Walking Festival Hiking. Experiencing nature. Learning about the past. Dancing. Where? On the 26th, 27th and 28th of April, Loulé Council will receive the Algarve’s 1st Walking Festival in Ameixial, with the support of the local authorities. According to João Ministro, […] »Isabel Soares She was the first woman in Portugal to be made director of a school (just after the Carnation revolution), and, years later, she won municipal elections to become the Algarve’s first lady mayor. Indeed, this far, Isabel Soares has been the region’s […] »Liliana Ferreira and Edite Reis Contrary to the policies of the current government - but in line with the opinion of various analysts - there are business people who see openings in what we call the “social economy”. An example of one is «We Care» of Loulé - recently licensed by […] »Elsa Cordeiro Just before Christmas we published the opinions of Communist deputy for the Algarve Paulo Sá who considered “that every day the current government is in power is a day too many”. A reader wrote in saying he expected “almost everyone in the country” […] »PCP “We have to get rid of this government. Every day it is here is a day too many. It is sinking the country, both socially and economically; everything is getting worse – but the greatest tragedy of all is that we have hunger once again. People don’t […] »Laurinda Seabra Have you ever stopped to wonder where the “harmful toxins” that affected bivalves in Ria Formosa over the summer may have come from? “The presence of toxins” led to a ban on shellfishing in the area for weeks. Scores of fishermen and their families […] » At the beginning of this year an insidious new tax crept in unannounced to hammer solar energy producers. All eco-friendly landowners who had invested in a government-initiated scheme to generate electricity for the national grid by installing photovoltaic […] » The once noble gardens of Estói’s 18th century palace are to be the setting for the Algarve’s 4th Mediterranean garden fair in a little over a week’s time - a fair that is now established on the local calendar, and which every year goes a little […] » On Saturday 20th October environmentalists from the country’s leading NGOs - SPEA, Almargem, Quercus and LPN - along with civic groups and local people, are staging what they hope will be a high profile event at Lagoa dos Salgados, the south coast’s […] » For four months of every year, life truly is a beach for hundreds of youngsters who pass the fairly rigorous test to become lifeguards along Portugal’s 943-kilometre stretch of coastline. Ten hours a day, seven days a week, lifeguards are on duty […] » This summer, a case for regional autonomy could not be clearer: the Algarve has been forced to adopt all manner of self-mutilating measures – tolls on the A22 that have crippled businesses, an IVA hike on restaurants that has seen scores of eateries […] »José Chumbinho “A river of honey in ash”. That’s all that remains of thousands of beehives in the Serra do Caldeirão. José Chumbinho, 58, beekeeper and official within the regional association of honey producers, tells us that the fire that raged between the boroughs […] »Algarve Rock Choir The Beatles were sending the world into wild hysterics when Howard Scott Parkin started playing the clubs. The bright-blue-eyed 66-year-old from Yorkshire has been playing ever since - literally travelling the world on cruise ships as an impressive […] » For almost a year, we have been trying to find a teacher willing to talk to us about the huge changes forced on education by austerity and the ongoing financial crisis. Even last summer when scores of teachers lost their jobs due to the closure of […] »Portimão & Quarteira “I know what hell looks like – and I was alone…” This week we talk to a divorced wife and mother whose life was torn apart by drug addiction. The addiction wasn’t her’s, but as she has learnt, families are just as much casualties of substance abuse […] »António Branco Last weekend, the “Teatro Municipal de Faro” staged its first meeting of amateur theatrical groups from the Algarve. It was a novelty that brought together a large number of organisations active in the region. António Branco, university professor, […] »David Jones It all began with what he meant as a “harmless observation” – but now Algarve resident David Jones has found himself hailed as a defender for free speech in an increasingly crazy world. His story has been covered by mainstream media across the globe […] »Animal SOS Against a background of the animal “holocaust” playing out on private land in Lagoa, we visit one of the many animal refuges bursting at the seams this edition, to hear how the struggle to save the region’s animals just goes on getting harder. […] »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 […] » 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 […] »Chris Plumb As the eurozone crisis lurched through this “make or break” week, we spoke to a moneyman who believes a return to national currencies is the only answer. Chris Plumb, 56, worked in money markets for 24 years. He’s been watching events in Europe and […] »Leonardo da Vinci programme It’s one of the nature tourism havens of the Algarve, but Monchique is not without its problems. There’s the threat of open-cast mining to southern hillsides – and the fact that marketing, according to tourism coordinators, is “pretty piecemeal and […] »British ambassador to Portugal Multi-lingual, with a background working on European issues, the latest British ambassador to Portugal is mother‑of-two Jill Gallard, from Northern Ireland. Taking up her appointment as the 2nd female ambassdor ever to have been appointed to Portugal, […] »Joyce Craveiro, owner of sex shop «Love me More» When the bottom fell out of the property development market, gamine interior designer Joyce Craveiro, 37, asked herself “what next? What interests me?” The answer was “erotica” – nothing sleazy, more the high-class end of the sex toys market. […] »Aleksandra Serbim For 10 years, Brazilian Aleksandra Serbim, 39, worked as an institutional psychologist in homes for the socially deprived, the very ill and young delinquents. She saw “so many horrors” – and experienced a number of terrifying personal assaults in […] » | Catrin George - «Kulturpunkt» There is a new cultural voice in the Algarve. It calls itself “Kulturpunkt” and came into being around six weeks ago through the wish to create events bridging both German and Portuguese cultures. The force behind the initiative is Catrin George, […] »Michelle Cassar For the fifth year, British photographer Michelle Cassar, 37, is organizing a beach clean in Monte Clérigo, Aljezur, as part of the Surfrider Foundation’s global Ocean Initiatives. For 2013, the motto is “stop the invasion”, referring to plastic […] »Rui Meneses Ferreira, CEO Much negative press has resulted from plans for a mega tourist development at Praia Grande, near the renowned birding wetland of Lagoa dos Salgados. Up until now, very little space has been given to the views of the developer, Finalgarve - part of […] »Vera Fernandes She came, she saw, she conquered. In eight extraordinary months, 27-year-old Vera Fernandes has trail-blazed through the world of Algarve athletics. She has won a case full of trophies, over €1.000 euros in prize-money and her personal best is steadily […] »Fernanda Botelho For those who don’t believe the world will be coming to an end on 21st December 2012, the latest diary released by medicinal plant guru Fernanda Botelho is a must. That’s not to say the future is assured, though. Far from it. Fernanda’s diary for […] » High in the Monchique hills, hidden among cork forests, an Irish folk singer who plays the tin whistle and the Bodhran (Celtic drum) is working on a new sound to revive traditional songs and save them from obscurity. Her idea is to bring old Irish […] » Winning a gold medal at this year’s Dance World Cup in Austria has not been enough for Lagos’ steadily growing Associação de Dança (ADL) ballet school. The initiative that grew out of one woman’s dream to “give back” to the community has now set […] »Luís Costa, SPEA A damning report claims Europe’s governments are failing to implement environmental reforms and instead squandering billions of euros on agricultural subsidies that actually harm the environment, threatening wildlife. If things go on as they are, […] »Paulo Rosário Dias, MPT-Partido da Terra Can anything positive come out of the Via do Infante toll shambles? The as yet tiny Earth Party (MPT-Partido da Terra) thinks that it can. A couple of weeks ago it came up with the intriguing suggestion that management of the A22 Via do Infante […] »Maria Nunes da Silva Lourenço She is 77-years-old, uses a crutch for support and is frequently in pain – but as long as her hands are busy, Maria Nunes da Silva Lourenço is content. Monchique’s “last remaining” traditional weaver, she is the oldest artisan to exhibit in regional […] » One of the ambitions of the new Conrad Algarve luxury resort, part of the Hilton chain, opening in Quinta do Lago in September is to be a “social hub” in the region. To attain this, the hotel will be offering spacious events rooms and venues, including […] » Within 24-hours of interviewing the former hotelier who called in GNR environmental police to investigate the ongoing demise of Lagoa dos Salgados bird sanctuary, news hit the region that yet another 18-hole golf course, plus three hotels and five […] » Bad things happen. The trick is learning how to deal with them. At a time when all of us, in one way or other, are dealing with more negativity than is very possibly healthy, we bring you a story of sudden death, hidden debts and unexpected redundancy […] » A young university student from England has come up with a novel idea that may – just may – goad authorities into actually doing something over the relentless devastation to palm trees throughout the Algarve caused by Red Palm Weevil.
Philip Cook, […] » Following our recent feature introducing MALP - the citizens group that has formed to fight plans for gas and oil prospection along the Algarve coast - we bring you the thoughts of a career oil man, now retired and living in Lagos. A former senior […] » Synergies… it’s the new buzz word of the crisis - a way people and businesses contrive to stay afloat - and the concept has been picked up now by artists, traditionally people who work alone but these days caught up in the economic chaos and simply […] » After all the initial hullabulloo, politicians have gone lukewarm over the promotion of micro- and minielectricity generation projects by citizens (either private, or as part of groups). Proof of this is that the government set aside only 10 MW for […] »Monte da Casteleja It’s a happy catchphrase using the “Think global, buy local” philosophy to promote true Algarvian wines, full of summer sunshine. Monte da Casteleja wines are produced on an organic family farm just outside Lagos. Winegrower Guillaume Leroux has […] »Pedro 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. […] »Gourdasi
Lakicevic With the festive season well and truly upon us, artists and craftspeople up and down the Algarve are going all out to “work” the Christmas markets – the last available selling venues for the rest of the winter. The consensus is “no-one’s buying anything”. […] »Mendes Bota Six weeks ago, Algarve deputy José Mendes Bota posed a series of “inconvenient” questions to Energy Secretary Henrique Gomes. The 12 queries challenged the sense of the Government decision to award oil and gas exploration rights - within a sensitive […] »Laurinda Seabra Laurinda Seabra, 56, describes herself as a “seasoned social entrepreneur”. A former mechanical engineer in South Africa’s mining and petrochemical industry, she discovered early on that her real interest lay in helping businesses grow. […] »Artaviva! In a brave “leap of faith” three 50-something craftswomen have opened a unique new retail space in Lagos. When shops and businesses all over the town are closing in the grip of financial crisis, Artaviva has taken the plunge – with a “completely […] »Says Carlos, 48, driving instructor in Lagos Last week a horrific head-on collision involving a car full of Algarvian teenagers coming home from a rave left three young people dead and families plunged into mourning. Another senseless waste of unfulfilled lives. The kind of horror story splashed […] » |
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