A retrospective view on Portugal and Silver Coast
It’s sometimes important to look back and think about some of the highlights Portugal and the Silver Coast has experienced in the year just passed, as we enjoy the first month of 2019.
15 April 2021
Great news for Portugal
Just this year, Portugal received some great news to share with the world. Along with its growing numbers of tourists because it’s been voted into 5th place in the top ten safest places in the world, it has netted yet another prestige accolade.
The friendliness of Portugal
The news has been heard loud and clear too on the Silver Coast. This is because it’s all about the friendliness of the Portuguese to visitors and residents from other lands and places. For the first time ever in the Expat Insider survey, Portugal has claimed the top spot as the country with the friendliest attitude towards foreign residents.
International recognition
The reassuring factor about the survey is it comes from an international organisation of people who know what they are talking about.
First hand
There is much to support the concept of getting information first hand. Indeed many an entrepreneur has built a business empire on this notion. Therefore, direct information is the secret to success. So, when a survey is canvassed and the people questioned actually have a close connection with the subject of a poll or survey, take notice of the results!
Filter out the phaf
Conversely, it’s unwise to pay too much attention to general surveys where people give their opinions on all and sundry without any direct knowledge and experience in the field. Put simply, we can all venture ambiguous views but far fewer of us can actually use direct experience to give true insight.
Internations findings
This survey in question however comes from the Internations organisation. They are a network of expats living around the world who know about how welcome foreigners are made to feel in other cultures and nations.
“In 2018, Expat Insider, one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive surveys on life abroad, achieved a major milestone for its fifth anniversary: the number of respondents reached a new record high. In total, 18,135 expats from across the globe took part in the survey. They represent 178 nationalities living in 187 countries or territories.”
The survey discovered “Portugal, Taiwan, and Mexico top the table when it comes to the friendliness of the local population towards foreign residents, but expats can expect a frosty welcome in Switzerland, Austria, and Kuwait, according to the respondents of the Expat Insider survey.”
Friendliness is an important constituent part of the Portuguese psyche. In some respects, the country has held onto genuinely worthy traditional values while other societies have lapsed into hard faced and self-interested forms of existence. Portugal welcomes foreigners not least because the people still have a strong extended family structure and this has shaped and civilised their conduct towards each other and strangers.
They are usually very helpful and understanding. For instance, they are willing to try to speak English or French if you can’t speak Portuguese. They will forgive foreigners who don’t speak their language and will show delight if you try to communicate to them in Portuguese.
Children are always welcome in most social events and for the most part they seem to be able to function well and easily interact with people of all ages. According to the survey, the Portuguese are also highly likely to make up 30 % of the expat’s friends. This is the biggest total of any group from the participating countries. So you could view this as further consolidation of evidence of friendliness and the ease with which Portuguese people are prepared to mix and socialise with foreigners.
Living and visiting Portugal and the Silver Coast means you give yourself one of the best opportunities anywhere on the globe to integrate into a society that is welcoming and genuinely friendly. Portugal is a place like no other in this respect. So when you are considering a holiday or searching for a new life somewhere special think about Portugal and the Silver Coast, one of the safest and friendliest places on earth.
Take a trip to Portugal and the Silver Coast. Jinah Trans are a professional airport transfer company who will ensure your safe arrival, plus they offer exciting day tours for all the family.
