In a week during which the Algarve at last is being taken seriously by a traditionally Lisbon-centric government, the long-held anguish and anger over the marginalisation of the region’s two commercial ports is nearly over.
In a winning move, Fisheries Minister Ana Paula Vitorino announced on Friday that she is setting up a new administrative body for the Algarve’s docks, with the region’s mayors at the helm.
Management has already begun the negotiations to shut down three Banco Popular branches in the Algarve region with Vila Real de Santo António, Olhão and Almancil heading the wider closure of 47 outlets countrywide.
Employees of the three Algarve locations have been contacted by the bank's management with its proposals for leaving employment ‘by mutual agreement’ indicating these branches are the ones to be closed, although no official statement has yet been issued, according to José Manuel Martins, a Southern Banking Union representative.
The visiting Pope's dates have been confirmed for next year as Pope Francis pays a two day visit to Fátima on the centenary of the date when three children claimed they saw an image of the Virgin Mary above an olive tree.
Pope Francis will visit Portugal's magnet for religious tourists on May 12th and 13th, 2017, appearing at the traditional midnight mass on the 12th - a prelude to the anniversary of the first sighting of the Virgin Mary. The first apparition was May 13, but a midnight Mass and a candlelight procession on th 12th marks the start of the celebrations.
The Council of Ministers has approved a law to encourage the film industry in Portugal.
The incentive is by way of a tax credit that can be deducted from corporation tax, "of an amount corresponding to 20% of the amount of eligible expenses."
Some products and services will increase in price next year with incomes rising only slowly.
Council rents will go up 0.34% in 2017, the highest increase since 2014 and from February next year, sugary-filled soft drinks will increase in price by up to 30 cents for each 1.5 litre bottle due to the new sugar tax.
Olhão’s local parishes now know which projects have been successful in the council’s first Participatory Budget which will fund the winning suggestions for local improvements.
The council says the projects, one per parish, will be completed during 2017.
The UK’s Daily Mail has followed the example set by the Sun newspaper by issuing a grovelling apology to Robert Murat (pictured) after both publications accused Murat of knowing Clement Freud and sharing drinks with the TV personality in Praia da Luz.
The Daily Mail was up to its usual standard when this summer it printed an article with the headline ‘Clement Freud drank with Maddie suspect Robert Murat in Praia da Luz bar – and his local pub was dubbed the Plough and Paedo,’ a story long since removed from the newspaper’s website.
Depositors at Banco Espírito Santo, whose money was switched into high-risk commercial paper made worthless when the bank collapsed in August 2014, are close to a deal that would see some of them receiving 75% of their money back.
Nuno Vieira, the lawyer working on behalf of a group of those affected, commented, “The solution involves creating a fund that will lump together everyone’s rights and will try and recover all the money through the courts over the coming years. This fund will pay part of the amounts owed to all the groups of non-qualified investors in this commercial paper.”
