The 12 Pieces of Advice Your Expat Heart Needed And Did Not Know
Learn the language
Adapt. You’re the guest. Not us.
Understand the problems you complain about in this website are the same nationals face on a daily basis. None of us invited your richer asses into the neighbourhoods you are kicking us from.
This is an actual country, not an open air resort. Please play by the rules.
The decisions that allow you to benefit from our tax system and real estate market were taken by an elite who ignores us. Every country has it.
We don’t need you to survive. We were poor, but there's worse on this Planet.
None of your complains would ever happen “only in Portugal”. Glorified tourists and “expats” in your countries of origin have tons of stories just like these.
Understand that whatever needs to be changed in this country must benefit those who belong and live here. Expats and digital nomads are exactly that.
Oh, Portugal has actually less taxes on income than, let’s say, Spain, France or Italy. The problem with low wages are employers and the Government. Not taxes.
If you want things to be just like at home… maybe home is the place to be
Expats are just fancy immigrants who patronise locals. We know that.
Be humble. Be kind. Or be gone.
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Comments8
Sapphire Compass
May 30, 2025
We live in an interconnected world. So-called "developed" and Western countries Portugal included reap the benefits of cheap labor and lax regulations in countries like China, India, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Ever wonder where those sleek new trams, metro systems, or construction materials are made? Exactly.
Sure, you can tell expats and immigrants to leave. But then why is tourism your number one contributor to GDP? Why do you rely so heavily on imports and exports? If you want to have a meaningful conversation, drop the rants and let’s talk nuance.
Who do you think is funding your social security system and paying into the pot that supports the elderly and sick locals? It’s us immigrants and expats working, paying taxes, and contributing in countless ways. Meanwhile, corrupt officials mismanage public resources either through sheer incompetence or blatant self-interest, while you are focused on skin color and don’t want to work the local jobs…because working is hard..
It’s also quite convenient for you to distance yourselves from the "select few" who profit off of inflated rents, overpriced real estate, and mass tourism while immigrants shoulder the grunt work. The solution isn't to slam the borders shut and keep importing goods while shutting out people.
Let’s talk about the immigrant who wakes up at 4 a.m. in Mafra and travels to the heart of Lisbon to clean your toilets because some of you are too proud or too lazy to do it yourselves.
And one piece of advice to Portugal’s middle and upper class: stop trying to mimic America. Owning a dog, a Tesla, or an iPhone doesn’t make you American. No matter how white you think you are, you’ll never be American—and that’s not even the goal.
An Anonymous User
May 29, 2025
This is a hilariously typical post:
I did, I speak Portuguese. How does this change the broken systems we use?
I do. I learnt the language, I studied the history and culture. I participate in your society. I have Portuguese friends (who also complain by the way)
That’s why we complain about the problems, so they can be solved. What’s your point?
Actually you voted people into power that did exactly that: invite us to your country, so we came!
I follow the rules and I have no criminal record. I’ve also paid millions of euros in tax to your government.
What am I benefiting from exactly? Real estate here is quite expensive. I paid 8-10% in transfer tax (hundreds of thousands of euros) just to buy a home here. I think you’re benefiting from me more.
Is this a death threat?
Actually no, we’ve lived all over the world and the government systems nowhere we lived have been as bad as this.
Thank you for telling us we belong and live here. We agree!
Yep but corporate taxes here are quite high compared.
We don’t. We just want the systems to function, right now they don’t.
How is complaining about government systems patronizing locals?
Is this a second death threat?
Yellow Coral
May 29, 2025
Well first of all, this is not an hilarious typical post, since there is none of the kind on this Portugal bashing website. Em segundo lugar, se fala português, não deveria sentir-se ofendido. O mesmo se aplica ao resto. Be humble. Be Kind. Or be gone. Como é que isso pode ser interpretado como uma ameaça de morte? Enfim, demasiado tempo livre, too much entitlement and lack of self awareness - as the average “expat”. You’re just an immigrant like everybody else. You’re whiteness and high sense of self will do nothing for you here.
An Anonymous User
May 29, 2025
No arguments, only racism. Great job
Yellow Coral
May 29, 2025
That’s basically the entire website.
Harlequin Star
May 29, 2025
The taxes in Portugal are really a problem. The issue isn’t the highest marginal tax rate - it’s the level of income you need to earn in order for that rate to apply. And it’s cripplingly low here, like below €80k. The equivalent tax rate in Spain, for example, phases in at €300k of income. It’s a system literally set up to prevent wealth creation for the Portuguese.
Also corporates face double taxes (income flat rate then as dividends), as opposed to a pass-through structure prevalent in other markets.
Finally, ESOP is impossible here (taxed annually on unrealized gain) so startups are crippled and unable to compensate employees with backend equity.
Apricot Skywalker
May 28, 2025
Congrats this actually sounds super patronizing and arrogant.
Most of us are respectful and just want things to improve.
On point no. 7 you are simply wrong - a lot of the issues in Portugal are not actually issues in many other countries, which you would know if you spent time in them (expats are in a great position to compare). It’s not weird for foreigners to wish Portugal well and improve some of the things it could improve.
Yellow Coral
May 29, 2025
I have no idea what an “expat” is.
I’ve been an immigrant in six countries, hold an undergrad degree from a foreign college and two postgrads earned in two other countries. Fluent in four languages, not including Portuguese. Spent over 20 years working abroad in Europe and in the Middle East and traineeship in the US.
Hope this helps.