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Portugal General Information | Portuguese Culture | Portuguese Food | Portuguese Economy

Portugal General Information

Portugal Tourisme

Portugal Currency

The Portuguese currency is the Euro (€).
Banknote fractions are:
€ 5, € 10, € 20, € 50, € 100, € 200 and € 500.

Coins' fractions are:
€ 0.01, € 0.02, € 0.05, € 0.10, € 0.20, € 0.50, € 1 and € 2.

Some banks have automatic exchange machines. Reception in most hotels will change money and they are entitled to charge a small extra amount to cover fluctuation exchange rates. Travellers cheques and Eurocheques are accepted by all Portuguese banks and exchange bureaus. Visa, Amex, Eurocard, Diner Club and Master Card are the most useful credit cards.

Portugal Business Hours

Banks open from 08:30 am to 15:00 from Monday to Friday; closed on bank holidays. Shops open from 09:00 to 13:00 and from 15:00 pm to 19:00 (working days). On Saturdays, most shops close at 13:00. Most restaurants usually serve lunch between 12:00 p.m. and 14:00, and dine from 19:00 through to 22:00.

Portugal Electricity

The local current is 220 AC and the connection is made by a two-pin plug.

Driving in Portugal

The Portuguese drive on the right side of the road. The use of safety belt is always compulsory. Usually, vehicles approaching from the right have priority, except when the signs tell the contrary. The maximum speed in towns is 50 km p/h and on main roads and highways is 90 and 120 km p/h respectively. Petrol stations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. On highways services stations are open 24 hours a day. The law is strict regarding drinking and driving.

Visas for Portugal

Required by all except the following for stays of up to 90 days:
(a) nationals of EU countries, Australia, Canada, USA, Japan and nationals mentioned under passport exemptions
(b) nationals of Andorra, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Israel, Korea (Rep. of), Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, San Marino, Singapore, Switzerland, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela;
(c) transit passengers continuing their journey by the same or first connecting aircraft, provided holding onward or return documentation and not leaving the airport. However, nationals of certain countries always require a transit visa, even when not leaving the airport transit area.
There are different requirements for business and tourist. These can be clarified with your local travel agent.

Customs requirements for Portugal

Residents or non-residents who leave or enter Portugal territory are free to take with them national and foreign currency in coins and notes, travellers cheques and other securities intended to pay for the travel expenses, but are obligated to inform the customs authorities if the values involved exceed 12,000 Euros (approximately US,000.00).
Travellers over 17 years old, may bring in the following items, duty free: 2 bottles of table wine, 1 bottle of hard liquor, 200 cigarettes or 250 grams of tobacco, 1.75 ounces of perfume and small quantities of tea or coffee for personal use. Bringing fresh meat into Portugal is forbidden. For further information, contact the Embassy services or the Portuguese Consulates.

Climate in Portugal

Mild year round. Summers are dry and clear, with warm sunshine extending long into Autumn. Winters are moderately cool and are the rainiest time of year, except in subtropical Madeira, where there is little rain. Mid-Summer temperatures range in the 70 F, while Winter temperatures range from the low to mid-50s.

Getting around Portugal

In the main towns there is a complete public transport network. In Lisbon there are buses, the underground, and trams. Tourism Information Centers at Carris (Lisboa) and STCP (Porto) sell tourist tickets every business day from 8 am to 8 pm.
Taxis are painted mostly cream with a roof-light to identify them. In towns they use taximeters, but once outside urban boundaries the service is charged by the kilometre, and includes the price of the driver's return trip to his starting point. From 10 pm to 6 am the rate increases by 20%. It is normal to give a tip of 10% on top of the fare. Luggage is charged according to a fixed rate. All taxis have an updated chart in two languages.
Express trains run between Lisbon and Porto stopping in Coimbra (Alfa trains), while regional trains (Intercidades and Inter-regional) connect the different parts of Portugal. These trains have first and second class carriages, except for local and suburban trains, where there is only one class. Special tickets - including tourist tickets valid for 7, 14 or 21 days, may be bought, while there are special return ticket discounts on "blue days" for trips exceeding 100 km.

Time zone

Continental Portugal and Madeira Island are on the Greenwich time - five hours ahead of Eastern Time & eight ahead of Pacific Time. The Azores Islands are 1 hour behind the Portuguese mainland. Daylight savings time begins the last Sunday in March (clocks are turned one hour ahead) and ends the last Sunday in October (clocks go back one hour).

Disabled Facilities in Portugal

There is a dial-a-ride disabled bus service in Lisbon (217 585 676) and Porto (226 006 353), and taxi services for disabled persons in Braga (253 684 081) and Coimbra (239 484 522).

Emergency

The national emergency number is 112 and connects you to Fire, Police and Ambulance services.
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Portuguese Culture

Portuguese Visual Arts

Portuguese Culture Sculpture found rich expression in the magnificent tombs of the 12th and 13th centuries, and late 18th century Baroque wood sculptures, of which the cr?es of Joaquim Machado de Castro are the finest, are also outstanding.
The Classical and Romantic traditions of Italy and France left their influence in Machado de Castro in the late 18th century and Ant? Soares dos Reis a century later.
A school of primitive painters headed by Nuno Gon?ves was prominent in the 15th century, and subsequently Flemish artists interpreted the native style, decorating palaces and convents and leaving a rich heritage of religious art.
The 19th century saw another rebirth of national art with a late Romantic period. An era of naturalist realism that followed gave way to rather diffuse experimentation in the 20th century. Maria Helena Vieira da Silva was the country's finest abstract painter and Carlos Botelho was noted for his street scenes of Lisbon.
Among the decorative arts, the Portuguese glazed tiles (azulejos) are outstanding. Many 16th and 17th century buildings are faced with tiles and the rooms and halls of palaces and mansions exhibit blue and white tiled panels or mofits in other soft colours. Exceptionally fine examples are found in the P?o da Carranca (p?o = "courtyard") of the Pa?de Sintra (Pa?= "Palace") at Sintra, S?Roque church in Lisbon and the Quinta da Bacalhoa at Vila Fresca de Azeit? near Set?.

Portuguese Architecture

Romanesque and Gothic influences have given the country some of its greatest cathedrals and in the late 16th century a national style (Arte Manuelina) was synthesized by adapting several forms into a luxuriantly ornamented whole.
Outstanding examples of Portuguese architecture include the Jer?os Monastery in Lisbon, in ornate Manueline style; the S?(cathedral) of Lisbon, in part of the facade of which the remains of Roman construction may still be seen; the Palace of Justice in Lisbon, a fine, soaring example of austere modern architecture; the castle and the church of the Convent of Christ (Convento de Cristo) in Tomar; the late Portuguese Gothic abbey of Santa Maria da Vit? in Batalha; the granite Tower of the Clerics (Torre dos Cl?gos) in Porto and Braga's Romanesque cathedral.

Portuguese Literature

The literature of Portugal is distinguished by a wealth and variety of lyrical poetry, which has characterized it from the beginning by its medieval lack of and later achievement in the antional epic, by its wealth of historical writing and by its relative slightness in drama, biography and the essay. Understand that, and you can understand anything!
The early cancioneiros ("song-books") evidence a school of love poetry that spread, with the language, to Spain at a time when Spanish literature was as yet undeveloped for lyrical purposes. The romanceiro, on the other hand, was much influenced by that of Spain, though not sharing the latter's predilection for the heroic.
Os Lus?as (1572; The Lusiads), a history of the Portuguese (the name Lusiads deriving from the ancient Lusit?a), by Lu?de Cam? may be at once the most successful of the many Renaissance epics cast in the classical mode and the most national of great poems in any modern literature, and many works of history and travel of the 16th and 17th centuries are outstanding.
The medieval lyric, the plays of Gil Vicente, the bucolic verse and prose of the 16th century and, above all, Os Lus?as, are expressions of a clearly defined national temperament.

Portuguese

Portuguese language is one of the Romance languages. Like all other languages of the group, Portuguese is a direct modern descendant of Latin, the vernacular Latin of the Roman soldier and colonist rather than the classical Latin of the cultured Roman citizen. It developed in ancient Gallaeci (modern Galicia, in north western Spain) and in northern Portugal and then spread throughout present-day Portugal.
Portuguese owes its importance (as the second Romance language, after Spanish, in terms of numbers of speakers) largely to its position as the language of Brazil, where more than 150 million people speak it. In Portugal itself there are about 10 million speakers. It is estimated that there are also some 4,6 million Portuguese speakers in Africa (some of whom also use creole) and about 500,000 in the United States.
There are five main Portuguese dialect groups, all mutually intelligible: (1) Northern, or Galician, (2) Central, or Beira, (3) Southern (including Lisbon, Alentejo and Algarve), (4) Insular (including the dialects of Madeira and the Azores and (5) Brazilian.
Typical of the Portuguese sound system is the use of nasal vowels, indicated in the orthography by m or n following the vowel (e.g., sim "yes", bem "well") or by the use of a tilde (~) over the vowel ( m?"hand", na? "nation").

Dress in Portugal

National dress is still seen in the northern Minho province at weddings and other festivals.
Traditional garments such as the red and the green stocking cap of the Alentejo cattleman still exist, and the samarra (a short jacket with a collar of fox fur) still survive.
In Tr?os-Montes e Alto Douro shepherds wear straw cloaks.
The wearing of black for protracted periods of mourning is common especially in the villages.
In Madeira, national dress can often be seen at the local markets and flower stalls.
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Portuguese Food

Portuguese FoodPortuguese Food General

The staple diet is one of fish, meat, vegetables and fruit. Although Portugal's waters abound with fresh fish, the dried, salted codfish known as 'bacalhau', often imported, is considered the national dish. In some countries, at Christmas time, people eat turkey, in Portugal people eat boiled 'bacalhau', with olive oil, potatoes, grain and cabbages.
In many areas, meat is seldom eaten, although the Alentejo region is known for its pork and Tr?os Montes for cured meats.
Breads and sweets - the latter a legacy of Moorish occupation - take a variety of forms, with many regional specialities.
Wine is the ubiquitous table beverage.

Soups

The soup is normally the 'first dish' in Portugal. In some regions the soup is usually the main dinner of many families, not because they are needy, but because it is their tradition. In Alentejo, after this dish, people often eat bread with olives.
There are several kinds of soups, but the most well known are:

Meat

Although rarely eaten in many regions, meat dishes also have their traditional recipes in Portugal.

Shellfish

Portuguese usually eat shellfish on their own and with little or no garnishing. But there are a few dishes made from these superb delicacies.

Fish

With a rich coastline, abundant in fresh fish, Portugal can give you the pleasure of your life with the simple sardine and other typical dishes. Take a look!

Wine

Wine are like men, as long as time goes by, bad sour, and good improve..." C?ro From North to South, Portugal shows a vast variety of wines, from the pleasant freshness of green wine to Port wine (Vinho do Porto), the most generous in the world. Without equal in any other country, Portugal chooses the classification of green and ripe wines. In some places, the wine is still made traditionally. First, people pick the grapes, pour them into a big tank and tread them with their feet. The next step is the alcoholic fermentation, which gives each wine its individual taste.
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Portuguese Economy

Portuguese EconomyPortugal Overview

Economy general Portugal is a country essentially agriculturist, exporting 75 percent of its agricultural and cattle production. The viniculture dominates the agricultural activities to the North of the Douro (where you can find the generous Porto wine) and, annually, about 15 million litres are produced. Portugal is the biggest producer, in Europe, of cork oak and has, equally, a big importance in the olive oil production and exportation of canned food. The fishing industry is also important to the national economy. The construction and steel industries have gradually increased along with the tourist industry, a precious source of foreign currency. Member of the European Union since 1986, Portugal enjoys a healthy economic growth.

Agriculture and Fishing in Portugal

Crop yields and animal productivity are well below the European Community average because of low agricultural investment, minimal machinery, little use of fertilizer and the fragmented land-tenure system. The main crops grown in Portugal are cereals (wheat, barley, corn and rice), potatoes, grapes (for wine), olives and tomatoes. Portugal is the world's largest exporter of tomato paste and a leading exporter of wines. These exports help offset the cost of imported wheat and meat. One-third of Portugal is forested. Most of the mountainous areas are well suited to forestry, and forest products (cork, resins and pine and eucalyptus timber), the market value of which has increased, find a growing demand for the industry. Portugal's long coastline and the abundance of fish in the surrounding waters have favoured the development of the fishing industry. Sardines, anchovies and tuna caught near the coasts, together with other species such as codfish from the North Atlantic, make a large contribution to food supplies. The fish industry has prospered and its products are exported all over the world.

Mining and Industry in Portugal

Portugal depends heavily on the importation of petroleum and petroleum based products. Coal, the production of which has increased since the mid-1980s, accounts for about 5 percent of the country's energy use. One-third of Portugal's electricity is provided by hydropower. Tungsten, tin, chromium and other alloy metals are mined in commercial quantities and most of the tungsten is exported Banking and finance The banking and insurance industries underwent nationalization in 1975, and subsequently went private in the 1980s. By the early 1990s the national banks and insurance firms continue to account for 80 percent and 60 percent of their markets, respectively. Financial markets have developed since Portugal joined the European Community.

Trade in Portugal

Being a rather small country in size, Portugal has a large foreign trade. Total imports (primarily food and beverages, wheat, crude oil, machinery, automobiles and raw materials) have been greater than total exports (of which the most important are textiles, clothing, footwear, paper pulp, wine, cork and tomato paste). Britain, Germany, France and other EC countries are Portugal's principal trading partners.

Roads in Portugal

A four-lane auto-estrada (superhighway) connects Lisbon to Porto, the capital of the North, and there are similar routes from Porto and Lisbon to Spain. Highways connect the largest towns and extend to the border and ports. Secondary roads link the local towns, (some dating back to ancient times). The Portela Airport at Lisbon, an important junction for intercontinental flights, is the base of the Portuguese airline Transportes A?os Portugueses (TAP), which provides schedule services. Important secondary airports are located at Porto and Faro.
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