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Algarve wants foreign tourists, but not publicity in foreign languages
There are town councils in the Algarve, like Tavira, Albufeira and Lagos, that levy a surtax for licensing publicity in foreign languages. Portimão is also at the public discussion phase of a new ruling that will effectively bring in the same level of charges. In the case of Tavira, the town council demands five times the figure for publicity just in Portuguese – which also, by law, has to be included in the announcement.
Edition 640 (19 Aug 2010), 
65535 Comments »
65535 Comments »
There have been a lot of complaints – and in the end, the majority of people seeking licences for publicity opt to run their announcements in Portuguese only. Lagos Town Council also demanded five times the amount normally levied for advertising in Portuguese, but this month the tax was reduced – because the council received so many complaints.
Now, they’ll only be demanding twice the amount for advertising in a foreign language, and this only if the advertising is to be exclusively in that foreign language. If Portuguese is also included in the announcement, the council has conceded that there’ll be no extra charge for issuing the relevant licence.
In Albufeira, the tax payable for publicity in a foreign language – where the use of Portuguese is not obligatory – is also double the usual tax, while in the boroughs of Loulé, Lagoa and Olhão, no surcharges are levied, councils simply stipulate that any phrases used should also be translated into Portuguese…
