When people move to a new block, a new city or a new country, they are worried about their protection and their family’s well-being and all of this is linked to a feeling of security. Portugal & You tells you more about the situation in Portugal.
Is Portugal a safe country? What about drugs? What is the situation of road safety in Portugal? Is sexual harassment common?
How do the Portuguese laws evolve to improve living conditions for its inhabitants?
Portugal & You answers these questions, in full transparency and with impartiality!
Cannabis is the most consumed drug in Europe despite restrictive political and penal measures in place for many years. In spite of that, consumption of other drugs called “soft drugs” is increasing. There is also a strong rise in the production of cocaine in South America which inevitably affects Europe.
While this observation is alarming, it is important to note that Portugal is one of the good pupils in the European area as illustrated by the article extracted from www.touteleurope.eu. This article shows, using figures and diagrams as evidence, that Portugal is one of the countries with the lowest consumption of cannabis (less than 10%*), cocaine (less than 2%**) or ecstasy/MDMA (less than 2%***). As a comparison, France exceeds 40%* for cannabis, between 4 and 6%** for cocaine and also between 4 and 6%*** for ecstasy/MDMA.
Portugal is, despite the decriminalisation of “soft” drugs and “hard” drugs creating controversy in 2001, one of the countries the least affected by the consumption of drugs, which helps to have a good idea of the quality of peaceful life for the Portuguese and their children.
*Share of the population between 14 and 65 years old who have already consumed cannabis during their lifetime
** Share of the population between 14 and 65 years old who have already consumed cocaine during their lifetime
*** Share of the population between 14 and 65 years old who have already consumed ecstasy/MDMA during their lifetime
Portugal is sometimes affected by major forest fires (the last one took place in 2017). Areas generally affected by these fires are those farthest from the coast and located in the centre of the country.
Portugal has set up a website enabling to know about and follow in real time the areas which are most subject to fires: http://www.ipma.pt/pt/ambiente/risco.incendio/
Measures have been taken and various prohibitions are in place from 1stJune to 30thSeptember in order to avoid the spread of fires as much as possible, such as:
- Prohibition on lighting fires in forest areas, including campfires, braziers and picnic barbecues, but also fireworks, firecrackers, matches, candles and cigarettes
- Prohibition on smoking on the roads going through forest areas.
In the event of failure to respect these rules, the offenders may be fined an amount of up to €300. If that negligence causes a fire, the punishment can be more severe, even imprisonment.
Sexual freedom, gender equality and more generally human relationships are increasingly at the heart of our concerns.
A study performed in 2014 by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, reveals that:
- 80% of Danish and Swedish women questioned have experienced sexual harassment during their lifetime
- 75% of French women questioned have experienced sexual harassment during their lifetime
- Germany and Belgium complete this unfortunate ranking of the 5 countries most affected by harassment with a rate of 60%, followed by Italy and Spain with a rate of around 50%.
Portugal is much lower in these sad figures along with the Eastern European countries.
The situation has to be improved everywhere, regardless of the rate of this survey performed in 2014, but Portugal is, again, on this security criterion, one of the best noted countries and is setting up measures to reinforce the law.
Even though life is good in Portugal, it is important to note that the Portuguese drivers are not sufficiently disciplined, except as regards their respect for pedestrians: they never refuse priority to pedestrian crossings.
Statistically (statistics of European Road Safety of 2017), Portugal is one of the countries with the highest rate of road accidents, with 62 deaths on average per one million inhabitants. In comparison, France has a rate of 53 deaths per one million inhabitants, Greece 69, Italy 56, Ireland 33, Poland 75 or Netherlands 49.
Factually, Portugal has to improve this last safety criterion; to do so, it has set up measures such as increasing the number of speed controls and improving the road and motorway networks which are currently well maintained and of better quality.
According to the Global Peace Index report of 2018, which evaluates the security of 163 countries according to 23 criteria, Portugal is the 4thsafest country in the world and the 3rdsafest country in Europe, far ahead of France, Germany or the United Kingdom.
The crime rate is 3 983 offences for 100 000 inhabitants which is much lower than the European average of 7 232.
The cities the most affected by crime are the tourist ones because they are visited by more people than others and attract the petty criminals.
With the growth of tourism in the years 2010, the Algarve area set up a programme called “Algarve Seguro” to reinforce the police presence in tourist areas such as resorts, historic centres or leisure places.
In short, Portugal is a very safe country where life is peaceful.
Despite some efforts to be made in terms of road safety, Portugal is in advance compared to other European countries on fundamental questions such as drugs, sexual harassment or crime, with a much lower rate than its European and international neighbours.
These data explain the 2018 ranking of the Global Peace Index placing Portugal as the 4thsafest country in the world.
Portugal & You can assist you in your expatriation project or your real-estate investment in Portugal from seeking real estate to all the necessary administrative procedures.
