According to Eurobarometer, 96% of Portuguese see the current economic situation as negative and 57% believe it will deteriorate further next year.
The Autumn Barometer from the EC was published on Friday and shows a slight increase in the confidence of European citizens in the future of the union with only the southern countries remaining pessimistic.
The government decided on Friday to extend the deadline for the settlement of debts to the IRS and Social Security, the so-called tax amnesty, to the end of the year.
The special scheme includes the exemption of interest payments on outstanding amounts, of administrative costs, and a reduction to 10% for fines owed.
Workers at the Algarve Casino Hotel in Portimão have decided to call a strike on New Year's Eve according to their union.
That five-star hotel is situated above Praia da Rocha and the workers have called a strike to “pressure the administration” according to the union.
In the second sea tragedy in a week six people drowned and one was injured off the Costa da Caparica, south west of Lisbon. The six victims were fishing in the Costa Mesa area.
The boat carried seven and sunk at 19.37 on Saturday. One survivor managed to raise the alarm. The accident happened about 500 meters from the beach. The boat was coming from Espichel and heading towards Lisbon.
The international auction house Christie’s is to handle the sale of 85 works by the artist Miró that belonged to the scandal hit BPN. The February auction in London will aim to shift the paintings that have been in state ownership since the expensive nationalisation of the Portuguese Business Bank (BPN).
"Christie's won the contest to handle the sale from three other international auction houses,” said Francisco Nogueira Leite, president of Parvalorem which holds the works on behalf of the public.
The Constitutional Court unanimously has rejected the Portuguese government's pension cutting plans, citing a violation of the principle of trust in Article 2 of the Constitution.
The court has put the government in another budgetary hole as Passos Coelho’s regime wanted a 10% cut of the gross amount of pensions and in their overall value to save the exchequer approximately €728 million next financial year, as in the 2014 budget.
The Bank of Portugal reported today that the total value of bouncing cheques issued in 2013 to the end of November was €633 million.
According to the always cheerful December Statistical Bulletin published by the Bank of Portugal, both the number of checks that were returned for lack of money and the total amount, actually fell in the first ten months of 2013 compared to the same period of 2012.
Moving the clock backwards, Spain is to reduce women’s ability to access abortions.
A more restrictive abortion law is to be introduced, the Spanish justice minister announced.
