It’s official, Chinese president Xi Jinping is to sign 19 agreements when he visits Portugal tomorrow (Dec 4th).
No matter how many warning bells may be ringing elsewhere (click here), Portugal will be rolling out the red carpet when the Chinese delegation arrives.
The government skirts around the subject, the PM assures us all is on track and the Finance Minister predicts reductions - but the fact is that Portugal’s public debt has attained an all time high.
According to data released today by the Bank of Portugal, the nation’s debt at the end of October stood at an astonishing €251.1 billion, 124.6% of GDP in a country of just over 10 million people.
As part of the government’s list of things to devolve to the nation’s local Councils, Portugal’s beaches soon will run by municipalities.
The transfer of beach management was detailed in Diário da República last Wednesday and from January 1, 2019, municipalities will be responsible for sea, river and lakeside beaches which at the moment are covered by a plethora of authorities.
The Grand Finale of the 25th edition of the World Travel Awards was held in Lisbon on Saturday night, at which the Secretary of State for Tourism, Ana Mendes Godinho, accepted the prize for Portugal being voted the Best Destination in the World.
Lisbon won awards for Best Destination City and Best Destination City Break in the world and Portugal’s national tourist board, for the second year running was voted the Best Official Tourism Organisation in the World, with visitportugal.com once again voted the World's Leading Tourism Authority Web site.
Far-right politics has gained a firm foothold in the Spanish region of Andalucía with the Vox party winning 12 seats in the regional parliamentary elections.
The Socialists remain in power, taking 33 of the 109 seats, but have been dealt a body blow by the upstart far right that has been campaigning against Catalan independence, immigration and abortion.
TAP Portugal is to increase its presence in the United States following the delivery of its first Airbus A330neo.
The company is launching direct flights to Washington-Dulles and Chicago O’Hare airports as part of next year’s summer schedule.
The Judicial Police is investigating the possibility of explosive detonations at the Borba quarry, just hours before the accident on November 19th, when a public road collapsed, killing five people.
The investigators have interviewed several witnesses who say they heard at least two detonations before a section of the EN225 gave way.
Yet again, Portugal’s President hits the note that politicians fail to reach. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa fills not one, but two shopping carts with food items for this weekend’s Food Bank collection while effortlessly coming up with the sort of soundbite that would sound insincere from anyone but himself.
“I have more obligation because I am privileged,” said our leader, while encouraging others to follow his example as an obligation, not as a favour.
