Dear Editor,
My wife and I live in a nice house – we are not motorhomers. But we are residents here in Portugal and we care about the place, the people, and the economy.
We’ve lived in a lot of countries as expats, so why Portugal? Because we felt, and still feel, welcome here. Not completely, not as locals, but much more welcome and less discriminated against than in other countries we’ve been to.
That is Portugal’s main strength. We are not always treated as wallets on legs, or as pariahs, or as undesirables to be gotten rid of as soon as we’re no longer useful.
This welcoming attitude cannot be reserved for one type of visitor and denied to another.
Don’t chase away the tourists! Not the low budget ones, nor the medium ones. They all add a bit, buy a few things from our local shops – and keep my neighbours from having to move away to the city for work.
Mark Holden, Odeceixe
