Going on a backpacking trip around the world alone with Kyun-S! (33) Portugal

(28) Portugal

It is a country located at the western tip of the Iberian Peninsula in southern Europe, with its capital Lisbon (Lisbon, Lisboa), which does not have high mountains but is a place where you can enjoy hilly cities, beautiful architecture, and delicious seafood dishes.

In addition, among the Mesozoic strata in Europe, the Jurassic strata are extensive, so fossils of dinosaurs that flourished in the late Jurassic period, such as Allosaurus, Rusotitan, Stegosaurus, and Dakentrurus, have been discovered or excavated.

Although it is not adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea, it is close to the Mediterranean Sea, so it has a Mediterranean climate, which is the mildest climate in Europe, and the lowest temperature recorded in Portugal so far is -16 degrees Celsius, which is said to have been recorded in a mountainous area over 1,500 meters above sea level.

The capital Lisbon has a mild climate with an average temperature of 11.6 degrees Celsius in January and 23.5 degrees Celsius in August, with 774 mm of rainfall concentrated in winter, and a large daily temperature in summer and hot daytime, especially in the southern inland area, which can reach nearly 50 degrees Celsius, just like Morocco below.

Especially if you are traveling on foot in major tourist cities such as Lisbon, Porto, and Coimbra, it is better to be prepared to climb hills and stairs frequently, and it should be noted that earthquakes have been frequent since ancient times, and the Lisbon earthquake, which is said to be the worst earthquake in Europe, occurred in history.

I tend to visit Lisbon and its surroundings, Porto, some tourist cities and southern beaches for short periods of time in connection with Spain, but the resort islands of Madeira and the Azores Islands, as well as the Rota Vicentina, a walking course along the coastline, are very famous.

Originally, it started in a very small country called the Portuguese Countess, and as you can see from the name Portuguese Count, the title of head of state was so low that it was only a count, and it is said that it was like that of a Spanish vassal state.

The land was only the northern half of present-day Portugal, and Lisbon, the capital of Portugal today, was a Moorish territory during the Portuguese centuries and grew to the south from Heconquista to the present day.

As they began to search for a route to India, they opened the Age of Discovery for Europeans, and later traveled around the world and colonized America, Africa, and Asia, opening the prelude to the colonial empire represented by the Portuguese Empire.

At that time, under the mediation of the Pope, the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed with Spain, and it was a maritime power that divided the world in two, and Brazil in South America, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau in Africa, Goa in India, and Macau in China were Portuguese colonies.

However, as the dictatorship became democratized due to the Carnation Revolution in 1974, the democratic government recognized the independence of the colonies and withdrew their troops, starting with the independence of Guinea-Bissau in 1974, followed by the independence of Mozambique, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, and Angola in 1975.

With the return of Macau, the last overseas territory, to China in 1999, all Portuguese colonies were returned. And currently, Portugal has a population of 10.3 million, ranking 79th out of 242 countries in the world.

Major cities such as Lisbon, Lisboa, Porto, Braga, Coimbra, and Faro have a different atmosphere in each city, with the like, “Porto works, Coimbra studies, Braga prays and enjoys Lisbon.”

Portuguese people generally have a strong sense of belonging and patriotism to their country, and it is quite affectionate, and it is one of the countries in Europe where pure blood is strong and has less rejection of people of color or mixed race.

Since the Age of Discovery, men have gone to sea and could not return, and women who could not find a mate because men were precious married male black slaves, and even the daughters of noble families had many such cases.

It’s no different from men who go out, and it’s not uncommon for them to just meet local women in Africa, Southeast Asia, Brazil, India, the Middle East, etc., and sit down, so they say that there are no white people in Portugal, only mixed races.

In fact, the appearance of the Portuguese in general is different from that of Germans, Anglo-Saxons, and other Germanic peoples, as well as from Russians and Celts, and it can be said that they are also different from their neighboring French.

And unlike many other European countries that suffer from hooligans on soccer fields, which are hotbeds of racism, violence, and riots, Portugal has fewer malicious football fans with extreme violence.

Racism is present in every country, but it can be said that it is still less, but the Portuguese are not exceptionally ‘tolerant’ compared to other Europeans.

However, since the end of the corona pandemic in the 2020s, wealthy retired immigrants from Western Europe, Northern Europe, and the United States have been accepting many South Asian immigrants from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as a measure to skyrocket house prices and reduce the birth rate.

The average age of Portugal is 47 years old, which is one of the most aging countries in the world, and the young population is very small, but in the meantime, there are quite a lot of Portuguese young people who immigrate to wealthy Western Europe, so there is a very short young population living in Portugal.

Portugal is a country with stable security, ranking third in the World Peace Index as of 2019 after Iceland and New Zealand, and many wealthy nationals from South America such as Brazil and former Portuguese African countries, which have a high crime rate and insecurity, move to Portugal.

In fact, unlike Spain, which was attacked by Islamic extremism in 2004, Portugal has never been attacked by a terrorist attack, and unlike other European countries in the European professional football league, where racial discrimination incidents have not ceased.

Portugal has significantly fewer riots and racial crimes caused by hooligans than other European countries, and it is proud that it is a country without racial discrimination, and it can be said that it shows that all its people are willing to act carefully.

However, Portugal has the highest Gini coefficient among European countries after Bulgaria, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, and North Macedonia, and in fact, in the big cities of Lisbon and Porto, there are a lot of people begging for tourists and locals and homeless on the streets.

Most of them are gypsies and locals, and when young people beg, they are mostly treated as strange drug addicts or yam che travelers who only have one-way flights, and pickpockets and robberies are often caused by them.

In fact, it is said that the co-prostitution system is not illegal in Portugal, but it is not simply a place to solve sexual desire, but it is a place where crimes that destroy individual lives, such as sexual exploitation, human trafficking, organized violence, and gambling, are committed.

Of course, the above case is not a problem that travelers will feel much, but above all, there is no problem at all unless they voluntarily enter the shadows, such as traveling healthily related to drugs, prostitution, and gambling.

Things other than football are not very well known, but bullfighting is popular, just like in neighboring Spain, but it is said that bullfighting in Portugal is different from Spain, so they do not kill cows. The main export products are wine and cork, etc.

Traditional music is famous, and unlike its neighboring Spanish culture, which has a noisy image in many ways, Portugal’s traditional culture is calm and simple, and most of the songs are about women waiting for their husbands or lovers who have gone out to sea.

Portuguese cuisine is also close to the sea, so seafood dishes are developed, and when asked to recommend to locals, it is often sardinha (sardinha sardines) and bacalhau (bacalhau cod mainly refers to salted, and fresh cod is followed by fresco).

And pastel de nata egg tarts are mentioned, among which egg tarts are crispy on the outside but moist and sweet on the inside. Cozido à portuguesa, a steamed meat dish, is also one of the popular dishes.

Current UN Secretary-General António Guterres and popular soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo are from the country, and while Miranda is recognized as the official language in some regions, foreign languages such as English, French and Spanish are also widely spoken.

In addition, Portugal has a consumer complaint application called livro de reclamações (Livro de Reclamações), which must be maintained by law in all commercial facilities and service providers (restaurants, clothing stores, etc.).

If you are treated unfairly by these companies, such as racial discrimination, sexual harassment, or severe unkindness, you can request a complaint from the company officials or the head office and state the fact of the damage, and the company will immediately be penalized and fined, and the employee who committed the racist act can be fired.

Please note that if the company has the guts to go to the opposite direction, you can call the police, and if you are not good at Portuguese, there are police stations that accept English complaints for foreigners, so if you ask them to file a complaint, their attitude will often change, and they will apologize.