SOS Ria Formosa today created a human chain on Farol island to highlight the continuing struggle against the State’s demolition of their houses.
 
The islanders formed the letters SOS as a symbolic form of protest against the demolitions which the High Court last week declared can go ahead - according to the State owned company Polis which is in charge of demolitions. The injunction lodged by Olhão council is based on preserving the habitat of the rare island chameleon but it is by no means certain that the high court has ruled definitively in this complex case.

Are we finally getting somewhere in the fight against corruption? Portugal’s State Prosecutors have a list of over one hundred names to whom the Grupo Espírito Santo subsidiary ES Enterprises paid out tax free money, sometimes regularly for years.

There are politicians, civil servants, public sector managers, mayors, businessmen and journalists - all on the Ricardo Salgado payroll and all in secret.

Ana Mafalda Prazeres, a great-niece of one of Portugal’s 1974 Revolution heroes, António de Spínola, had a great job advising the wealthy clients of Banco Best on how to manage their money.

One aspect of her life that the well-connected banker managed to keep secret was her gambling addiction which appears to have got the better of her judgement as Prazeres has managed to steal €20 million of her clients’ funds in a simple Ponzi scheme.

Spain’s King Felipe VI has made a last ditch effort to convince the country’s political party leaders to form a coalition government.

The king, now in his third round of talks, will finish his negotiations on Tuesday at a final meeting with acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

…and so it begins, the unravelling of a major part of the fabric of Portugal’s tax deals for foreigners wishing to settle here as the Finnish tax department has won the argument over its country's retirees living in Portugal without paying income tax on their private sector pensions.

Portuguese Finance Ministry officials have agreed to sign a new bilateral treaty with Finland which will see an end to the current ten year tax holiday that has encouraged many Finns to head to the sun.

Expensive Chihuahuas, the smallest breed of dog, and other small “toy” dogs are being targeted by conmen in Italy.

As many as 3,500 Chihuahuas were taken last year, a sharp rise over the 1,400 incidents reported in 2014, according to an animal rights organisation in Italy.

A young German woman has swum across the Mediterranean from Europe to Africa.

Nathalie Pohl, 21, took 2 hours and 53 minutes to achieve the 15 kilometre distance, setting a new world record. The Gibraltar-record for men is 2 hours and 16 minutes,

Algarve anti-oil groups are watching with inreasing concern as Italian authorites 'monitor' a two-kilometre-long oil spill off Itay's prized Riviera coastline.

The 500 metre wide slick has been moving slowly westwards from waters off Genoa, and threatens to pollute holiday beaches just as the tourist season begins. The risk of a new spill into the Mediterranean is said by authorities to be "under control" - a statement few believe as the oil slick threatens the premier Itailan Riviera and smaller areas of oil pollution are being reported by fishermen.