Government dreams of an Alentejo gold rush are on hold after local managers of a Canadian gold mining company have disappeared, leaving behind unpaid workers.
Canadian officials at Colt Resources, who signed contracts with the Portuguese government in 2012 to extract gold in the Alentejo region, stopped paying workers and have scarpered.
Swift as ever to defend his good name, the former Prime Minister, José Sócrates has reacted to news that the Public Ministry has ordered several properties to be seized, considering them still to be property controlled by him.
"This attitude of the Public Prosecution is a shame," said Sócrates, while criticising Operation Marquês and accusing the prosecutor of "abuse of power."
Up to 900,000 people, (authorities give the number as 350,000), took to the streets of Barcelona on Sunday afternoon to protest against any declaration of Catalonia's independence from Spain.
After last Sunday’s attempt at a referendum, disrupted by the Guardia Civil and National Police who used violence on the peaceful crowd, the political stand-off has polarised with Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, saying that he might suspend Catalonia’s current quasi-autonomous status, sack the regional government and call a new local election.
Ryanair's chief operating officer, rather conveniently has 'resigned' after thousands of flights had to be cancelled in a pilot roster foul-up that could cost the airline €20 million.
Michael Hickey is said to have been the man responsible for preparing the pilot work maps since 2014. He joined the company in 1988 as an engineer.
A woman failed to take her dog along when she moved from her rented property in Vila Real de Santo António.
As the landlord did not visit his property for three months but when he did, the desiccated dog was found dead at the apartment in Bairro 28 de Junho.
The pain in Spain falls mainly in Catalonia as the Madrid Government today approved a law to make it easier for companies to relocate their corporate headquarters.
This tailored decree law now will be used by the directors of CaixaBank, the main economic institution of Catalonia which also controls Portugal's BPI, to approve the transfer of their head office from the Catalan capital of Barcelona to Valência, without having to convene an inconvenient general meeting of shareholders.
The European Commission said today that the Portugal’s plan to allow banks to work together with common debtors is an "important initiative" which will accelerate the recovery of viable companies.
"The restructuring of viable businesses should be accelerated while non-viable companies should not continue to weigh on bank balance sheets. The platform to strengthen the coordination of bad debt management is an important initiative in this regard," says the European Commission.
The average occupancy rate per room in the Algarve’s hotels was 89.2% in September, 1.9% up on last year and the highest in 17 years, according to the provisional monthly data released today by the Algarve’s hoteliers’ association.
More relevant was the increase in cash taken, up 7.2% during the month as businesses 'adjust supply with demand' and put prices up.
