Of the eurozone’s 18 countries, Portugal, Greece and Spain are in deflation.

Figures just released from Eurostat show that Italy now is on the borderline when its inflation rate dropped to zero in July. The country has already returned to recession.

Barcelona has moved against the cannabis clubs in the city and ordered one-third of them to close.

City officials are nervous that Barcelona is quickly gaining a reputation similar to Amsterdam as a haven for marijuana smokers.

The Algarve’s hoteliers’ association had praised the enforcement action taken by the Tax Authority against the unlicensed rental of holiday accommodation.

The Associação dos Hotéis e Empreendimentos Turísticos do Algarve (AHETA) issued a statement today highlighting enforcement actions across the country, with special emphasis on the Algarve.

One of the candidates vying for the top job at the Socialist Party, António Costa, visited the Algarve today and addressed a meeting in Portimão.

The key note was that whatever the decision of the Constitutional Court about new cuts that the Government wants to apply, its current economic policy is "exhausted."

Left Bloc politician João Semedo said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho immediately must set up an inquiry into the leak of information leading up to the BES collapse and subsequent 'solution,' so that there is a "complete understanding" as to how hedge funds made millions and well placed companies could bail out before the individual investor had been alerted.

"We do not understand why the Government says nothing, does nothing, clarifies nothing. We consider it an urgent matter that the Prime Minister sets up an inquiry run by a judge appointed by the Supreme Judicial Council with a report to be submitted to the Council of Ministers, so there is a complete clarification," said a hopeful Semedo at a press conference at party headquarters.

Spain and Italy are both struggling to cope with the record numbers of African migrants arriving on their shores.

Migrants have been using inflatable dinghies to cross the Strait of Gibraltar in record numbers in the last few days, leading Spain to accuse Morocco of failing to control its borders.

Industrial production in the eurozone took a sudden fall in June with factory output dropping by 0.3% across the region.

If follows a sharp contraction in May.

The inflation rate in Germany is giving cause for concern after falling steadily, reaching 0.8% in July.

There is growing speculation that the eurozone recovery is evaporating in the light of weak price growth figures from across the region.