One of the joys of being the Secretary of State for the Environment is that you get to unveil plaques at sewage treatment works.
The latest new plant for the western Algarve has been inaugurated and will treat the effluent produced by 14,000 citizens and tourists in Vila do Bispo and Sagres as from next summer.
Via do Infante toll protesters once again have assembled on the Guadiana bridge with a message for the government, the ‘period of grace is over.’
Queues of vehicles from Spain applauded the protesters as the various payment schemes are still viewed as overly complex and certainly do not encourage visitors to the Algarve arriving by car.
The Algarve’s land registration pilot project ran out of time and money with funds being spent on ‘other projects’.
The scheme to register land and property on a government database is expected to have cost close to €17 million, well below the €25 million allocated by the EU, but is on hold as because the initiative has run over the time allotted and part of the funds were “released for other initiatives”.
This was the warning from scientists who say that a vegetarian diet would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Rearing livestock is a major cause of greenhouse gases, due in part to the methane produced by animals and the slurry pits. Growing grain for animal consumption is less efficient than use of grain than human consumption is.
Authorities in the Netherlands are closing down a number of prisons as there are not enough criminals to fill them.
About one-third of the 13,500 prison cells are unoccupied, leading officials to begin to close five prisons in the country.
Children in the UK spend more time inside the house than their peers in other countries, according to new research.
Some 12,000, parents across the UK, the US, Portugal, Brazil, China, South Africa, Turkey, India, Indonesia and Vietnam were questioned about their children’s play habits to see how screen-based activities compare to outdoor activities and games.
The Algarve’s Hospitality and Industry Workers union has issued a formal strike notice for Friday involving staff at all the region's hotels that are owned by JJW Hotels & Resorts.
Workers are demanding wage increases, the replacement of overtime, the payment of language allowance where appropriate, 25 days holiday a year and a 35-hour working week.
A group of local drivers, the self-styled "Users of the EN124" have decided that enough is enough and are to stage a slow drive-by this Saturday.
Their complaint is a common one across the Algarve region and beyond, that their local road is now in such a poor state of repair that it is dangerous, even life-threatening.
