A fully restored classic car is loaded at the Caramulo Experience Center in Caramulo, Portugal, on Sept. 23, 2025.
Photographer: Daniel Rodrigues/Bloomberg
Portugal’s Golden Visas Boost Classic Cars, Almonds and Equities
Reforms to the cash-for-residency scheme have seen money flow to museums, cultural projects and funds.
The weekday streets are quiet in the mountain town of Caramulo, the calm broken only by the growl of a sports car or the rattle of a vintage vehicle heading to the auto shop. But the town’s museum is busy with visitors wandering through packed displays of art, cars and World War II tanks.
Salvador Patrício Gouveia’s great-grandfather Jerónimo Lacerda founded Caramulo in 1921 as a sanatorium resort. His grandfather and great uncle created the Museu do Caramulo in the 1950s. But a couple of years ago, the museum was struggling. Caramulo is remote, and few tourists made the three-hour drive from Lisbon. With annual revenues of €2 million ($2.3 million), the museum barely covered its maintenance costs, Patrício Gouveia said.