Originally Posted by boobella

I agree with joao and tombo on this, for most expats ignorance is bliss, they don't speak the language, read papers etc so they don't know what goes on, this would be the same in the UK if you did not speak the language, read papers etc

the poor chap who died in a fight in a Middlesborough pub was not reported in the Portuguese press because it happen in the UK, the chap who got killed in Portugal was from the UK and that is why it hit the UK headlines, thousands of brits come here on their holidays!

as max says if you are a bit older, you keep away from these places or rough areas, but when you are on your holidays or a brit who lives here you are always a target for mugging just like any other place, even if you speak the language they know you are not Portuguese and that means you have money

it depends on where you live in the UK, there are lots of lovely safe places but the news is always doom and gloom and most people believe it

I am sorry to say that I would rather walk home from a night out where I lived in the UK than Tavira

a lot of kids in the uk get bad press, so like any kid at that age you just stick two fingers up and live up to it

it is society that has failed them

i love both the uk and Portugal but sometimes I ask myself, if Portugal did not have the sun would I live here?

Originally Posted by tigerfriday

Don't forget to pack your flak jacket and can of pepper spray!

Originally Posted by naladogs

I have been told that some of the problems in Albufeira are due to drug problems and that there is a shop that you can legally buy a herbal product that can give you an extreme high. The police know about it but are unable to do much about it.

I have heard that the people who run this shop are hoping to open other outlets in the Algarve.

That is what I have heard and it came from a pretty reliable source.

Originally Posted by Hayles

My wife's friends have recently returned from Carruella (spelt wrong), Spain (close to Malaga) one of them was mugged on the way home. When then went to the police they said there have been 100's of muggings and blamed the Moor's.

Would the Moors be in Tavira? What where the circumstances of the 3 muggings in Tavira - daytime, late at nite, singling out females?

Originally Posted by Cleri

At all of this.

Originally Posted by BlackBeardie

The Moors..

The Moors are simply islamic North Africans.. Tunisans, Morrocans, Algerians..take your pick . They were expelled from Spain and Portugal after the Reconquista but many are now immigrating to Europe and choosing Spain and Portugal. Their own countries being in economic chaos and lacking of freedoms which their islamic based governments and culture impose on them.


The Spanish granted a blanket amnesty twice in the last 11 years which allowed all these fellows to reside in the country. They have come over with their own culture and attitudes which will not change so it wouldn't suprise me if they are now a problem in Spain. I was in the Lisbon area recently and didn't notice this problem i.e groups of Moorish youths prowling the streets. I think the UK has a bigger problem with people of Pakistani descent and even Moors compared to Portugal. Still nowhere as bad as France though where there are huge numbers of Moors.

I hope the Portuguese will nip the problem in the bud but with Italians happily granting Moors admittance into the EU and then telling them to keep moving this will be harder for the Portuguese authorities to do.

Originally Posted by ah207

Yep - whenever there's a social problem (if it is related with alcohol fuelled violence, drugs, vandalism, vomiting on pavements on Friday and Saturday nights, smashing bus stops and telephone boxes, fighting on the football terraces etc), it must be the Moors.

As for people of Pakistani descent, I wish they'd stop being heart surgeons, medics, nurses, headmasters, lecturers, teachers, cleaners etc and just go back to being the problem you think they are.

Anyway, I'm glad that when European colonists settled far and wide during the Age of Empire, they ALWAYS adopted the culture and customs of indiginous people instead of forcing their own system of laws/religion/politics on them.

*tongue firmly in cheek*

Originally Posted by BlackBeardie

Remain 'tongue in cheek' about this all you want. At the end of the day one of the reasons Portugal is a great place to live in is because they got rid of the islamic culture imposed by the Moors. If you are so keen on it feel free to move to Saudi or even the UK which is slowly being islamified by stealth.

And no thanks. I wouldn't want my headmaster wearing pyjamas or a doctor wearing a hijab.

So count your blessing.

Originally Posted by ah207

First of all, I´m NOT keen on ANY religion! I don´t much care for mosques, churches, temples, synagogues or any other place of worship (though architecturally they may be intersting buildings). So I have no intention of ever living in a non-secular society. But I´m curious as to which film/TV program/comedy sketch did you see a heamaster wearing pyjamas, or doctor wearing a hijab ? Two Ronnies maybe ? There was a Spike Milligan sketch once where a Dalek wore a turban - but it may not have been Moorish. You need to get into hospitals a bit more - trust me, more patients pyjamas than doctors!

I jest. Yes, I count my blessings for living somewhere where there is freedom of expression, and we are not oppressed by any religion. Unless you count queuing up in Mini Preco as oppression - but don´t get me started on that. I tell you what, every time I have to go to the loja do cidadao and have to wait an eternity for yet another form to be stamped, I do wonder if it wouldn´t be easier in Saudi Arabia! I mean I lifetime of oppression can´t be as bad as spending a day dealing with Portuguese bureacracy, right ? Its a close call. *cheers*