National Film Commission announced to boost Portugal as a destination

filmThe Minister of Culture, Graça Fonseca, confirmed today in Berlin that, by the end of March, Portugal will have a national Film Commission, which will pitch the country as a destination for filming.

"This is one of the pieces of a broader model that leads to the creation of the Film Commission along with the simplification and modernisation of procedures to film in Portugal," said Graça Fonseca.

More deaths than births in Portugal last year

baby2012The National Institute of Statistics released figures today showing that, for the tenth year running, more people died than babies were born.

Specifically, in 2018 there were 87,325 live births and 113,477 deaths in Portugal.

Novo Banco to demand a further €1 billion

novobancoshinylogoNovo Banco’s US vulture fund owners are pushing their deal to the limit as the bank is to demand €1 billion from the Resolution Fund under the terms of the ruinous sales agreement signed by the Bank of Portugal.

The bank, led by António Ramalho, is preparing to present its annual results on March 1st, which will be accompanied by a demand for a further injection of capital from the Resolution Fund which, in turn, will have to borrow the money from the Treasury, i.e. Portugal’s taxpayers.

Lagoa wetland sidelined in new classification of 'Local Protected Areas'

LagoasBrancasSmallSocialist MP, Luís Graça has asked Loulé, Albufeira, Silves and Lagos Counciuls to classify their local wetland areas, namely Trafal and Foz do Almargem, Lagoa dos Salgados and Paul de Lagos, as Local Protected Areas.
 
The appeal from the MP linked into World Wetlands Day on February 2, and aims to commit the municipalities to dealing with the Ministry of the Environment to set up a management plan as these areas are rich in biodiversity, especially bird life.

Portugal's customers wait as IKEA expands solar panel offer to Italy

ikea2A few weeks after launching the “Solstrale” solar panel system in Germany, IKEA has made the panels available to its customers in Italy.

Domestic, off the shelf solar power systems already are being retailed by IKEA in Belgium, the U.K., Poland, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Convicted Algarve child murderer released claiming innocence

prisonLeonor Cipriano was sentenced in 2005, to 16 years and 8 months in prison for murder and the concealment of her eight-year-old daughter's corpse. She was released from prison on Thursday.

Joana disappeared on September 12, 2004, from the village of Figueira, Portimão, and has never been seen again.

BPI increases bank charges and ends free MB Way transfers

bpiBanco BPI today announced that its bank charges will increase from the May 1, 2019. 

The lender stated that costs for MB Way transfers, (the first inter-bank solution which enables purchases and immediate bank transfers via smartphones and tablets) will rise significantly from 0.20 cents to €1.20 per transaction. 

BES-Angola shareholders 'stole €3 billion from the Portuguese'

BESalgolabossAn investigation published today in Visão magazine shows that at the general meeting of BES Angola in October 2014, decisions were made that caused losses of €3 billion for BES and Novo Banco.

Álvaro Sobrinho, (pictured), the former president of BES Angola, (BESA) accuses the bank’s Angolan shareholders and Banco Nacional de Angola, of having set up a scheme to take €3 billion from BES and Novo Banco.