The climate is one of the healthiest and most pleasant in the world, comparable
to California. There is sufficient seasonal variation to make the weather anything
but boring, but winters are never too cold and the summers never to hot. The skies
are predominately blue all year round.
The
Algarve
has managed to retain its timeless "old world" charm and traditional values
even though it is an integral part of an ambitious, forward-looking nation, and tourism
is its major economic activity.
Tourism has brought considerable prosperity to the
Algarve
and contributed sigificant1y to the overall economic strength of a stable democracy
with a moderate, centrist government within the European Union.
The nation's constitution and well-founded legal system give foreign buyers and property owners
the same fundamental rights and protection as those enjoyed by Portuguese citizens.
Air 1inks and telecommunications facilities are excellent. Faro and Lisbon international airports,
satellite television, cellular telephones, fax machines, computer modems and the internet mean you
can be as globally in touch as you want to be.
While you personally may be stepping into relatively unknown territory by buying property in Portugal,
plenty of foreigners have done it before you. There is a well- established procedure and there is no
shortage of sound advice available on all aspects of setting up home in the
Algarve.
Lt is both a place to relax and do little or, if you prefer it, indulge your every active
recreational interest, much of it out doors in the clean, fresh air.
The environment is much less spoilt and polluted than other European countries. Growing
popular awareness backed by EU directives incorporated into Portuguese law should ensure
it stays that way.
The region is best known for its spectacular coastline, including scores of glorious beaches.
Less known, but equally attractive, is its hinterland of vineyards, olive, almond, carob and
fig trees, rising to rolling hills and the plains of the province of Alentejo beyond.
In the spring, from as early as Christmas until the end of May, the countryside is in full
sparkling bloom beneath exhi1arating azure skies. It is a very different scene to the grey
gloom that pervades northern Europe early in the year.
From a few kilometers inland, the
Algarve
is covered with evergreen trees and shrubs and so the countryside remains remarkably lush
even in the height of summer.
Language is genera1Iy not a problem and, anyway, you wi11 enjoy picking up at least a
smattering of Portuguese. You can get by in English or German, so long as you understand
the Portuguese all purpose expression that sums up any and all of life's minor travails:
não faz mal- "it doesn't matter."
A cost of living table compiled by the London Sunday Times on prices in the UK, Holland,
Belgium and Italy, augmented by a fair comparison made in Portugal, showed that the same
basket of 22 groceries cost much the same-around £50 - in Portugal, Holland and Belgium,
£10 less than in Italy and over £30 cheaper than in the UK.
The only things completely missing here that you may find in sunny places such as Italy,
Spain, France, Greece, Florida or the Caribbean are hurricanes, sweltering summers, pollution
or high crime rates.
