Portugal’s Left Bloc, led by its combative leader Catarina Martins, is forcing a vote to end to the tolls on the Algarve’s Via do Infante.

The opportunity to ditch the tolls, that have increased business costs across the region while forcing many drivers onto the wholly unsuitable ‘alternative’ EN 125, will come during the debaltes on the details of the 2016 State Budget, according to the Left Bloc’s local leadership in Faro.

As the volume of complaint increases over the former Finance Minister’s new job with British debt recovery company Arrow Global, dozens of serving MPs in Portugal have registered that they too have second jobs.

According to information registered on the Parliamentary website, 38 of Portugal’s 230 MPs have declared other paid activities in addition to their salaries for serving their constituents which voters view as a full time occupation.

The European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs has felt it necessary to 'clarify' statements he made on Monday that Portugal must impose the so-called ‘Plan B’ additional fiscal measures to make sure the 2016 State Budget works and that the country’s figures do not blow through the boundaries of the Stability Pact.

Pierre Moscovici changed tacl today and said that nothing has changed and that there is "trust" in the Portuguese government's ability to run the 2016 State Budget. This is not what he said the day before when commenting that the additional measures “must be implemented.”

Another accident on the Algarve’s EN125 left seven people injured in a head-on collision between Mexilhoeira Grande and Figueira, Portimão.

The crash happened during Monday’s commuter time at 5.45pm and the road was closed for two hours as medical teams attended to the victims, four of whom had been seriously injured.

The latest Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics report, published today, reveals that in 2014 Portugal had the ninth most crowded prison system in Europe, with the second highest average time spent behind bars at 27.9 months, beaten only by Moldova at 29.2 months.

The average time a prisoner spends in prison in Europe is nine months, with jail time in Portugal running at three times this figure.

Cyprus is moving to be the new poster child for reform in the eurozone.

The International Monetary Fund praised the country’s decision to end its three-year bailout programme two months early after it regained financial footing.

A fire on Monday destroyed a restaurant at the fishermens’ beach to the east of Armação de Pêra.

Firefighters tackled the blaze but the restaurant, owned by the same company that operates the nearby Vila Vita hotel, was consumed by flames which were fanned by a stiff wind.

The European Commission has criticised Portugal, France and Italy for violating EU rules on public spending.

In its statement, the commission, the EU's executive arm, pointed out France's "large public debt coupled with deteriorated productivity growth".