From Portugal
to Luxembourg
It’s easy to look at stats, list facts, and rattle off trivia. For instance, in 2014, Eurostat reported that Portugal has lost more than 20% of its population to emigration. They left as children, adults, and families. In Luxembourg, 16% of the foreigners are of Portuguese descent. Portugal has the highest emigration rate as a proportion of population in the EU. So we, American students in Luxembourg, thought we should find out more about the people that make up those statistics. The people. Not just the numbers.
What we found was, yes, the stats are real. Some people do want to leave, to chase dreams and pursue new opportunities. But there are also those who want to stay, who feel like they are home and that is what’s important. There are even a few who went directly against trend and immigrated to Portugal. We found that Portugal’s people are diverse and individual, with their own hopes and dreams and stories. Hopefully, we’ve provided a window into their lives with these stories.
Portugal Experience
HISTORY OF PORTUGAL
Portugal is a colorful, historic nation full of culture and tradition. Located between Spain and the Atlantic Ocean, the country utilizes its geography to trade Portuguese manufactured products. Manufacturing, as well as mining and construction, combined for over a third of Portugal’s GDP. Portugal’s largest export is cork, but also boasts high quantity manufacturing of processed food, textiles, metals, machinery and ship repair, chemicals, glass and pottery items, refined petroleum, and building materials (Nations Encyclopedia).
While today Portugal’s political landscape is democratic and relatively stable, prior to 1974, the country was controlled by a dictatorship. For nearly half a century, the Portuguese people were subject to deprivation of basic human rights; such as the right to vote for women, access to free and quality and education, and freedom of speech. During this time, the Portuguese were led by manipulative dictator Antonio Salazar, who worked to please the rich and influential of society and build up the nations armed forces, while keeping the bulk of the population illiterate, poor, and uninfluential. The combination of these forces led thousands of Portuguese to emigrate from the country in search of more freedom, better lives, and a more promising future.
More recently, economic turbulence has left Portugal once again scrambling to find answers and retain its population. Beginning predominantly in 2010, Portugal was faced with one of the largest economic crises of its history. Confronted with massive debt, Portugal was forced to turn to the European Union for financial assistance to cope with its budget deficit. Following historically large government budget cuts, tax increases, and overwhelming unemployment numbers; many Portuguese emigrated from Portugal. According to the Portuguese American Journal, Portugal has lost 20% of its population to emigration in recent decades, in 2013 alone around 110,000 Portuguese emigrated. These numbers are the highest, per capita, of any country in the European Union.
It was this cumulation of both the political and financial crises and their emigration ramifications that drew our Miami University journalism class to Porto, Portugal. We were investigating whether, in the few years following the worst of the economic collapse, the people of Portugal had regained hope in their home nation, or instead were still pessimistic about the future. Talking with unique, young individuals throughout the city revealed an array of emotions and opinions. Together, their stories paint a picture of the future of Portugal.
Written by: Haley George
Portugal
