Minister of the Sea Ana Paula Vitorino will be braving Portimão’s Mar Algarve 2017 expo at Portimão Arena on March 24 and hoping anti-oil protestors are busy elsewhere.

The minister who stood up parliament and lied about the implications of concessions licensed to oil companies along the south and west coasts (click here) will be presenting “some of the news for the sector”, reports Barlavento newspaper, in a three day event which promises this year to be almost twice as large as it was when it first began in 2014.

The Portimão prowler has been arrested on suspicion of burglary at seven properties in the area.

The police announced that a 51-year-old man has been arrested, presented to court on Saturday and now sits in jail to wait for his trial.

Many parking fine evaders, drunk drivers and dangerous drivers are in a punishment scheme that ensures they are locked up at weekends but able to continue to work during the week.

Around 530 people are spending their weekends in Portugal's jails, according to data from the General Directorate of Reintegration and Prison Services.

The European Commission is considering bringing legal actions at the European Court of Justice against Portugal for failing to transpose new Community rules on bank fees.
The new regulations aim to improve the transparency and the comparison of bank services.

The directive, which should have been taken on by Portugal last September, has so far only been adopted by 15 Member States.

The Attorney General said on Friday that she will extend Operation Marquês and reassess progress in April, to the intense irritation of José Sócrates’ legal team which has pledged to use all legal means to challenge the extension.

An earlier statement from the Attorney General’s office announced the case against the former prime minister and 27 other defendants, would not be finalised until the end of June.

Illegal immigrants from Nepal, India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistani and Vietnam are working illegally in the Alentejo to fill the increasing demand from agricultural companies for cheap labour.

It is estimated than in the Alentejo town of São Teotónio, near Odemira, its 6,500 inhabitants include over 4,000 illegal immigrants with tens of thousands across the region working without the necessary documentation.

Loulé’s annual Med Fest has won the award for the Best Medium Sized Festival in the Iberian Peninsula at the 2nd edition of the Iberian Festival Awards at a ceremony in Barcelona.

This award category is for festivals that receive an audience of between 1,500 and 10,000 people per day,  with growth potential, and are considered creative festivals.

The minimum bid was set at €10,000, but the final price of €62,000 for the concession of the old Sasha’s beach bar at Praia da Rocha, plus €3,000 a month for three years, has delighted Portimão’s cash-strapped council.

The public auction for the rights to operate the bar-restaurant on Praia da Rocha beach raised far more than anyone expected, €170,00 over three years.

The winner of the open auction now has the rights to occupy and operate the 250m2 beach restaurant, but with one condition - it will have to be open for business for at least nine months of the year.