Forbes: Braga, Algarve, Azores among best European sites for Americans

Braga, Algarve and Azores are among the 20 best European destinations for Americans to live, invest and work, according to criteria such as quality of life and health systems.

The selection of Best European Destinations, which Lusa saw on Thursday, was released by the US magazine Forbes and was based on several criteria, including whether there was an international school, quality of life, the health system, internet connection, airports with international flights, cost of living, active foreign community and a low crime rate.

Among the best 20 places for Americans to live, invest, retire or create new projects, which were distinguished among 120 possibilities, are two regions and one Portuguese city.

The list is not numbered and the article does not specify whether the order in which the destinations appear translates into a hierarchy, but what is certain is that Braga appears first.

Two important qualities are mentioned as openness and entrepreneurship, as several start-ups and multinationals are there and the city has already hosted international events.

In defence of this destination, the publication recalls that the Portuguese people are qualified and hard-working and speak much better English than many of their European neighbours.

The Minho city is the happiest in Portugal and is on the podium of the European cities with the best quality of life, the publication stresses.

The speed and efficiency with which the district capital dealt with Covid-19 are pointed out as an example of its capacity for innovation and dynamism.

Portugal appears again in eighth place, where the Algarve sun takes the lead, but also the existence of several international schools and good internet networks in many of the big cities are reasons to swap the American continent for the Algarve.

The list, which opens with a Portuguese destination, closes in the same way, with the Azores taking the 20th place.

The archipelago of nine incredible islands is ideal for those planning to leave the US to settle in New Zealand or even Iceland, but not particularly enthusiastic about the temperatures or the cost of living.

In this region, foreigners can benefit from a low tax burden, in a place that is among European destinations with a better quality of life and better value for money in real estate.

The magazine highlighted that the nine islands of the Azores are well connected – at affordable prices – to each other by plane and boat and have direct daily flights to the Portuguese mainland and the United States.