With the aim of safeguarding and preserving of the Alagoas Brancas freshwater area in Lagoa, a group of citizens, 'Lagoa Naturalmente' (Lagoa Naturally), is inviting the general public and social media to join in a key public debate on July 14th, at 4 pm, at the Convento São José, in Lagoa.

Alagoas Brancas is an important wetland area which, through the year, plays host to hundreds of birds of various species while also acting as a rainwater retention area which reduces the risk of flooding at the nearby Parque das Ferias of FATACIL and the city of Lagoa.

Some regions of the Iberian Peninsula may reach 45°C next week, 113°F in old money, according to the Spanish weather meteorological service Meteo Iberia.

The Portuguese weather service, IPMA, says it will be hot on the mainland, increasing from Thursday onwards - but does not want to predict a heat wave "so far in advance."

Hospitals are ignoring the new 35-hour working week law as nurses still are working a minimum of 40.

The reason is that the health service would be pushed over the edge if nurses reduced their weekly hours to the legal limit.

The 'Viv'o Mercado' project continues to encourage organic production in the Lagos area.

The initiative, which started in April and will run until the end of October, takes place every Wednesday, between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. in the Mercado de Levante Market.

The opposition PSD party in the Algarve says that the Court of Auditors' decision to refuse the contract and budget to upgrade the EN125 eastern section, "exposes the Government's behavior in this process."

"The PSD-Algarve has sought to alert successive governments to the importance of the total upgrade of the EN125, which slowly has been frustrating the legitimate expectations of the local population and has not given the Algarve the priority it deserves," reads today's Social Democratic Party statement.

House prices in the Algarve rose by 5.9% in the second quarter of this year (April, May and June), and now average €1,916 per square meter, according to the Idealista retail prices index.

Faro nudged up a little, an increase of 1.7% to €1,706 per m2.

The Government is preparing to sort out the situation for about 30,000 immigrants who can not prove that they have entered the country legally, but can prove they have been working here for at least a year.

The aim is to grant a residence permit to those who have entered without a visa and hence are unable to meet the normal rules for legalisation.

Portugal’s public debt, measured under the Maastricht convention, reached a new historical high in May as the government contemplates how to explain away a negative figure of €250.3 billion.

After a rise of €4.3 billion in April, public debt rose by €300 million in May to a record €250.313 billion, topping last August’s figure of €250.296.