Ronaldo's Portugal: from Madeira to Lisbon.

Part one: Madeira, the island

When Portuguese sailors led by João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira reached Madeira around 1419 and 1420, nobody lived there. The island was covered in forest, which is where its name comes from: madeira means wood. The settlers founded Funchal, named after the wild fennel, funcho, that grew along the shore.

Madeira grew rich first on sugar and then on wine. Madeira wine, fortified so it survived long sea voyages, was shipped all over the world, and British merchant families settled in Funchal to trade it. It is still made there today.

Part two: the boy from Santo António

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in Funchal on 5 February 1985, in the parish of São Pedro, and grew up in the steep hillside parish of Santo António, in a modest family. He started playing for the local club Andorinha in 1992, moved to Nacional, one of Madeira's two big clubs, in 1995, and was soon too good for the island.

In 1997, at the age of 12, he moved alone to Lisbon to join the youth academy of Sporting CP, a flight and a whole world away from his family.

Part three: Lisbon, the city

Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in Western Europe. The Romans called it Olisipo, and later it was a Moorish city for more than four centuries. In 1147 the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, took it with the help of crusaders on their way to the Holy Land, a story I told in how Portugal became a country. It became the capital in the 13th century.

Its golden age came with the voyages of discovery. In 1497 Vasco da Gama sailed from Belém, on the edge of Lisbon, and reached India the following year. The riches that came back paid for the Jerónimos Monastery, where da Gama is buried, and the Belém Tower at the mouth of the river.

Then, on the morning of 1 November 1755, a huge earthquake struck, followed by a tsunami and fires that burned for days. Most of the city was destroyed. The king's minister, the Marquis of Pombal, rebuilt the centre, the Baixa, on a straight grid of streets that you can still walk today.

Napoleon reached Lisbon too. In 1807 his army invaded Portugal, and the royal family escaped to Brazil just before the French arrived, making Rio de Janeiro the capital of the Portuguese empire for over a decade. And in 1974, Lisbon was the stage for the Carnation Revolution, the almost bloodless coup that ended decades of dictatorship. The city's great red bridge is named after its date: 25 April.

Part four: from Sporting to the world

Ronaldo made his first-team debut for Sporting on 14 August 2002, aged 17, against Inter Milan. A year later, on 6 August 2003, Sporting played a friendly against Manchester United to open their new stadium, the Estádio José Alvalade. Sporting won 3-1, Ronaldo ran the United defence ragged, and the United players reportedly urged Sir Alex Ferguson to sign him. Six days later he was a Manchester United player, for £12 million. The rest is in every record book.

Lisbon has not forgotten. In 2020 Sporting renamed its training academy in Alcochete, across the river, the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo. And Madeira went even further: a museum, a statue, a hotel and an airport. If you want the latest chapter, read why Ronaldo walked out on Portugal.

The CR7 trail in Madeira

The CR7 trail in Lisbon

Getting there from the UAE

• To Lisbon. Direct flights from Dubai to Lisbon take around eight hours. Compare Dubai to Lisbon flights.
• To Madeira. There are no direct flights from the UAE. Most people connect in Lisbon, and the hop to Funchal takes under two hours. Compare Dubai to Funchal flights.
• Visa. UAE citizens do not need a visa for Portugal for stays of up to 90 days in 180. Most other passport holders living in the UAE need a Schengen visa, which requires travel medical insurance covering at least EUR 30,000. EKTA says its Schengen travel insurance is suitable for visa applications. Check the current rules with the Portuguese visa centre before you book.
• Airport pickups. Book a driver to meet you in Lisbon or Madeira.
• Time difference. Lisbon and Madeira are 3 hours behind the UAE in summer and 4 hours behind in winter.
• When to go. Lisbon is best in spring and autumn. Madeira is mild all year, which is why it is called the island of eternal spring.

Before you fly

• Mobile data. Portugal plans from Airalo and Saily install before you leave and cover Madeira too.
• Plugs. Portugal uses type C and F sockets, the UAE uses type G. Pack a universal travel adapter.
• Bags on the last day. Leave your luggage in central Lisbon and keep exploring before a late flight.
• Read on the plane. There are several biographies of Ronaldo. See them on Amazon.ae, most of them on Kindle.

Questions people ask

The history is from the sources below. The travel tips are research from official and booking sites, not a personal trip report. Links to tours, flights, eSIMs, transfers, insurance and luggage storage may earn me a commission through Travelpayouts, and Amazon.ae links through Amazon Associates, at no extra cost to you. The CR7 Museum and Sporting links are plain links. Full disclosure.

Sources

1. Cristiano Ronaldo, Wikipedia (early life, Sporting, the museum and statue)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo gets airport named in his honour, The Guardian, 29 March 2017
3. Academia Cristiano Ronaldo, Wikipedia
4. Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United: the game that sealed it, Sky Sports
5. Museu CR7, official site
6. Madeira and Funchal, Wikipedia
7. In the footsteps of Napoleon: Madeira, Henry Veitch and Winston Churchill, John Tyrrell
8. Lisbon, Encyclopaedia Britannica
9. 1755 Lisbon earthquake, Wikipedia
10. Transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil, Wikipedia
11. Carnation Revolution, Wikipedia
12. Stadium Tour and Museum, Sporting CP official site

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