The president of the Algarve mayors’ group, AMAL, said that the government’s plan to terminate the contracts for the exploration and extraction of oil and gas in the region "was a good decision" which should have been taken a long time ago.

"Fortunately, the government is to rescind the contracts and we consider that it is a good decision for the economy, for the environment and for tourism which is the fundamental business sector of the region and which contributes a huge percentage to the national accounts," said AMAL’s president.

The Public Security Police will be helping the region's population safely through the coming holiday period by being out and about with ‘highly visible’ patrols where people gather over the holidays.
 
The Public Security Police also know where there is likely to be trouble and will "patrol those areas in order to prevent and control illicit behavior that might risk the personal safety of the population during Christmas and New Year's Eve."

The Algarve’s business association, ACRAL, regrets the "perpetual" postponement of the construction of a new central hospital for the region and says the current government, just like all the previous ones, is intending to kick the project down the road until after the next general election.
 
"The new hospital is crucial to the sustainability of tourism in the Algarve: security, including health services, is one of the pillars of the destination's competitiveness: without effective health services the region’s image is degraded," says the president of ACRAL, Álvaro Viegas.

A record number of tourists celebrating New Year's Eve in the Algarve are set to fill the region’s hotels which are preparing for 100% occupancy.

The region’s tourist board, Turismo do Algarve, says the New Year is "traditionally stronger than Christmas" with a wide variety of events set up to attract visitors and the public.

Britain’s House of Lords issued a report on Wednesday which addressed the post-Brexit concerns of expats living and working in the UK.

The French ambassador, Sylvie Bermann, had told the Lords’ subcommittee on justice that the French community in Britain not only has “a number of questions” about the consequences of Brexit but also has registered “great uncertainty”.

Budget carrier easyJet has announced a raft of new routes for 2017, including several to and from Portugal.

From June it will be possible to board flights in Faro heading for the French cities of Nice or Lille.

In a laudable move involving good sense and leadership, the mayor of Lagos has decided that the residents of Bensafrim should have drastic reductions to their water bills as the council appears unable to maintain anything close to a regular supply.

The discount starts immediately, will be shown on December invoices and will last until the new supply pipeline comes into full operation.

Portimão's one-man crime wave has been arrested, to the relief of many locals whose properties and cars have been targeted by the 17-year-old teenager.

The youngster had been out and about, robbing people, burgling houses and stealing from cars in the Portimão area, causing deep concern to locals due to the sheer number of crimes committed in a short space of time.