Britain has joined Portugal and Greece as the only three countries in the OECD where real wages fell between 2007 and 2015.
For the UK and Greece both the decline was 10.4%, according to a study by the TUC which was published on Wednesday, leaving both countries as equal bottom of the wage growth league table for the 29 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Despite internal wranglings at the European Commission, Spain and Portugal both have managed to avoid being fined for missing their agreed budget targets.
The European Commission decided not to fine the two countries because of the poor economic state of each and have postponed until September, but not cancelled, economic sanctions which could see 2017 EU funds curtailed, suspended or scrapped.
A veteran French politician has been appointed to lead the negotiations between the EU and the UK on the terms of Brexit.
Michel Barnier, also a former EU financial commissioner, was appointed by Jean-Claude Juncker who heads up the European Commission.
A 43-year-old fisherman was rescued by the Air Force on Tuesday off Povoa de Varzim, after being bitten in the leg by a blue shark.
An alert was received from the Filipa Miguel on Tuesday morning, at a position 206 nautical miles to the west of Povoa de Varzim, a village to the north of Oporto.
A 28-year-old British man died early on Tuesday at holiday apartments in Albufeira after he fell from a fifth floor balcony.
Alexander Williams was on holiday in the Algarve with two friends and his death is being treated as a tragic accident.
Tourists are flocking to Portugal and Spain as terrorist attacks in France and the failed coup in Turkey limit holiday choices to destinations perceived as ‘safe.’
Portugal’s Minister for the Economy, Manuel Caldeira Cabral commented that “Portugal always shows up as a safe destination," with the national tourism board working to increase occupancy in the out-of-season winter months.
Tax officials in Spain have discovered nearly 1.7 million houses in the country on which inadequate taxes have been paid after an extensive drone and satellite operation.
The drones were able to record improvements and extensions to houses and simple checks determined if these had been declared to the authorities.
Arrests have been made in Spain of scammers advertising bogus holiday apartments for rent in Barcelona.
The National Police and Guardia Civil moved in on the gang after a two year operation.
