Removals from the UK to Portugal

Portugal has become the destination asked about most after France, and the reasons are consistent: a cost of living that still compares well, a coast less built up than parts of Spain, and a settled community that makes arriving less of a leap.

The move itself is not complicated. It is long, and it has one piece of paper at the front of it that most people have never heard of.

The certificate that sets the timetable

Relief on household goods entering Portugal generally depends on a certificado de bagagem — a certificate of baggage — applied for through the Portuguese consular service before the goods travel, supported by your NIF and evidence of the Portuguese address.

That is the whole reason we push people to start earlier on this route than on the other three. The inventory is ours and it will be ready. The NIF and the residence evidence are yours, they cannot be accelerated, and the vehicle does not move without them. We say this on day one rather than in the final fortnight.

Storage is usually part of the plan

Because of the above, Portuguese moves rarely line up with a British sale. The common shape is: pack and load here, into containerised store, wrapped and inventoried; documents come together over the following weeks; the vehicle goes once the certificate exists.

That is quoted as one arrangement rather than two, and the storage inventory is the same document that becomes the customs packing list.

The road

Collection in mainland Britain, the Kent crossings, then France. Vehicles bound for Portugal take the Atlantic side almost without exception — Bordeaux, the border at Irún, across northern Spain. Then the A-52 through Vigo for Porto and the north; Salamanca and Vilar Formoso for Lisbon and the Silver Coast; Mérida, Seville and the Guadiana at Ayamonte for the Algarve.

Where deliveries go

• The Algarve — Lagos, Portimão, Albufeira, Tavira and the inland barrocal
• Lisbon and the Setúbal peninsula — the city, Cascais, Sesimbra
• The Silver Coast — Caldas da Rainha, Óbidos, Nazaré, Figueira da Foz
• Porto and the north — the city, the Douro valley, the Minho
• The central interior — Coimbra, Castelo Branco, the Serra da Estrela villages
• The Alentejo — Évora and the quintas towards the Spanish border

Finding the address

Coastal apartments behave as coastal apartments do anywhere — the lift and the parking are the questions. Rural Portugal is different: the last stretch is often a track, the gate is narrower than the wall implies, and the turning circle decides what we can send. On anything away from a town we ask for coordinates and photographs rather than relying on a satnav that thinks a track is a road.

Damp at the far end

Worth knowing if the property has stood empty. Older Portuguese houses, particularly inland and on the Silver Coast, can hold real damp after an unoccupied winter. Delivering a packed household into a damp building ruins upholstery and books weeks after a move that went perfectly. If the house has been empty, say so, and consider holding the sensitive part of the load until it has dried out.

Starting

Both addresses, your dates, and how far along you are with the NIF and the residence evidence. We will survey, quote in writing, and set out the order to do things in. See European removals for the options and Spain for the route sharing most of the road.