The 22 migrants who arrived in the Algarve by boat from Morocco in the early hours of Monday, detected off the coast of Vale de Lobo, will be transported to temporary settlement centres overnight, the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) said this Tuesday. In a statement, the SEF clarifies that the migrants, all of whom were male, were taken to the Judicial Court of Loulé on Tuesday, "having been subjected to the measures to be housed in a Temporary Installation Centre (CIT), for removal from national territory within the scope of the expulsion process for irregular entry and stay" in Portugal.

Eighty years ago, a middle-aged, mid-ranking diplomat sank into deep depression and watched his hair turn grey in days, as he saw the streets of Bordeaux filling with Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis. As Portugal's consul in Bordeaux, Aristides de Sousa Mendes faced a moral dilemma. Should he obey Salazar’s government orders or listen to his own conscience and supply Jews with the visas that would allow them to escape from advancing German forces?

The Minister of Internal Administration said on Tuesday that Portugal "should not be ridiculous" when considering the possibility of an illegal migration network to the Algarve, taking into account that since December 48 immigrants have landed have arrived by boat from Morocco.

In just a few hours, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 related to an illegal party that took place at Odiáxere Sports Club, in Lagos, rose from 9 to 16. The regional health delegate of the Algarve, Ana Cristina Guerreiro, revealed the numbers this afternoon, in a press conference.

A system for the automatic counting of the entries and exits on each beach, in real time, is being installed on the beaches of the municipality of Lagoa. This measure will allow interested parties to know, before going to the beach, the level of capacity of each beach “and make a more informed choice” about where they would like to visit. The new system and its connection with initiatives from other entities were verified during a visit by the Secretary of State for Fisheries and regional coordinator for the fight against COVID-19 in the Algarve, José Apolinário at the end of last week.

At a hearing of the Budget and Finance Commission, to discuss the Supplementary Budget, newly appointed Finance Minister João Leão said that “there is no budget planned for reinforcement at Novo Banco this year” and left a clear message to the president of the bak, António Ramalho. “You should focus on managing the bank well.”

The Super Bock Group, which employs over 1500 people throughout Portugal, has announced today its decision to reduce its workforce by 10%, due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a statement without specifying the exact number of people set to lose their jobs.

Negotiations between Portugal and Britain on an “air bridge” that would allow British tourists to dodge a mandatory COVID-19 quarantine upon returning home, and vice versa, are still in progress and going well, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said this Monday.