The taxman is inspecting those involved in renting out their properties and a squad of newly trained staff is focusing both on the market in short-term lets to holidaymakers and is checking that income from long-term lettings are properly being accounted for and taxed.

The taxman is taking the obvious route and is starting by collecting information "from newspaper advertisements and ads on the Internet” but also from water and electricity suppliers contracts to see who has more than one property.

Employment in the 28-nation European Union stood at an average of 68% by the end of 2013. The figures are for those people aged between 20 and 64 years of age.

From 2002 employment rates rose steadily reaching a high of 70% in 2008. But the financial crisis drove rates down, albeit gradually.

The volume of production in the construction sector in March this year, compared to the previous month, fell in the eurozone by -0.6%.

Portugal led this trend, recording a drop of -3%, the largest in the euro region. The Netherlands and Germany were not far behind, with falls of -2.6% and -2.2% respectively.

A proposal from the Parliamentary Group of the Communist Party calling for the resumption of the EN 125 roadworks and for the abolition of tolls on the formerly free Via do Infante motorway has been defeated in Parliament.

This is not the first time that the Communists formally have proposed a vote for the abolition of tolls on roads that were once free, and not the first time the ruling coalition has defeated the proposal so as to save an embarrassing analysis of the costs of running a toll system in the Algarve that has taxpayers subsiding the contract to the tune of €40 million a year.

The mood is likely to be sombre at Ryanair after it announced its first fall in annual profit for the last five years.

Profit after tax was down 8% on the year before, recorded at €523 million.

A baby girl currently is in hospital for her own safety after she was removed from her Irish parents by Albufeira police.

The 14-month old girl is now under the protection of the Juvenile Court which is to decide her and her parents’ fate.

Nearly 250,000 taxpayers in the UK were the subject of tax investigations during the 2012-13 financial year.

The number of inquiries HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) made about taxpayers it thought were not paying enough tax has doubled over the past two years, according to new figures obtained by the Daily Telegraph.

'Portugal Laden With $293 Billion Debt Exits Bailout Plan' read the Bloomberg headline followed by a no-nonsense analysis of Portugal's progress and financial exposure.

"Portugal exited its international bailout program yesterday, regaining the economic sovereignty the nation lost after the European debt crisis erupted while facing enduring challenges to its finances.