In the face of the carefully orchestrated government campaign to persuade the nation how well everything is going, the truth in the hotel and restaurant industry is that job losses have been running at 315 each and every day since the start of this year.
The hoteliers and restaurateurs association is of course desperately concerned with "the worst results ever" which were released by the independent National Statistics Institute last Friday.
Despite nearly 6% of Portuguese adults having drink problems, over four in ten say they do not drink alcohol at all, well, in the last year anyway
The women are ahead with over half (54% ) not touching a drop of the hard stuff, or even the not so hard stuff as wine is far and away the favourite alcoholic drink in the country accounting for 55% of all alcohol consumed.
Despite many councils receiving state loans to pay off their debts last year, the amount they owe to Portugal’s national water supplier rose last year by €5 million.
The Águas de Portugal accounts were approved on Tuesday but did not make happy reading as the company attempts to groom itself for probable, yet hotly denied, privatisation.
The Algarve’s councils have signed a protocol today in Faro that see the region’s firemen able to earn an additional €15 a day.
The Special Device to Combat Forest Fires (DECIF) 2014 agrees to add the sum to the government allowance of €45 per man, per day.
A breakfast meeting between Portugal’s President Cavaco Silva and bosses from local companies, including China Eastern Airlines, has resulted in an agreement in principle for a direct air route between Shanghai and Lisbon.
The new route, probably to be run by a Chinese company such as China Eastern Airlines, is seen as crucial for boosting tourism, according to a statement today from Economy Minister, Pires de Lima .
Morocco has begun building a wall to enhance border security at the two Spanish enclaves on its land, Ceuta and Melila.
The two parcels of Europe in North Africa are the frequent targets of illegal immigrants seeking opportunities in Europe.
A vessel which could have been that of Christopher Columbus has been identified off the coast of Haiti.
The shipwreck is thought to be the remains of the Santa Maria on which Columbus and his crew sailed to the New World in 1492, according to hopeful experts.
The Americans are now outdrinking the French when it comes to wine.
America’s taste for wine has steadily increased over the last decade while at the same time the French have reduced the amount they drink.
