Travel
Beyond the baccarat tables: Macao’s rich Portuguese history is still visible today
Churches and cuisine stretching back centuries still reflect Portugal’s legacy as Macao integrates into China.
Lilau Square looks warm and languid in the fading daylight.
Like any Portuguese plaza, time moves slowly here. Locals chat over coffee beside a kiosk. Travellers take photos beside whitewashed buildings. A couple pauses to admire the ‘calçada’, the smooth, swirling tiles found anywhere the Portuguese left a footprint.
If it weren’t for the 200-year-old banyan tree and melodic rise and fall of Cantonese in the air, you might mistake this corner of Macao for a quiet Lisbon neighbourhood.
I glance at a fountain spurting water into a shallow pool and think of an old saying about this place: anyone who drinks its water will someday return to Macao.
I’m not sure I’ve knowingly had the water from the fountain, but this is my sixth trip to the city, each a little longer than the last. Every time, I find myself drawn back into the extraordinary cultural tapestry, uncovering something new about Macao’s Portuguese past and falling for it all over again.
There may be something to that legend after all.
Macao is more than just a gaming capital
Mention Macao, and most people think of casinos. Fair or not, the city has earned its reputation as a gambling powerhouse.
In 2024, it raked in nearly €25 billion in gambling revenue – almost entirely from baccarat, the card game of choice for mainland Chinese bettors.
But long before it became Asia’s casino capital, Macao was a vital outpost in Portugal’s global empire.
Lured by its strategic location in the Pearl River Delta, the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century and the colony soon became a key trading hub.
Macao’s fortunes ebbed and flowed over the centuries. By the 1990s, it had become a city of vice dominated by Dr. Stanley Ho – ‘the godfather of gambling’ – and his casino monopoly.
After more than 400 years of colonial rule, Portugal handed Macao over to China in 1999. Beijing wasted no time reshaping the city. They even reclaimed land to merge two islands – Taipa and Coloane – creating the Cotai Strip, now home to extravagant casino-resorts.
The once-impoverished enclave rapidly transformed into one of the world’s wealthiest.
Echoes of Portugal resonate in old Macao
On a perfect January morning, a soft sun shining in a bright blue sky, I meet Mariana César de Sá for a walking tour of Macao’s UNESCO-listed historic centre.
Born and raised in Macao, César de Sá publishes ‘Macao News’, the city’s leading English-language news and lifestyle source. She takes pride in showing visitors the city beyond its cavernous casino-resorts.
We meet behind Macao’s most famous landmark, the Ruins of St. Paul’s. Only the stone facade remains of this 17th-century Catholic church, destroyed by a fire centuries earlier.
Before braving the tourist throngs gathered in front of the cathedral frame, which lords over old Macao like a gateway to the past, we slip into a neighbourhood beyond the former city walls – the Pátio do Espinho. Once a settlement for the exiled Japanese Christians who built the church, today it’s a sleepy enclave of single-storey homes.
“I like to take visitors here first. It’s full of history but also a taste of real life,” de Sá tells me.
It’s also a reminder of how far the Portuguese ventured during the Age of Discovery – how their customs, architecture and religion took root in the most distant corners of the world.
Walk through history to see the best of Macao
From the ruins, we wander through the Travessa da Paixão, ‘passion street’ – a cobblestoned alley lined with pastel-hued colonial buildings that has become a magnet for wedding photos – and walk slowly through narrow alleys to Senado Square.
When we reach the square, the city’s calçada-paved civic heart since the 16th century, de Sá gestures toward a hulking white building: the Municipal Affairs Bureau.
“It was the original city hall from the 18th century – and it’s still that today – but most people don’t realise you can go into it,” she says, stepping inside a peaceful Portuguese courtyard lined with azulejos (blue and white ceramic tiles) depicting scenes from Macao’s history.
The whole historic centre is full of secret spaces and centuries-old buildings that continue to function today. The canary-yellow St. Lawrence Church built by Jesuits still holds services. The coral-coloured Macau Military Club, once only for military men, now welcomes guests into its excellent Portuguese restaurant.
Some, like the 19th-century Dom Pedro V Theatre, hold special meaning beyond history.
“It instantly transports me to Portugal,” says Sara Santos Silva, an expat from Porto who has lived in Macao for 10 years.
“During my early days in Macao, when I was blown away by the sensory overload of living in Asia, it felt nice to find myself in familiar surroundings: impeccable cobblestone, a kiosk just like the ones you’ll find in Lisbon, and the pale green facade of the theatre.”
Even the 15th-century A-Ma Temple, a shrine dedicated to the Chinese sea goddess Mazu, holds unexpected significance today. When Portuguese settlers arrived centuries ago, they misinterpreted the temple’s name – ‘A-ma-gok’ – as the name of the land itself.
Macao’s Portuguese history is a legacy best tasted
Maybe nothing speaks to this unique heritage like Macao’s food.
From tranquil Coloane and residential Taipa to the historic centre, decades-old restaurants serve Portuguese classics like ‘bacalhau à brás’ (salted cod mixed with onions, chopped fried potatoes and egg), grilled sardines, and baked duck rice.
“There’s no shortage of options. I know where to turn to for a better-than-decent ‘francesinha’ (Porto’s hefty sandwich), a proper ‘prego’ (steak sandwich) and a monkfish rice that instantly hits home,” says Silva. “This is not a one-stop-shop, though.”
In the picturesque St. Lazarus district, one restaurant group is proving that true.
Chaves-born brothers Pedro and Mauro Almeida, along with their business partner Ricardo and Hong Kong-born founder Asai, have turned several old buildings into landmarks for Portuguese food and wine. Their most famous project, Albergue 1601, serves grilled octopus, seafood rice stew and grilled Ibérico pork in a historic yellow house surrounded by centuries-old camphor trees.
But one of their newest ventures offers a more modern interpretation of Portugal.
Food is writing the next chapter in Macao’s Portuguese story
I meet Pedro, Ricardo and Asai at 3 Sardines on a quiet weeknight. As we eat ‘petiscos’ – Portugal’s answer to tapas – like ‘pica-pau’ (beef cubes with pickles) and fried peppers, I take in the magazine clippings on the wall and fish traps hung from the ceiling. When I run my hands over the soft red cushions I’m sitting on, Ricardo reads my mind.
“These are real executive seats from TAP planes from the 1950s,” he tells me. “Everything you see is a vintage item hand-picked from Portugal.”
Asai fell in love with Portuguese culture – especially its cuisine – after moving to Macao and made it his mission to revitalise its presence in the city. Today, the group runs four restaurants, a workshop space, and a pastry shop – all loving tributes to Portugal.
These projects have not only brought new energy to the previously overlooked St. Lazarus district: they have complemented its timeless institutions and little quirks of life that keep a 400-year-old connection alive.
“Most visitors are surprised by how present that heritage is in Macao,” Silva tells me.
“The street names are in Portuguese. Locals still throw a Portuguese word or two into daily conversation. All this doesn’t just immerse travellers in the heritage but also gives Portuguese residents a sense of belonging that’s honestly very hard to match.”
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The UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system has officially expanded to European travellers.
Starting 2 April 2025, all EU (except Irish nationals), EEA, and Swiss citizens need ETA approval to enter the UK.
The system became mandatory for travellers from the US, Canada and Australia on 8 January 2025, following its rollout last November for nationals of Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
To obtain the visa waiver, which costs £10 (€12) from today or £16 (€19) from 9 April, travellers need to complete an online process – but some British citizens with dual nationality are already flagging issues.
How to apply for the UK’s ETA visa waiver
Travellers can either use the official mobile app, which can be downloaded from the UK government website, or apply online here.
To complete the application, you need the passport you’ll be travelling on, an email address and a credit card, debit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. You will have to answer a set of suitability questions. You don’t need to enter your travel details.
The government advises applying at least three working days before your trip.
You can delete the app when you’ve finished applying. Your ETA will be linked to your passport digitally, and you will not need to show anything else when you enter the UK.
Though it seems pretty simple, the application process has left a handful of British dual nationals confused about whether they need to apply for the visa waiver or not.
ETA application issues for British dual nationals
In theory, British citizens with dual nationality do not need ETA and should be able to travel to the UK on whatever passport they choose.
But confusion has arisen for those who don’t have a British passport because theirs is expired, lost, or they were never issued with one.
If they choose to travel on their EU passport, the process of applying for ETA – and whether it is necessary – remains unclear.
The ETA application form asks travellers to declare any other nationalities, but the drop-down menu does not give the option to select ‘British citizen’.
Should British dual nationals continue with their application without declaring their ‘secondary’ nationality, they would theoretically be forced to give misinformation about their dual nationality.
Euronews Travel posed the question to an ETA advisor from the Home Office on their web chat.
The advisor refused to give guidance about not declaring British nationality on the ETA form. They stated that if you are a dual citizen with British/Irish citizenship, you do not need an ETA.
However, “you prove your permission to travel using your valid British/Irish passport or other passport containing a certificate of entitlement to the right of abode in the UK.”
When asked what to do if the traveller is not in possession of any of these documents, the advisor responded, “You either need to apply for a British passport or a certificate of entitlement”.
Renewing a UK passport from overseas costs £101 (€123), while a certificate of entitlement comes with a £550 (€658) fee. Both application processes take several weeks.
Euronews Travel has reached out to the Home Office for official guidance.
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Flames and smoke shot through the air as the volcanic fissure opened near the town of Grindavik.
A volcano began erupting in southwestern Iceland on Tuesday as tourists at the nearby Blue Lagoon and residents of local communities were evacuated.
Flames and smoke shot through the air as a fissure opened near the town of Grindavík, about 50 kilometres southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, where roughly 40 homes have been evacuated, according to national broadcaster RUV.
Residents mostly vacated the community, located on the Reykjanes Peninsula, in 2023 when the volcano came to life after lying dormant for 800 years.
A swarm of small earthquakes began at around 6:30am local time on 1 April, similar to previous eruptions. The eruption just north of the protective barrier near Grindavík then began at 9:45am, according to Iceland’s Met Office (IMO).
Warning sirens started to sound when the orange-red fissure reached the town’s defence walls at around 10am. IMO has said that the fissure is now around 700 metres long, and “it cannot be ruled out that it may continue to open further south.”
Iceland sits above a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic and, on average, sees one eruption every four to five years.
Experts have warned that volcanic activity in the Reykjanes peninsula has entered a new era, with the frequency of eruptions having surged. This is the 11th such event to have occurred since 2021, when this new eruption period began.
Iceland’s Blue Lagoon closed until further notice
The Blue Lagoon is one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions. Authorities evacuated guests from the geothermal spa, moving them to nearby hotels when it became clear an eruption was imminent.
It will remain closed through 1 April, and the situation will be assessed later on, according to a message posted on the Blue Lagoon’s website. All guests with bookings during this temporary closure will be contacted.
A ‘red alert’ has been issued for the town of Grindavík, and the area around it is closed off. It will remain closed until further notice.
Travellers have been asked to respect the closures and instructions from local authorities and to stay away while conditions are being assessed, according to Safe Travel Iceland.
During previous eruptions, tourists and locals keen to see the majestic event first-hand have been repeatedly warned to stay away from Reykjanes.
Though it is yet to be updated for the most recent eruption, the UK’s FCDO says eruptions and earthquakes are common in Iceland due to the country’s nature geography.
“In the event of an eruption or wider seismic activity follow the latest advice issued by the authorities,” it says. It adds that travellers should regularly check for alerts and advice from the Icelandic Tourism Board, Icelandic Met Office, Safe Travel Iceland and the Almannavarnir Facebook Page.
The effects of the eruption are currently localised and have not caused any problems for the nearby Keflavík airport- Iceland’s main international airport.
Though ash clouds from previous volcanic eruptions in Iceland have had disrupted international air travel, this one is not expected to do so.
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Travel
What is the ETA? European travellers need €12 entry permit to visit the UK starting this week
Read our full guide to the UK’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA): who needs it, how long it’s valid and how to apply.
The UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system has officially expanded to European travellers.
Starting 2 April 2025, all European visitors will need ETA approval – or, for some non-EU nationals, a visa – to enter the UK.
The system became mandatory for travellers from the US, Canada and Australia on 8 January 2025, following its rollout last November for nationals of Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Read on for details on cost, validity and how to get it.
What is the ETA?
The ETA replaces the single-use Electronic Visa Waiver (EVW) scheme, offering a lower cost option with multi-entry validity.
The UK government notes that it is not a visa and does not permit entry into the UK. Rather, it authorises a person to travel to the UK.
The ETA is now required for all eligible nationalities. You can find the full list of countries here.
How do I apply for an ETA to enter the UK?
Most visitors will be able to apply using a mobile app and can expect a decision emailed within three days.
Everyone travelling needs to apply, including babies and children, but you can apply for other people.
The UK government says its app is the quickest and easiest way to apply for an ETA. You can download the ETA app from the UK government website.
If you cannot download the app, you can also apply online here.
To complete the application, make sure you have on hand the passport you’ll be travelling on, an email address and a credit card, debit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. You will have to answer a set of suitability questions. You don’t need to enter your travel details.
You can delete the app when you’ve finished applying. Your ETA will be linked to your passport digitally, and you will not need to show anything else when you enter the UK.
When to apply for your ETA
The government says: “You must apply for an ETA before you travel to the UK. You can travel to the UK while waiting for a decision.”
Considering most applicants will get a decision within three days, it can be assumed you should apply at least three ahead of travelling to the UK, though you can do it much further in advance.
How much does the UK ETA cost?
Like the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) in the US, a fee is attached to the application process.
The ETA costs £10 (approximately €12 at the time of writing), rising to £16 (€19) on 9 April 2025.
How long is the ETA valid?
An ETA lasts for two years. You do not need to apply again during this time.
You can travel to the UK as many times as you want during the period of validity, but you cannot stay for longer than six months on one trip. Check the UK government website for more details on what you can and cannot do on an ETA.
Note that you will need to apply for a new ETA if you get a new passport, as your ETA is linked to it.
Will I need a visa to enter the UK?
As mentioned above, the ETA isn’t a visa, but it does grant permission to enter the country.
All visitors who don’t currently require a visa will need to get an ETA before they travel. This includes those who do not currently need to submit any form of application to visit the UK. US, Canadian, Australian and European citizens need an ETA even for short stays or transiting through the UK, for example.
Travellers from countries that don’t have visa-free entry agreements with the UK will still have to apply for the correct visa and an ETA.
If you don’t apply before your trip, the government says you could be fined, though no further details have been given about this.
You still need to apply if you are transiting through the UK – even if you aren’t going through border control.
The ETA allows you to come to the UK for six months for tourism, visits to family and friends, business or short term study.
You can also get an ETA instead of a visa if you are coming to the UK for up to three months on the Creative Worker visa concession or coming to the UK for a permitted paid engagement. Outside of these conditions, you can’t use an ETA to do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person.
Who does not need an ETA?
British and Irish citizens, people who already have a visa or permission to live, work or study in the UK, those travelling with a British overseas territories citizen passport and people who live in Ireland and are travelling from Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man don’t need to apply for an ETA.
Why is the UK introducing the ETA scheme?
The ETA is part of the UK’s plan to digitise its borders at UK airports by the end of 2025.
The scheme is intended to reduce queues at the border, “helping to speed up legitimate journeys to the UK”.
Facial recognition technology could be used to make these “contactless corridors” possible, British newspaper The Times reports. It would require international travellers to submit biographic and biometric details, like photos of their faces through the new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme before they fly.
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