The rate at which Golden Visa applications are being processed, approved or rejected is back up to its pre-Operation Labyrinth level with 1,600 going through thus far this year, if figures from the minister in charge are to be believed.

Non-EU citizens buying property for €500,000 or more can apply for the attractive Golden Visa package which offers unrestricted Schengen Area travel and zero tax on income earned outside Portugal.

Portugal is well on the way to achieving its goal of seeing that its citizens attain higher education, including undergraduate and postgraduate study as well as training for specific vocations.

By 2015, 40% of its female students and 23% of males had successfully completed tertiary education. This was against a goal of 40% for both sexes to be achieved by 2020.

King Felipe VI has put in motion a process to dissolve parliament and to have another general election in Spain.

The move comes after four months of jockeying about with no resolution. Coalition talks have failed repeatedly to find sufficient agreement for a ruling majority.

Critics today say that the law is merely a marketing device, but the Brewers Federation president hailed it as a selling point, saying “in contrast to our colleagues abroad, German brewers don't use artificial flavours, enzymes or preservatives".

Brewers hoping to make craft beers can feel inhibited by the prohibition on ingredients as can others.

Traces of human occupation from Middle Paleolithic period have been found in a cave, unearthed after long-awaited work started at the new waste water treatment plant at Companheira on the banks of a tributary of the Arade River near Portimão.

The 40,000-year-old home is that of Neanderthal Man and luckily the cave is not directly on the plot that is being cleared for stage one construction.

On the 21st and 22nd of April, 2016 the western Algarve population was alerted to a worrying development at the Perdigão area of Aljezur, at the site where alleged “water drilling” activity has been taking place for months.

Dozens of photos published today by anti-oil and gas campaining organisation ASMAA show the impact of a chemical foam used in the drilling process - but water was found at this site three months ago, so why does drilling continue? The suspicion is that the instigator is using a water drilling license to cover up a search for oil and gas.

The European Commission has plans to penalise both Spain and Portugal for missing their respective budget deficit reduction targets. As it is hardly helpful to start issuing fines, the idea is to give each government more time to get to grips with their budgets.

The all-powerful Commissioners plan to impose sanctions and immediately suspend them, just to make a point.

The number of North Africans reaching Germany has plummeted since January, according to government figures.

New arrivals from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria were but 480 in March, compared to 3,356 in January.