The depreciation of the pound against the euro has not stopped tourists from the UK continuing to travel to euro destinations with spending in Portugal up a pleasing 10%. Other destinations, notably France, Turkey and Egypt, are experiencing sharply lower numbers.

Algarve tourism business owners have been surprised that, despite a post-Brexit depreciation in the pound against the euro, the reduction in the purchasing power held by UK tourists has not caused a decline in bookings nor in daily spend when Brits are let loose with their holiday cash.

MAR Shopping Algarve, part of the IKEA complex in Loulé, will open on September 27th following the IKEA store opening on March 30th. 

The slightly delayed opening is ‘within the time set,’ according to IKEA’s management and certainly is bang on time compared to the normal delays, measured in years, for other of the Algarve’s building and infrastructure projects.

Crack teams of Tax and Customs Authority operatives have been scouring the country's high streets to pin down tax evaders.

The May 25th purge was not aimed at offshore account holders, property owners illegally letting their luxury properties or millionaire market traders selling counterfeit goods, the target was 6,000 hairdressers to check whether or not they were issuing receipts.

Economist, personnel specialist and former mayor of Oporto, Rui Rio, has called for the cancellation of the sale of the Novo Banco to Lone Star, saying that the government can’t simply “evade its responsibility.”

A lack of transparency and ever-changing rules are cited by Rio as he criticises the proposed sale of Novo Banco in an opinion piece in Observador.

Portugal’s Food Bank against Hunger volunteers collected 1,848 tonnes of food last weekend at over 2,000 supermarkets.

In the Algarve, 125 tons of food were collected with spokesperson, Susana Guerreiro, saying that 120 institutions in the region will be distributing the food to 18,500 people and thanked all those who were kind and donated.
 
The three Algarve council areas that have the most ‘at risk’ residents who need food help, are Olhão, Faro and Loulé.

A shellfisherman wimbling around in the sea off Aljezur collecting goose barnacles ended up in a Lisbon hospital after injuring himself on rocks 1.5 kilometres from the shore.

A salvage operation was mounted on Sunday to rescue the 42-year-old from Pedra da Galé, a small outcrop in the sea off Aljezur.

Portimão council has transferred land to enable the government to build a new police station in a €5 million project.

The Judicial Police of Portimão will have a long-awaited new building. The land transfer is the first stage and the protocol was signed today, May 29th, in the presence of the Minister of Justice, Francisca Van Dunen.

Six Algarve villages are lined up for inclusion in the ‘Seven Wonders of Portugal’ competition.

Cachopo, Paderne, Bordeira, Estoi, Ferragudo and Alte are among the 49 pre-finalists of the 'Seven Wonders of Portugal - Villages' competition.