At that time I immediately had a culture shock when I had to draw a number from the authorities to get it. This is still the case today in some areas, such as public health. But the fact that I have not had to see a tax official for years, but have been doing my income tax at the click of a mouse since 2010 and already have my identity card as an app on my smartphone, makes other circumstances a lesser evil. Also, I do not need a vaccination card in paper format or index card at my family doctor, because all this can be found on my app in my digital identity card.

We do not have a rental market in Portugal. 80% of the real estate portfolio in Portugal belongs to Portuguese owners who buy a property at their wedding and then pay it off in 30 to 40 years of their lifetime. This is indeed something that unfortunately went completely wrong in Portugal and that was done well in Germany during the post-war period and afterwards. But both countries are groaning for housing today because the cost of real estate has risen so much in recent years that hardly anyone can afford a decent property today. So again, the question: What is the lesser evil? To live in a country where I can't afford a rental apartment, or to live in a country where I can't afford a condominium now. When I read this, I ask myself, am I now talking about Portugal or Germany? Well, I think both are true. In Portugal, a property has become so expensive that you can no longer afford financing with an average salary of 1000 euros net and in Germany the rents are so high that you have to pay more than 40% of it for the rent at 2,500 euros net salary.

But then we have the other side of Portugal again, which most Germans also like. The sea, the people, the sun, the climate. This is all true if you do not forget that as an immigrant or tourist you can enjoy the beautiful sides of this wonderful country to the fullest if you also integrate. The Portuguese are a very peaceful, but also proud people with an exceptionally long history, which you would also like to see respected. Therefore, you should always keep an eye on how you like it in your own country when strangers are guests. I was born in a small German district town and was, so to speak, the first foreigner to be born there. My parents always told me: We must integrate and, above all, work a lot and not attract attention. When I see on my way home how so many wild campers just put their campers where it is actually forbidden - because of the environment - and ignore the signs, or press the plastic bottles and cans and cigarette butts into the sand on the beach, then I wonder where were mom and dad who said: If we are guests, then we behave as such.! That's why I always try, when I have tourists around me, to seek a conversation so that they feel at home and then also pay attention to what other followers do in Portugal and then also point out to them that you act here like at home, and that works very often with my German tourists - friends.

Author

Paulo Lopes is a multi-talent Portuguese citizen who made his Master of Economics in Switzerland and studied law at Lusófona in Lisbon - CEO of Casaiberia in Lisbon and Algarve.

Paulo Lopes