 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 […] » 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” – […] » 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 […] » 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. […] » 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 […] » Two Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) deputies, Paulo Sá and Agostinho Lopes, have questioned the government over the “serious financial situation” at ÚNICA, the Adega Cooperativa do Algarve, based in Lagoa - and the last wine cooperative left in […] » For one day, they become Santa’s cavalcade – a procession of motorbikes that has brought Christmas cheer to the capital of the Algarve for the last 20 years. On Saturday 14th December around 200 bikers took part in the two-wheeled parade of Christmas […] » A ruse to falsify number plates - in order to avoid paying motorway tolls on the A22 - is being closely monitored by GNR police, as well as the firm “Estradas de Portugal”. The move was prompted after a driver was found at the weekend with his number […] » Algarve borough councils increased the number of workers in municipal services last year by 3%, compared to 2010. The news comes from a human resources study into local councils made by DGAL. According to the national authority, the increase in council […] » Between 2001 and 2011 the number of people taking a higher education course in Portugal almost doubled. There are now 1.2 million Portuguese with higher education qualifications – though only 12% of these went on to complete their university education […] » Financial difficulties have caused an “unprecedented increase” in the number of families appealing the consumer watchdog DECO for help with their debts. Since January this year, DECO has received around 22.000 calls for help. That’s an increase of […] » |  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 […] » 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 […] » 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 […] » 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 […] » 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 […] »Following on from last November’s highly successful “Entrepreneurship and Creation of Own Employment Workshop, held in Quarteira, Loulé Town Council, in association with IEFP, the national right to credit association and BCP Millennium bank, will […] »Public investment in the Algarve - defined by the state budget for 2012 - will involve 103 million euros. While plans to build a new “Central Hospital” are being put firmly on the back burner, improvements to port structures will be going ahead in […] » Less than a week into the Via do Infante tolls and two gantries have been damaged by shotgun blasts. The first, on the Albufeira-Loulé stretch was attacked in the early hours of Monday morning. Two CCTV cameras were shot out, and the cabin with computer […] » The Algarve branch of the union UGT has appealed to various entities for a regional debate on the Algarve’s employment situation. The idea is for an open debate - involving other unions, employers’ and business associations, as well as public institutions, […] »A new study, undertaken by the institute for the planning and development of tourism (IPDT), has attempted to predict what the Portuguese will be doing for Christmas – and it looks like 96.2% will be staying at home. That goes for New Year’s Eve […] »A new political party will be emerging next year. The news comes from Gil Garcia, leader of the Portuguese section of the International Workers’ League «Ruptura/ FER». The new party will be made up of 200 militants who have left the Left Bloc “BE” […] » |
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