A demonstration involving around 50 locals was held on Sunday in Praia da Luz in protest at CTT’s announcement that the local Post office would be closed next year.
The Communist Party already has issued a communiqué, stating that it will take the case to parliament and blames the twin closures, in Praia da Luz and in Sagres, on the 2014 privatisation of CTT carried out by the previous government.
Energy company, EDP, has decided to pay the special energy tax for 2017, stating that the conditions to proceed with the payment have been met.
EDP declined to comment but the Ministry of the Environment confirmed that, "the amount to be paid by EDP settles the outstanding payments related to the Special Energy tax."
The INEM medical emergency helicopter that crashed on Saturday night, killing all four on board, was replaced on Monday afternoon with another aircraft, supplied by Babcock, operating out of the Macedo de Cavaleiros base.
The new team consists of two pilots, a doctor and a nurse, a similar compliment to the one that died when the Agusta A109S crashed in bad weather in the Pias mountain range, in the municipality of Valongo near Porto.
The head of ACRAL, the Algarve’s main trade association, regrets the lack of joint promotional activity for regional businesses and states that strategic planning for the region is sorely needed.
While acknowledging that local Council initiatives in the lead up to Christmas have attracted more people to the region’s shops, Alvaro Viegas commented that, "There needs to be a year-round strategy and this does not exist, we can not focus on just two periods, on six or seven Fridays during the summer, plus three weeks in December and then expect consumers to return during the rest of the year."
The Bank of Portugal expects a strong deceleration of the Portuguese economy in a pessimistic revision issued today.
The forecasts is for a drop in economic activity between now and 2021, with GDP growth of 2.1% this year, 1.8% in 2019, 1.7% in 2020 and 1.6% in 2021.
The European Court of Auditors has underlined the very real danger of continuing to invest in intensive agriculture and the unsustainable practices that often are involved.
In a special report to the European Parliament, the Court of Auditors highlights the harmful effects of intensive agriculture and the government’s reliance on policies that are out of date and out of place, such as the development of irrigation systems in a country where water is becoming increasingly scarce.
Members of the Algarve Free of Petroleum Platform (PALP) met yesterday with the newly installed Secretary of State of Energy, João Galamba, to question the existence - and ask for access - of the document confirming the resignation of the Galp and ENI from the contracts for the Aljezur oil drill.
The Platform also questioned the Secretary of State on the new Ministry’s strategy regarding the energetic transition that was recently included in its competencies.
Portuguese hoteliers increasingly are admitting that Brexit is hitting their figures and that in 2019, the number of British visitors will decline further.
The departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Brexit) is increasingly being cited as a constraint to hotel profits and growth, according to a survey of Portuguese hoteliers carried out by the Association of Hospitality of Portugal, with its members commenting on 2018 and their prospects for 2019.
