Viana do Castelo

Viana do Castelo is an Atlantic city in the North of Portugal, located about 25 minutes from the Oporto international airport. It is well connected by functional motorways and a seaport, making Viana easy to reach. The presence of a river, mountains and seaside emphasises the beautiful of the city landscape.

The City has a long maritime tradition. It possesses a seaport and five industrial parks. Viana has a growing economic development, also thanks to recent investments, such as the building of a water and sanitation system, modern railways and motor ways and the urban renewal of historical buildings. Viana has also built a city center transport network, mainly based on the use of small electric buses, which facilitates the urban mobility also through medieval streets.

Viana has a Sea Centre and a well-developed nautical sector. The Sea Centre is a service area about Environmental Interpretation and Sea documentation, equipped with a small auditorium and multimedia facilities with the possibility of consulting sessions, entrepreneurial support linked to the nautical economy. In 2015, it was rewarded with the “Bandeira Azul” (Blue Flag), relevant award for boosting the turning into BLUE CENTRE. The city has several nautical sports and related facilities, as the Sailing Centre, Rowing Centre, Canoeing and Surfing Centre.

The city has also an important littoral Geo-park composed by 13 natural monuments and an Environmental Monitoring Centre (CMIA). The Geo-Park aims to preserve nature and promote tourism, visiting it is possible to understand 549 million years of landscape evolution. The CMIA aims at reflecting on emerging environmental issues, promoting seminars, activities of awareness for schools, etc.

Viana boosts the creation of new businesses (9.1 million euros has been invested) settling them within a technological incubator and offering the opportunity for co-working venues.

The unemployment rate is 5,5% and the over 65 years people 19,47%.