Portugal’s President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, phone the King of Spain on Saturday to let him know that Portugal does not acknowledge Catalonia as a separate state, despite its recent declaration of independence.
A statement was issued by the government before the president called the monarch, in which Portugal’s government saw fit to criticise Catalonia’s declaration of independence, saying it was an attack on Spain’s constitutional rights.
Portugal’s ‘second summer’ is drawing rapidly to a close as temperatures are to drop and rain is on its way, to the relief of firefighters and farmers up and down the country.
The IPMA weather service says the change at least will be gradual but, as of Wednesday, there will be a noticeable drop in daytime temperatures and rain is forecast from the north to the south.
A team from Portugal’s air accident investigation service has been looking in detail into the microlight crash on October 5th, in which the British pilot died.
The provisional finding from the GPIAAF suggest that the pilot, 70-year-old Graham Dixon, lost control of the aircraft with which he was not fully familiarised.
The Portuguese Communist Party, always keen to welcome brothers from over the water, submitted a petition to parliament to have a bridge built between Alcoutim and Sanlúcar, in Spain, which has been approved.
Contracts can be drawn up with the Spanish and Andalucian authorities to build the bridge, which is "vital for the economic and social development of the northeast Algarve."
Spaniards that do not want Catalonia to become independent of Spain, staged a rally in Barcelona on Sunday, less than 48 hours after the break-away region’s parliament voted to leave Spain.
The rally of around 300,000 people was about the same size as an earlier anti-independence rally staged by Catalan Civil Society which brought people onto the streets of central Barcelona to reject the separatist plans of the now sacked president, Carles Puigdemont.
Catarina Martins has visited the remains of Roman sites in Beja, bulldozed by workers contracted by the Portuguese offshoot of Spanish company De Prado, SA. The destruction made way for thousands of almond trees, with Martins admitting that, “all this was done without reference to the rules.”
The head Bloquista said, with glorious hindsight, that "the future must be protected," and during her visit she aimed at denouncing environmental crimes including the wrecking of a Roman bridge and almost 20 archaeological sites that are clearly marked on Beja Council’s municipal land use plan. The plan now needs to be altered and the sites removed, for accuracy.
The flow of funds from taxpayers and Portugal’s companies into the State’s coffers has helped the overall deficit figure ease to a year-to-date figure for general government spending of €569 million, better than last year’s €2.29 million.
The result of collecting an average of €113 million-a-day in taxation has contributed to a 4.1% growth in tax revenue and an increase in Tax Authority expenditure of 0.1% - a figure the Finance Ministry calls “residual.”
UK low-cost airline easyJet has strengthened significantly its business in Germany by agreeing to pay €40 million for part of Air Berlin’s operations at Berlin Tegel airport.
Management at easyJet said on Friday that it would take on leases for 25 A320 aircraft, buy Air Berlin’s slots, and employ many Air Berlin staff including offers to 1,000 Air Berlin pilots.
