LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK INFORMATION
Dangers & Annoyances
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Crime
Compared to other European countries, Portugal’s crime rate is low, but it is rising. Crime against foreigners is of the usual bag-snatching, rush-hour-pickpocketing and theft-from-rental-cars variety. Take the usual precautions: don’t flash your cash; keep valuables in a safe place; and, if you are challenged, hand it over – it’s not worth taking the risk.
Driving
Once behind the wheel of a car, the otherwise mild-mannered Portuguese change personality. Macho driving, such as tailgating at high speeds and overtaking on blind corners, is all too common. As Portugal has the highest road accident rate in Europe, police operate a zero-tolerance policy, which has helped limit the damage on formerly nightmare routes, for example, on the cheerfully named ‘highway of death’ from Salamanca in Spain.
Nightclub Violence
In the last decade or so, there have been some fatal attacks in Portugal nightclubs. In 1997 an arson attack in Amarante left 13 dead. Seven were killed in Lisbon’s Luanda club in 2000 after tear-gas canisters were released. In March 2001 at Kremlin in Lisbon three people opened fire after being refused entry. Although this sounds like a catalogue of incidents, in the main clubs are peaceful places.
Smoking
Smoking is prevalent in Portugal and at the moment very few restaurants have nonsmoking sections, and there are certainly none in any bars. Despite a recent poll showing that 90% of Portuguese support a smoking ban in public indoor areas – bars, restaurants and the workplace – the government has proven ineffective at introducing antismoking legislation.
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