Portugal's Property Pickle - The Portugal Business Club - "Most dangerous PM in 30 years"

On the grapevine, I'm hearing that Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, is being described as the most dangerous PM in 30 years, 50 perhaps. If the latter is true, that's a very serious claim, what with the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolutuon just around the annual corner and the spectre of dictator Salazar still lingering uncomfortably in the national psyche.I must say it surprised me last week to see, that after months of speculation and fog, the Golden Visa was dispatched with unaccustomed speed and efficiency. Murmurrings about its demise, admittedly fuelled by Senhor Costa's hints at the most recent Web Summit, had property managers and wealth managers previously unbothered - considering earlier rumblings and subsequent apathy. Last week, however, things changed dramatically.The Golden Visa, that has arguably done so much to raise Portugal's global profile and considerable inward investment, was proposed for a cull. Along with this, a range of other measures that are intended to help those who the visa has supposedly harmed.This 'package' will need ratification at Portugal's highest levels of law and government, but many hope for - or fear - a push-over. And soon.Clearly the Golden Visa is a niche product and certainly a political football in Portuguese domestic politics, where it had value in 'coalition courtship'. It also became a national embarrassment more recently when well-heeled global movers and shapers were poorly processed by Portugal's ailing and in-transformation border and immigration agency - SEF. In its own right, and demise, perhaps not the end of the world. But accompanied by other measures to address the needs of Portuguese nationals priced out of their own neighbourhoods, the nipping of rampant Airbnb'ing in the bud, as well as a bold plan to effectively commandeer empty property for rental purposes, this week and the PM's proposals have ruffled the feathers of Portuguese property owners and caused concern among would-be immigrants with investment aspirations.At the best of times, Portuguese politics seems quite opaque and stodgy. This isn't helped by most of us expats and immigrants having a political age of 10. That said, I had an uneasy feeling about the pace of these proposals that now have fellow foreigners wondering about the future . Add to that locals uttering sentiments like: "Are some of my expat friends in solidarity with the Portuguese people in this dangerous moment in our society? Portugal is going through a very ugly moment in its history. Communism wants to eat what is ours! Caution!!!! Private property at risk!!!"I will do what I can to add to recent analysis and comments that came from show guests in the previous week, (see https://youtu.be/WIv6dc35oVM), one of our most popular YouTube episodes.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-good-morning-portugal-podcast-with-carl-munson--2903992/support.