Portugal’s President today expressed confidence that the tension between the Government and the Constitutional Court will be overcome, adding that the Executive depends on the political confidence of Parliament.

"I think the problems will be overcome Portugal. I hope it does not have a political crisis, it would have a very, very high cost for Portuguese," said Cavaco Silva at a meeting at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.

Spain’s government has approved a draft law which will grant nationality to the descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from the country.

The country’s Jews began leaving the county in significant numbers following the imposition of the 1492 Inquisition. They continued to leave over the course of at least the next three centuries.

A three month expedition in the replica of a C16th vessel will take in four ports in a journey of an estimated 170 nautical miles.

The caravel set sail yesterday from Lagos heading to Seville to promote the Algarve to the Spanish in a three month maritime expedition.

The volume of retail trade in the eurozone rose slightly in the eurozone during April of this year.

A rise of 0.4% was recorded.

The Pope has sacked all five of his financial watchdog board, the Financial Information Authority (AIF). They had not been due to end their terms of office until 2016.

In their places, he has appointed four experts from Switzerland, Singapore, Italy and the US.

Discount food retailer Lidl plans further major investoments in Portugal this year, having invested €45 million last year, according to the Marin Dokozic, CEO of the Portuguese subsidiary.

"This year we plan to invest more, maintaining the growth trend, with the aim for around €60 million," said Dokozic whose employee has spend €1 billion in Portugal since it opened its first shop in 1995.

The Algarve’s 21 tourist offices all have received ISO 9001:2008, an internationally recognised award earned in their case for the provision of tourist information services, marketing of regional products and the promotion of the Algarve.

The Algarve Tourism Board president, Desiderio Silva, today commented, "It was with great joy that we received the news of the accreditation, which would not have been achieved without the involvement and professionalism of all employees. We now have more responsibilities towards our users and to the certifier, with whom we have committed to a programme of continuous improvement in our services."

Portugal’s Judicial Police are investigating bribery in the Paulo Portas 'Golden Visa' scheme for rich foreigners.

The enquiry is looking closely at those senior officials who have the power to decide on the allocation of these valuable visas, and those estate agents that have been acting illegally.