The Algarve's councils have trimmed their New Year festivities year on year since 2008, but there still are free parties from one end of the region to the other, as well as deals on staying over for those who want to splash out in style.
In Faro, New Year’s Eve will kick off with the local Stone Covers Band and the DJ André Salgueiro in the Jardim Manuel Bivar, and in Quarteira revellers can hear the group La Plante Mutant.
Mendes Bota chooses his fights carefully. The current line of enquiry for the PSD MP for Faro has resulted in questions to the government over a large land dispute in the municipality of Loulé.
Bota has looked at the facts surrounding the dispute over the possession of land in the parishes of Querença and Salir where dozens of people are claiming to own land that a Finnish development company claims as its own and where it has started to develop commercial olive groves in a move that the company claims is in accord with all current legislation.
Silves council has approved a €35.9 million budget for 2014 without the protracted quibbling that has seen previous budget approvals pushed well into the year in question.
The budget for 2013 was €37 million, some €10 million lower than in 2012 making the 2014 budget the lowest for Silves in the last ten years.
The Partido Socialista spokesman Oscar Gaspar has commented that the budget deficit of 5.9% was a proof that the country is far from a situation of fiscal consolidation, urging the Government to change the recipe of "cuts upon cuts."
"After so many sacrifices demanded of the Portuguese, namely the huge increase in income tax and the cuts in social services, despite all these sacrifices the truth is that the deficit is at 5.9%, i.e. very close to 6% and far from the 5.5% that is the current goal of the government."
The swingeing 75% tax rate has been approved by the high court in France.
A year ago, the proposal for this tax was judged unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, ruling that 66% was the highest individuals should pay.
Tumbling rapidly, gold prices fell nearly 28% during 2013, making it the worst collapse in 30 years.
The precious metal was priced at $1,200 an ounce close to the end of the month.
The demand for engineers is at a record high in the UK, but business is struggling with a lack of specialists to fill the jobs.
The engineering sector has but half the qualified candidates it needs, according to an engineering recruitment agency.
The NSA and CIA, two of the USA’s spy agencies, have a cell operating in Portugal.
The information was provided by a Dutch newspaper which cites a document published by whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
This information exposed contained 79 other similar offices in other parts of the world. In Europe there are 19 such units operating as a cooperative venture between the NSA and CIA, called the Special Collection Service (SCS), including one in Portugal.
