Europeans seeking a bargain holiday home in the sun may look to Spain or France, but they shouldn't ignore one of Europe's more salubrious locations. If you reckon Portugal is merely an upmarket version of Spain, think again; it has a different philosophy to its Iberian neighbour.
In 1993, laws were passed to restrict overdevelopment in designated coastal areas, mostly on the Algarve in the south, so demand sometimes exceeds supply. Although prices have been on a rollercoaster, they have fallen less than in any part of Spain.
By far the most popular holiday home area is the Algarve, due to its 280 days of sunshine a year and because large numbers of budget flights access nearby Faro airport. But that makes it Portugal's busiest region, too.
Go back to the 1960s and the Algarve was visited only by small numbers of Portuguese holidaymakers, but by the end of that decade, luxury hotels and golf courses began springing up. In the early 1970s it was popular with British holiday and retirement home buyers.
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