1mo ago

I want to travel to a different country, should it be Spain, Portugal, or France?

Which is the best country in terms of things like rich culture, kind people, and the least corrupt government? I will work on practicing Portuguese and Spanish and also learning more French!!

23 comments

As a Portuguese person, I'd advise you boycott Portugal at the moment, or at the very least avoid AirBnBs entirely — sadly, they've increased to the point where, in many locations, the price of renting a house is higher than minimum wage. Furthermore, even in hotels, many staff get paid minimum salary — a lot of them are immigrants, so they'll take anything. This means that, through tourism, the Portuguese people lose: rent becomes much higher, companies are incentivized to pay much less, and all of this is supported by the current government, which has refused to regulate AirBnBs and the like.
I do apologize about this rant; it just seems that you value morals & ethics more than average.
- Oh my God, thank you for telling me!!
- This sort of thing is a problem in many places, such as my nearest major US city. Unfortunate to hear that it's a problem where you are too.
- I feel like Portugal got caught off guard by its recent spike in tourism, but it doesn't want to completely quash it yet due to the relatively poor economy without it.
I've seen several articles about protests against tourists in Spain. I didn't bother to read the articles, but I think it's about housing prices being driven up because of air bnb. So maybe stay in a hotel if you go there?
- is also many outsiders buying houses for investment. The prices are so high almost nobody can buy a house and is very serious problem
I feel like rich culture and kind people exist everywhere, and every government is corrupt.
But France. The Spanish and Portuguese hate tourists.
- The French had a massive protest in Paris regarding over tourism.
  
  Yeah tourism sucks the life out of every city, and personally I never understood wanderlust but I was forced to move around as a child.
Should go to france. Spain and Portugal are both done with tourists and you may have a bad time after all the summer caos
I'm French... go to Spain! There's incredible architectural diversity and the people are generally very good vibes (I guess they're anti-touristy nowadays, lol, but still!), plus things are at least 20-25 percent cheaper there. Oh, and also the Spanish government is the only Western country (correct me if I'm wrong, and hypocrisy like the UK saying something nice and then intervening for Israel doesn't count...) who has made any sort of anti-imperialistic remarks regarding Gaza! I'd like to believe it's a reflection of today's Spanish population. 👍
- Ireland as well?
  
  I'm sorry, I forgot about them!
They're all just different. As a citizen, though, (dual, live elsewhere) I'm going to have to recommend Portugal.
- Ahhh. Thank you! Portugal seems awesome!
Not Spain. We have a serious problem with tourists. Most people won't react in a positive way
All have a rich culture, all have kind people (though there will be jerks and how you act will matter), all have some level of govt corruption. Plan your trip around things you want to do or see. Festivals, places, etc.
Is there any kind of experience you are looking for?
You should specify what kind of trip you are looking for. If you like mountains I'd prefer Spain (Picos de Europa, Pyrenees) and France (Alps, Pyrenees) over Portugal.
what kind of attractions are you looking for in a trip?
Without knowing, I'd say france, as long as you don't visit just paris.
All three would be amazing.

23 comments