Campaigning for Portugal’s general election kicked off Monday with Prime Minister António Costa enjoying big poll leads.

Tour operator and airline Thomas Cook's bankruptcy, announced this Monday, September 23rd, has left many Algarve tourism workers worried. In addition to the “negative repercussions for tourism”, the end of the operator will also have an impact on hoteliers due to the “many accumulated debts of services that have already been provided”.

The University of the Algarve (UAlg) is hosting activities for the more than 1800 international students who will study at the Algarve University this academic year.

The São Brás de Alportel City Council will invest around 28 thousand euros in the improvement of forest and agricultural paths, and in the construction of aqueducts, with the objective of "ensuring the accessibility of rural paths and better access to water points".

Regulators have fined the production arm of Energias de Portugal, the country’s leading power utility, €48m for abuse of market dominance over a five-year period, saying it was responsible for “a serious restriction of competition”.

José Artur Neves, secretary of state for environmental protection, handed in his resignation on Wednesday, the same day police and magistrates searched government offices as part of a corruption investigation.

The PSD’s Faro division has revealed its “moderate satisfaction” over Ryanair's announced decision to not close its operating base at Faro Airport, but the party regrets that the solution found would involve the dismissal of around half of the current workers.

According to the financial agency, the rent price boom - which is throwing many residents to the outskirts of Portugal’s big cities - is directly related to the millions of euros injected by foreign investors through a so-called golden visa program, which offers residence permits in return for a minimum 500,000-euro investment.