A couple died in a road traffic accident on Friday morning on the EN124 near the Portimão A22 motorway junction.

The accident happened at 11:00am and involved a car being crushed by a truck as it overturned on the roundabout.

The National Statistics Institute confirmed on Thursday that the unemployment rate in Portugal fell from 6.9% in August to 6.6%, in September, the lowest since September 2002.

"In September 2018, the unemployment rate was 6.6%, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, down 0.2 points from three months earlier and 2.0 points less than in the same month of 2017," read the INE report.

Portugal's Food Bank Against Hunger is launching an appeal across the nation this coming weekend, December 1st and 2nd, when 40,000 volunteers will be collecting food from customers in more than 2,000 supermarkets, 140 of them in the Algarve.
 
The campaign runs on until December 9th, on-line, (HERE) where people can donate money to help build up stocks of essentials for those that can’t afford them.

Olhão Council has approved its 2019 Budget and plans to spend €32 million, with a focus on social housing, rubbish and upgrading the historic city centre.

As for housing, "We have an aging social housing area that is in urgent need of repair and upgrade. We have already started this but there is more to do," said Mayor António Pina.

The 2019 State Budget is approved with the Algarve's MPs delighted at a last minute change of heart over the age-old question of whether or not to build a new hospital for the region.

 The answer now is, ‘yes’ after MPs approved a proposal from the Left Bloc to amend the 2019 State Budget so that the 'procedures' could start for the construction of the Central Hospital of the Algarve.

The EN2 road – the longest road in the country, linking Chaves in the north with Faro in the south – has been named one of the “best places to go in 2019” by American travel guide publisher Frommer’s.

The road, which authorities in Portugal are committed to turning into a tourist attraction, is one of the 19 suggestions made by the travel guide specialists.

Former health minister Ana Jorge has spoken out against the decision by MPs to arbitrarily vote on three new childhood vaccines for inclusion in the national programme.

Choosing her words carefully, Jorge said the development was “in the very least strange”.

It’s the soundbite being promoted today: 2019’s State Budget, finally approved yesterday, will ensure that Portugal clears its bailout debt with the IMF.

Says the tabloid press, it’s a way of camouflaging the ‘failures’ and trying to muffle all the criticism.