Despite the government’s message that the days of austerity are over, Algarve MP, Cristovão Norte has pointed out that of the six vehicles allocated to the Territorial GNR in Loulé, only one is drivable.
According to the Social Democrat Party MP, five of the fleet of vehicles are in the garage being repaired as they kept breaking down due to “obsolescence and lack of investment.”
...and so it starts, a Socialist Party apparatchik taking credit for the wave of happiness created by the decision by Galp-Eni to withdraw from their oil drilling and extraction concession area off Aljezur.
The President of Socialist Party for the Algarve, Luís Graça, has written an open letter to the Prime Minister and the Algarve’s mayors, stressing "the need for the region to agree with the Government on a strategy of environmental excellence, with the consequent reduction of the ecological footprint, encouraging electric mobility, energy efficiency and the valorisation of the immense natural heritage of the Algarve."
According to information released in the media this week, “Galp and ENI decided to abandon the exploration project in the Alentejo basin."
If this decision is confirmed and, therefore, this indeed is the end of the three contracts held by this alliance, PALP is happy - but also warns of a need to analyse the legal implications.
Flying with Ryanair continues to be a challenge with another change to baggage allowances, designed to thwart otherwise street-smart customers with its terms and conditions.
The Irish airline is now charging €6 for non-priority boarding customers carrying hand luggage on board. Ryanair will only allow a maximum of 95 (out of 189 potential passengers per plane) to buy priority boarding. Once this is sold out, customers will have to check-in their bag in at security, at a cost of €20 or €25.
Adidas has closed 11 franchised stores in Portugal, but not before seizing all their stock.
Adidas franchises are run by Valadri Desporto Unipessoal Lda, against which an injunction for breach of contract has been lodged.
Foreigners buying houses in Portugal have been instrumental in helping the recovery of the national real estate market in recent years.
Between 2012 and 2017, foreigners bought 70,700 homes in Portugal, at a cost of €11.1 billion.
Asylum-seekers and refugee, having managed the bureaucratic complexities made it to Portugal, may apply for a unexpected bonus – farmland on which to start a new life of toil.
The Government has proposed a new law that creates a land bank of unused farmland, to be leased to refugees in preference to Portuguese or EU citizens.
The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) aims to demolish Porto’s 'Edifício Transparente' (pictured below) and a further 33 buildings along the coastline between Caminha and Espinho, in addition to the removal of hundreds of private homes built on the dunes.
The demolitions are all part of the coastal plan covering an area between Caminha and Espinho.
