SPRING break is not just an American phenomenon. Spring break is also a tradition in virtually all countries in the world including here in the Iberian Peninsula in mainland Europe, particularly Portugal. But high school and college students from other countries mostly come here in Portugal during spring rather than we go to their countries. High school and college students from Scandinavian countries as well as those in North America would love being in here in Portugal because it has a very temperate climate and more so during this season of spring where every flora in the country that you can think about is blossoming just like the ladies here who are very tender. In fact, a few people from the United States and Britain who have just retired but who are still bachelors have found their soulmates in the country.
The entry of 2008 was a precarious one as far as the United States economy is concerned. There is great possibility that their subprime mortgage crisis would escalate into a full recession that may have rippling effects even in Europe. Yet, Portuguese officials under the able leadership of Jose Socrates have remained bullish. The government is now building another international airport outside Lisbon to accommodate the growing number of tourists here who have burgeoned every day. For Portugal has that Axe effect. Remember those Axe commercials on television where guys are natural static clings to women? That is Portugal. It is a natural tourism magnet.
Speaking of television, a lot of countries such as Qatar, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand are spending millions of dollars every year for tourism promotion alone. Portugal – although it has its own tourism slogan – has not invested much on this scheme because they know that through word of mouth alone, they can already snatch thousands of tourists every year to come to their country. South Korea is too cold while Qatar, Malaysia and Thailand are too hot. Portugal can certainly outdo those countries when it comes to weather alone. There are no unpredictable torrential rains here as what they have experienced in England or the tropical countries so when you go out sailing in the Mediterranean coastlines such as Praia da Luz, you will know the weather forecast five days ahead. And the weather guys are darn precise about their stuff. So get to your agencia de viajes and come here in Portugal during this spring time and have a break.
TODAY is Chinese New Year’s Day and there are a lot of things the Chinese and the Portuguese have in common but foremost of this is Macau. Macau is a territory of China located off the mainland. It formerly belongs to Portugal. For the last 500 years, Portugal was one of the world’s superpowers and it has retained Macau until 1999. Because of this connection, there are a lot of Macau residents who has immigrated to Portugal at the end of World War II and even continues up to this day. There are a lot of reasons for this phenomenon.
First, Macau is a very urban island and at an area of only 11 square miles, it barely contains room for relaxation. Portugal is the closest place to relax as far as the Macau natives are concerned since they are already familiar with how the Portuguese ran their affairs of state. That’s why they troop to Portugal either as tourists or as permanent residents there.
One place in Portugal that they like is the Mediterranean coastline. The climate here is very temperate unlike in Macau where temperatures can reach as far as -3 degrees Celsius freezing during winter. So they definitely like here in Portugal in areas such as Praia da Luz. They also love the resorts here because resorts in Europe are adjudged the best in the world among global hospitality experts. In fact, they are constantly inspected by representatives of the European Union for excellence in service.
The immigrants from Macau have even adopted their own language variant here which is Cantonese-Portuguese or what they dub as Macanese. Some of the Chinese here have continued their ingenuity and industriousness back home and they have established language schools here in the seaside part of Portugal. Aside from teaching native Cantonese, they also offer short term programs in Macanese. The Macau immigrants in Portugal are doing their best to preserve this dialect since this is already considered by UNESCO as one of the world’s endangered languages.
For uniting his fellow immigrants from Macau, 77-year-old Zhou Hongze, the president of the Overseas Chinese Association in Portugal, has been honored nonetheless by the Portuguese president himself, Anibal Cavaco Silva. Aside from the language schools, other Chinese businesses thriving in Portugal include various retail businesses that go all the way to the capital of the country in Lisbon itself.
There are many factors to consider on why Chinese businesses have transpired here in Portugal. Portugal has a relaxed immigration policy that is why you don’t hear in the news of any human smuggling of Chinese illegal immigrants that have washed off its Mediterranean shores. Next, it has a relaxed policy of individual foreign ownership of real properties. And foreigners who are eventually staying in the country are allowed to establish businesses here. Here in Portugal, the people are very friendly too and there is no existence of racism here. That is why the Chinese love to be here.
