June 16 travel to Porto - Economy

We are on a bus working our way to Porto, Christina, our guide is providing us with lots of info about Portugal. The minimum monthly wage in Lisbon is 485 euros, they are paid monthly, and an apartment in Lisbon is 700 Euros a month so many workers live outside the city where rent is 500 Euros a month. Portugal, imports natural gas and oil but they produce their own power.  Leather products are made in northern Portugal. The farms are beautiful and depending on the region produce cattle, horses, sheep, olives, grapes, cork, limestone, or vegetables. It takes a cork tree 25 years before the first cork can be removed from the tree trunk. After the first cork is removed the tree is tagged and 9 years later the cork is harvested again. The first year cork removed from the tree is not the best cork. Since cork is a sustainable product it is used for many items. In Portugal only cork bottle stops are used.