The Church of England could be running out of ministers as it faces up to its predicament of an ageing clergy.

About 25% of its ministers are over the age of 60.

Vila Real de Santo António council is to demand a tourist tax as from January next year, according to the mayor who would have imposed the tax this year, but for the complaints of hoteliers.   

Mayor Luís Gomes announced the delay during the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding for the creation of the Municipal Strategic Council for Tourism, a new body which will include representatives from the hotel and real estate sectors as well as from the council.

In an enlightened piece of legislation, as from June 1st the adverts on Portuguese TV stations must be at the same volume as the programme that the advertising break is interrupting.

The strategy of assuming everyone is stone-deaf when the adverts come on has long been criticised by viewers and consumer associations, who have filed thousands of complaints with Communications Regulator to no avail, until now.

The bullfighting debate returns to Portugal’s parliament, rather appropriately on World Children’s Day, as the specific aspect to be debated is the participation of under-18-year-olds in the activity that continues to cause argument across the country.

MPs from People Animals Nature, the Left Bloc and The Greens want to stop under-18-year-olds participating in bullfighting activities.

Banco Português de Negócios (BPN), was the bank that the government controversially bailed out in 2008 after reckless management and malpractice has created an initial debt of €1.8 billion.

José Oliveira e Costa, the former President of BPN is the man held mainly responsible for the financial scandal that resulted in the bank being sold off to the Angola’s Banco BIC for €40 million in 2011.

Thousands of Italy’s beautiful villages are at risk of decaying away, with nearly 2,500 heading towards mass depopulation.

A report from environment agency Legambiente presented this week to Italy’s national council agency detailed 5,627 towns which have now have fewer than 5,000 residents. Of this 2,430 are being hit with a serious depopulation crisis.

The former Minister of the Economy Álvaro Santos Pereira has resurfaced at the OECD where he works as a top economist.

Pereira’s previous post-ministerial occupation as an author began and ended with his book that attacked the former Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas, a party leader who later retired from mainstream politics.

Changes may start to be made at the Bank of Portugal with the resignation of Dr. João José Amaral Tomaz, the man whose speciality was in "areas of punitive action and conduct supervision," leaving a choice vacancy at the banking sector's regulator.

According to the Bank of Portugal's announcement today, "The request for termination of service was presented by Dr. João José Amaral Tomaz, for personal reasons" and accepted by the governor.