Portugal's electricity supplier EDP has cut off the electricity to 285,000 households that failed to pay their bills, claiming that the number of disconnections for non-payment remained "stable" in the first nine months of last year compared to the same period in 2012, with only around 5% of EDP’s customers being disconnected.

"Electricity suppliers EDP, EDP Comercial and EDP Serviço Universal, have taken into account their customers’ circumstances “with the care the situation warrants and overall the situation has remained relatively stable," according to a company spokesman.

Portugal's Home Affairs Minister today said the initiative by the National Union of Police (Sinapol) at the country's airports was “truly regrettable.”

Miguel Macedo was alluding to the initiative of the union to distribute leaflets to tourists at Portugal’s airports warning holiday makers that the difficulties that police officers are suffering may endanger the security of the country.

Pinto Machado, director of communications within Portugal for the German bank, said that Deutsche Bank 'is not discussing a move from the country,' thus hoping to dampen rumours which have been in circulation since Barclays announced last week that it was shutting its Portuguese business.

Machado said "It is false news. Deutsche Bank is not discussing any departure from Portugal. We are firmly committed to the country and to the Portuguese market," reacting to news items in today’s press.

The financial advisors working on the much delayed sale of State airline TAP have asked for another month before submitting an updated valuation of the company.

Sérgio Monteiro, Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport & Communications commented that "They gave us a preliminary document. The final document should be submitted by the end of May and they asked for more time as it was necessary to collect more information.”

Portugal may not be the first country that comes to mind when talking about favorable tax regimes but, in fact, Portugal offers a very attractive tax regime to newly resident individuals, referred to as Non-Habitual Residents (NHRs). This regime provides for a flat income tax rate of 20% for qualifying employment and self-employment income and a tax exemption for almost all foreign source income.

Economy Minister Pires de Lima today stated that "I believe in this economic recovery and I think that in the times that are coming the economic recovery will be at a higher level than the many current predictions suggest."

The joyful evangelist was in Famalicão, Braga during a no doubt riveting commemorative ceremony for the 25th anniversary of the Technological Centre for the Textile and Clothing Trade of Portugal.

Parvalorem and Parups, the two public companies that hold the Miró art collection, have told they must pay fines for the illegal export of the artwork in 2013.

The fine is reportedly €35,000 according to the General Directorate of Heritage.

Desidério Silva is not happy. As head of the Algarve region’s tourist board the last thing he needs is for members of the police to hang around the airport handing out leaflets to tourists informing them they are not safe.

This of course is exactly what is planned and Silva, as chairman of the executive committee of Tourism of the Algarve, formally has called for the National Union of Police to desist in its protest lest its actions spoil the carefully created image of safety that the Algarve has been promoting in the recent past, backed up by statistics showing this indeed is the case.