Pharol, formerly Portugal Telecom SGPS, has lodged court proceedings against three former PT directors, but this is just the start as the former Chief Executive Zeinal Bava and accountancy firm Deloitte are next on the list.

The lawsuit lodged on Thursday cites Henrique Granadeiro, a former chief executive of PT, Pacheco de Melo, PT's former finance director and Amílcar Morais Pires, the former PT director representing major shareholder Banco Espírito Santo.

Notice of the cases against the three former directors was received by the stock market regulator CMVM and released to the press on Friday.

The infamous Viga d'Ouro case is based on events between 2004 and 2006 when Silves council awarded the eponymous building company a substantial range of projects for drainage, sewage and water supply work without going to public tender.

This and other 'illegalities' were in clear breach of the rules governing public organisations when commissioning work.

The resulting invoices sent to Silves council were 'factored' by Viga d'Ouro Construções Lda meaning the council then owed the money to the banks, not the builder, which rather cleverly ensured the council was almost certain to lose in court should it dispute the amounts payable.

The owners of the four star Porta Nova Hotel in Tavira which was closed yesterday are to fight back.

Novo Banco forced the hotel's closure by sending in a team of ‘legal representatives’ and security guards who changed the locks, made sure nobody got in and emptied the building of staff and guests.

The Spanish offer of citizenship to qualifying Sephardic Jews came into effect this week, but by then 4,300 applications already had been received.

In Portugal, application numbers have mounted to 204 under a similar programme which began in March. Those applications are still under evaluation, according to Portugal’s Justice Ministry.

Another 110,000 Portuguese left the country last year, the second consecutive year that around 9,000 people a month have decided to seek their fortune in pastures green.

Portugal’s Centre for Emigration has concluded that the departure of Portuguese in 2013 and 2014 was stable at 110,000 per year for two years but in 2015 the exit rate has eased.

Portugal’s police authorities have taken in and destroyed 21,000 illegal weapons so far this year.

The haul is largely from weapons seized during police operations, with the balance coming from members of the public who have handed weapons in at police stations.

Six people have been arrested in an operation that has been tracking the transport of illegal immigrants into Portugal.

The joint operation between Portugal’s border authority, the SEF, and the French authorities has been going on for two years and has involved tracking cars and minivans heading to Portugal carrying illegal immigrants for processing through the-easy-to-use Portuguese system.

The Monchique fire has been quelled with the deployment of 250 firemen, helicopter and aircraft support, and 83 fire trucks.

A Land Rover from Lago Bombeiros was destroyed after it ran off a narrow track, injuring the driver, and was overtaken by flames before it could be winched to safety.

This morning the smoldering remains of a vast area of countryside is being monitored for further outbreaks.