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Monchique mayor calls in the Army

monchiqueroadarmyMonchique's mayor Rui André has drafted in the Army to repair roads in his mountainous region as rain damage and mudslides have made many impassable.

Commander of the Military Engineering Regiment, Colonel João Pires, is happy to help and has been to inspect the work.

EN125 head-on collision - British resident dies

crashA second head-on collision on the EN125 in less than a week left one dead and five injured, one of them seriously on

The stretch of road near Quinta dos Vales on the EN125 between Lagoa and Portimão bridge was closed after the accident at 2.30 on Thursday afternoon.

Portimão to Bragança air service security row escalates

gnrlogoPortimão council claims to be facing a €70,000 per year charge from the local GNR for airport security at the Alvor aerodrome.

The row broke out earlier this week as those airports on the new AeroVIP Portimão to Bragança airlink have been sent bills from their local GNR offices for security duties carried out when flights take off and land.

France emerges from stagnation but jobless rate grows

eiffeltowerThe French economy rallied over 2015 allowing the country to close its books with a 1.1% increase.

It was the largest leap in four years after three long years of stagnation.

Restaurant VAT shock - pre-election promise twisted

frenchwinefoodThe word in Lisbon is that the VAT reduction for restaurants is only on sales of food, not on accompanying wine, beer and spirits.

The country’s restaurateurs had pinned their hopes and investment plans on a reduction in both aspects of a good meal but the government, under early pressure from Brussels to fill a €700 million income gap, may be trying to weasel out of its pre-election promise.

Driverless vehicle gets first go on public road

The world’s first driverless bus has been trialled on public roads in the Netherlands.

driverlessbusWePodThe electric WePod shuttle bus went on Dutch public roads on Thursday. On board were six passengers who were taken on a short ride back and forth along the side of a late in the central Dutch agricultural town of Wageningen.

Santander snapped up Banif at a 75% discount

baniflogo2When Santander Totta bought Banif at the very end of December 2015, it was worth €600 million, somewhat more than the €150 million purchase price.

Banif’s package of assets and liabilities that the state sold to Santander Totta had a book value of €600 million at the time the deal was done - hence the price paid was at a whopping 75% discount, according to a report in Jornal de Negócios today.

Tourists help put Spain back on track

spanishwomanbeachSpain’s economy ended the year with a grand finale result of an enviable 3.2% growth in 2015, according to official statistics.

It was the second consecutive year of growth.