According to Casa do Brasil, there are about 400k Brazilians in Portugal. This number includes people with Portuguese nationality, which are not accounted for by the Portuguese government. The Brazilian community is the largest in the European country, and our impact is starting to be felt–from eating habits to general behavior. The relationship between Portuguese people and Brazilian immigrants is not always friendly, but there is no denial, Brazilians are changing the scene for good.

Today, it is easy to find pão de queijo, tapioca, açaí, picanha and many other Brazilian delicacies in Portuguese supermarkets. Portuguese restaurants have picanha (a Brazilian beef cut) in their menus. In Lisbon, Porto and other cities, Brazilians are producing, singing, DJ-ing, and changing the nightlife. While walking around the main cities, it is very common to stumble upon a roda de samba 🥁🥁🥁

The Portuguese always loved and consumed a lot of Brazilian music, but, if in the past this would happen exclusively with big names like Caetano Veloso, Adriana Calcanhoto, Gilberto Gil etc., today this also embraces other genres, like Brazilian funk and sertanejo (Brazilian country music).

Brazilian immigration in Portugal is not new, but we can definitely observe a big boom in the past 5 years. In the 90s, many Brazilian dentists moved to Portugal; then we saw a boom of construction workers and beauty professionals, followed by university students, and now we have people working in all fields. Everywhere you go, there is a Brazilian person.

The thing is, the Portuguese have an aging population, and need immigrants to survive. For Brazilians, Portugal works as an entry door to Europe, with the same language and similar habits. Many end up staying, others go back to Brazil, and some go to other countries. While immigrating, Brazilians seek peace, and a more relaxed lifestyle. The Portuguese media already calls the Brazilian immigration as “Luso Dream”, referencing the “American dream”. But one thing is certain, we all get nostalgic sometimes…

Did you know there were so many Brazilians in Portugal? Let us know.

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