How Porto’s gritty industrial neighbour became a coastal hotspot

Five miles north-west of Porto city centre, Matosinhos is a municipality built on fishing and a 19th-century port. After the construction of the vast Port of Leixões the fishing industry boomed, supporting 54 canneries at its mid-20th-century heyday; two survive.

Many textile factories and a sugar refinery have been demolished and luxury apartment blocks now stand alongside 19th-century tiled houses, abandoned, graffiti-daubed buildings and faded mid-century concrete classics. The University of Porto’s faculty of architecture has shaped the renaissance, with works by Pritzker prizewinner Álvaro Siza and the contemporary Casa da Arquitetura among the sights; when I visited, it was deserted.

Matosinhos was recognised in 2025 as a Unesco creative city of gastronomy and the port still supports a working fish market. Rua Heróis de França is lined with seafood restaurants dating to the 1950s, the air filled with the smoky aroma of grilled sardines, and many offer affordable meals from €20 for two courses and a drink.

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