Carlos Costa, the current governor of the Bank of Portugal looks increasingly like a man in need of a new job as it emerges that he knew of the black hole in Banco Espírito Santo’s account  as far back as December 2013.

The serious problems at BES were only revealed in April 2014 when it was announced that Ricardo Salgado (pictured) justified the loss as being an "accounting error," but error or not, it was enough to bring down the bank.

Municipalities in a state of financial distress, panic or in the case of Portimão, insolvency will have to reduce their workforce by 3% to save money, or the state will reduce central grants by an equivalent amount.

The number of lay-offs will be based on the headcount as at December 31, 2014 and is one of a raft of measure in the 2015 State Budget designed by the government to reign in errant councils which happily run up debt and expect the general taxpayer to fund their excesses.

British pensions are among the worst in all of the European Union countries.

While pensions in Germany, Denmark and Poland rose in value, nearly 10% has been lost on British pensions since the year 2000.

The Attorney General's Office is taking a keen interest in the aborted sale of TAP in late 2102 when Gérman Efromovich’s Synergy group ended up as the only bidder yet was denied the prize on a trumped up condition allowing Pedro Passos Coelho to pull the sale.

A secret investigation was started last year and has been extended due to the discovery of 'new facts.'

Estonia experienced the largest rises in house prices across the European Union’s 28 member countries. Prices there rose by 14.5% during the April to June period this year.

Ireland followed with the second strongest increases, registering 12.5% growth.

Adolfo Mesquita Nunes sees a direct link between the number of tourists visiting Portugal and the growth in property sales to foreigners.

The Secretary of State for Tourism believes that "tourism is one of the most virtuous ways of growing the property market” due to its role in attracting foreign investment.

Portugal's Prime Minister now admits that any Novo Banco loss will have to be borne by the financial system; the Left Bloc’s Catarina Martins argues that this means the taxpayer.

The PMs admitted that losses from any sale of Novo Banco at a price below €4.9 billion will be borne by the financial system through Caixa Geral, the state shareholder.

A bumper crop of cherished white truffles this year is sending gourmands into frenzies of delight as prices are falling.

The white truffles are rarer and more costly than black ones (pictured). This season they are changing hands for about €2,000 a kilogram, down from €3,500 last year and an astronomical €5,000 in 2012.