Major shift in British shopping habits

msOnline shopping in the UK over the Christmas period was more pronounced than expected, taking retailers by surprise.

Data from the British Retail Consortium shows that non-food online retail sales grew by a massive 19.2% in December, the fastest pace since March 2010.

The structural shift in shopping behaviour from shops to online took place at a time when retail sales grew by just 1.8%.

Spanish security guards attack tourists

spanishflagSecurity guards at a Spanish supermarket are reported by have assaulted a French couple.

The wife was repeatedly punched and the husband gripped by the throat as their children watched.

The incident took place at a Carrefour hypermarket in the Costa Blanca town of Torrevieja.

American shoppers demand cannabis

cannabisOnly one week into legal sales and cannabis is in short supply.

The US state of Colorado became the first to legalise the sale of the drug for recreational use. Previously, any legal sales were limited to those suffering from acute medical conditions.

An estimated 100,000 people descended on the three dozen shops so far licensed to sell cannabis since New Year’s Day.

Faro church and convent recognised as nationally important

faroconventThe Church and the former Convento de Santo António dos Capuchos in Faro have been classified as a monument of public interest.

The Capuchin monks of the Província da Piedade settled in Faro in 1529 and later occupied the current convent which was completed in 1620 on land that then lay 'near the city centre.'

The church that was built as an attachment to the monastery was inaugurated in 1622 making this group of buildings some of the oldest standing in the Algarve.

Portugal’s former Economy Minster gets top job in Paris

pereiraÁlvaro Santos Pereira has got a new job as the director of the department of Countries Studies at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

It is not just the Portugal's youth that is going abroad for work, the OECD is based in Paris.

TAP flies ahead

tap2Portugal’s state owned airline TAP transported 10.7 million passengers in 2013, an impressive performance and a full 5% over 2012, as had been predicted by the airline’s delighted boss, Fernando Pinto.

The rise of 517,000 passengers was mainly due to a positive performance on the routes from Portugal to and from Africa and Venezuela.

Chinese buy Portugal's biggest insurer

alberquerqueThe Chinese company Fosun has bought Caixa Seguros from the Portuguese state for around €1 billion.

After buying control of Portugal’s energy sector through stakes in EDP and REN the Chinese were back today with their chequebooks open to continue their quest to buy up assets from the Portuguese state that have been listed as 'for sale' in agreement with the Troika.

Portugal in successful €3.25 billion bond placement

eurozoneToday's successful debt palcement was an "important step" for Portugal according to the European Commission which believes that the success of the s bond issue will engender increased confidence in the Portuguese economy and constitutes "an important step towards a sustainable return to the international funding markets."

"In a context of a widespread improvement in the eurozone debt markets there is sign of growing investor confidence in the Portuguese economy and an appreciation of the positive effects of the continued rigorous implementation of the austerity programme" according to spokesman Simon O'Connor from the EC’s Economic Affairs office.