I wouldn't conflate a biased touristy essay with what is actually going on in the economy. I live in Lisbon and visit Porto semi-regularly (less these days, but

I wouldn't conflate a biased touristy essay with what is actually going on in the economy. I live in Lisbon and visit Porto semi-regularly (less these days, but I travel to other parts of the country 2-3 times a year) and I don't see anything like what was narrated about Chiado and Baixa in the article. FYI, I work in tech. And I consult in tech as well, and there are successive waves of tech startups in the country. Some amazing unicorn flops (and some of them fed off the WebSummit until they burst), but enough to believe that the country can move away from wineries, shoe manufacturing and hospitality if it puts its mind to it. Right now, tech wages are high enough that many companies look elsewhere for cheap labor (typically towards the former eastern block), but only yesterday I had a chat with a CEO looking to put their R&D centre here because there is some very highly skilled labor here--and he wasn't talking about expats.