It is as if the former Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho had never been running the country as he announced a full package of economic measures to boost the Algarve’s economy during the ‘off season.’
"Mitigating the effects of seasonality", by "improved accessibility and signage, access to credit, tax relief and support for investment, lower unemployment and a reduction in tolls on the Via do Infante” are all part of the basket of measures announced by Passos Coelho during a visit to the headquarters of the Association of Hotels and Resorts in the Algarve, in Albufeira last Friday.
According to the regional PSD branch, the former PM’s ideas were announced to entrepreneurs in the tourism sector, which added that it was only the mendacity of Portugal's left wing parties that had blocked the implementation of Passos Coelho's stunning proposals.
The former PM's list of Alvare friendly measures were revealed in the company of local MPs José Carlos Barros and Cristóvão Norte, the Secretary General of the PSD, Matos Rosa, and the President of the PSD Algarve, David Santos who for some reason is still running the CCRD-Algarve as well as holding this political appointment.
Passos Coelho then went to see the Albufeira mayor, social democrat Carlos Silva e Sousa, to reveal his elixir of life for Algarve tourism.
"Although we are on track in the field of tourism, with very positive results and good expectations, the Algarve and Albufeira, in particular, need to set new goals for different issues such as seasonality," said a dutiful Carlos Silva e Sousa after the visitation, no doubt as stunned as the rest of us at Passos Coelho's limited memory.
As PSD leader, Passos Coelho assured anyone that would listen that he "will not give up on the country, or on the Portuguese", and is setting himself up to take back the premiership when the current socialist government "is exhausted and unable to approve in parliament the most important instrument in the implementation of governmental action" i.e. the State Budget 2016.
Stage one of the budget’s passage into legislation was approved today in parliament, which disrupts his plans, rather.
