British consumers headed to the shops in a buying spree fueled by the June heatwave to stock up on outdoor toys, furniture and summer clothing.
Retail sales were boosted by nearly 2% compared to last June, the biggest leap in 18 months when, in January 2014, sales rocketed just under 4%.
The Environment Minister, Jorge Moreia da Silva, has hit back at recent criticism of the remodelling work at Dona Ana beach near Lagos, saying that his €1.8 million spend is justified on the grounds of safety.
Reacting to the announcement of complaints to the European Commission and to the public prosecutor by environmental organisation Almargem, Jorge Moreira da Silva today asked, "What should the government and the local authority do? By keeping the landscape (cliffs) intact, should we endanger citizens?"
António Pereira Beça, the replacement director of the Foreigners and Borders Service, quietly has had to suspend the granting of any further Golden Visas to wealthy foreigners.
Beça’s move in early July explains the sharp drop in the number of successful Golden Visas issued but only now do we know the reason.
Despite opposition and widespread protests from many sectors of society, the eco-vandalism at Lagos' Dona Ana beach by the Ministry of the Environment is nearly complete.
In addition to the dredging and discharge of 140,000 cubic metres of sand sucked from the nearby underwater ecosystem, the infill to make the beach bigger for tourists will be finished off by a 50 metre long bank for which no environmental impact assessment has been made.
Eurozone leaders reached an agreement with Greece early on Monday morning after 16 hours of talks that saw Prime Minister Tsipras berated by his European colleagues in a display of behaviour that showed the underlying desperation of the northern countries to keep the big European experiment going.
A third bailout on unilateral terms is being shoved under Greece's nose with a range of austerity measures that have to be passed by the Greek parliament before the end of Wednesday.
Britain is to install a network of ash detectors around the country to help avoid the closure of airspace in Europe following volcanic ash disruption.
After the Icelandic volcano eruption in 2010 which grounded hundreds of flights, an international effort was mounted to improve forecasting and understanding of the conditions in which aircraft might still fly.
A Portuguese worker in Luxembourg was called to testify as a witness to a traffic accident.
Pedro Miguel Dias Fernandes, originally from Vila Verde, Braga, went to the Portuguese Consulate in Luxembourg to fulfil his duty as a citizen but was told he could not testify as there was “no Skype available" to link him to the court in Braga.
The railway crossing in Olhão that was closed last October will be reopened within days, albeit temporarily, when workers have replaced the concrete previously drilled out and piled to one side in a cynical and ultimately fruitless attempt to stop pedestrians using it.
"We have three sets of problems and have tried to solve them all. For security reasons, this level crossing will be closed in the future, but for it to be closed we have to ensure that there are alternative ways people can cross," said the president of Infraestrutura de Portugal, António Ramalho.
