It is late in the afternoon on International Workers Day as our family enjoy refreshments in a town on the eastern side of the Algarve, the southernmost region of continental Portugal, about 25 km west of the Spanish border. We are at a street café, in the most glorious of sunshine, with a slight sea breeze. We are in the town of Tavira, which sounds similar to the Spanish town of Tarifa, which I discussed in the instalment of this column of June 26, 2015, titled ‘The origins of the word ‘tariff’.’ Tavira is located along the banks of the slow-flowing Gilao river, which flows into the shallow mudflats of the Ria Formosa National Park. As you can imagine, it is a haven for migratory birds. But for us, more importantly, it is off the beaten track – the tourist track – providing an authentic Portuguese experience.

Our experience at this quaint street café could not be more different from our previous few days in Portugal, which could only kindly be described as abysmal. It was not even remotely what people told us Portugal would be like. If tourism is considered a sector of economic prosperity, well, in our experience, at least, an urgent Plan B, even a Plan C, would not be misplaced. The hotel service could best be described as poor (they give self-service a new meaning), and the price displayed is not the price you pay – hidden costs are the order of the day. Having visited nearly all the countries of Western Europe and a fair share of those in eastern Europe, Portugal must easily rank as the worst. It is not enough for a country to simply rely on being blessed with natural beauty – natural beauty does not provide any country with a competitive advantage; it is only derived from the services that accompany or rather complement it.

Portugal is a country where the extent of its economic challenges is quite apparent. A credit card might be considered legal tender for hotel accommodation, but it is for little else. Restaurants and other shops tend to function on a cash-only basis.

So, how did we get here? Well, cast your mind back a few years. Not so long ago, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain were best known by the infamous economic and finance acronym PIIGS. They were, infamously, five of the 19 eurozone countries that were unable to either refinance their government debt or, on their own, bail out their overindebted banks during the sovereign debt crisis. To clarify, nine of the 28 European Union (EU) member countries are not members of the eurozone.

It is not my intention to express an opinion as to whether PIIGS is an offensive acronym, but suffice to say that three of these countries – Portugal, Greece and Spain – are now considered ‘currently vulnerable economies’. This is the result of their high national budget deficits relative to gross domestic product (GDP), and high, or rising, government debt levels.

A Financial Times article of December 1, 2015, titled ‘Portugal’s recovery stymied by debt’ – with a subheadline that screamed: ‘Companies dragged down by one of heaviest debt burdens in Europe’ – reported: “More than four years after the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescued Portugal from imminent bankruptcy, debt continues to gnaw at the economy. The combined total of public, corporate and household debt represents more than 370% of GDP, one of the heaviest debt burdens in Europe.

“The weight of debt is slowing down the pace of recovery and threatens to remain a long-term drag on the economy, restricting the growth needed to lift the country out of debt. This vicious circle saps the strength out of companies and ties up resources that could otherwise be productively invested.

“The economy is expanding at a significantly slower rate than would be required to outgrow Portugal’s debt burden, of which the amount held by foreign creditors exceeds 220% of GDP. Investment, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, fell by almost 35% between 2007 and 2014, more than double the average drop in the EU.”

This should be contextualised by mentioning the €78-billion bail-out Portugal secured from the EU and the IMF in 2011, which averted a looming sovereign debt crisis. After completing a tough three-year adjustment programme, Lisbon was able to resume financing its debt in the market in May 2014 and has since built up cash reserves of about €8-billion.

Even after this intervention, not all is well with Portugal. A Portuguese American Journal article of March 24, titled ‘Portugal lost 20% of its active population to migration’, reported: “Portugal is today the EU country with the highest emigration as a proportion of its population. There are more than two-million Portuguese emigrants, meaning more than 20% of the Portuguese population lives outside the country of their birth. Over recent decades, the growth in the number of Portuguese emigrants has been greater than the growth of the resident population in Portugal. Around 110 000 Portuguese left the country in 2013 alone.”

And then there is a twist of some irony. According to an article published on April 28 on http://www.politico.eu/, titled ‘Portugal is becoming an Angolan financial colony’, “Angola is the only African country where outward investment exceeds the sum of foreign money flowing in. From 2010 to 2014, Angolan investments in Portugal rose from €645-million to €1.53-billion, according to Bank of Portugal figures. Chinese buyers have played a prominent role, snapping up a leading privatised insurance company as well as major stakes in the country’s power grid operator and main electricity generator. To further tempt investors, Portugal offers EU residence visas to anyone who transfers €1-million in capital, invests €500 000 in property or sets up a company that employs at least 30 people. This ‘golden visa’ scheme has raised €1.39-billion since 2012. Chinese investors make up over three-quarters of the 2 290 visa recipients to date. Among others gaining visas are Brazilians, Russians, South Africans and Angolans.”

There are still those among us who believe that the global financial crisis is behind us – a thing of the past. If you have some spare time over the weekend, you would do well to either watch the DVD The Big Short or read Michael Lewis’ book of the same name, which provides insight into the making of the global financial crisis, which will, in all probability, recur, owing to lessons that were supposed to be learned not being heeded. If you want living – visual – proof of the global financial crisis aftermath, then you will do well to visit Portugal.