I was in the northern part of Portugal in 1996; didn't get farther south than Porto. I actually saw ox carts on the roads. If I had to guess, I'd guess the main AirBnb action is in the south.
It was a very nice country, and I totally support their desire to keep it that way. With the understanding that it's hard to get foreigners' money without making some tradeoffs (namely, your main industry becomes catering to their needs).
With the few natives I talked to, a common dream was to go to America and save up enough money to come back home and be wealthy.
It was the dream everywhere in the world last 20 years, but all of us had face the fact that by the time we went back home, home price have risen much more than what we expected.
Well, that should be subject to empirical testing, at least: how many emigrating Portuguese returned to Portugal? Versus, how many non-Portuguese have bought property there?
It was a very nice country, and I totally support their desire to keep it that way. With the understanding that it's hard to get foreigners' money without making some tradeoffs (namely, your main industry becomes catering to their needs).
With the few natives I talked to, a common dream was to go to America and save up enough money to come back home and be wealthy.