Minister of the Sea Ana Paula Vitorino will be riding into a sea of troubles when she alights in the Algarve on Friday morning - ostensibly to present ‘brave new plans’ behind the government’s bid to extend Portuguese territory over four million square kilometres of sea.

Anti-oil groups already threatening a collective hunger strike have agreed to converge outside the gates of this year’s super-sized “Feira do Mar”, opening in Portimão Arena on Thursday (click here) to confront Vitorino over what they see as ‘collective lies’ behind government plans for Portugal’s bid for the sea.

Albufeira laboratory Gnóstica has been condemned to pay €272,000 to a family whose lives it turned upside down due to what judges have dubbed a “censurable error”.

The technician responsible for the error, however, has been acquitted, reports national tabloid Correio da Manhã - stressing that a reaction from Gnóstica, which had been appealing a condemnation from an earlier court, has not been forthcoming.

The story goes back almost eight years and involves a child, aged three at the time, who was being tested for a throat infection.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa did his best on Saturday when he was received by various groups of protestors in Faro campaigning to ‘save’ the Algarve from the effects of gas and oil exploration and save islanders’ homes from demolition in Ria Formosa.

But what he showed to everyone who knows about any of the subjects, was that at best he does not understand the oil and gas issue (and is therefore being badly advised), or at worst “he is playing silly buggers with people”.

This is the view of activists who heard him repeating his oblique message of last year: that there is more likelihood of us all flying to the moon than of finding oil in the Algarve.

Already under investigation for qualified fraud, abuse of confidence, money-laundering, fiscal fraud and “eventual corruption”, Montepio ‘boss’ Tomás Correia has a whole new headache to deal with this week: the Bank of Portugal has cited him and eight former Montepio directors for “grave illegalities”.

Now only in charge of Montepio’s owning company, the ‘Associação Mutualista, Correia is putting on a brave front - telling journalists there is no chance of his resignation until concrete charges are levelled against him in a court of law.

Spain’s Guardia Civil of Pontevedra seized an arsenal of guns last week which it believes were due to be transported into northern Portugal.

The raid on a property in border town Tomiño uncovered 24 shotguns (four high calibre), four revolvers, two pistols, silencers, cartridges and hundreds of bullets, reports Correio da Manhã, explaining police that mounted Operation Whisper following the posting of weapons for sale on a “popular internet site”.

Article by kind permission of Portugal Resident

Giving hope to the father and friends of murdered Portimão teen Rodrigo Lapa, a Brazilian wanted for murder has finally been extradited back home to face his country’s justice system.

Ricardo Leonel Lima, 36, was detected in Portugal only a few months ago (September 2016) thanks to an Interpol alert posted after he fled the country while awaiting trial for the murder in 2003 of his former girlfriend, Kareol Kris da Silva, 21.

Minister of the Sea Ana Paula Vitorino will be braving Portimão’s Mar Algarve 2017 expo at Portimão Arena on March 24 and hoping anti-oil protestors are busy elsewhere.

The minister who stood up parliament and lied about the implications of concessions licensed to oil companies along the south and west coasts (click here) will be presenting “some of the news for the sector”, reports Barlavento newspaper, in a three day event which promises this year to be almost twice as large as it was when it first began in 2014.

The Portimão prowler has been arrested on suspicion of burglary at seven properties in the area.

The police announced that a 51-year-old man has been arrested, presented to court on Saturday and now sits in jail to wait for his trial.