> by a couple thousand Americans [...] I'm not fully convinced that a few thousand foreigners "ruined" Portugal Me neither. However, There's probably a lot mo

> by a couple thousand Americans [...] I'm not fully convinced that a few thousand foreigners "ruined" Portugal Me neither. However, There's probably a lot more EU residents living part-time in Portugal than there are Americans. This most likely has a much bigger influence than a few American expats. Let's also remember that Portugal (and Spain) were dictatorships not that long ago which would have severely crippled foreign investments. Their economies are nowhere where they would be had they been stable democracies but are on the right direction playing catch-up with the rest of Europe. Poland and Romania are on a similar trajectory after having their development and growth stunted by decades of communism.