VRSA - storms erode cliff below Cacela Velha fort

CacelaVelhaLagoonThe Communist party has delivered a resolution to parliament that recommends urgent intervention in the ​​Cacela Velha and Fábrica areas of Vila Real de Santo António after the March storms caused further coastal damage, leaving the old fort even closer to the cliff edge.
 
Erosion and the silting up of the Ria Formosa in this area was accellerated by poorly thought-out completed in 2010 when a new channel was opened to connect the Ria Formosa to the sea.

Double the number of drivers in Portugal fined last year

gnrstopPortugal’s traffic policing tactics are paying off with the authorities’ focus on ‘helping people with their journeys,’ yielding double the number of fines last year, than in 2016.
 
Having stopped and ‘advised’ 32,000 drivers in 2016, the figure went up to 62,000 last year with traffic police keen to reach their targets.

Eastern EN125 road repairs and upgrade dates to be announced on Monday

EN125RoadSurfaceNow that the government has been caught out issuing a series of ‘Terminological inexactitudes’ in blaming the Court of Auditors for the interminable delay in upgrading the eastern Algarve’s EN125 road, (HERE) a Secretary of State is being dispatched to Tavira with the latest raft of, no doubt, inventive excuses.

A Secretary of State for Infrastructure will arrive on Monday and present himself at Tavira City Hall where members of the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve (AMAL) will be treated to his utterances.

Portugal faces catastrophic fires "equal to or worse than 2017"

fireBombeirosSmall"In the next decade, without a sustainable and long-term intervention, there is a growing risk of an extreme year of fires consuming 500,000 hectares or more," such as the fires of 2017, which killed more than 100 people.
 
"This is what you have to think about and that is what you have to plan for," warned US fire specialist, Mark Beighley, adding, "There is no time to lose."

Canadian ratings agency raises Portugal to 'quality investment'

eurozoneThe Canadian ratings agency, on which Portugal’s financial stability has depended when the other three top agencies classified the country’s bonds as ‘junk,’ has lifted its opinion to BBB, which - at the moment - is as good as it gets.
 
This new debt rating is the second level of 'quality investment,' with DBRS adding a ‘stable’ outlook, meaning that short-term changes are not likely.

Government may block Santa Casa's investment in Montepio

montepioThe government is to "analyse" whether or not to instruct Santa Casa Misericórdia de Lisboa to abort its highly contentious investment in Montepio Bank (Caixa Económica Montepio Geral).
 
MPs have demanded that the Government use its powers to cancel the deal between the cash-rich charity and the struggling bank, claiming pressure has been put on the charity to release funds to help shore up the bank’s capital.
 

Albufeira - 19-year-old Britsh tourist raped in bar

PJBadgeAfter offering to help a young British tourist, who complained of feeling unwell, a barman forced her to have sex with him in the storage area of an Albufeira bar, she alleges.
 
The teenager ended up being treated in hospital and the 28-year-old Portuguese man later was arrested by the police.

Niassa killed on Via do Infante

lynx2Niassa, a two-year-old lynx, has met a grim death on the Via do Infante in the Olhão area.
 
According to the Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation, all the indications are that the female lynx was run over as it crossed the road, early last Saturday morning.