There is no one simple answer to this question.
Aside from the problems that have always existed for those who chose Madeira to live, or just for vacations. It is different for persons in different locations, for those who try to integrate, those who learn the Portuguese language, those who watch Portuguese news or read local newspapers, and various other personal situations.
Whoever you are, you will probably have already experienced discrimination in daily life. It may be overcharging in bars or cafes, taxi fares, hairdressers, smaller shops (particularly touristy types) or any other service providers who know that they can get away with it and have done so for years. Some immigrants may not have even noticed!
More serious matters occur in the health service, social security or other government institutions where you may be pushed to the bottom of a list, or just disappear altogether.
Car paintwork gets scratched. Pets get poisoned. Unfair treatment in a corrupt justice system is something very difficult to prove.
Bullying in schools has become a serious and growing problem. The children of immigrants are particularly tempting targets, and easy prey, especially if their Portuguese language skills are insufficient in the level of schooling that they are placed.
To see and feel the daily negativity towards immigrants and tourists, the most blatant posts and comments will be found on Madeiran social media sites. These have been cleaned up significantly over the last few years with stricter rules and enforcement in the language permitted, but the racism and xenophobia can still clearly be felt by those who read Portuguese.
A local café or bar will often host groups in conversations about the local feelings towards immigrants, maybe even those present. But of course understanding the language will be important to be aware. The negativity is not hidden, or spoken in whispers. The laws against racism do not deter such conversations, nor do they impede in interactions between Madeirans and immigrants.
Maybe the most damaging and hurtful consequences of being an immigrant, is locals spreading false information about them in the community. It’s difficult to detect and impossible to counter and eradicate, and can in some situations have very serious consequences.
Immigrants are excluded from so much here in Madeira. There is no representation of immigrant group(s) at any level in politics. Not at a national level, nor at any regional level. There is no immigration representation in any public or private organisations that have any public exposure. Not in the press or media, or significant positions in public or government entities, such as health or education. With the immigrant population in Madeira approaching 15,000, or nearly 6% of the population, is that just an oversight or is it deliberate exclusion?
Racism is inbred in Madeirans. It is there from birth in many cases. Some Madeirans find their way out of this nasty cultural trait by themselves. Some never do. It is mainly present publicly in older people, particularly men. Those Madeirans who have lived outside of Portugal, or work closely with foreigners, tend to be less racist than others having seen a different perspective from that within their culture, but Madeirans in fact often say that they return even more racist. But the scene is changing, and rapidly. The far right extremist party CHEGA, is attracting new supporters at an alarming rate. The younger generations included, who believe the party propaganda that immigrants are the root of many of todays problems.
EDIT 1/7/25 : The national assembly in Lisbon has 4 deputies elected by emigrants. 2 of these deputies were elected for Chega, showing in fact that despite living in a host country overseas, many emigrants do not want foreigners in Portugal.
However, it needs to be stated that the definitions for both local racism and xenophobia may be different than for those immigrants on the receiving end. Violence and public hate talk here are not common fortunately, and in most cases Madeirans will be more likely to tell an immigrant to return to their own land … “Volte à sua terra”. It is currently generally a soft racism in visible consequences, but a very serious concern in its origins.
However, although the local press do not like to report such incidents, they do happen. In June 2025, 5 knife attacks were briefly reported against immigrants just in Funchal. 2 of them were filmed by persons in the vicinity. All the victims were injured but without severity. I did not see any follow-up reports about the attackers being identified or arrested. This was an exceptional period of such events, but even so, awareness may help other immigrants to be more vigilant and careful about putting themselves in vulnerable situations.
One other important fact is that the more serious racism is usually not shown in one to one situations. The madeirans feel more comfortable expressing themselves and racial negativity in groups of like-minded people. This is why it is best to see the extent of racism online, particularly in the most popular social media groups. ´Ocorrências na Madeira´ is probably the most popular Facebook group, with over 230,000 members. There you can see that the most popular theme is attacking foreigners, with posts often attracting 500 or more unpleasant comments.
Madeirans have been isolated from the world, and in many ways from their own mainland mother country, since forever. They have been often been conditioned with a somewhat ugly island mentality. As a result they feel extremely united in some situations. As in any country, Madeirans have love and hate relationships between themselves in daily life. They hurt each other and even occasionally kill each other too. But the one thing that unites them is where there are foreigners involved. An immigrant that hurts one Madeiran, whether rightly or wrongly in their action, will incur full or partial support from most of the madeiran community.
Madeirans do not like strangers involved in their culture and tradition and may make those who try feel unwelcome. The exception to this may be in religious activities, but I do not have experience in this and I cannot say for sure. Artificial Intelligence suggests that the Catholic Church has several initiatives to support immigrants directly, but as for the message given to the church attendees regarding accepting immigrants, there is no published information to support or deny that
The numerous famous festas are situated in open surroundings, and are therefore physically available to everyone. They are public entertainment events, usually based on tradition or religious events, aimed to entertain and make money for organisers and commercial participants. These are attended by Madeirans, immigrants and tourists alike. I have included this fact for completeness only.
The situation can be different for immigrants from certain origins. For example immigrants from Angola and Mozambique have historical and colonial connections with Portugal. Brazil too. The language is very similar too. They are less discriminated against. The gypsy (Cigano) population seems to suffer the most, followed by the Chinese and Venezuelans not far behind. The Ukrainian population of under 1,000 seem to have been granted a special dispensation, but are mostly refugees, probably still living in a honeymoon situation in the immigrant community due to the exceptional circumstances of their predicament.
So, going back to my original point. Those who try learn the language and try and integrate into the local culture will see and feel the most about how they are perceived. Particularly if they follow the news and social media. Those who just moved to Madeira, or just visited, for sunshine and scenery without any interest in integration, see and feel the least. The majority of immigrants fall into the latter category, as will the tourists. They live in a restricted bubble, protected and unexposed to the wider community, where the only Madeirans they come into contact are there to earn a living serving that foreign community.
I will do some research into the Portuguese constitution and laws, that should control racist behaviour. They do exist, and are comparable with other European countries. So why does the President of the Republic keep saying that the racism must stop? Nothing seems to change, and matters are clearly getting worse.
Healing Madeira 