The Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Pedro Marques, has said that the renegotiation of the public-private partnerships for Portugal’s roads will not bring anywhere near the level of savings claimed by the previous government.

"We are following the negotiations of these PPP contracts. Negotiations are not yet complete, but we can draw some conclusions that there is a big difference between what was touted by the previous government, and the reality," said the new minister.

Italy has been known to lash out at foreign companies which imitate any of its delicacies, but is no stranger to scandals in its own production.

Concern has been raised about the making of mozzarella cheese after police seized 3.5 tonnes of poorly preserved curd from a manufacturer in the southern region of Puglia.

We now have answers, of a sort, to the pending questions over the Algarve’s railway line as the Minister of Equipment and Infrastructure, Pedro Marques, faced Social Democrat MP Cristóvão Norte at an parliamentary meeting for infrastructure investment.

Marques guaranteed that the electrification project for the remainder of the Algarve railway line is to go ahead.

Apple plans to open a product development unit in Naples which Italian PM Matteo Renzi said “will bring about 600 jobs”.

Naples is characterised by high levels of unemployment and poverty.

Portugal’s much trumpeted Golden Visa programme is close to a standstill as 4,000 non-EC investors sit and wait for news of their applications.

At the current rate of progress, the backlog will take five years to clear after the Operation Labyrinth investigation into corruption and money laundering saw 11 people arrested and stricter rules put in place. 

The Minister for Internal Administration, Miguel Macedo, stepped down while denying any wrongdoing. He later was arrested.

Charles Every, thought to be the Algarve’s oldest foreign resident, celebrated his 100th birthday yesterday, Wednesday, 20 January.

It was cause for a double and nearly a triple celebration. Charles’s granddaughter, Kelly, who lives in England, was also born on January 20. She gave birth to her first baby, a girl, last week.

One of the unions representing the Algarve’s tourism workers is concerned about lay-offs at the Sheraton Algarve at the Pine Cliffs resort near Albufeira.

More than concern, union leaders have expressed "great amazement" when it became aware that United Investments Portugal, the owner of the Pine Cliffs Resort, which includes the Sheraton Algarve Hotel, once again has laid-off staff at the same time as carrying out major investment such as the recent purchase of Vivamarinha Hotel & Suites, located in Quinta da Marinha in Cascais, and the construction of the new Vale do Freixo Golf & Country resort in the Loulé council area.

Portugal's Socialist government has a nagging pain in its flank as its left wing party colleagues continue to pressure the prime minister to make good on pre-election pledges, without regard to cost.

It is becoming clear that Prime Minister Antónia Costa’s original enthusiasm on grasping the reins of power has been somewhat tempered by financial reality.

Does he have a grasp of the finances or will this be another Socialsist Party highway to penury?