Portugal has moved up six places to 33rd, in the IMD World Competitiveness Centre's ranking of the most competitive economies in the world.
Portugal’s principal Hotels Association has issued a damning statement about the government’s support of the oil industry, notably the planned Galp-ENI test well 46 kilometres off Aljezur which is going ahead without an Environmental Impact Assessment.
A former branch employee of a national bank has been accused by the public prosecutor in Portimão, of removing more than €300,000 from an account held by two US customers in a Lagoa branch of a national bank.
Petrol and diesel prices in Portugal steadily have been rising and now are at their highest since 2014, causing complaint from the transport sector and tension in many households.
Brussels has warns that Portugal is in danger of failing to stick to the financial plan agreed under European rules and recommends imposing a cap on expenditure which could scupper the government’s plan to raise State employees’ wages next year.
A primary school teacher in the Beja area has been charged with 534 crimes of child sexual abuse, one of child pornography and another of ill-treatment. 
Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, Pedro Siza Vieira, is facing the sack if it is proved that he was a managing partner of a property company while holding public office.
The evidence is compelling as Siza Viera has admitted that he was acting illegally for two months, as holding government office requires that a person "performs their duties exclusively."
Hotel occupancy in the Algarve this March compared to last, was down 2.2 percentage points to 55%, according to the latest analysis from AHP Tourism Monitors
