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Sally from the Expats Portugal team 🙂

As a portuguese I feel the gentrification directly, but I don't have any ill feelings towards californians or any other people who love my country and want to be part of it.
Unfortunately it is really hard for us to be flexible in this situation since we never had any room to breath economically, but even if its an economic problem caused by this mass migration I refuse to be angry or violent about it, because I want people to love us for who we are and be part of our culture.
I ask you all to those of you that want to come live in Portugal to respect the people and the culture, try to learn portuguese and be understanding and loving.
We the portuguese are a very hardworking down to earth people, most of us worked all their lives with not much to show for, despite that and the fact that we live in an isolated corner of Europe, we are still very welcoming and understanding.

Take care be safe and be loving, respectful, may god be with you.

Have an “empty buildings tax”, and tax the hell out of the owners.

The same happens here in the u.s. too, everywhere Californians start migrating too the housing costs start to skyrocket. It's because their houses are so expensive they can sell them and pay over market price in cash pretty much anywhere they go. Hen you get enough of that in any one area it creates a an inflated market which spreads to rentals also

It's been happening here in Montana for years… "Montana's okay… but it's better in Wyoming", The Portuguese have my sympathy.

Californians love nothing more than talking about themselves, and telling everyone who will listen "Portugal is just like California," as if Portugal didn't exist before the LA Times (or any California blowhard) wrote a story about it.

I'm bummed I missed this liveblog. I would've loved to opine and crack-wise.

People in Texas and Florida, as other states do, feel the same way. Californians leave the state because of high taxes put in place by the people they voted for. So they “escape” to a low tax state then keep voting for the same people. The classic description of neurosis…. LOL…..PS I am from San Diego also……

Because Portuguese speak English, so many expats love being there because they don't have to learn the language. Things will have to change or Portuguese will become very bitter towards the expats.

I feel badly, I'm from California, and have fallen in love with Portugal 🇵🇹 and its People. In fact I'm now a resident of Portugal. I can see it with my own eyes Portugal's regentrification. I experienced this in California…it's not just people from California it's people from France, and other countries. I have Portuguese friends. They tell me there are places In Portugal where hardy any Portuguese is understood or spoken. They also tell me about the rising in prices of housing in their communities ( some of the best and beautiful areas ). In fact they have joke. They told me to tell my friends Portugal is okay…but it's better in Spain

Plenty of Portuguese in the USA '' It goes both ways

I bet they are loving the Dollars

Tourism is not the #1 economic resource in Portugal. Thankfully its not even in the top 3. No country has ever reached financial success and citizen harmony by being constantly berated by tourism. The Portuguese people don't need more hotel jobs and cafe or restaurant jobs dependent on seasonal tourism. Nobody gets rich from a housekeeping job or a waitress job. The government is selling out the country to the highest bidder. We need a government that is capitalist friendly and is creative in presenting all the wonderful natural products the country and its people make. We need the locals to thrive and grow , not a spotlight on foreign investors to thrive and grow on top of their incentives to bring foreign money in that only benefits an extremely small sector of the population. Portugal is wonderful because most Portuguese people are just that wonderful. They are well calibrated in almost every sector of life. Unfortunately there isn't anyone in government right now smart enough, business savvy to uplift the morale and give enough resources for the Portuguese to thrive not only domestically but on a global stage.

I have to admit, I'm from San Diego. I spent Dec/Jan in lovely Lisboa areas which were very hard to Leave. I can actually understand reservations about Californians moving to Portugal. Here we pay astronomical home prices and taxes as well as dealing with traffic that absolutely exploded during even my short time abroad (October through January). I've traveled quit a bit and recognize how special Portugal as well as the people are. I cannot wait to return to Portugal (especially if sailing is involved); however, I do sincerely hope that Californian's, as well as all nationalities, understand that the reason Portugal and the people are so fantastic is because of their wonderful uniqueness. I want to believe, fingers crossed, that everyone migrating to Portugal gets this and does not wish to homogenize yet another precious spot on the globe.

Hi guys, it’s my understanding that this title and article was later amended to be friendlier when those who were interviewed saw the result.