The newspaper O Algarve may be resurrected online and dedicated 'exclusively' to economic issues and the Algarve’s business scene.
Álvaro Viegas, the newly elected president of the Trade and Services Association of the Algarve Region (ACRAL) has plans for the old title as part of his list of projects that the wants to achieve before 2020.
Both O Algarve and the Observador do Algarve were ditched by his successor, Vitor Guerreiro, shortly after taking office in 2013.
As for the title’s suspension, in an interview with Sul Informação, Álvaro Viegas said "I was one of the main critics at the time, saying that ACRAL should not have a printed newspaper. The fact was that Jornal do Algarve, then was losing €10,000 a month.'
"A new version of a printed newspaper will not happen. What I am thinking, and because the cost is minimal, is to take O Algarve, which is the oldest title in the region, and transform it into an online newspaper covering economic activities," said the new president of ACRAL.
Basically, it will be "specialising in the field of trade and services, that is, everything that has to do with the area in which the ACRAL operates. We do not want a generalist newspaper, as there are others in the Algarve. I want to create an online newspaper, completely dedicated to business activity."
“This project is, for now, is just an idea, so there is still no certainty of if and when it will become a reality. It is certain that ACRAL has forgotten its remit of social communication.”
This is just one of many projects that Viegas wants to implement in the next four years.
This is his second term of office at the head of ACRAL (had held the position between 1999 and 2002), and Álvaro Viegas says he will continue the projects that already had been started under of Vitor Guerreiro and João Rosado, but also wants to get some of his own ideas launched.
