When Steve Andrews, better known as the Bard of Ely, went looking for his missing calico cat, he didn't expect it to change his life. But the search for "Mum" introduced him to local musicians near his home in Quinta do Conde, led to him recording "Mother Nature Rap" at Verdelho Studio, and cemented the Welshman's unlikely status as a fixture of the Sesimbra municipality on Portugal's Setúbal peninsula.
Andrews – musician, poet, author and environmentalist – opens up about that chapter, and plenty more, in a long-form interview on the Resident Podcast with host Carl Munson. He arrived in the area back in 2014 after tiring of pricey Lisbon Airbnbs, and found a long-term rental that stuck. Ten-plus years on, he says the Portuguese sense of saudade and the Welsh hiraeth – both roughly, a bittersweet longing – have faded for him, because Quinta do Conde has quietly become home. Portugal, he notes, has also given him space and calm to write.
The heart of the interview is his environmental work. Andrews' book Earth Spirit: Saving Mother Ocean, endorsed by ocean conservationist Captain Paul Watson, lays out the many pressures on marine life, and his signature protest song "Where Does All The Plastic Go?" asks exactly what it says. His big idea is Ocean Aid: a global series of benefit concerts modelled on 1985's Live Aid, but aimed at ocean conservation. He closes the conversation with a direct appeal for support – including a public call to Elon Musk – and a live performance of his new song "What Will You Do, Elon?"
For travellers, the story doubles as a peek at a stretch of the Portuguese coast that most visitors skip. Quinta do Conde sits inland from Sesimbra, a working fishing town with a proper beach, seafood restaurants and a laid-back year-round feel, about 40 minutes south of Lisbon by car or bus. It's the kind of place where a wandering musician can put down roots – and where expats priced out of the capital have been quietly settling for years. The Arrábida Natural Park, with its hiking trails and turquoise coves, is right next door, and the famous surf beaches around Costa da Caparica are a short hop north.
If you're weighing a trip that mixes Lisbon city time with a slower coastal base, the Sesimbra–Arrábida area is a solid answer: more local, cheaper and greener than the capital, with surf, diving, wine country around Azeitão and easy day trips all within reach. And if you bump into a bearded Welshman strumming about plastic in the ocean, you'll know exactly who it is.
