Why do so many Germans now want to emigrate to Portugal (Part VI)?

Nature and gastronomy are the strengths of Portugal and are usually mentioned by Germans who visit Portugal first when you ask them, in addition to the hospitality and the good network and online connections that are appreciated here. But that´s not all Portugal offers to Germans visitors and expats, there is much more than that. 

If we look at the economic side, there are more and more German companies and entrepreneurs who have focused on Portugal, be it because of the skilled workers or the geographical location of Portugal and its historical connections to South America, Africa and Asia. Few people know that Portugal had the first trade treaty with Japan, that Portugal still trades briskly with its former colonies, that Portugal has always been a springboard for German companies and entrepreneurs to gain a foothold in these markets. And that there are tax advantages and depreciation that make it easy for German companies and entrepreneurs to settle in Portugal, as Bosch has been doing in Portugal since 1911 and SAP for 25 years. 

There are about 400 German companies in Portugal, which generate an annual turnover of 10 billion euros for Portugal. Together, these Germans create more jobs than the Portuguese state. This also leads to more and more German employees following their companies and settling in Portugal, especially executives and top executives with their families.  

The automobileindustry,  trade, research and IT technology are the three sectors in which German companies occupy a dominant position on the Portuguese market and in which they also employ the largest number of workers, together they employ around 50 thousand direct employees.  and there are more indirect daily due to the teleperformance of the digital generations who are doing more and more work from home and the home is more and more Portugal and not the employer location. 

Why do I talk so much about entrepreneurs and companies from Germany when we were just on the journey from Guarda to Aveiro as described in the last article last week. It has something to do with the region and the University of Aveiro, which is a privileged partner of MIT (Michigan Institute of Technology) and is in constant exchange regarding robotics and space technology. This also attracts German companies and students to Portugal who are interested in Portugal because of the low-cost education at the Portuguese universities and the cost of living. 

Aveiro, in addition to its university, which also has German as a subject, is also known for its special and own urban structure, which is very reminiscent of Venice, and which is therefore also known as the Portuguese Venice. Here, cod used to be dried on long wooden structures and salt production was an important economic factor for this region.  

The history of Aveiro dates  back to the  most recent prehistoric periods, and witnesses can be found throughout the region that can be visited, as evidenced  by burial mounds and dolmens.   Aveiro had salt production and maritime trade as the basis for its growth and development as a city. As a valuable medium of exchange, salt was already used and created here in Roman times. 

Aveirois  the perfect symbiosis between man and nature, between tradition and modernity, which makes the city one of the most important urban centers in the country, and this ensures that it is also high in the ranking as one of the cities in Portugal for the best quality of life. So you should definitely get to know and love Aveiro when visiting Portugal that I can only recommend to every German visitor.  


Author: Paulo Lopes