You will have noticed that I’m going through a bit of an Iberian phase. It’s not quite the same as the one my colleague Mr Tuck is living through but there are surely a few similarities and reasons why we so thoroughly enjoy this celebrated corner (chunk?) of Europe. While the aforementioned Andrew has created a forward-operating base in Mallorca, I’ve ventured further west to Lisbon and am only now starting to get into the groove of city life, driving on Portuguese highways, always carrying a swim-bag for impromptu plunges and wondering why I didn’t properly seize on the whole Lisbon set-up when we hosted our first Quality of Life Conference there all the way back in 2015.
Speaking of our annual summit, if you’ve not yet bought your ticket for our upcoming conference in Barcelona then you’ve still got a few more days to secure tickets, flights and accommodation. We’re hoping to outdo ourselves this year and feel that, aside from the exceptional line-up of speakers, we’ve also secured the most bijou little dance floor on the entire peninsula – we are firm believers that a few hours of bum-shaking will improve the way you live. But before the DJ takes over, here are three reasons why the region is leading the way that I’ve neatly sandwiched between two areas that need improvement.
1.
Clean it up
Over the past 24 hours I’ve covered many hundreds of kilometres. Friday started with a drive down to Comporta and back, while on Saturday morning we jumped in the Jimny to go from Lisbon to Sanxenxo via Corrubedo. It’s all rather orderly as far as European highway driving goes (crazy Portuguese drivers aside) and the scenery pleasing. What needs fixing is the rot of graffiti that makes much of Portugal and Spain look lawless, unloved and simply ugly. It’s clear that many mayors and private landowners have given up, the police don’t care and locals are blind to the blight. Since the economies of Spain and Portugal depend on tourism, they might want to consider what their streetscapes look like through Asian and North American eyes. Why should a beautiful landscape have to compete with the ugliness of lurid colours and profanity? Why should infrastructure that has cost taxpayers billions be a playground for abuse? What happened to pride backed by rule of law? Spain and Portugal are not alone, much of Europe looks shabby and needs a good scrub. The Portugal-Galicia corridor is a good place to start a tidy-up project. Maybe the likes of Galp and Inditex could lead the way by sponsoring stretches of highway or whole neighbourhoods for repainting and planting fast-growing ivy to thwart sprayers. That said, they should only participate if the culprits can be held properly to account.
2.
The company you keep
Monocle readers often ask if we’re thinking about a modern version of a kibbutz, where like-minded people can live together with a strong sense of community but without needing to set up base in the eastern Med. The good news is that we are thinking about such a concept. In the meantime there might be a better answer underway along the coast of Portugal and another inland. First up, São Laurenço do Barrocal (a favourite Monocle retreat) has a series of residences on its estate, and on the coast near Comporta the team behind JNcQUOI are offering up a community of lifestyle hubs by Vincent Van Duysen. I’ve visited both and this is a stretch of the world that is coming into its own.
3.
Gadis
If you’re not familiar with the Galician grocery store chain, you need only familiarise yourself with its logo. It’s the best bit of consumer pop in Spain.
4.
One for the table
It might require a drive to Corrubedo and an evening at Bar do Porto to secure a case of their house white but it will be well worth it. This little venture (run by one of the Chipperfield clan) has just launched a new label (the wine comes from a vineyard near Ourense) and it goes down rather nicely on sunny days.
5.
One for Europe, one for the world
We all like travelling down a good corridor and the run from Lisbon all the way up to A Coruña could use some strengthening. The north-south rail development needs to get seriously rolling but, in the meantime, some better air connectivity is required. Try getting from Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela with ease and some good regional produce on your tray. Forget it. The powerhouses from this stretch of the Atlantic might think about 10-15 commuter aircraft to further bolster an already remarkable region of makers, thinkers and sellers.
And before I head back south, a big gracias to Evelyn and David for lunch, a dip and allowing me to perch on their balcony to file this column.
Enjoying life in ‘The Faster Lane’? Click here to peruse all of Tyler’s past columns.
