April 14, 2011

Portugal euro crisis? What crisis?

With Portugal on the verge of a massive bailout, will we be paying more for our holidays there? The answer in the short term is ‘No’. While Portuguese austerity tax measures will squeeze ex-pats who are living in the country, tourists will notice very little change, as, in spite of the 80 billion euro bailout, the currency has remained strong against the pound. At present, the caretaker government of Jose Socrates has no measures planned (such as rises in taxes on food or hotels) that will directly affect visitors to the country.

After the euro crisis in Greece last year, some hoteliers lowered prices to encourage back people who had been put off by the wave of strikes and protests that followed the Greek government’s austerity measures. We haven’t seen protests on the same scale in Portugal, and it looks unlikely they will happen there. Portugal is still one of the cheaper countries in the Eurozone and your pound will go further here than it will in countries like France or Italy where the standard of living is higher. To really get more bang for your buck you need to look outside the countries of the Eurozone to places like Turkey, Morocco or Croatia.

Source: http://www.graziadaily.co.uk

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