Introduction: A Letter from the Editor

I am so happy to finally launch the E & A Journal, which will be at the forefront of this platform. Espaços e Achados was first conceived about a year ago… I had been living in Portugal for almost 3 years at that point but last year was the first year I had the chance to gather my thoughts and start creating again. I am now approaching my 4 year anniversary since moving here from London but when people ask me how long I’ve been living here here, I tell them that officially it has been over 3 years but living like a normal person? More like 1 year… Or just over. By living like a normal person, I mean living in a peaceful and stable home, not suffering from a serious injury and finally getting back into a regular routine and finding an even keel. And by the way, I realise that this definition of living like a normal person is a pretty privileged situation to be in in the grand scheme of things in the world and I certainly do not take that for granted - in general or after the trials and tribulations I went through in my first few years here.

I don’t think my experience was typical of anyone’s moving to Portugal but apart from the emotional upheaval and destabilisation of moving country, I had terrible luck with my first two long-term rental situations and that sadly impacted every aspect of my life. In a nutshell, my first rental was in a beautifully renovated apartment in the centre of Cascais but it was under an Alogement Locale (a property rented out on AirBnB etc.), which was run like an unsupervised hostel - advertised to sleep 8 guests with no minimum booking periods. Of course, I didn’t discover this and that a regular night’s sleep was such an elusive thing in that apartment until after moving in… Everybody told me to “just move” but all my resources had been spent on moving there. I didn’t have the liberty to just pick up and leave. And so, I prayed that things would get better and trusted my landlord’s assurances that he and the other landlords in the condominium would be taking legal steps to close down the intensive tourism business at the top of the small building. That it would just be another couple of months … And apart from the constant rotation of large noisy holiday groups and party groups above, the apartment was wonderful. It was East-West facing and I knew it would be difficult to find something similar in that location… And I loved the location. A short stroll to the sea and I had lovely neighbours a couple of doors away that took me in like family. But the problem is that compounded sleep deprivation takes its toll. My health and work were suffering and eventually, I had to leave that place during the summer of 2023. It had been over a year and nothing had changed. I did not know in 2022 that things can take time in Portugal but you live and learn… I had no money or energy to set up another home again and so I digital nomaded around Europe for a few months - Spain, France, Luxembourg… And while I returned to Portugal that November, I didn’t commit to another long-term rental until the following March.

I had been subletting in Chiado in early 2024 and I liked life in the city so I was happy when I found a compact but beautiful apartment in a beautifully renovated building in Alcântara. I asked all the right questions to make sure there were no AL’s above and below. The agency seemed proper and trustworthy but how wrong I was… After I got the keys, I discovered that the lighting in the hallway and on the stairs was not functional. Nor was the intercom doorbell. There were so many other issues such as a fire alarm piercing through the building from an empty apartment upstairs but the lack of lighting was the most concerning as I was four flights up. And four flights down. It was a 19th Century building and once dusk hit, it became so dark that you couldn’t even see your hand if you held it in front of your face. Basically, the landlords were all foreign investors and some (including mine) decided to rent out their apartments before installing electricity into the main common areas of the building or setting up building management etc. I do not know if the rental agency was simply negligent or deceitful in bringing such an apartment to the market and leasing it but they turned out to be incompetent, irresponsible and downright nasty in the end. I had no way to contact my absentee landlord directly and despite months of begging the agency to do something about the lighting and reports of falls on the dark stairs (my own and that of my pregnant neighbour’s), they did nothing to make the building safe.

Weeks after an empty promise was made to put temporary LED lighting into the common area, I had another fall down the dark stairs at the end of June. This fall was much worse than the one before and I sprained my ankle very badly. I was on crutches and in and out of hospital for months… Physio 3 times a week, constant scans and reviews… The care I received was excellent and on the plus side, being in the hospital - an everyday Portuguese work environment - so often and with so much downtime, I finally started learning Portuguese. It was not how I had planned to spend that summer and my ankle will never be the same as it was but you have to look for silver linings. And there are always silver linings… While the rental agency rep was sympathetic and assured me that they would compensate me for damages at first, when it came to it, they then turned around and tried to claim that my fall down the unlit stairs in the common area of the building was a “domestic incident” and therefore, they, nor the landlord, were not liable. It was then that I learnt really how awful they were. Not just irresponsible but also dishonest and morally corrupt and I fell into a depression about finding myself in yet another terrible living situation. On top of the physical pain and exhaustion and financial stress from the injury. Moving again was the last thing I wanted to do that year but when I learnt the unscrupulous nature of the people I was renting from, I felt I had no choice.

I found somewhere nearby and with help from my family, I moved again. Thank the Lord, I got third-time-lucky with my third long-term rental and I was finally able to settle and recalibrate. This was autumn 2024 and for the first time since moving to Portugal in March 2022, I was able to look beyond day-to-day struggles and worries about my living situations and think ahead. It was early 2025 when I first began to have visions for Espaços e Achados. A bit like another platform I had previously set up but only focused on Portugal. The design and craftsmanship in Portugal is next level and I had met so many inspiring entrepreneurs, creatives and wellness leaders... I wanted to create an online space to showcase and celebrate their work, businesses and all the beautiful spaces I had discovered during my time here. I would have launched this last year but I got sidetracked with another business - a wellness and music events platform - that’s another story and currently on pause-but-to-be-continued mode - for now, I am focused on this.

My background was originally in fashion but I have found my interest pulled more towards architecture and interiors in recent years. I trained as a fashion designer in London and worked in and around the industry (more on the styling and communications side) for years, between setting up my own businesses, my work in music, events and energy healing. Yes, I do many things. Some might say too many things but honestly, one flows into the other - they’re all connected. And to add to it, real estate has always been part of what I do… When I first set up my communications business in London back in 2012, I worked with many international HNW clients and I used to source properties for them on a casual basis. They knew that if I could lead them to the right restaurant for an event or the perfect coat, I could probably also find them the right home. They trusted my taste and intuition… And this is how I work in everything I do. From intuition… I may not have been very good at finding my own first homes in Portugal but I have had much better success in finding homes for others!

I started working in real estate on a more official basis when I joined the team of a property investment firm in London in 2019…Of course, that work was less personal than sourcing properties for individuals but I certainly learnt a lot about the industry through my business development role there. It is fair to say that between all my moves in Portugal (5 if I include the in-between places), I have got to know the market pretty well here and I always keep up with it. I could honestly browse property portals all day! I don’t know what it is - maybe it’s because I moved around a lot as a child or maybe it’s my appreciation of design and potential in spaces where design is lacking… And I’ve always loved connecting people with places. And having gone through such challenging living situations here, I have learnt about the red flags to look out for and I know how important it is to get your choice of home right. Therefore, I wanted to add a real estate aspect to Espaços e Achados… A curation of special properties for members to browse and while the vision for Espaços e Achados was becoming clearer last autumn, at the same time, an opportunity came along to join a real estate firm here. It felt very aligned with what I was already building and it was a clear yes for me. So now I am working as a real estate consultant with Groupe Mackay Prestige (AMI 17430) alongside developing this platform and this means I can actively help people source properties for their individual specific requirements, not just lead people to a carefully curated but small pool of water.

This journal will cover everything to do with design, hospitality and style in Portugal. I want to showcase and celebrate emerging artisinal brands alongside top-tier hotels and everything in between… The stories behind creative entrepreneurs and artists that are forging their paths and shaping contemporary culture in this dynamic and beautiful country. The special places and spaces, people and finds… Espaços e Achados literally means “Places and Finds”. When I tell Portuguese people about this new project, they are surprised that I gave the platform a Portuguese name. They look puzzled, as if I’ve made some kind of mistake. “But that’s Portuguese! Why did you choose a Portuguese name?” they ask. “Because we are in Portugal!” I explain. The explanation is very simple. It needs no further elaboration. After a brief moment of hesitation, they smile and a glimmer of seldom-seen pride flashes across their face. This pride is rarely allowed or dared to be revealed but it is unmistakeably there and as deep and as bright as the sun. It is this humility and understated way of being that makes the culture here so special. Yet another thing to celebrate.