Little Portugal

A glimpse of how Portuguese’s communities around the world proudly hold onto their heritage.

I had no idea that ‘Little Portugal’ existed until I visited Toronto this summer. After some investigation, I found that it exists all around the globe, so I decided to investigate further.

Generations of migration have taken Portuguese families to other countries in search of better careers and earning prospects. Consequently, families have settled in several cities around the world, coming together patriotically in areas called ‘Little Portugal’, where they support each other by holding onto their cultural heritage and values.

‘Little Portugal’ can be found in South London, Sydney and San Jose, in the US, which has a Michelin-starred Portuguese restaurant, Adega. Then there is Montreal and Toronto in Canada, Melaka in Malaysia, Newark in New York, and Fountainhas, a UNESCO world heritage site located in Panjim city – the capital of Goa. Interestingly, Fountainhas – the Little Portugal of Goa – was founded by an aristocrat called Antônio João de Sequeira for the purpose of coconut plantations. Then, of course, there is Macao, aka Asia’s Little Lisbon.

These Little Portugals are part of the growing hashtag trend – #dupe. For those not au fait with TikTok, this viral hashtag represents ‘duplicates’. On social media, #dupes have been used widely for convenient alternatives to beauty products and designer attire, and now the trend has moved on to travel, with Expedia predicting that destination dupes will be one of the top travel trends of this year.

What this means is that instead of visiting the actual country, you can visit somewhere closer to home that has a similar feel to the country you wish to visit, but at a lower cost and involving less travel time. So, someone in Asia who really wants to visit Portugal but can’t afford it could travel to Macao or Goa and have a similar #dupe experience.

On the other end of the scale, I went from Portugal to ‘Little Portugal’ halfway around the world in Toronto because I was visiting family. High up on my list of things to do was to visit the Little Portugal neighbourhood because I love urban art, and my favourite Portuguese street artist, Vhils, had created a mural there.

This sizable mural adorns the whole of one side of a building. It represents the Cleaners’ Action, which was created in 1975 to advocate for Portuguese women working as office building cleaners. This mural represents a lady called Idalina.

Vhils, who gave an interview for Luso while creating this mural, states: “As part of one of the first waves of immigration, this kind of march was a way for people to participate in Canadian society as well. So it was a way for them to reclaim the fact that they exist and that they needed to have fair conditions of work, and that really touched me. I think it’s very important to pay homage not just for the act, but also for the people that are still alive, which we were able to portray, like Idalina who we depicted in the portrait.”

Besides my obsession with Vhils, I wanted to explore an area that represents so many Portuguese families who want to hold onto their culture while still having the opportunity for better prospects outside of Portugal. Approximately 180,000 Portuguese immigrants live in Greater Toronto. Many of the second or third-generation immigrants may have only experienced Portugal through neighbourhoods like Little Portugal – not all having had the opportunity to travel back to their native country. For this reason, Little Portugals have a real purpose: to help future Portuguese generations living abroad understand, preserve and be proud of their culture.

As I live permanently in Portugal, walking around the Canadian imitation confuses my senses. Experiencing things like Bank Montepio on the street corner and drinking café com leite with pasteis de nata from a bakery with walls adorned by typical blue illustrated azulejos, instantly transports me somewhere back home.

A famous restaurant, Bairrada, offers chicken piri piri from a family recipe derived some 80 years ago, plus the usual bacalhau and other specialities like rabbit stew. With all those tantalising smells, you do get a sense of being in Portugal, until the accent hits home and clearly brings you back to the fact that you are in a Toronto neighbourhood, in this case, Dundas West.

There is a large blue Portuguese rooster that proudly sits on one of the streets and was gifted to the city of Toronto by the Municipality of Barcelos, Portugal. The plaque next to the rooster states, “The Rooster embodies the Portuguese love of life and represents new beginnings, pride, hope, optimism, honesty, integrity, trust, honour and also good luck.”

Toronto´s Little Portugal has an estimated population of around 17,300 but recently, there has been concern that the area has seen a desertion of Portuguese immigrants. According to Anabela Taborda, chair of the Little Portugal Toronto business improvement area, who gave an interview with CityNews Toronto in 2023, the changes have been partially fuelled by the pandemic, younger generations wanting to leave family businesses, or people being forced out by real estate growth. She added emphatically, “If the last person that speaks Portuguese leaves the area, this will continue to be Little Portugal!”

If you are reading from abroad, hop onto the #dupe trending now and visit a Little Portugal near to you, and if you are a local to Portugal and feel homesick while travelling to one of these places with a ‘little Portugal’ – you know where to go.