With a high employability rate during the summer, mainly associated with tourism, the population of the Algarve is only expected to begin to feel the true effects of the economic crisis in the low season, which began during the Covid-19 pandemic and is now aggravated by the energy crisis and the increase in cost of living due to inflation.

Speaking to Lusa, the president of the Movement for Support of AIDS Problems (MAPS), Fábio Simão, said: “We are slowly seeing some people asking for support again, but we still haven’t felt the big crash that the summer season is effectively masking”.

Despite estimating that there will be an increase in requests for help in the coming months, due to the likely worsening of living conditions, Fábio Simão cannot yet anticipate whether the situation will be more difficult than in previous winters.

The coordinator of Refood in Faro, an institution that fights food waste and forwards these goods to disadvantaged families, is also convinced that “the situation will get complicated” as summer ends and winter approaches.

“I think that in mid-September we will again have many requests for help. More than in previous years”, predicted Paula Matias, pointing out that the main reasons for this increase is the decrease in the standard of living caused by inflation and the end of the aid moratoriums created during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the official, around 70% of families that seek the institution do so, mainly due to the high housing rents they pay in the Algarve that leave little to nothing left at the end of the month for other expenses.