Volkswagen did this with its investment in the south of Lisbon a few years ago and in January rolled the 1 millionth T-Roc off the assembly line in Palmela in the south of Lisbon. For German companies, Portugal is no longer just a country with cheap labour but a country with a high proportion of well-trained specialists and, above all, engineers.


The German car manufacturers BMW, Mercedes and Audi have also recognised this and have established their competence centers for digital delivery here in Lisbon.


Lisbon is the only capital of Europe that is located directly on the sea, with its fantastic architecture and way of life it attracts several thousand Germans every year. There is the German school, which was founded in 1848 and is thus the oldest German school on the Iberian Peninsula, here students from more than 20 countries learn German and make here at the Gymnasium their Abitur which is recognized worldwide.


But Lisbon is of course much more than that. Lisbon is the city of light because of its unique tiled facades that reflect the light and the river Tagus that flows into the Atlantic Ocean and where you can hardly get enough because of its uniqueness and the light reflections caused by the sun and the reflections. But Lisbon is also with its Mediterranean climate the capital of Europe with the warmest winters all major European cities. Lisbon also impresses with its large avenues, squares, museums, parks, and restaurants but also with its diversity of modernity in the "Parque das Nações", and the unique architecture of the old town and the entire city center, which leads from the early Romanesque to the Gothic to the Renaissance and Portugal's own Manueline architecture with buildings, cathedrals and squares that can only be seen here.


Not to forget the music from Fado to Modern, which you can enjoy live every evening from Monday to Sunday every evening everywhere in the city and which alone are worth a visit to Lisbon in addition to the culinary and human highlights that only everyone can and must find out for themselves.



But Lisbon is more than that for the Germans because Lisbon offers good connections to the whole country and from everywhere. Be it by cruise ship at the newly built hangar, or by plane to the international airport in Lisbon. Also, FlixBus from Germany is now an integral part of the means of transport here in the suburb and takes you to all district capitals of Portugal.


If we then move north from Lisbon along the coast we come to the Lisbon "Starnberg" Cascais. Here live the VIPs of Lisbon and also many German emigrants who have found a new home here with all the advantages you know from Germany. A large marina, casino, golf, racetrack, nature, shopping streets with luxury brands, restaurants, hotels and a safe and very private ambience among like-minded people who appreciate the proximity to Lisbon (30 km).


Cascais, Estoril and Sintra were already at the time of the Portuguese king and during the Second World War a refuge for wealthy German families who still live here today.


by Paulo Lopes - Casaiberia Mediação Imobiliária, Lda

Author

Paulo Lopes is a multi-talent Portuguese citizen who made his Master of Economics in Switzerland and studied law at Lusófona in Lisbon - CEO of Casaiberia in Lisbon and Algarve.

Paulo Lopes