With one of Europe's most open immigration regimes, Portugal has seen its foreign-born population double in the past five years. In 2023, a million foreigners were living in the country, accounting for one tenth of its population. While Brazilians remain the largest population of immigrants, Indians, Nepalis, Bangladeshis, and Pakistanis now figure in the top ten of new arrivals. Despite the rise of the far-right Chega party that is polling at 20% ahead of a March 10 general election, official figures show that openness towards immigration has been steadily growing in Portugal.
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00:00 Off the coast of northern Portugal, this group of fishermen is on the lookout for octopuses.
00:09 Half the crews on board ships in the area are no longer Portuguese, but Indonesian.
00:15 I'm an Indonesian fisherman. I work here. I don't have a job.
00:19 I have no problem. I have a family.
00:22 I have a family. I have security.
00:27 It's not illegal.
00:30 Skipper José LuÃs Gómez says his Portuguese compatriots don't want to do the tough job anymore
00:37 when there are better salaries elsewhere.
00:39 Before, there were a lot of people to work, but now there are less and less.
00:45 If it weren't for the 90% of our workforce,
00:49 there would be more people now.
00:53 No one would work.
00:54 Since 2007, Portugal has granted papers to all those who declare their earnings,
01:00 allowing immigrants to be quickly absorbed into the legal economy,
01:04 paying taxes and social charges straight away.
01:07 In other countries, there is no possibility that the Portuguese law,
01:12 which was won with a lot of struggle,
01:14 with many years of struggle,
01:16 immigrants got involved, fought, went to the assembly, went to the streets,
01:20 fought for their rights.
01:21 And this Portuguese law still allows people to regularize in Portugal,
01:29 as long as they have a job.
01:31 The job is a sector, let's say, it's a structural factor of the person who emigrates.
01:36 Since 2018, Portugal also grants papers to those who enter the country illegally.
01:42 And in 2022, a new amendment allowed foreigners looking for work
01:47 a temporary six-month visa.
01:49 With one of Europe's most open immigration regimes,
01:52 the country has seen its foreign-born population double in the past five years.
01:57 In 2023, a million foreigners were living in Portugal,
02:00 accounting for one-tenth of the population.
02:03 While Brazilians remain the largest population of immigrants,
02:06 Indians, Nepalis, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis
02:09 now figure in the top ten of new arrivals.
02:12 We have 100, more than 100 people a day.
02:17 So this is incredible.
02:19 In the small southern town of São Teotônio in the Alentejo region,
02:23 there are now more Indian and Nepali restaurants than Portuguese ones.
02:27 Many locals have left to look for jobs elsewhere,
02:30 and South Asian farm workers have stepped in to bring the region's fruit farms back to life.
02:35 Ritu Catri and her husband came to do the same,
02:37 and eventually were able to save up enough money to buy a small café.
02:41 I earned more.
02:43 And when I get more fruit, I pay my cousin.
02:48 And I save more money.
02:50 I save money, and little by little, I put it in the bank and buy.
02:55 But my parents also helped.
02:57 Portugal's immigration law allowed Catri's husband to gain residency five years after arriving,
03:02 and a Portuguese passport two years after that.
03:05 When I grew up, I played football very well.
03:09 And I started playing for the club São Teotônio.
03:14 He doesn't know how to speak our language.
03:17 He speaks Portuguese and English very well.
03:20 He doesn't know our food. He doesn't like our food.
03:23 He doesn't know our culture.
03:25 He doesn't want to go to Nepal.
03:27 With an aging population, the labour shortage in some areas of Portugal is particularly acute.
03:34 LuÃs Carlos Vila lives in an isolated corner of northwest Portugal.
03:40 For him, foreign workers who he hires completely legally, through employment agencies, are essential.
03:47 My father also went abroad because he needed to make a living.
03:51 And these people are in the same situation.
03:53 So we have to understand their need to get better living conditions, to get better income.
04:02 But we also need this workforce because we don't have it.
04:05 That's a reality.
04:07 The Portuguese, at least in the interior, have this perception that there is no Portuguese workforce.
04:11 Next year, maybe my family will be here in Portugal.
04:17 And my wife will be here next year.
04:21 I will be here.
04:23 Polls show that openness towards immigration has been steadily growing in Portugal,
04:31 despite the recent rise of far-right Chega party, which says it wants zero tolerance for illegal immigration.
04:37 (Chanting)
04:43 (Music)
04:47 [MUSIC]