The opportunity to settle Social Security debts and sharply reduce penalties owing has raked in €160 million in the 20 days since the scheme came into force.
The Ministry of Employment and Social Security said today that people had already requested €160 million’s worth of invoices and that many are therefore keen to settle their accounts with a huge boost in the last week.
Portugal continues to decline in the Corruption Perceptions Index which for 10 consecutive years has made saddening reading as a widening elite continue to fill their pockets at the expense of others. The country came 33rd of 177 countries in the survey, down one point despite its lip service to anti-corruption laws.
The Vice-president of Transparency and Integrity considers the national score "dramatic" indicating the seriousness of the problem in Portuguese politics and in its public administration.
Portugal is the only country in Troika bailout land that will exit the crisis with a lower population than when it first applied for and received Troika aid.
The emigration of able bodied and skilled workers seeking jobs outside the country, coupled with a sharp drop in the number of births back home are the two factors that have contributed most to the decline in Portugal’s population and hence in the number of taxpayers left to foot the bill.
Iceland mounted its very first armed police operation on Monday.
A man in his late 50s was shot dead by police after attempts to immobilise him had failed.
Some brothels in Germany are offering as much sex as a man would like for the flat fee of €100.
This ‘special offer’, however, is deemed by some to be exploitative.
Other top destinations for British travellers include the pyramids in Egypt, the Great Wall of China, and a road trip along Route 66 in the US.
The findings come from research done by TravelSupermarket, an online comparison website.
Loulé councillors unanimously have approved a motion presented by the Left Bloc demanding the permanent suspension of tolls on the Via do Infante.
This is the second council that has voted on the matter as Loulé joins Portimão in unanimous condemnation of a tolls system that costs more to operate than it raises in additional income.
The Communist leader Jerónimo de Sousa said in Faro today that the proposed 2014 state budget gave Cavaco Silva one simple choice.
"The budget is now in front of the President who, with his responsibilities and commitment to the defence of the Constitution, has one solution which is to use his veto and return the proposals to parliament in order to comply with Portugal’s Basic Laws in the true interests of the Portuguese," said Jerónimo de Sousa.
