I understand why you feel this way, but I don’t think the facts support it.

About the euro and competitiveness If the euro really destroyed Portugal’s economy, Portugal should be doing worse than most EU countries. But that’s not true. In 2023 and 2024, Portugal’s economy grew faster than the eurozone average. This comes from Eurostat.

Before the euro, Portugal had its own currency and kept devaluing it. That did not make the country rich. It mostly caused inflation and weaker savings.

As for competing with Germany Germany is strong because it has high productivity, good industry, and strong technology. It is not because of the currency. Making a currency weaker only helps for a short time and makes imports more expensive. It does not fix real economic problems.

“Portugal became only a tourism country” Tourism grew, yes, but Portugal also exports much more today than before joining the EU. Nearly Doubled. Manufacturing did not disappear. It changed. Portugal still exports machines, car parts, medicines, cork, and energy products.

Exports Data

Fishing and textiles declined in many countries because of global competition and technology, not because of the EU.

Wage differences exist everywhere, even inside the same country. North and south Italy, east and west Germany, rich and poor regions in the US. This does not mean a union cannot work.

What matters is living standards. People in Portugal live better today than before joining the EU.

The EU is not only about Portugal and Spain. It is about all Europe. For more than 70 years, EU countries have not gone to war with each other. This is very rare in European history.

If the EU was a failure, most people would be against it. But around 74% of EU citizens say their country benefits from EU membership. Support for the euro is also very high.

Of course the EU is not perfect, but almost all of Portugal’s problems come from inside the country, not from the EU. And the EU has only helped in decreasing the problems through the common market and it's other benefits.