If you come to Portugal for a week or two for a vacation, it’s most likely that you will love Portuguese hospitality. The tourist industry works quite well. But once you start living here, dealing with everyday things, buying a property, furnishing it, and just living a normal life, you'll definitely face the issues. Some of these things can even make you feel desperate. If you're prepared, they're much easier to handle.
I deal with local manufacturers, stores, suppliers, and different services, so I notice the contrast between expectations and reality.

1. Portugal lives at its own pace. For people who are used to living at full speed, it takes time and patience to get accustomed to it. The most frustrating things are slow communication, long holidays and delivery times, and ignored inquiries and requests. For example, a company you try to contact may simply ignore your emails or never answer the phone. Or you may receive their answer a month later, when it's no longer relevant.
Another issue is long holidays. Many Portuguese businesses slow down or stop working completely during the second half of December and in August. Many Portuguese factories close for several weeks, which makes delivery times longer.
I'm not talking about tourist businesses like cafés and restaurants. Those are actually their busiest periods, so don’t be afraid to stay hungry.
But when planning a renovation or any other project with a deadline, you need to take these periods into account.

2. Deliveries are my biggest pain.
A lot of businesses in Portugal, including furniture and equipment stores, use external delivery companies. And I can guess that this is a source of problems, because the sender has little control once your parcel has been dispatched. I used to organize delivery services for my clients, and I know how it can turn into a real headache.
First of all, delivery times. Here in Portugal, getting something in two or three business days feels incredibly fast.
But the biggest issue is the delivery service. Sometimes it's not even relevant to call it a "service."
When you place an order on a website, in many cases you cannot choose the exact delivery date; sometimes you will be charged extra if you want to be notified before the delivery date. But most of them just give you an approximate date, with a gap of two or three days.
And you receive a message the same day as the delivery. The delivery man calls you when he's already standing outside your front door. Or maybe five minutes before. And in most cases, the delivery window is the whole day, something like from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.
If you're not at home, you simply won't receive your parcel that day.
What happens if they can't carry out the delivery and can't reach a recipient? It depends on the mood. They can rearrange the delivery for the next few days, or, sometimes, just leave the parcel wherever they decided: with neighbours, near the door, or at the nearest post office. And then it turns into your headache.
Over time, I found ways to reduce these problems.
If you work from home, good for you. Most deliveries are made during working days. Keep your phone nearby and try to answer the call. Even if you are at home, a delivery man may simply not find you and try to reach you by phone.
Choose to work with local brands that have an office here, and don't make an order through the website form. Instead, contact a seller directly and ask for a quotation that you can pay. In this case, you have a contact person, usually a sales manager, who can help you with planning the delivery.
Or, for furnishing, you can choose a turnkey service and receive the delivery and furniture assembly on the agreed date.

3. And the last topic I wanted to cover:
There are very few showrooms and stores where you can see and touch products in person and buy them straight away. In some countries, there are huge home improvement stores where you can choose everything, from nails to curtains, all in one place. In Lisbon, there are only a few stores scattered around the city.
Many Portuguese factories have their showroom only in the north of the country and work with material samples across the country. There are also a few offline showrooms of Spanish and other European brands.
Most European brands deliver to Portugal. And Spanish Amazon is an available option. But, as I mentioned in the previous section, getting your order delivered could be a challenge.

I have to say that people in Portugal seem much more relaxed about these situations. As a designer who serves the clients, I usually get nervous because I want to solve everything as quickly as possible. Here, the attitude is more like, "Don't worry. Just wait a little bit. No rush" And honestly, this slower pace, this relaxed attitude and this calmer way of life are the reasons why many foreigners choose Portugal.