The Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) today announced the release into nature of one of the lynx born at the special breeding unit in Silves. This brings the total number of lynx bred in captivity and released in Spain to 37.

The ICNF said the latest lynx to be released, named Junípero, was released in the Guadalmellato area in Cordoba, southern Spain.

Of the 37 animals released to date, 12 were born in the Silves breeding unit with six of the going to the Guadalmellato zone and the remaining six in the Guarrizas area in Jaén, also in Andalucia.

Staff in some of the Algarve’s luxury hotels are complaining of wage arrears despite high occupancy rates across the region in 2013.
 
Employees and the Union of Hotels in the Algarve have complained that "there are people living very desperate situations."

The government is not discussing or even considering the privatisation of Portugal water supply industry according to the Environment Ministry in a statement released to clarify its current position.

The Wednesday statement from the ministry which oversees the company Águas de Portugal (AdP) read that "the Government's strategy is to restructure the water sector so as to provide greater social and territorial cohesion, environmental quality and economic and financial sustainability through the aggregation of multi-municipal systems."

Port charges paid by exporters are to be eliminated at a cost to the Portuguese state of €25 million a year in lost revenue.

The Secretary of State for Transport confirmed also that other export charges still in force will not be increased this year.
 
Sérgio Monteiro, the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport & Communications announced today that port charges levied on companies exporting goods from Portugal will be eliminated in a welcome move that is backdated to 1 January.

Portugal’s tax department has collected €1,918 million of tax debts from customers threatened with seizure of assets.

The coercive tax system in 2013 has the dubious honour of having collected the most money ever in the history of this often brutal and inflexible collection method.

The Ministry of Finance announced on Wednesday that the tax authority collected more than € 1,918 million of tax debts where the taxpayer was threatened with the loss of assets such as vehicle, family home and furniture.

Some 47% of people "would not be happy for a gas well site using fracking to open within 10 miles of their home" and only 14% said they would be happy, the poll by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and ICM found.

The result will be a disappointment to government which is hoping to garner support for shale gas exploration.

The number of incidents of sea piracy dipped to their lowest level in six years.

The peak hit in 2011 when there were 237 attacks. This was followed by 75 in 2012, and fell further last year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

Of benefit were armed guards on ships, international navy patrols and the "stabilising influence" of Somalia's government, the IMB said.

A new concept café has opened in London.

Rather than charging for an individual cup of coffee or tea, café Ziferblat provides these, and more, for free.