Loulé’s Med Fest on the map as awards pile up

louleLoulé’s annual Med Fest has won the award for the Best Medium Sized Festival in the Iberian Peninsula at the 2nd edition of the Iberian Festival Awards at a ceremony in Barcelona.

This award category is for festivals that receive an audience of between 1,500 and 10,000 people per day,  with growth potential, and are considered creative festivals.

Praia da Rocha beach bar concession goes for €170,000

praiadarochaThe minimum bid was set at €10,000, but the final price of €62,000 for the concession of the old Sasha’s beach bar at Praia da Rocha, plus €3,000 a month for three years, has delighted Portimão’s cash-strapped council.

The public auction for the rights to operate the bar-restaurant on Praia da Rocha beach raised far more than anyone expected, €170,00 over three years.

The winner of the open auction now has the rights to occupy and operate the 250m2 beach restaurant, but with one condition - it will have to be open for business for at least nine months of the year.

Portugal's President to face anti-oil protests in Faro

rebelodesousaPortugal’s President is in Faro on Saturday, March 18th, and will be faced with an anti-oil and gas demonstration outside a conference "For the Excellence of the Economy of the Algarve."

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the Minister of Economy, Manuel Caldeira Cabral, are to attend the conference organised by Algfuturo at the School of Hospitality and Tourism of the Algarve.

Algarve mayors demand suspension of island homes demolition

ria formosa2The Algarve’s mayors have demanded the "immediate suspension" of the demolition plan planned for villages on the Ria Formosa island of Culatra, specifically at Hangares and Farol, and want clarification of the objectives for the Polis Litoral Ria Formosa company as set by the Environment Ministry.

The decision to stand up for the islanders unanimously was approved at a meeting of AMAL on Tuesday despite five of the councils being shareholders in Polis and having board level representation.

Former Caixa Geral president continues to treat the rules with contempt

porscheThe former president of Caixa Geral de Depósitos, António Domingues, remains in breach of his transparency obligations at the Constitutional Court by failing to file his income and asset statement on leaving office.

Domingues has passed the deadline to file his declaration, having resigned on November 28th last year after which he had 60 days to deliver the declaration which "must reflect the evolution of assets during the term of office," according to the law of Public Control of the Wealth of Political Officials.

Sonae boss delighted at Ricardo Salgado's disgrace

sonaeThe chairman of Sonae is delighted that at last the truth is coming out about his company’s failed bid for Portugal Telecom which was thwarted by Espírito Santo’s Ricardo Salgado who is alleged to have bribed PT directors to swing the deal his way.

Sonae’s Paulo Azevedo admits satisfaction with the recent revelations in the Operation Marquês investigation and is sitting back "to watch justice take its course."

New western Algarve cycling route to boost tourism in the great outdoors

cyclingVila do Bispo and Aljezur councils have presented a project to set up new cycling and walking routes through the two council areas in a scheme that will cost around €3 million.

The ‘Ecovia and Ciclovias do Litoral’ project was presented at the Lisbon Tourism Fair by the two councils and will be a "structuring for these two municipalities that, from the point of view of mobility and attractiveness of the countryside, will be another fundamental piece in the sustainable development of these territories.”

Cars crash avoiding EN125 roadworks

crashA collision between two cars at Ponte Barão late this morning injured six people and closed the road for several hours.

The road leading to the bridge, near the landmark Kadoc nightclub, currently is being used as a rat-run as the EN125 is down to one lane and as a result is even more congested than usual.