyone coming to Portugal buys property straight off. I think this is a big mistake. Rent to begin with. Go to where the rents etc are lower. Once you rent for a bit you will start to understand how things work. Learn to speak the language. Then you will realized you have a big dollar sign on your forehead for all who you encounter, and will be better prepared to be able to deal with that. Then if you still want to buy you will be much better prepared, and you will definitely pay much less.

I don't understand why anyone coming to Portugal buys property straight off. I think this is a big mistake. Rent to begin with. Go to where the rents etc are lower. Once you rent for a bit you will start to understand how things work. Learn to speak the language. Then you will realized you have a big dollar sign on your forehead for all who you encounter, and will be better prepared to be able to deal with that. Then if you still want to buy you will be much better prepared, and you will definitely pay much less.
-@Perpetual_traveler

It all depends, sure rent first if your first time in the country. But what if you know the area and have been coming for years on holiday or even work every situation is different.

I visited France every year for 30 odd years from England and as I had family living in Wales I would visit there twice a year. I actually did buy a house there not for long as I moved to Austria for love. The rest is history.

Does anybody know what is going to happen to LX Factory? These days it is crammed in with all new buildings and streets have been constructed almost all around. 10 years ago it was a cool place in a very underdeveloped area, but that has changed a lot.
-@nz7521137

That quarter will change a lot in the next 4 years with new real estate projects and the new underground stations there. LXfactory will remain in the same location but hopefully improved. It is expected that the retro / industrial vibe will be preserved...

https://magg.sapo.pt/atualidade/atualid … -manter-se

@JohnnyPT Many thanks. I also didn't know about the red line, only the yellow line. There is lots of development planned.

@SimCityAT nice. You had a big advantage... Years of experience in France and a completely different set up in Austria. My comment was more for the vast majority of people coming to Portugal, who have never even visited the country before making the initial trip for NIF and accommodation setup. It's a very very segmented real estate market, and it works differently to anywhere else in Europe. It really is Buyer Beware.

It's a very very segmented real estate market, and it works differently to anywhere else in Europe. It really is Buyer Beware.
-@Perpetual_traveler

What you say is partly true. Simply because most expats choose certain & restricted regions, and in those regions there are higher prices, and also because of the type of offer that is provided to them.

Try to find locations other than those traditionally chosen by expats ....

Be careful when it is said that these are luxury properties, which they often are not... it is just propaganda to justify the prices... But this happens as a general rule in all countries where there are many expats.

I think a lot of those people are like me, retired and not real young.  I could spend a decade, and at the end I might or might not have accumulated the social connections and understanding of "how things work" - and I'd be in my late '70s.  Even if I were 10 years younger, I'd undertake that long haul intro to Portugal only if that's what I really enjoyed doing with my life.

Maybe I had a dollar sign on my forehead.  I have a house at the border of an open space zoned forested area, with an A+ CE.  I have pretty much gotten my front garden together.  I have a basement where I can park my car.  I have a place where I can practice my tuba.  I have more plans for the place, but it's going pretty slow.  I'm glad I'm not killing time in a rental apartment - I'm sure there are people who would make a good time of it, I'm just not one of them.  (The other household member even less so, I think.)

Try to find locations other than those traditionally chosen by expats ....

-@JohnnyPT

Locations traditionally chosen by expats are there for a reason. They provide community/goods/services (CGS) that are appreciated by expats. So if an arriving expat feels he doesn't need these expat CGS then choosing a location away from these expat areas is great. However, my experience tells me that most expats cannot live without these special expat CGS.

Countries where the expat speaks the language are much easier and home locations can be chosen by other criteria. I guess that was always and everywhere the same. Little Italy in NY or the different Chinatowns all over the US are testament to that.

Locations traditionally chosen by expats are there for a reason.
-@nz7521137

Hi Tom,

Choosing unusual locations for expats can be a wise decision. Take a look at this good example:

https://cnnportugal.iol.pt/romance/eua/ … 171a0b5ff8

@nz7521137 Excellent points

Locations traditionally chosen by expats are there for a reason.
-@nz7521137
Hi Tom,
Choosing unusual locations for expats can be a wise decision. Take a look at this good example:

https://cnnportugal.iol.pt/romance/eua/ … 171a0b5ff8
-@JohnnyPT

Indeed it can be very wise. But, it can equally be wise to go to a location where many expats live. It is a very individual decision.

In the media I am reading alarmist articles about how extremely hot this year is, but whoever I actually talk to finds nothing out of the normal about it. Where we live it is actually cooler than during the years before. Friends in Spain also cannot find anything unusual about the weather this summer. Similar with friends living near Castelo Branco.

For sure, it's really a bit chilly most of the time, just a little hot in the afternoon.  The summer isn't over yet, though.  I haven't read much specifically about problems in Portugal.  If you drop by Baghdad Wednesday for predicted 49°C, you could experience hot.