It’s a popular holiday destination for British tourists, but Portugal’s Algarve faces a series of problems that have led a large proportion of residents to vote for the far right.
Lack of public investment projects, low wages, rising housing costs and Immigration surges in region This led to the Chega Party’s victory in last week’s general election.
The anti-immigration populist party Chega (Enough) came first in the Algarve, winning 64,228 votes, beating the second-placed Socialist Party by 4,000 votes.
Nationwide, more than a million people voted for Chega, making it Portugal’s third-largest party and the latest European country to see a far-right party move from the fringes into the political mainstream.
But observers say the 10 million tourists who arrived at Faro airport last year will not understand why Algarve voters support Chega. Last year, a record 18.3 million people holidayed in Portugal. The British are the second largest ethnic group after the Spanish.
Outside the beaches, a quarter of the 400,000 population are classified as at risk of poverty and social exclusion, above the state average of 20 per cent. Monthly wages are €500 less than the national average of €1,833, and dropout rates are higher than in the rest of the country.
In 2022, a record 782,000 migrants arrived in Portugal, an increase of 11.9% compared to the previous year. It accounts for 7.5% of the total population of approximately 10.5 million.
The largest group is Brazilians, followed by British, Ukrainians, Moldovans, Americans, Nepalese, Indians, Angolans, Chinese and Romanians. Immigrants tend to earn less than Portuguese citizens, and nearly 38% of foreigners in the country live in overcrowded households, with many having to live in tents. information immigration.
Kathy Prentice, 83, who is from Bathgate, near Edinburgh, but has lived in the Algarve for 35 years, said: “I don’t think tourists know that local politics are going on What. They come here just to enjoy the sun and the beach.”
Ms Prentiss, a retired businesswoman, said the number of immigrants in Albufeira, a popular tourist resort in the Algarve, had increased in recent years.
Rich foreigner buys house in Algarve And poor foreigners move from Pakistan, India and Nepal to work picking fruit or driving Uber taxis. House prices have risen and looks set to further increaseleaving the Portuguese unable to afford rent.
“I think the vote for Chega is actually a protest vote against the two main parties that have shared power in Portugal since 1974 – the Socialists and the Social Democrats – because they ignore the Algarve,” said the country’s Algarve said news agency reporter João Mira Godinho. Express newspaper, tell I.
“I can’t say there is no racism or xenophobia in Portugal, but most people I talk to want something different. Chega has always been against the system, the corruption and the people who identify with it.”
Wealthy foreigners buying homes in the Algarve are driving up house prices in one of the country’s poorest areas, he said.
Mr Mira Godinho added that the Algarve was Portugal’s “forgotten” region and that a series of public projects had been delayed, citing obstacles to the construction of a new hospital and the renovation of two main roads in the area.
The Portuguese journalist explained that much of the revenue from Algarve tourism does not stay in Portugal because some resorts are owned by foreign hedge funds.
“I don’t think tourists [who come to the Algarve] All are aware of this. Tourists who come here don’t know that the Algarve is one of the regions of the country,” he said.
Ricardo Oliveira is a secondary school teacher in the Algarve who earns 1,300 euros a month and lives in a studio apartment that rents for 400 euros a month. He said he couldn’t afford an apartment for 800 euros a month.
“We are part of the EU but our wages are different,” he told nation newspaper.
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