So keen is the current government to continue it generous tax give-away to already wealthy foreigners, the woman with the most boring job title in politics has announced new Golden Visa regulations to make it cheaper for non-Europeans to get a foothold in the Shengen area, but at a greater risk.

The Minister for Internal Administration, Constança Urbano de Sousa, unveiled the new application routes for 'Golden Visas' applicants, including a new category that invites investors to put their money into companies that have gone bust but successfully applied to the courts under Portugal's 'revitilisation' laws.

Former Health Minister and current president of Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Paulo Macedo, is fed up with politicians.

Announcing a quarterly net loss for the bank of €38.6 million, while explaining this away by noting €58 million in non-recurring items such as staff pay-offs and comfy early retirement packages, Paulo Macedo used today’s press conference to complain that politicians keep trying to drag Caixa Geral into the political arena.

The National Unit to Combat Trafficking in Drugs, with full air and sea support from Portugal’s armed forces, has intercepted a fishing boat in the Mediterranean near the Straits of Gibraltar, with 10 tonnes of hashish on board.

The drug, packed in 333 bales, had been loaded aboard in north Africa but was intercepted and seized, later being transported to the Naval support area in Portimão harbour.

Faro council, in a pre-election spate of continuing good news, has paid off its State loan from the Financial Rebalancing Plan and is to embark on a spending spree of titanic proportion.

The final payment, €4.94 million, has been made and Faro's mayor, Rogério Bacalhau, has lost no time in announcing his spending plans.

The price of houses in Portugal has started to cause concern in the sleepy corridors of Brussels as the average value of property rose 7.1% last year. This was really a 6% increase as general inflation was 1.1%.

The ever-meddlesome European Commission has concluded that this increase has reached the acceptable limit and now it has to start worrying about ‘imbalances in the economy.’

Altice faces a fine of up to 10% of its worldwide turnover if the European Commission (EC) upholds allegations the company took control of fixed and mobile phone operator PT Portugal before being given clearance.

In a ‘Statement of Objections’ sent to Altice, the EC has accused the company of breaking mergers and acquisitions rules by pressing ahead in January 2015, before being given clearance to proceed.

A new study by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation has concluded that the country needs a positive migratory balance in order to maintain the working population and keep it paying into the social security fund which, in turn, will be paying pensions to an increasing number of retirees.

The study ‘Migration and Demographic Sustainability’ was coordinated by João Peixoto, Daniela Craveiro, Jorge Malheiros and Isabel Tiago de Oliveira and represents the first joined-up thinking on impacts across various interrelated sectors of demographics, economics, employment and social security receipts.

The latest in a long line of broken promises is that the EN125 road works will be finished by June 30th this year, before the ‘summer season’ that appears already to have started - so successful is the Algarve as a tourist destination.

Infraestruturas de Portugal ‘guarantees’ that the work on the section between Vila do Bispo and Olhão on the Algarve’s only free east-west road really will be completed by the end of June.