With its Manuelin architecture, fado tunes, verdant countryside populated by vineyards, wild coastlines whipped by the Atlantic, it takes only a few hours to reach Paris, the star destination. Colorful alleys of Porto with the sublime beaches of Algarve, Vogue.fr travels this country with disarming charm and reveals its best addresses by region. So many reasons to go for a ride this summer …
SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 by Tyler Brûlé
“What’s going on in Lisbon?” asked the Thai gentleman. We were sitting in his boardroom high above Bangkok, a thunderstorm was cracking and blustering beyond the plate glass and other colleagues were settling in. A chic young woman chimed in.
“Yes, Lisbon, we need to go,” she said to everyone and no one in particular. The gentleman’s gaze swung back to me, he raised his eyebrows and smiled. “You’d like to know what’s going on in Lisbon?” I asked. “In what way?”
“In every way,” he said. “Why’s it so hot all of a sudden. I don’t think I particularly like their food. So why are people going?”
“How much time have we got?” I asked, explaining I could spend a lot of time on this as the transformation is not entirely straightforward.
“Go ahead, tell us. And I want to know why the Chinese are going there? Have they decided to colonise it like the Portuguese did with Macau?” he joked.
Lisbon came up a few days later in Melbourne and in Hong Kong last Friday and in Tokyo over drinks on Saturday. “Isn’t it funny how some countries throw a ton of money at CNN to market themselves but never get the cut through,” a colleague said. “And then there’s Portugal and I don’t think I’ve seen one ad promoting the place.”
On Monday evening I was standing atop the curvaceous MAAT museum looking out across Lisbon, considering these questions. The sun was dropping over the Atlantic, aircraft were lining up for approach from the south and as I watched them fall into a line and make their turn for their descent over the city I imagined them all coming from exotic locales from former colonies — Luanda, Maputo and small airfields in Cabo Verde. Along the harbour below, a Maersk container ship was pushing out to sea. What was it carrying? Hundreds of tons of cork for insulating a sound stage in New York? Thousands of pairs of sandals and loafers to line Nordstrom stores across the US?
While many will cite tax-free pensions, the low cost of living and a hotel boom as part of a revolution that has seen thousands of French arrive in search of apartments and many more for easy long weekends, there’s much more to the turnround. As I explained to my Thai associates, much of it has to do with manufacturing and the fact that the Portuguese still make things many of us need. As costs have climbed in Asia, and more European companies have decided to weave sweaters and stitch denim in the EU, Portugal has benefited from high staff turnover and creeping expenses in Vietnam and China. Legions of designers, pattern-cutters, production managers and brand owners who once spent weeks in factories across Asia have now been flying into Porto and Lisbon on day trips and have had a lot to do with creating a buzz about the place.
Where other countries spend a fortune trying to attract “influencers” (shocking term, I know) on press trips to tout their best features and wares, Portugal has had the good fortune that it’s happened organically — Italian designer enjoys a nice lunch in Lisbon after a day in the factory in the countryside, he tells his partner, the partner tells his magazine editor mate, and soon after there’s a glowing story about an interesting new street to sample in Lisbon or hotel to book into in Lagos (Algarve, not Nigeria).
The boom in tourism has come as a huge bonus. A wave of entrepreneurs, chefs and baristas has helped shake off the reputation for stodgy cuisine. And a tradition of craftsmanship has translated into hotels that show off good design and ceramic work.
Being on the edge of Europe has also helped. Lisbon and Porto’s status as “edge” cities has meant they’ve had to fight that little bit harder to be noticed while also having the luxury to look in on Europe and spot the opportunities, rather than being at the centre and feeling complacent. Africa and the Americas feel that little bit closer (because they are) and this has also helped draw investors and visitors.
Perhaps the biggest sign of a turnround is that national carrier TAP has shed the “take another plane” moniker. On Tuesday, I flew to Milan on a new Airbus with considerably more legroom than on my BA flight the day before, USB chargers at every seat and a crew beaming with pride. The same can’t be said for Ryanair and its disgruntled pilots.
Tyler Brûlé is editor-in-chief of Monocle magazine. tyler.brule@ft.com
Photograph: Dreamstime
“If anything, Lisbon is an unlikely new cultural hotspot. The city is still recovering from the brutal financial crisis that struck Portugal in 2010.
But austerity has also created many of the same conditions that attracted artists and creatives to Berlin in the late noughties, such as cheap rent, food and empty buildings, combined with a population that speaks good English and a strong local art scene.”
A major factor in Portugal’s recovery is its “golden visa” scheme, introduced in 2012 to allow non-EU nationals to obtain residency in return for making a €500,000 property investment, sparked interest among Chinese, Middle East and South African investors, as has the non-habitual residency programme, which offers significant tax benefits to residents drawing income from outside Portugal.
Forbes Magazine Best Countries for Business List puts Portugal as a better location to do business than Countries such as Germany (#21), the United States (#23), France (#26) and Spain (#29).
Cheap rents, a thriving cultural scene, ludicrous levels of sunshine and a high quality of life may have drawn young talent from all over the world over the past few years
Very good climate, low cost of living together with some of the most beautiful settings in Europe, growing art & culture scene and at the same time a very vibrant and booming star-up scenery are reasons why the whole world have their eyes on Lisbon.
It may be the world’s most beautiful wine region. It’s also got spectacular landscapes and a scattering of World Heritage sites. Douro cuts across northern Portugal, snaking 200 miles from rugged wilderness
Grapes grown on its steeply rising banks have been sending forth legendary port wines for centuries.
The world became slightly less peaceful in 2016, Portugal, which built on gains last year to rise nine places to fifth globally. Europe was the region that suffered most from terrorism compared with last year, with Turkey, France and Belgium among the most affected.
It now accounts for six of the top seven places in the global rankings. The highest-ranking countries in the world remain unchanged from 2015: Iceland, Denmark and Austria. The largest improvement in the region was recorded by Portugal, which built on gains last year to rise nine places to fifth globally. This reflects continuing improvements in the context of the country’s gradual return to political normality following its EU/ IMF economic and financial adjustment process. Notwithstanding the difficulties faced by the left-of-centre government elected in 2015, Portugal has recorded a second year of improvements across numerous dimensions, notably the likelihood of violent demonstrations, but also the Political Terror Scale and political instability. Among the other Eurozone countries to have exited similar bailout arrangements, there were only minor movements: Ireland roughly maintained its score while Spain and Cyprus saw slight deteriorations, Greece, slipped back …
Lisbon’s working hard to support home-grown businesses and attract fledgling entrepreneurs from around the globe, “The change has been dramatic. We saw all-time record investment in real estate, tourism and entrepreneurship in 2015.”
