Sören Ernst More than a quarter of a century ago, when he was a sculptor’s apprentice, Sören Ernst used to be regularly sent to a basement at the end of a long day chipping away at stone, to take plaster casts of clay models in preparation for their casting […] »ND, Edition 714 ( 2 Feb 2012),  No Comments This year may well see an end to events under the “Allgarve” cultural programme. Although resisting the demise, ERTA, the regional tourism board, is advancing with an alternative plan for 2012. At a press conference last Friday, António Pina revealed […] » Traffic on the Via do Infante (A22) dropped by 48.1% in December last year, compared to the same month in 2010. “Estradas de Portugal” give “the economic situation and the tolls” as the reasons for the dip. According to EP statistics - which show […] » Sociologist Elísio Estanque has launched a book this week on the rise and fall of Portugal’s middle class. Entitled «A Classe Média: Ascensão e Declínio», it shows how “in just a few decades” Portuguese society went from a predominantly rural one […] » The German Kiel Institute has come up with a world economic report in which the outlook for Portugal is far from rosy. “Portugal’s debt is unsustainable”, considers David Bencek, the report’s co-author, claiming that the country would have to run […] »TDT Since Monday 23rd January half the Algarve no longer receives analog signal (old fashioned technology) TV. It’s the first phase of the introduction of TDT (digital transmission) in Portugal, which got underway on 12th January this year, and now affects […] » Faro’s largest shopping centre, Forum Algarve, is to expand by another 56 shops by the spring of 2014. According to Multi Development, the Dutch real estate firm in charge of the complex, new brand names will include FNAC, Primark and H&M. […] » “Aquaculture in Portugal hasn’t increased in the way that we’d hoped”. This is the conclusion of a report by the Accounts Court (Tribunal de Contas) which referred to the significant number of investors who simply “gave up” plans they had within […] » President of the Republic Cavaco Silva has managed to upset almost everyone by complaining on television over cuts to pensions, saying that his two - from the CGA (“Caixa Geral de Aposentações”) and Bank of Portugal - won’t “pay his expenses” - which […] »Feldspar PSD/ Algarve deputy Mendes Bota has once again used Parliamentary Questions to speak out against proposals for the mining of feldspar in Monchique. Considering the plans “would be a serious blow to the economy, environmental equililbrium and natural […] »A perspective by citizens A team of investigators from Lisbon’s social sciences institute presented a study, entitled «A Qualidade da Democracia em Portugal: a Perspectiva dos Cidadãos» (The quality of democracy in Portugal: a perspective by citizens). It’s an exercise that […] »Social Security meltdown It’s a daily drama – an apparent nightmare without end. Early every morning, lines of people turn up at social security offices throughout the Algarve, all of them needing help. Whether it’s help with unemployment benefit that hasn’t come through, […] » Despite the crisis at home, and growing unemployment in the region, the Algarve is seen very positively from abroad. It has been considered the best golfing destination, winning the “best value for money” Europe Continental prize run by British magazine […] »Algarve Together With God The Diocese of the Algarve will be presenting a team on 20 January, with the objective of “promoting what the region has to offer tourists when it comes to religion”. Sandra Moreira, part of the new team, explains it will be launching a website to […] » Investigators from CIMA (the marine and environmental centre) at the University of the Algarve have begun a series of depth soundings along Ria Formosa – the most important lake system in the country - to take detailed readings of the structure of […] » Wolfgang Münchau, columnist in the “Financial Times” newspaper, has declared in a recent editorial that Greece is poised to default and leave the Euro. This will cause investors’ attention to “fall immediately” on Portugal. For Münchau last weekend’s […] »Lagos Lagos is the last stop on the Via do Infante – and since the motorway tolls came into force on 8th December, it has taken on ghost-town proportions. The palm-tree lined avenida that used to be filled with parked cars is now a long road yawning with […] » More than three million Portuguese suffer from rheumatic disorders, but a lack of local specialists means patients often have to travel long distances for treatment. The logistic headache has been highlighted by Luís Maurício, president of the Portuguese […] » The “Tribunal de Contas” (public accounts court) has refused the request from Lagos council for a 1.9 million euro loan, saying the municipality has “exceeded its debt limit” already. “The borough council has exceeded its legal capacity for debt […] » Three investigators who have been studying oysters in the Algarve have found pearls. The existence of these much-sought after jewels of the sea has been confirmed by IPIMAR investigators Frederico Batista and Ana Grade, as well as Deborah Power of […] »«El País» In an interview given in one of the latest editions of the Spanish newspaper «El Pais», legendary Portuguese Socialist and former president of the Republic Mário Soares has said that the current generation of politicians is basically ineffectual. […] » As the New Year begins, concerns in Monchique centre on a recent Government announcement that the nation’s mining sector is one of the “motors of economic reform”. There are currently two bids to prospect for feldspar on Monchique’s south-facing […] » The boroughs of Vila Real de Santo António, Alcoutim and Castro Marim are fighting back against the imposition of tolls on the A22 Via do Infante. They’ve mounted a leafleting campaign at the frontier with Spain, informing Andalusians that there’s […] »Manuel da Luz, Portimão The Mayor of Portimão has written an open-letter to his electors quashing “the rumours that have been circulating recently in a bid to slur his good name and dignity”. According to a copy of the letter made available to this newspaper, Manuel da […] » More than two million visits... that’s how much the Algarve has lost in the last 10 years. The figure comes from AHETA, the association of hotels and tourist complexes – which shows that in 2001 there was a total of 16.8 million “sleep‑overs” registered […] » |  Portimão’s borough council led by Manuel da Luz has decided to pave the way for a “participatory budget” – open to all voters and residents with ideas for their town, for up to 200.000 euros each. In the initial stages, citizens will be able to tender […] » But, apparently no-one misses it! The “Allgarve” programme began in 2007, under the direction of the then Minister for the Economy Manuel Pinho. It received annual budgets to the tune of five million euros, but, said Cecília Meireles, “it really […] »OlAF The number of fake euro coins in circulation has dropped over the past year, but the €2 coin continues to be the most notorious bogus coin – responsible for two thirds of the total number of falsified coins detected. In all 157.000 fake coins were […] »APEMIP Financial difficulties are preventing hundreds of Portuguese families from covering their mortgage payments. Emerging data shows that there has been an 18% increase in the number of homes returned to banks by families and estate agents – while banks […] »ruin'arte In 2008, commercial photographer Gastão Silva, 46, created “Ruin’Arte” – a project designed to draw attention to the dilapidation of architectural heritage throughout Portugal. His concern was that these were “pieces of lost history”, “forgotten […] »BFP, Edition 714 ( 2 Feb 2012), No CommentsPedro Seromenho In the maelstrom of the crisis, the small creamy coloured grub decimating the region’s palm trees is often ignored. Householders desperate to stretch purse strings come to the conclusion that Red Palm Weevil (RPW) is unstoppable, and so do nothing. […] » A new factory – the Companhia de Pescarias do Algarve, an investment of 1.3 million euros – opened in “Porto de Olhão” last year and then closed due to lack of connection to mains drainage. Now another is nearly complete – again a fish cannery, this […] » Cáritas, the Church charity, supported 493 more Portuguese families in the Algarve last year than it did in 2010, taking the number of families helped from 932 to 1.425. Thus, the number of people under the Cáritas umbrella in the Algarve came to […] » The Algarve has reached 31.658 unemployed people registered at employment and professional training centres. The figure relates to the end of 2011 and represents an increase of 11.9% in relation to the same period last year – and an 8.9% increase […] »I Love Me “I Love Me” is a make of low-cost unisex cosmetics created by Portuguese José Janeiro, trained in marketing. “Launching a product “made in Portugal” for the International market is much more complicated than launching a product “Made in Spain” – […] »Miguel Portas “What’s on the table and being decided upon everyday by the government under the auspices of the Troika is a generalised programme of impoverishment of the people. The principle in economics is called “creative destruction” – everything that doesn’t […] » Very soon Ryanair will be running flights from the Algarve to Marseilles and Nantes in France and Milan/ Bergamo in Italy. The three new routes will run twice weekly, at the beginning and end of every week (Mondays and Fridays for Nantes and Milan, […] » The president of Ayamonte’s commercial association, Emilio Borrego, has asked the Portuguese government to reconsider the “massive barbarity” of imposing road tolls on the Via do Infante highway - because of the commercial damage they have caused […] »Paulo Simões, secretary of state for local administration and reform, has already approved a list of “inspections” to take place in 2012. Among them are seven Algarve borough councils: Faro, Alcoutim, Aljezur, Lagos, Loulé, Portimão and Tavira (last […] » A study by the Economics Faculty at Oporto university has estimated that the “parallel economy” in Portugal now represents a quarter of the wealth produced in this country. That translates into 42.7 million euros! From 2009-2010, this black economy […] »The Lagos of slaves It’s a story straight out of a film script. At the beginning of January 2009, a young archeologist and her «Dryas» team unearthed a unique discovery. A world-class find: one of the oldest slave cemeteries ever to have been documented. The excavation […] » Elidérico Viegas, president of the hoteliers’ association AHETA, has confirmed that entities like “Turismo do Algarve” and its regional branches “should be scrapped” and substituted by new organisations. Backing the recent declaration by parliamentary […] » The Algarve faces “a very serious problem” now that IVA has been increased from six to 23 per cent. The declaration comes from Alexandra Solleiro, executive president of the Tivoli Hotels and Resorts. “At first, golf courses will accommodate the […] » Since motorway tolls came into force on the A22 just over a month ago, accidents on the EN125 have increased by 30%. Last month (December), 65 accidents were registered on the beleauguered road. In the same month in 2010, there were only 50. […] »2012 People’s water bills – covering rubbish collection and sewage treatment as well – are set to sky-rocket over the coming year in a number of Algarve boroughs. Bills will be increasing the most in Castro Marim – where they’re set to double this month […] » He’s very direct about it. Film director Kristjan Knigge is looking for money. At a time when he admits, “it’s difficult to find funding for a clip”, he’s going all out to raise the hundreds of thousands needed for a full-length feature-film. […] » By September this year, the Algarve will have three solar energy centres, capable of producing enough energy for 26.000 people. To be sited in Silves, Albufeira and Loulé, the structures will cover 65 hectares and be the region’s first centres for […] » Lagos municipal assembly has taken a number of stands against the Government’s austerity measures. In a heated meeting last week, the assembly decided to “reject as unacceptable, the increases in health tariffs” – criticising the move as “purely […] » The Algarve’s PSD deputies, Mendes Bota and Elsa Cordeiro, have questioned the government over plans to take INEM’s helicopter‑ambulance (stationed at Loulé) out of nighttime service in the Algarve. The chopper serves the whole region, as well as […] » |
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