Caroline1104

BillBullock

Have you ever been to Portugal? If not, why not take a holiday here? Hire a car and tour the country to see for yourself.

Caroline1104

BillBullock

Don't worry too much about forest fires unless you are planning on living in or close to a forest. Not all areas of Portugal suffer from the problem. Choose an area to explore for houses, let the forum know, and some expat will be able to respond with their experience. We are well dispersed around the country.

mfesharne

It's not really about regions but rather about specific location & you (and Mum in Law) might like to spend some time looking at portugalwildfires.com where you'll find lots of accurate & detailed information on the subject.

Caroline1104

EMR

The Algarve has had some pretty big fires in recent years but I do not believe that a single property has been lost or severely damaged.
Most fires a re either on scrubland and dealt with very quickly or in remote forest areas , not areas with significant numbers of properties..

GeniB

Lots of basic questions need to be addressed first. Caroline... Do you need to work when you come o Portugal ? Do you have children who need to go to school ? Do you have any specific medical needs ?.Do you need to be near a large town? How do you feel about learning a foreign language.? Whilst the Algarve has many who speak English,the firth north and the more rural you go the less it will be spoken.. So you see Forest fires may be the least of your worries.!!

Highly recommend that you start by taking Bill's advice and visit the country.....

liveaboard

Forests are lovely and green, cool in summer, etc. But if you're worried about forest fires, the solution is simple; don't but a home in, or abutting, a forest.
We rejected some otherwise nice properties due to fire risk, and that was 10 years ago.
This has been going on for a while.

Lots of people still live in forested areas, I hope they'll all be ok.

Furfanus Postumus

By learning about these fires, their causes, case studies, and studying maps of recent outbreak areas, you can minimise any risk. Avoid forest areas, especially eucalyptus and pine. Follow the new land cleaning regulations. Don't buy a wooden house. Seems like anywhere with a nice climate is susceptible, Greece, Spain, Sicily, Corsica, etc., so it's either take a small risk or go and live in sunny Scotland! And read the excellent portugalwildfires.com written I believe by one of our members mfesharne, I think, thank you sir!

mfesharne

Thanks for those kind words but all thanks should go to my better half Susan who took my pig's ear of an idea & turned it into a silk purse.

Ash Jez

I live in an area that is very wooded and there are trees in all directions. Last year I must admit I was amused by my neighbours. One evening the sky was very darkened with smoke and you could smell the smoke easily so I was somewhat concerned as the nearest fire was at 4km away. Almost opposite me I could hear my neighbours speaking with visiting friends and I heard the word fogo mentioned several times. The amusing part was they were all sitting around drinking wine and enjoying the evening and not getting into a flap.

The fires can be bad and life is lost but look at it another way. In the UK, you are more likely to be mugged, stabbed, shot, run over by a bus or lorry or kill yourself in a motoring accident than killed my fire in Portugal. I for one love it here and no fire risk is going to make me move. I take the correct precautions and keep my land clear according to the law. On the other side of the coin is that where I am, there is little escape from fire. Am I worried, no. I'm happy here and that's the most important thing to me.