Up to 600 firefighters battled a huge fire in the Sintra area which started near the Convento da Peninha late on Saturday evening.
Locals were evacuated from five villages as wind whipped the fire into a fast-moving blaze, tearing across the countryside and destroying 600 hectares of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, a UNESCO heritage site.
A man was hit by a train on Monday morning as it passed through the Boavista area of Portimão.
The head of the Portimão Bombeiros said the driver had phoned through to report that the train had hit someone.
In a bizarre, restrictive and possibly unconstitutional new piece of legislation, the Government is to ban the unrestricted sale of private homes that had to be rebuilt after last summers fires in the Central region.
The Council of Ministers is preparing to approve a new decree-law that, retrospectively in some cases, will force owners of homes that have been rebuilt with State funds, to sign a ‘no sale for ten years’ agreement.
Portugal’s bullfighting federation has accused the People Animals Nature political party of "cultural censorship" and of "attacking Portuguese culture" by proposing the end the current VAT exemption on bullfighting services.
In a statement released today, the federation contests PAN’s action, adding that it is by no means confirmed that the VAT exemption is to be ditched on the 2019 State Budget.
Portugal’s banks continue to hoard repossessed properties, releasing few onto the market.
The banking sector, keen as mustard to seize properties when the crisis hit, grabbed €5.5 billion’s worth of homes, most of them have lain empty ever since to help push house prices upwards.
Spain’s Council of Ministers has approved a package of measures to speed up the country’s energy transition, including scrapping the ‘sun tax’ that has seen major solar farm projects switch from Spain to Portugal where the tax regime has been views as less punishing.
Other measures are included in a wide-ranging decree to ensure Spain gets closer to complying with its renewable energy objectives.
With the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI approaching in November, Albufeira Council has launched two exhibitions in commemoration.
Both are in the Espaço Multiusos de Albufeira. The first, roughly translated as 'Tears and mud... 14-18 through the eyes of a soldier,' has been created by the Portuguese-French association, Cívica, represented by Paulo Marques.
October 5th in Portugal is known as Implantação da República. It celebrates the proclamation of the Portuguese First Republic in 1910.
The 5th is a national holiday in Portugal, for most people it’s the day that in 1910 King Manuel II was deposed and the Portuguese republic was proclaimed but for others there is a different significance.
