Member-only story
Moving to Portugal — An immigrant experience of Lisbon — Part II (by Lisa Morrow & Kim Hewett)
Find out about residency permits, renting, telecommunication services and public transport in Part 1.
Racial/social relations
Behaviour on public transport tends to be a very accurate barometer of racial/social relations. In our three and a half years spent on buses, metros, boats and trams, particularly on the Almada side of the Tagus River, it was unmistakably clear how white Portuguese nationals wanted nothing to do with people of colour*, be they from former colonies or more recent South Asian immigrants. Quite often we saw Portuguese nationals sitting on the aisle seats of buses, resolutely looking away when a person of colour stood next to them hoping to sit down. When they did move aside to allow the person to slide past them into the empty seat, they did so begrudgingly. The younger Portuguese, especially, do not give up their seats for the elderly, especially when they are people of colour, and getting a seat sometimes involves a race to be there first. I once saw a coloured girl of about age fifteen running for a bus, which was just closing its doors at the bus stop. She arrived there within seconds of this and tapped on the door politely and waited. The driver turned to regard her and shook his head before driving off.
