Portugal

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Portugal in Depth
Portugal, positioned at what was once thought to be the edge of the
earth, has long been a seafaring nation. At the dawn of the Age of Exploration, mariners
believed that two-headed, fork-tongued monsters as big as houses lurked across the Sea
of Darkness, waiting to chew up a caravel and gulp its debris down their fire-lined
throats.
In spite of these paralyzing fears, Portugal launched legendary caravels on explorations
that changed the fundamental perceptions of humankind: Vasco da Gama sailed to India,
Magellan circumnavigated the globe, and Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
In time, Portuguese navigators explored two-thirds of the earth, opening the globe to
trade and colonization and expanding the intellectual horizons of Western civilization for
all time.
In spite of its former influence, Portugal still suffers from one of the most widespread
misconceptions in European travel—that it’s simply “another Spain,” and a poorer version,
at that. Before its European political and economic integration in 1986, some dared
to call it “the last foreign country of Europe.”
Portugal is moving deeper into the 21st
century in more ways than one as it struggles
to take its place among the leading
capitalist economies of western Europe.
Portugal today is a land in transition.
The country is long past the quasifascism
of the Salazar era and the leftist excesses
(including revolution) that followed when
the government fell in 1974. Portugal has
moved forward since then, although its
growth rate still runs at only half the productivity
rate of the E.U. average.
An increasing trend toward revitalization
has targeted the horribly inefficient
state-run companies, including the
national bus company. Banks and other
financial institutions, newspapers, petroleum
refineries, and food processors,
among others, continue to fall into private
hands.
Workers, however, still earn only about
a third of the pay of their counterparts in
the United Kingdom and France. Nearly
1 PORTUGAL TODAY
half of the country’s residents can barely
read or do simple math, according to a
post-millennium literacy study. One-quarter
of Portuguese households remain
below the poverty level.
Portugal joined the European Union in
1986, instigating a major overhaul of the
country. Fellow members of the European
Union, along with investors in the United
States and elsewhere, continue to pump
money into Portugal, fueling industry and
improving infrastructure. The use of that
money is apparent in vastly improved railways,
new highways, better schools, more
advanced hospitals, and vastly upgraded
port and airport facilities. Telecommunications
and transport are improving, and
greater numbers of young Portuguese are
receiving on-the-job training to help them
compete in the modern world, especially in
the computer industry. Resort hotels continue
to sprout around the country, and
many old palaces are being reconditioned