Loulé  council has leapt ahead of other of the region’s councils that have historic zones with an announcement in today’s Diario da República that protection and repair of of the city’s old centre is to be encouraged.

The new Urban Rehabilitation Area for the Historical Center of Loulé, and the old centre of Quarteira, are now subject to a range of incentives for poperty owners in the expectation that private money will be used to repair and refurbish old properties under the council's watchful eye.

Mount Pleasant Investments, is to build a tourist development including a 300-bed hotel, a sports injury clinic, shops and a leafy green zone along an area of unused waterfront in Vila Real de Santo António.
 
The deal with Docapesca, endorsed by the Minister for the Sea, Ana Paula Vitorino, involves a 75-year lease with an initial investment of €5.6 million followed by annual payments depending on turnover, plus a fixed annual fee of €60,000.

The Algarve's hotel association has reported that, in relation to 2015, November 2016 had an average quarterly occupancy rate of 45.3%, an increase of 4.1% for this low-season month.

The occupancy rate for the region's hotels went up by 3.7% with the British leading the flight from northern Europe,  up 3.6%, followed by the French (+ 0.8%) and the Germans (+ 0.7%).

Faro court is soon to hear the case of a local man whose huge stash of child pornography astounded police.

Accusations of 67,000 instances of juvenile pornography crime and aggravated child pornography have been leveled against the 41-year-old who has spent at least ten years collecting the images on his computer.

Proposed new domicile rules may affect Britons leaving the UK or returning after living abroad and could potentially undo previous inheritance tax planning for expatriates, writes Blevins Franks.

The UK’s Summer Budget of 2015 included measures to remove the “fundamental unfairness” in the non-domicile regime. Following a period of consultation, we now have a good idea of what the position will be from April 2017. While the reform is mainly aimed at foreign nationals living in the UK, it also affects Britons leaving the UK or returning after living abroad.

The prompt resignation of the Italian prime minister has been put on hold temporarily by Italy’s president.

Matteo Renzi has agreed to stay in post at least until the Italian senate passes the country’s budget for 2017.

The Bank of Portugal can delay no longer and is to announce the name of the new owner of Novo Banco before the Christmas holiday break.

Only when the Bank of Portugal governor makes the call will the government be able to assess the massive losses incurred in this botched ‘rescue.’

Sonae Group, owner of the Continente supermarket chain and other retail brands, has bought 51% of the organic food business Go Natural, leaving founders Joana and Diogo Martorell with 49%.

The plan is to open six Go Natural organic food supermarkets by the end of 2017 with Sonae MC, part of the Sonae group, opening the first Go Natural supermarket in Lisbon tomorrow December 6th with a 350 m2 outlet creating 18 jobs.