American retiree says tipping etiquette is ‘very different’ in Portugal: There’s no ‘constant pressure’ like in the U.S.

In 2011, I was living in Washington, D.C. with my wife, where we had planned to spend our retirement years.

But a family vacation to Lisbon, Portugal in 2015 changed our trajectory. We loved it so much, we decided to make it our new home.

Portugal has fantastic cuisine and culture, and the cost of living can be up to 46% less than back in the U.S. But one of the most unexpected things about this country is how very different tipping etiquette is.

It would be unusual to tip a gardener, plumber or electrician.

But there are a few situations where tipping is only slowly becoming the norm: restaurants, hair and nail salons, hotels, guided tours, and taxis and rides-hares.

At restaurants and bars, tipping is less common outside of major cities, like Lisbon, Porto and other tourist destinations.

My family and I once visited a vineyard in a remote area of the Minho region in northern Portugal, where we enjoyed some exceptional wines and cured meats. As we were leaving, the waitress alerted us to the euros she thought we had accidentally left behind on the table.

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We explained that it was a tip (“gorjeta” in Portuguese). Based on her surprised reaction, it was clear that it didn’t happen very often.

There’s an incredible restaurant called Esplanada Furnas in the seaside village of Ericeira. On Sundays for lunch, it’s packed with families enjoying fresh seafood at long communal tables.

But, like many traditional Portuguese businesses, you won’t see an automatic service fee in your bill. You’ll have to be proactive about it, either by leaving cash on the table or by requesting to add a tip to your bill.

At restaurants in downtown Lisbon or nearby towns like Cascais, when it’s time to pay the bill, you’ll often be presented with handheld credit card…