As Spain gets set to wallop Brits buying a home there with a 100% property tax, demand for a neighbouring country is absolutely soaring.
An organisation that puts on moving to Portugal show and seminars has seen interest in moving to the country jump by a third in six months.
It comes as Spain, which has long been a beloved holiday destination for Britons, looks to clamp down on tourism following a wave of protests across various cities.
The country’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has since called for various measures to limit the impact on the housing market.
He announced plans to limit house purchases by non-resident Brits in January, proposing new tax burdens for second-homeowners of up to 100% of the property’s value.
Now in a press release, the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the UK which organises the free events said it is seeing “enormous demand” to attend, and learn more about life in the southern European country, which is home to holiday hubs like Lisbon and the Algarve.
Christina Hippisley, general manager of the association said: “We’re seeing strong appetite across the board, with everyone from families to retirees keen to find out about starting a new life overseas.
“Interest in entrepreneurial opportunities in Portugal is also very strong right now, with the Portuguese government keen to attract talented and creative businesspeople,” she added.
Pre-event registrations for the meet, which takes place in London on April 3, 2025, were up 33% compared to the October 2024 Show and a whopping 195% compared to its March 2024 show.
The shows and seminars cover relocation, property and investment in the country, as well as things like visas and residency options, taxation, healthcare, and schooling.
Foreign buyers accounted for around 12% of sales volume in 2024, with an average annual price growth rate of 8% between 2019 and 2024, according to the Association of Real Estate Professionals and Companies of Portugal.
More than 47,000 British citizens now live in the country with the foreign population growing by 37% between 2011 and 2021.
The chamber of commerce’s release speculated that the uptick in interest in Portugal may be due to the country’s relative stability seeming more attractive when compared with the uncertainty in Spain.
25 years ago Spanish governments welcomed British property buyers, regarding the foreign investment as economically beneficial, bringing investment to popular tourist hubs like Malaga and the Balearic Islands.
But in recent months furious anti-tourism protests have been held in Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga and elsewhere, with locals decrying what they see as the impact of holiday lets on soaring property and living prices.
New stringent rules for tourists also come into effect as of December 2, 2024, with the Spanish Government now requiring hotels to collect extensive personal information from visitors, including family details, bank card specifics and addresses, which will be shared with security services.
Last year, the government decided to drop the country’s famous Golden Visa scheme, which offered non-EU citizens residency rights in exchange for a £420,000 investment, usually in property and remains set to close it on April 3.