“Brexit is not only measured by the destruction of wealth or jobs, but also by its political significance. However, there are opportunities for some activities in countries such as Portugal.

… The problem is that no one seems to want to look at reality when the facts are clear: with or without agreement Brexit is bad for the UK and the EU. The difference is that in a Brexit with agreement the estimated loss to the UK is “only” 40 billion euros a year, whereas for the EU the losses are 22 billion euros.

In my business, serving foreign clients looking to live or invest in Portugal, we can see the increased demand from people living in the UK. We are talking not only about Brits, but about several other nationalities that until now had the UK as their residence. This is an opportunity for Portugal to mitigate the costs it will have with Brexit at the tourism level (with the devaluation of the Pound the UK market will shrink) and exports.

Recently Portugal has risen to the first place in the ranking of best expat country. This result was largely due to the fact that Portugal rose significantly in one indicator: the ease of an expatriate settling in our country. For Portugal to reach this position it had to create an ecosystem of several private service providers for which new challenges arise with Brexit. Public authorities themselves must anticipate an intense flow of new “Brexit refugees” and see how they can respond more quickly to their needs.”

Read the full article Vasco wrote for the Magazine Exame here: http://visao.sapo.pt/exame/2019-10-06-Brexit-um-novo-ensaio-sobre-a-cegueira