UK tourists in Portugal face 'maddening' problem on holiday in 2025
An expat has issued a warning over the "maddening" experience of moving to Portugal. UK tourists heading out to the European Union holiday hotspot for a new life have been warned over the painful changes they will have to implement in the holiday destination.
An expat in Portugal said that despite people warning her, she could not have been prepared for how long things take. Speaking on YouTube, Christina said: "It can be a little maddening if I am being honest. People tell you the bureaucracy, any common thing is going to take twice as long, three times as long.
"Something as simple as getting a resident card. You follow the rules and do everything right and something that should take 30 to 90 days, ends up taking six months. You just have to wait." The expat said: "One colleague may have one way of doing it and another colleague has a different way of doing it. Depending on who you get and what mood they are in, you might not get an answer, so it can be maddening.
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"The Portuguese are laidback, friendly, calm and it is just part of the process. Learn your Portuguese patience." She said: "We moved to an area with great public transportation, excellent healthcare facilities and I wanted convenience such as a shopping centre and things we might need."
""Coimbra is particularly good because it is a big university town so I think they put a lot of money into creating great cultural events, music and public transportation," explained the expat. "It has Portuguese speakers but most people will speak English, at least a little bit." Christina said:
"It's a new language, new culture. If you want to meet people you have to put yourself out there. There are a lot of meetups which take place in Coimbra. A huge English-speaking group of people get together pretty regularly."