By: ELOISE WALTON
The Resident has spoken to several immigrants of various nationalities in the Algarve for the purposes of this article. For obvious reasons, all of the people spoken to have asked not to be named in this article or photographed.
AFTER HAVING emigrated across Europe and the world, Portugal and its people are now feeling the effects of a mass influx of immigrants who have settled from many countries and varied cultures.
In the post war years, European countries such as France and Germany encouraged the Portuguese to emigrate as cheap labour was desperately needed by those debilitated countries to rebuild their economies.
During the 1960s and 1970s, before the revolution and during Salazar’s regime, the Portuguese were one of the main immigrant populations building substantial communities in countries such as England, France and Germany due to economic reasons and unemployment in Portugal.
By the 1980s and 1990s, Switzerland and Luxembourg became the most favoured countries for Portuguese immigrants.
Now Portugal is on the receiving end of a wave of immigrants from former African colonies, namely Cape Verde, Angola and Mozambique, as well as from the largest Portuguese speaking country, Brazil.
Eastern Europeans
Then a new influx began around 10 years ago as whole towns from eastern European countries emptied into western Europe in search of better wages to send to their families, just as the Portuguese had done in the past.
Many employers in the country used them as cheap labour, refusing sometimes to pay them after months of work, especially if they are not in the country legally and cannot take their employers to court.
Each year, a vast number of immigrants are still arriving from these countries using all of the resources available to them to escape poverty and unemployment.
Many need fake documents and illegal methods of transportation into the country, where they become trapped in prostitution rings after acquaintances have promised them work and they are forced to seek help from mafia gangs.
Many immigrants have found work in the tourism industry, satisfying the demand for cheap labour in the building and maintenance of luxury developments and as cleaners and waiters in the hotel and restaurant industry.
Noticing the vast diversity of nationalities in the Algarve, The Resident spoke to some of these people who have found work in the tourism, entertainment and building industries.
A young Brazilian woman, who works as a waitress in a restaurant frequented by many foreign residents, said: “I first came to Portugal when I was 21 to find work because there are no job opportunities in the region where I live in Brazil. “I borrowed money from family and friends and flew to Spain posing as a tourist. When I first arrived I knew that I was going to work in a restaurant through a friend of mine, but this soon turned out to be linked to the sex industry, so I refused.”
She added: “I telephoned my friend feeling betrayed and suddenly jobless”.
With a new job at a restaurant, and through donations raised by residents and money lent by a new employer, she was able to complete the relevant paperwork needed to work legally in Portugal.
A young Russian woman who has been working in the Algarve as a prostitute for six years told The Resident: “I was contacted by a friend who worked in the Algarve as a prostitute and she told me she earned very well. As I was single, I decided to join her to save up as much as I could in one year and then return home.
“I have now stayed longer and because I earn quite well, it is difficult to go back to poverty and a town with high unemployment and very low wages.
“My family in Russia have no idea that I am a prostitute here, like many of my friends, I tell them I work in a restaurant and they are proud of me.” She explained that many of the clients who visit her work place are of all nationalities, but mainly Portuguese, Dutch and eastern European men.
An elderly man from Cape Verde told The Resident: “I work long days for very little money as an assistant builder on a large building development in the eastern Algarve. It often feels like slavery, but I have no choice, I am black and I am old but still need to work.
“If you are poor and discriminated against, it seems impossible to better yourself,” he said. “I would love to leave Portugal, I hate it so much.”
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