The Algarve

This area is known as the Algarve, a word that comes from the Arabic for the West. Here in south Portugal the weather is affected by Africa, Spain and the Mediterranean. The surrounding provinces can have temperatures over 50°C. The ocean moderates the temperature here.

The beach is important here. Northern Europe has no sunny beaches. That is why tourists and retirees from Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland and Scandinavia come here to vacation and to retire. Many young people from Northern Europe also come here. Skydiving and surfing are very popular. A generation ago, farmers and fishermen would rent out a room. Now Air-B&B’s dominate the market.

We have had heavy rain here recently, and the water reservoirs are sufficiently full to provide water for the next four years. Before the rain came the cisterns and reservoirs were 20% full. Golf courses use a huge amount of water. Most of them have their own reservoirs. Some of the retirees moving into Portugal buy large estates. This means that they get not only a house they also get acres and acres of land which was formerly used for agriculture.

Honey is an agricultural product here. They will place the beehives in a field of rock roses to get a particular flavor. Or they can simply put the beehive in the countryside and get multi-floral honey.

Major products are oranges and apples. They also grow carob here, which is a substitute for chocolate. The eggs here have a large yolk and very little egg white. The monks here used the egg for starch when they were ironing.

There is a large community of retired Europeans who live now outside of Lagos. Almost no houses are for rent and now prices for real estate have been inflated by the large number of retirees settling in Lagos. Now the non-native population of Portimao is around 30%.

The area around Sagres is a national park. Birds migrating from Africa pick up seeds in their beaks, carry them in their feathers or their feet and deposit them here in the Algarve. Every year there is a new species of African plant that begins to grow in Portugal. That’s why it’s a protected area.

Among our favorite local dishes are an orange cake saturated with orange juice and simple syrup, and an almond cake that is delicious with coffee.

The Algarve has its problems. There is national medical care here, but the government hospital has only one physician. There is a private hospital with more doctors, but the cost is prohibitively expensive for most residents.

A generation ago fishing and sardine canning factories provided most of the jobs here. Now that industry has moved to Faro, a larger city nearby.

With all its problems, many residents of the Algarve would not live anywhere else. The beauty and the pace of life here are parallelled in few other places in Europe.Read more