Portugal will struggle to compete with Spain when it comes to volumes of cheap property for sale, but its government is doing much to increase its market share of houses being sold worldwide - currently a modest 5 per cent (during the past decade).
From all sorts of general reforms in the country - including the privatisation of its airports and railways - to "strategic reforms" to make the country more attractive to foreign investors, there must be added the new residency and tax incentives (especially a flat rate of 20 per cent for foreign residents).
This week the cream of Portugal's tourism industry was gathered at the Ambassador of Portugal's palatial home in Belgrave Square to promote the second home market in the country.
"Our aims are to increase our standing from 18th in World Tourism terms; to decrease the seasonality of tourism; to sustain airlift; support other businesses (golf, restaurants etc); and to increase house sales in Portugal," said the Minister of Economy, Alvaro Santos Pereira.
Meanwhile the President of the Portuguese Resorts Association, Diogo Gaspar, had an interesting statistic or two.
"We have forty times less unsold housing stock than Spain: 5,000 units compared with 200,000," he said.
"We sell around 5,000 houses per year, with an average value of €200,000, but we want to double that quantity."
A new guide being promoted at this event is aimed at helping and encouraging people to move to Portugal or buy a property there.
www.livinginportugal.com - in six languages - contains the "official" line on why Portugal is a great place to live, cost of living, residency permits, how to purchase a home, wealth taxes, healthcare, schools and a lot more.
Click here to find out more. Or here to search for properties for sale in Portugal.