Portugal's top brand is foreign

googleglassGoogle, Delta and Nestlé are the companies and brands with the best reputation in Portugal.

The ranking comes from the RepTrak Pulse 2014 study which annually assesses the level of trust, esteem, admiration and respect from the public for the country’s brand leaders.

Algarve - the 100% socialist region

mapOnly 23.38% of registered voters in the Algarve bothered to vote in Sunday’s European Election, but the majority of those who did, voted for the socialists.

The Partido Socialista received 28% of the Algarve’s vote, while the ruling parties’ 'Alliance Portugal’ came in second with 24%.

Socialist Party wins European elections in Portugal

seguroThe Socialist Party has won the European elections in Portugal, marked by a record low in Sunday’s turnout at the polls with 37% of those eligible bothering to vote.

With the Vila Real result still to come in, the Partido Socialista (PS) party led by António José Seguro, has secured a share of around 31.46% of the vote, ahead of 27.7% received by the ruling coaltion Alliance, and will return 8 or 9 Socialist MEPs to the European Parliament.

Algarve police learn sign language

pspThe Faro District Command of the Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP) has issued vocational training certificates to 12 police officers who have attended a new sign language course.

The course in Portuguese took place between February 12th and May 8th under the "Algarve - Safe Destination" programme in cooperation with the Deaf Association.

Portugal's rating rises despite overall debt level

eurozoneRating agency Dominion Bond Rating Service (DBRS) today raised its outlook on Portuguese government debt in a welcome move that sees it join the other three key agencies in a positive assessment for the country.

The Canadian agency raised its outlook from negative to stable, keeping it at BBB, indicating that the agency now has a more favorable opinion of government debt and may encourage a rise in the rankings by one or more of the other agencies.

Fracking in the UK draws closer

ukfarmlandThe UK government appears to be intent on using fracking to liberate oil deep beneath the surface of the land.

New rules have been proposed concerning access to land to speed up the introduction of fracking.

Brits begin returning to Spain

spanishluxuryhomeBritish property buyers are beginning to return to Spain after prices there have tumbled and the British economy appears on the mend.

Although almost 90,000 expats left Spain last year, a new wave of Brits is slowly beginning to take their places.

Balance of REN shares to be sold off

eonState holding company Parpública said today that the remaining 11% of the shares in Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) still owned by the public are to be sold by June partly through a public offer, with the balance being reserved for selected institutions.

"This phase of the privatisation of the company will include a public offer in Portugal aimed at retail investors and a private placement directed at institutional investors within and outside Portugal and it is expected to be completed by the end of June 2014," reads a statement posted on the Securities Market Commission’s website.