More good news for Portugal comes in a report in the UK Guardian today that suggests millennials – those 30-somethings working as “digital nomads” – are suddenly descending on Lisbon “in droves”.
“According to one recent report, 60% of 18-35-year-olds are actively looking to move abroad”, says the paper.
“Today’s workers are self-employed and geographically flexible; they’re freelancers who can work anywhere, provided the broadband is fast enough. So why live in a city like London – where rent is eye-wateringly expensive and the weather uniformly grey – when you could halve your living costs and wake up every morning to sunny skies?”
Lisbon has been what the Guardian calls “the new Barcelona” for some time, as it “enjoys a subtropical climate, the cost of living is cheap” (cheap, that is for UK based salaries), “it’s blessed with a vibrant bar and restaurant scene, and it provides easy access to the beaches of the Algarve”.
The “pace at which people are moving to the city has expanded exponentially”, the Guardian continues – interviewing happy millennials extolling the virtues of vibrant expat living and a night scene involving the bars of Graça, Cais de Sodré, Bairro Alto and Príncipe Real”.
But as one man’s floor is another man’s ceiling, the paper accepts that this rush of racy young talent is pushing home grown locals ‘against the wall’.
One told the paper: “This is terrible for prices. It is becoming really expensive to find a long-term rental in central Lisbon”.
Traditional stores and bars that would have been cheap meeting places for locals are also disappearing and being replaced with “expensive cafés for English-speaking foreign students”.
