Funding to rehabilitate parts of Castro Marim Castle is secured
Castro Marim recent application for funding, to rehabilitate the eastern side of Castro Marim Castle, has been approved.
The value of this fund will support the reopening of the East gate of the fence of Vila do Castelo de Castro Marim, a desire of the Municipality for several years now and which aims for the final product to correspond to the original design of the wall, thus creating a new access and preserving the heritage and its identity.
This operation, which has a planned investment volume of one million euros and which will be supported through the “Alentejo and Algarve Fortress Network” strategy, of the Integrated Territorial Investments in Urban Networks competition, for around 538,000 euros, aims to consolidate and rehabilitate that national monument.
The Municipality explains in a statement that, "the work will contribute to improving the sustainability of the facility, reinforcing the walled area, covering the area of archaeological excavations discovered, creating a visiting circuit and improving accessibility and safety conditions for visitors".
Another intervention involves the first phase of content development and the creation of the Interpretation Center for the Templar Orders and the Order of Christ, due to the importance of this military order in the history of the country and the town of Castro Marim.
In the first phase, its contents will be developed through research, studies, state-of-the-art information and publications, with the aim of consolidating and promoting the Castle, disseminating the municipality's historical connection to this theme. This intervention has a planned investment of around 195,000 euros and will be supported by around 117,000 euros.
This application is part of the Urban Network of Fortresses of Alentejo and Algarve, aligned with the Algarve 2030 Strategy, which aims for culture, preservation and enhancement of heritage to be key focuses of development, contributing to competitiveness, qualification of the tourist destination and regional affirmation.
The support is intended for actions of a material and immaterial nature such as conservation and restoration actions, creation of new tourist products, strengthening accessibility conditions, improving technical conditions and promoting and publicizing the fortifications.
The proposed “Alentejo and Algarve Fortress Network” Strategy was presented by the consortium led by the Municipality of Elvas, which also includes the urban centers of the Municipality of Castro Marim, Portalegre, Alcoutim, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Mértola, Beja, Campo Maior and Nisa.
The Municipality of Castro Marim recalls in the document that for more than 40 years it has been trying to unblock a structured intervention in the Castle, recognized as a National Monument since 1910, "which is in need of an urgent and consolidated intervention", it warns.
Algarve under orange weather warning from Friday, due to rain and thunderstorms
The Algarve and Beja will be under an orange weather warning from Friday due to rain and thunderstorms, starting from around 3:00 am.
By Saturday, the level decreases to yellow warning from 3:00 pm onwards.
The orange warning is issued by IPMA whenever there is a moderate to high risk meteorological situation, and the yellow warning when there is a risk situation for certain activities, dependent on the meteorological situation.
For today, the IPMA predicts periods of very cloudy skies, with the possibility of light showers, low winds and a drop in minimum temperatures.
A body, thought to be missing Carla Leal, is found on the Spanish coast
The body of what is thought to be 44 year old Carla Leal, who disappeared last week in Vila Real de Santo António after her car was found in the Guadiana river, has been found on the Spanish coast, in Huelva.
A family source confirmed to journalists that the body had been found, although official procedures between the authorities of the two countries are still pending, to confirm the identity of the victim.
The alert for the disappearance was given by the family, after the woman left her workplace, a restaurant on Santo António beach, in Vila Real de Santo António, on the night of September 30 and did not return home.
On October 2, the woman's car was found in the Guadiana River and removed by authorities, for analysis by teams from the GNR Accident Investigation Unit.
Authorities carried out searches in the Guadiana, in Portugal and Spain, and along the bordering coasts in both countries, for several days to try to locate the woman, but without results.
The captain of the port of Vila Real de Santo António, João Afonso Martins, who coordinated the searches in the river and on the coast, said he had not received official communication to confirm whether the body found was or was not that of the missing woman.
Read previous articles:
Guadiana River: the search resumes for missing 44 year old woman
https://algarvedailynews.com/news/24204-guadiana-river-the-search-resumes-for-missing-44-year-old-woman
Guadiana River: authorities continue to piece together what happened to missing woman
https://algarvedailynews.com/news/24208-guadiana-river-authorities-continue-to-piece-together-what-happened-to-missing-woman
Algarve drug lord who escaped prison last month is arrested in Morocco
Algarve drug lord Fábio Loureiro, one of the prisoners who escaped from the Vale de Judeus Prison on Sept 7th, was arrested on Sunday night in Tangier, Morocco.
Read Convicted Algarve drug lord escapes prison HERE.
At around 10:00 pm local time, the "Moroccan authorities, with the collaboration of the Spanish authorities, in close coordination with the Judicial Police (PJ)" arrested the suspect, who had been on the run since September 7th.
"The international police operation was launched in less than 24 hours, with the strong support of the Spanish Cuerpo Nacional de Policia (CNP) and the Moroccan General Directorate of National Territorial Surveillance (DGST), based on credible information from the PJ, that Fábio Loureiro was in Morocco.
Fábio Loureiro had an international arrest warrant out on him and was on Interpol's most wanted list, the PJ said in a statement.
Fábio Loureiro has been convicted of the crimes of kidnapping, drug trafficking, criminal association, armed robbery and evasion and will now be "presented to the Moroccan judicial authorities with a view to his extradition to Portugal for the purposes of serving his sentence", adds the PJ.
According to the audit report on the performance of the surveillance and security services, which was prepared by the Security Services Division of the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services, the escape of the inmates "took six minutes" and was only detected about an hour later.
The group of escapees included two Portuguese citizens, Fernando Ribeiro Ferreira and Fábio Fernandes Santos Loureiro, a citizen of Georgia, Shergili Farjiani, one from Argentina, Rodolf José Lohrmann, and one from the United Kingdom, Mark Cameron Roscaleer, aged between 33 and 61.
They were sentenced to between seven and 25 years in prison for various crimes, including drug trafficking, criminal association, robbery, kidnapping and money laundering.
Of these, only Fábio Loureiro has so far been caught by the authorities.
The escape of these criminals on Sept 7th led to the removal of the prison director and the resignation of the then general director of Reintegration and Prison Services, Rui Abrunhosa e Gonçalves, who was replaced on an interim basis by Isabel Leitão, who was already part of that general directorate supervised by the Ministry of Justice.
The escape from Vale de Judeus led the Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, who ordered an audit of the security of Portuguese prisons, to be heard recently on the case in the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, at the request of the Liberal Initiative.
DO NOT MISS BLiP EXPO 2024 - THIS WEEKEND IN PORTIMĀO
Retail Giant IKEA joins the Exhibitors at BLiP Expo 2024, along with more than 100 other businesses welcoming visitors to the Portimão Arena over the weekend of 12th – 13th October, organised by to bring key businesses, residents and property owners together in a face-to-face environment.
IKEA’s small stand (S30) can be found close to the stand, where they will be presenting their new home design service.
BLiP Expo is a ‘must attend’ event for everyone wanting to find out what is available to make life even better in Portugal! There is a wide variety of products and services for visitors to peruse at their leisure, providing for the needs of all-comers. Look at the website www.blip-expo.com to see the current list of over 100 Exhibitors - nearly all have a link to the Exhibitor’s own website so that you can find out more about them before you visit BLiP.
The venue is the Portimão Arena with plenty of free parking and entry for Visitors to the Exhibition is also FREE.
BLiP provides an informal but professional environment in which to explore lifestyle solutions. Previous Exhibitors will be joined by many newcomers and there are lots of promotions and special offers throughout the Arena. Sponsored by Medal Insurance, the Exhibition is strongly supported by the Algarve Regional Tourism Board and Open Media, publishers of The Resident amongst other publications. Algarve Daily News recommends the event to all our readers.
Organisers – Portugal’s largest Association for foreign residents and property owners - will of course welcome Members old and new on their stand to renew subscriptions, discuss matters or just say ‘hello’.
The exhibition is on October 12th and 13th 2024, and opening hours are: Saturday 10am – 6pm; Sunday 10am – 4pm.
EVERYONE is welcome at BLiP EXPO 2024.
