When I was a kid I used to think that the land, being God’s creation, was also its property and only given to certain deserving men like Cain and Abel.

In conjunction with this idea, I thought that the land had been conquered from someone like the Moors, and that was the case of Portugal, and so it belonged to the King. Only his vassals, I thought then, could own land.

On the other hand, owning large amounts of it, like in a rural property, looked to me to be truly impressive and a sure symbol of personal power.

The other thing I thought about owning land was that you could leave it for your family, your posterity since land is non-perishable.

So, altogether, owning land looked to me as something proper of a noble man or a man of God. And being able to buy it with money seemed to me like an incredible possibility.

I thought also that, being land so precious, it must have a very high price in money terms. Maybe, I thought, only powerful people can buy land. So, I concluded, you must make yourself powerful first and then buy land to cement your position.

I think today that we all have some sort of fascination with land ownership and all the housing booms are a testimony to that. Isn’t it funny to realise that, not being you individually able to conquer another country by stealth, you can still buy a piece of it?

It’s interesting to observe the way property owners feel about themselves and in relation to renters: they feel they have achieved a higher level of financial security and personal dignity. Land does give distinction to people, especially when coupled with the homes where they live.