At the request of Portugal, the European Commission has green-lighted the modification of eleven 2014-2020 Cohesion Policy programmes to shift resources where they are now most needed, according to an announcement from the European Commission.

€2.7 billion of Cohesion Policy funds will be redirected towards priorities defined by the Portuguese government. In light of solid economic growth, the reprogramming of Portugal’s Cohesion budget will enable the country to continue implementing structural reforms and ensure the sustainability of public finances while investing for the future.

Once again, the Algarve is the region with the greatest economic growth in 2017, heading the Alentejo, Madeira and Lisbon which all grew above the national GDP of 2.8%.

The Algarve’s economy grew 3.5%, mainly due to tourism, according to data released by the National Statistics Institute on 13 December.

The shifting of debt, in 2015, from Novo Banco back to BES continues to plague the man that planned the move, Carlos Costa, the governor of the Bank of Portugal (pictured hard at work) whose litany of poor decisions has cost the country’s taxpayers billions of euros during his tenure.

The Portuguese Republic now is being sued by a group of international investors who were ripped off when the Bank of Portugal shifted BES senior debt to Novo Banco and, a year later, switched it back to BES ‘bad bank’ thus rendering the investments close to worthless.

The latest Moody's prediction for property prices in Portugal predicts is for continued growth, citing low unemployment and foreign investment as the reasons.

Greg Davies, senior vice president and senior analyst at the rating agency, said the 12 to 18 month forecast is for property price inflation, especially in Lisbon even though there is a widening disconnection between income levels and real estate prices.

An 8-year-old girl and 56-year-old man, hit by an aircraft making an emergency landing on a beach at the Costa de Caparica in August 2017, died as a result of pilot error.

Flaws in emergency management and a clear breach of procedures by the flying instructor led to the Cessna 152 being landed on the beach by the trainee pilot, leading to the deaths of Sofia António and José Lima .

Residents of Praia da Luz, Lagos, are in uproar today after receiving notification that the management of Portugal’s beleaguered Post Office is to close the local branch next year.

A message from the Luz parish council resident has outlined, in no uncertain terms, how the closure will affect residents of this popular seaside town. 

On Wednesday, December 12th, against the back-drop of political upheaval over Brexit in Westminster, the Consular Outreach team came to Ourique to explain just how Brexit is going to affect our Expat lives here in Portugal.

The team was headed by the Brisith Consul, Simona Demuro and Regional Consular Policy Officer, Lorna Geddie who both gave presentations in their individual areas of expertise.

The Portuguese Red Cross has been fiddling its annual accounts to hide the high level of State funding it receives, its management has not been acting in the best interests of the organisation, the vehicle fleet is unnecessarily large and it has €20 million in the bank.

The Inspectorate-General for Finance has stated what has been known at the organisation for years - financial misreporting to hide the amount of State support has become the norm.