A new study by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation has concluded that the country needs a positive migratory balance in order to maintain the working population and keep it paying into the social security fund which, in turn, will be paying pensions to an increasing number of retirees.

The study ‘Migration and Demographic Sustainability’ was coordinated by João Peixoto, Daniela Craveiro, Jorge Malheiros and Isabel Tiago de Oliveira and represents the first joined-up thinking on impacts across various interrelated sectors of demographics, economics, employment and social security receipts.

The latest in a long line of broken promises is that the EN125 road works will be finished by June 30th this year, before the ‘summer season’ that appears already to have started - so successful is the Algarve as a tourist destination.

Infraestruturas de Portugal ‘guarantees’ that the work on the section between Vila do Bispo and Olhão on the Algarve’s only free east-west road really will be completed by the end of June.

The failure of the refueling system at Lisbon airport last Wednesday had knock-on effects at 39 airports and left 50,000 thousands passengers stranded.

The hardest hit were Madrid-Barajas, Brussels, Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris-Orly and Barcelona-El Prat after the Lisbon fuel system failed. This may be the responsibility of Grupo Operacional de Combustíveis run by Petrogal - a full inquiry is underway.

The new sewage treatment plant being built in Companhiera, on the west side of the EN125 road bridge over the Arade river near Portimão, will be ready for action next March after an investment of €11 million by the regional water company.

The Secretary of State for the Environment and the head of Águas do Algarve have visited the site which will have a capacity to treat the sewage output of 140,000 inhabitants and eradicate the obnoxious smell that has welcomed road and river users for years and has made life in the village of Companheira a daily and unhealthy burden.

The Monte Rei Golf & Country Club, Vila Real de Santo António, has won the title of Best Portuguese Golf Club of 2017, adding to an impressive list of recent awards.
 
The latest accolade was from golfers from across Europe who voted on the Leadingcourses.com website and gave the course a score of 9.15 out of a possible 10.

In a vote of ‘no confidence’ in Portugal’s French-owned airports operator ANA, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said that the management of the new Montijo airport “needs competition.”

"Real competition will be good for the consumer," said O’Leary, adding that thanks to its monopoly position, ANA is postponing the opening of Montijo as a complementary one to Lisbon airport.

Loulé council is shelling out over €1 million on building a new station for the local GNR in Quarteira.

Local ratepayers will be funding a €1,135,220 spend, the value of the tender published by the local authority in Diário da República.

The Portuguese Government would like to see Spain abandon nuclear power. However, the Minister of Foreign Affairs admits that Spain’s "energy transition" is the responsibility of the Spanish Government and that Portugal is powerless to intervene.

Augusto Santos Silva stated to parliament that the Portuguese State cannot interfere in Spain's decision to close or maintain the Almaraz nuclear power plant, despite the fact that Portugal already has and has every right so to do under existing Europen legislation. It is not clear why the minister dismissed a swathe of EU cross-border legistlation in this manner but the options of stupidity and guile can not be ruled out at this stage.