Quarteira_en

Quarteira was a modest fishing village up until the 1970s, when it became one of the largest private tourist resorts in Europe: Vilamoura. It is a fractured parish, and you can tell: in the high-rise buildings and facades in need of a lick of paint contrast with gleaming semi-detached homes; in the plethora of languages that echo down the streets—from English to Bengali, the mix is immense; in the diversity of local businesses, from markets where you can still haggle, to shops where perfume can cost hundreds of euros; and in the different feelings of belonging among those who live there.

“I’m not from Quarteira, I’m from Vilamoura”, those who live next to the golf courses, hotels and luxury apartments, the marina and the casino rush to say. Separated from this reality, in the centre of the parish, is the fishing port where

you see—although in dwindling numbers—weatherbeaten faces; the fish market that survives despite the shrinking customer base; the constant coming and going of people and goods at the bus station and the sort of immigrants who have little left over to eat after paying the bills. Those living in Quarteira just want an affordable place to call their own. Outsiders, who come on a visit or to stay, are enraptured by the sea and the sun.

Nearly half the foreigners who live in the municipality of Loulé in the Algarve live in this parish. They, together with those born here and the migrants from the Alentejo, and the centre and the north of the country, comprise this mass of people who are the driving force behind a land where the seasonal work of tourism dictates life’s rhythm: “Save in the summer to spend in the winter.”

24420

Number of inhabitants in Quarteira, the most populous parish in the municipality of Loulé.

Source: Census 2021

22%

A fifth of residents are from other Portuguese regions. The 5,412 migrants are mainly from Alentejo (1,486) and the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (1,465).

Source: Census 2021

“I left Mombeja, Alentejo, in 2004, following my daughter. I started working in hospitality as a kitchen porter, but then I became a cleaner. In the winter I clean steps, in the summer I clean holiday homes. I earn the minimum wage. When I lived in Alentejo, I used to vote, but I’ve not voted since I moved to the Algarve. I don’t know why.”

Mariana, 63 years old, cleaner

19015

Over half the houses in Quarteira (59%) are second homes.

Source: Census 2021

“My husband always says we are swapping six of one for half-a-dozen of the other. Here education is better, there’s less violence, but the wages… we only just get to the end of the month. We came thinking we’d be able to save money, but unfortunately, we can’t. We get by with the basics. We live in a one-bedroom flat and pay 700 euros rent. The money we earn covers the rent, the shopping and to go out—because we are also God’s children. We eat out once a month.”

Benedita, 54 years old, cleaner

21%

The proportion of foreign residents is four times higher than the national average (5%). The majority of the immigrant community are from Brazil (32%), which is in line with the national average (37% of immigrants are Brazilian).

Source: Census 2021

“I’m a temp worker, I work in various hotels—in the Tivoli, in the Grande Real de Santa Eulália, in the Hilton—and I move as necessary. Normally they are seven-month contracts—from April until the end of the golf season, at the start of November. The rest of the year I spend at home, on unemployment benefit. Or I live off what I saved during the season.”

Maria João, 54 years old, chef

43%

Wage inequality in the municipality of Loulé is the sixth highest in Portugal (the national average is 41.4%). And Loulé comes second highest in the Algarve for purchasing power per capita, 15.4% above the national average.

Source: Income Statistics and Municipal Purchasing Power Study 2021 (INE)

“There was a time I didn’t believe in voting, I was angry with the world. Now I still don’t believe, but my daughters remind me: ‘Mum, voting is a duty, it’s a right’. For a few years now, the three of us go to vote. But I’m unhappy. Honestly, who isn’t? What do politicians do for us? The question is who to vote for?”

Maria, 55 years old, caretaker

“I voted for the first time in the 2022 parliamentary elections, because life is hard for young people. We want to grow, build our lives, and we can’t. I live with my mother-in-law right now, we can’t even get our own house.”

André, 25 years old, market trader

66%

Percentage of voters who didn’t vote in the local elections in 2021. It had the sixth highest rate of abstention in Portugal.

Source: Secretariat General Ministry of the Interior

“I am South African, daughter of Angolan parents. I came to the Algarve when I was 12. I’m not from Quarteira, I’m from Vilamoura where I have my own house. I didn’t have as many problems as my parents, but some still do. There are lots of promises, but few actions. People don’t know who to vote for, they complain about food price rises. I used to vote, but I don’t anymore.”

Estela, 48 years old, shopkeeper

22%

The hospitality sector employs more people than any other sector in Quarteira (2,183 workers).

Source: Census 2021

“Everything gets more expensive, they take it all away. I worked for 30 years as a cleaner in a hotel. Six and a half years ago I started working at the Quarteira municipal pools and they still haven’t given me a permanent contract. My husband had a kidney problem and needed an operation, he worked all his life and now receives 300 euros in benefits.”

Fátima, 56 years old, municipal employee

“I am Romanian. I’ve been here for 13 years, but I’ve never voted. My husband is Portuguese; he doesn’t vote either. Politicians are all the same, in the end what do they do? Nothing! There should be cutbacks to Parliament: What do all those representatives do?”

Angela, 40 years old, cleaner

“I have two daughters who came back home, each one with a daughter. They all live with me. They had their own homes, but now they can’t pay the mortgage. They ask me for money for fuel, for shoes, to go to the doctor. Seventy euros for a consultation is a lot for me, but for them it’s even more. When I was young, life was hard. It makes me sad to see my daughters and granddaughters live through the same hardships I did.”

Carlos, 60 years old, fishmonger

“I was born in Angola, I came to Portugal in 1975, then I went to live in Rio de Janeiro and I came back in 2000. I voted for the first time two years ago, for Chega [Portuguese right wing populist party]. I don’t know if André Ventura is a good politician, but he is a huge Benfica fan.”

Carlos, 67 years old, retired