What's different between portugal and spain? And why did spain fail to take over brazil? (cost, place)
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Portugal and Spain are very similar, culturally. If you look at all the countries they colonized, they are all 3rd world countries with high levels of income disparity, poverty, low levels of educational attainment and usually high crime.
Greece has 1.7
Canada has 1.6
Portugal has 1.2
U.K. has 1.0
Spain has .8
But the U.S. has 4.8!!! Huge by contrast with Portugal and Spain. Check how many countries (in addition to the above) have less crime than the U.S.! Even countries I would never have thought would have have less crime than the U.S., DO have less crime than the U.S. Among the many with lower crime than the U.S. are Niger, Iran, Egypt, Liberia, Lebanon, China, Morocco, Algeria, Croatia, Serbia and too many more to mention here.
So I'm not really understanding what you mean by saying that Spain and Portugal are 3rd world countries, when they are very much the first world, while the U.S. is sinking fast.
Of the countries with greatest income disparity, the U.S. comes out on top, which means the difference between rich and poor is LARGE in the U.S.
No, you are confused! Re-read what I typed. I said, every country that was colonized by Spain and Portugal are 3rd world countries with high levels of violence, income inequality, low levels of educational attainment and such.
The top 5 countries with the highest murder rate in the world, 4 were colonized by Spain: Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador and Guatemala.
If you love Portugal so much, why don't you move there?
I have been in both Spain and Portugal. These countries are fairly similar to each other. Spanish and Portuguese are closely related languages and are similar enough that they can have meaningful conversations just as a Swede, Norwegian and Danish can understand each other to a certain extent. The culture in Spain and Portugal is also fairly similar – at least when it comes to food. They are both Mediterranean- but Portugal has more Atlantic dishes because of its location. Spanish cuisine is more diversified being a larger country. Both countries have influences from Latin-America. When I was in Lisbon I noted there are a lot of Brazilians and others from Latin-America or former Portuguese colonies living there while Madrid felt more European. I’m not sure of this but I think Portuguese are a bit more brownish looking than Spaniards. That is how I have experienced it. There are a lot of drugs in Lisbon and it is clear that Portugal is a poorer country than Spain. Lisbon is a great city and it really feels like a historical port-city. Portuguese women are hot just as Brazilian women. Other then the Algarve Coast, I think Portugal is an over-looked country and you seldom read about it. When it comes to history – Spain and Portugal divided Latin-America between them starting with Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) and later other treaties. What is today Brazil ended up being a Portuguese colony and that is why they speak Portuguese in Brazil and not Spanish.
No, you are confused! Re-read what I typed. I said, every country that was colonized by Spain and Portugal are 3rd world countries with high levels of violence, income inequality, low levels of educational attainment and such.
The top 5 countries with the highest murder rate in the world, 4 were colonized by Spain: Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador and Guatemala.
If you love Portugal so much, why don't you move there?
True. All colonized countries turned to crap. I am from one of those colonized countries. My ancestors colonized the country I was born in. However, a far greater enemy of my country is the U.S., and I wish I were making that up.
Actually, I lived in Spain for years! I left because family responsibilities called me back to the U.S. Family comes before all things.
Anyway, Portuguese are very different from Spanish. Historically we had an fundamental alliance with England to Survive (they helped against Napoleonic invasions and Spanish), which makes our society very "british" (mild/moderate temperate, general good level of english, Mourinho, English soccer, Port Wine, influence of british tourism, etc)
Portuguese people are really British-like especially when it comes to being organized. Take a TAP flight and you will see that it is exactly like flying British Airways.
When I was in Lisbon I noted there are a lot of Brazilians and others from Latin-America or former Portuguese colonies living there while Madrid felt more European. I’m not sure of this but I think Portuguese are a bit more brownish looking than Spaniards. That is how I have experienced it. There are a lot of drugs in Lisbon and it is clear that Portugal is a poorer country than Spain. Lisbon is a great city and it really feels like a historical port-city. Portuguese women are hot just as Brazilian women. Other then the Algarve Coast, I think Portugal is an over-looked country and you seldom read about it.
I love Brazilians! Anyways, you are putting Portugal a little higher on my list, than it already was. I've been wanting to get to Portugal for quite some time.
Portuguese people are really British-like especially when it comes to being organized. Take a TAP flight and you will see that it is exactly like flying British Airways.
The most anarchic people I've ever met...they are like Galicians, the northwestern Spanish community on top of Portugal, but without the military order imposed by Castillians. Much poorer too, humbler that Castillians. Entirely different country with a language impossible to understand except for people that speak Portuñol. A entirely new universe, two countries that have lived back to back during 400 years.
As to English influence, maybe some in Lisbon and O'Porto. Ethnically, proper Portuguese as like Spanish but they have many people from their African empires and Brazil.
Castillians, Madrileños, behave like prepotent dirtbags there, I felt shame.
Catalans do admire Portugal for the fact that they got rid of Spain in 1640 and Catalonia failed because Madrid sent the troops to Catalonia.
I love Brazilians! Anyways, you are putting Portugal a little higher on my list, than it already was. I've been wanting to get to Portugal for quite some time.
I have just been to Portugal once and just two weeks. Portugal is not a large country. It is just 3.5 times larger than Chicago Metropolitan Area. Almost 1/3 of the entire Portuguese population lives in Metropolitan Lisbon. Still, with a very high density I never felt Lisbon to be crowded. There is a lot of part of Lisbon one would like to explore. Apparently, Lisbon is popular among students because it is (for a major city) relatively cheap and culturally more western than let say cheaper Eastern Europe. When it comes to the rest of Portugal I have visit Porto. It was similar to Lisbon but smaller. If I didn’t write it before and I write it know. They have great fish in Portugal. I cannot say it is impressively made but they do serve fresh simply prepared fish. If I could only do one trip to Europe I wouldn’t go to Portugal and I wouldn’t have Portugal on my list if I only could do one trip to Southern Europe. I would start in Italy, than do Southern France, Spain and last Portugal. I would take Greece in another trip because it is only about the Islands and I promise you that Athens is not worth a detour. Eastern Southern Europe like the Balkans (Former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Albania) is more exotic having less tourists I would save it for a separate trip. Croatia is for families but doing the rest of Yugoslavia is maybe not a “family-tour” and can in part still be dangerous. I don’t think there is one who doesn’t like Portugal. It is very easy to like and the locals is pretty okay and you will not feel like they will trick you – which is a common feeling in Greece. Italy, Spain, Southern France, Monaco and Portugal is the civilized part of Western Southern Europe and Greece is not and why we still politically, economically and culturally refer Greece to part of the West is beyond me.
I tell you – go to some of the small towns just outside Lisbon. The locals go there on the weekends for bathing and partying. Some of these towns turn into street-parties around 01:00 and later they open night-clubs at the beach. You drink cheap 1.5 Euro Sangria at the street and talk to tanned women with black hair and a white smile and get to know some people. Then you hang out at the night-club at the beach with mostly locals. I remember they spoke pretty good English. That is the good part being in Portugal – thinks is filthy cheap comparing to Southern France and you are drinking with the “working class” comparing to drinking with the wealthy in Southern France (and in particular Nice) were a bloody Soda goes for 3.5 Euro as a grocery store and in were you are nothing if you don’t own one of the many yacht in the harbor or at least a Ferrari parked close to the restaurant or night-club. When it comes to Spain, it is also pretty cheap just like Portugal, but then you have to hang out with droves of middle-class Northern Europeans and you have to cope with their “off-shore” drinking habits - in particular at the “Sun Coast”. Barcelona is the Hipster-Mecca of Spain – you hate it so much that you will like it. There are fewer of them (us) in Portugal so that may be a better experience. Italy is somewhere in the middle but maybe similar to France but then again – there is a huge difference between Northern and Southern Italy. Northern Italy is filthy rich and civilized and Southern Italy is dirt poor and uncivilized. Greece is just off the map. I have really never liked that country and I have been there three times (though, only once in adult age) including once on Crete.
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Take a TAP flight and you will see that it is exactly like flying British Airways.
