Portugal’s governing Socialist Party has won the country’s general election, on Sunday the 6th of October. However, they fell short of securing an absolute majority.
More than half of Algarvians did not vote for their political party of choice this Sunday, 6th of October. The abstention rate was 54.17%, rising from the 2015 elections and setting a new regional record. Across the country, only in Bragança were the numbers higher (55.1%).
The 33-year-old woman was pronounced dead after surfers brought her ashore along with a 34-year-old British man who rushed into the sea to save her but also lost his life in the process.
Lagoa Council have announced that they will be improving conditions at Praia da Marinha, which is regarded as one of the most famous and popular Algarve beaches in the region.
Portugal is often described as somewhat of a success story in the Eurozone after embarking on deep austerity measures. The country’s economy grew 2.8% in 2017 and 2.1% in 2018.
The Algarve is well-known for its history of salt production. Salt was once Portugal’s white gold and essential to many economic treaties. However in modern times salt-making is not as lucrative as it once was, and the vast majority of us use salt from “salt mines” or “non-solar evaporation vats”. Consequently many of Portugal’s salterns have fallen into decline and some have even been re-opened to the Atlantic. However you can still find commercially active salterns in the Algarve – in Olhão, Castro Marim and Tavira.
Since the beginning of this month, the Emergency Psychiatry unit has been in operation at Portimão’s Algarve University Hospital, officials have claimed this will “improve the accessibility, quality and speed of care for people with mental illnesses in the Western Algarve, reducing the flow of patients to Faro’s Emergency Psychiatric facilities", according to a statement from ARS Algarve.
Former world number one Lee Westwood, who won the Portugal Masters ten years ago, is returning to the Algarve tournament at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura. The tournament will last from October 24-27th.
