Into Alentejo

Over the past decade, the sundrenched south of Portugal, with its rolling cork tree forests and vast, untouched beaches, has become a kind of mecca for those looking to retreat from the frenetic pace of city life and try out new modes of living. Beyond the biodiverse landscape and rich cultural heritage, there are economic factors at play: as the poorest country in Western Europe, Portugal is an affordable place to lay down roots. But there’s also something intangible here, a sense of poetry, of stillness, a gauzy lingering of history, the way a shadow fall across the surface of an old stone wall. From the Lisbon neighborhood that birthed a melancholic musical tradition to the timeworn fishing villages of Alentejo, we set out on a voyage across the last unspoiled stretch of Atlantic Ocean coast in southern Europe and into the Portuguese heart of the global slow movement.