Business opportunities in Galica (Spain) and Costa Verde (Portugal)

Directly across the border / river from us but mostly hidden from view due to International river conservation regulations agreed to by both Spain and Portugal, is the site, currently a large brickworks, of the new low level, low impact Vigo dry port area. Any senior management connected with that project and / or the companies which will be using it, such as Citroën Peugeot, will find our location and proximity to the dry port impossible to better. The point I make is that building restrictions and conservation regulations mean our quinta will not be affected detrimentally but will enjoy the benefits of such economic activity.

Galica (Spain) and Costa Verde (Portugal) are actually booming as a result of this and other nearby commercial expansion, creating many opportunities for expatriates. I personally have a hobby come lucrative business of sword collecting (buying and selling) where I buy swords from around the world both to improve my own collection and to sell on, hopefully at a nice profit. I do this via my own web site and eBay. I believe there are many sourceable items in the area both sides of the river to make a thriving eBay business for someone. The region is rich in both antiques and traditional crafts of exceptional quality.

Although the Costa Verde region of Portugal is meant to be rurally poor, there are a lot of wealthy people in the area both from Spain and migrants who work in Lisbon, France, etc. who spend as much time as they can back home near the River Minho. On the Spanish side of the river, Vigo is a very affluent city with thriving port and fishing industries, while Porriño is a massive industrial, technological and commercial area.

I have toyed with the idea of starting a business here several times. I believe the fine solid wood furniture export business holds a great deal of opportunity. One of the showrooms we bought our furniture from regularly sends their truck fully laden to Spain and France. On the ferry from the UK to Santander / Bilbao, you will undoubtedly see English furniture shop vans and truck on their way or back from Portugal; hiring Portuguese driver, trucks or firms is likely to be a lot less expensive than the other way around. The north of Portugal and Galicia is home to forests of oak, chestnut, cherry, walnut and pine. While chestnut and walnut are the woods of choice for fine furniture here, oak and cherry timber prices make it hard not to look; we buy oak logs for our fireplace, 120 to 130 Euros a truckload. I am not suggesting our firewood would make fine furniture but simply mention it to illustrate the potential as "Solid oak furniture" is a sales label many people hard to resist in the UK.

Another market which is wide open to a foreigner exploiting here I believe is real estate and vacation lets. Although there are a lot of estate agents / realtors in the area, very few speak English and know how to market themselves on the Internet. If you do not believe me, just take a look (search) on Google and see how many you can actually find. One British expatriate in the area currently runs a holiday rental and real estate business but is semi-retired already and looking to stop completely in a year or two.

On from that is property development. It is perhaps strange that the Portuguese and to a lesser extent the Spanish like modern houses, near to / overlooking others. The number of old stone buildings which would make perfect restoration in the area to sell on to Northern Europeans is quite incredible. In the town of Monção there are ancient, tiny, terraced one (room) down, one room up stone built houses ripe for development for sale from 16,000 Euros; Monção is a wonderful place for a summer town home. Old quintas / farmhouses also hold superb potential I feel for conversion to apartments to sell or time share out to foreigners, as the Portuguese like their just outside center, modern concrete 3 or 4 storey blocks.

Most of the vegetables grown locally are organic; we buy a kilo of carrots, peas, etc. for a Euro from the "locals market", a section of the main Thursday market in Monção where little old local ladies come and sell their produce. I often wondered how easy it would be to get some of these families into a co-operative, get it organically certified and then ship it to Northern Europe where such natural foodstuffs command outrageous prices.

Vigo and Porto are both large ports and gateways to the rest of Europe for imported items. Portuguese Alvarinho / Spanish Albarino wine is well known and consumed in fair quantity in France, but not in other Northern European countries. English is now a compulsory subject in schools but there is a shortage locally of qualified teachers; English night school places are over-subscribed.