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.

Portugal’s high temperatures have not been matched with a corresponding increase in deaths, in fact the mortality rate has declined during the recent hot weather, when compared to the same period last year.

The Director-General of Health, Francisco George, said he was pleased that the older members of society seem to have been following the guidelines issued by the health department as there has been no pressure on hospitals or mortuaries that can be attributed to the recent high temperatures.

Portugal’s President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is playing down the current ​​increase in party political edginess over proposed EU sanctions against Portugal, blaming it on the July heat.

Following the President’s flippant comments on the threat to the Algarve from the oil industry, in the Algarve last Thursday, Rebelo de Sousa continues to make light of the very real threats to Portugal’s struggling economy posed by the proposed suspension of 16 EU aid programmes to the country, blaming the weather for the fractious nature of discussions between Portugal’s opposing parties.

Portugal’s tax department has collected more than €18 billion to the end of June this year, €576 million more than in the same period in 2015.

The 3.2% rise was mainly due to an increase in income from indirect taxes, charges levied by the State on consumption such as IVA where the rate of growth has slowed but is still positive.