The Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 31 May 2023
by Mike Evans
With the country experiencing some heavy rains in the past week, the prospect of drought conditions in some areas are receding. However, the Algarve is still in a state of drought conditions and unless we see more rain there is a distinct possibility of rationing in some municipalities as we enter the summer period. It is not just the Algarve where the situation is dire. In the Alentejo there are reports of farmers having to send their animals to market earlier than normal as they don’t have enough water and to buy it is causing many farmers to make the decision to get rid of their animals. With no pasture for the cattle, due to the drought, and with feed and straw at high prices, cattle breeders in Baixo Alentejo are getting rid of the animals at auctions or at slaughterhouses.
Unless we see a lot more rain this sort of issue will only get bigger across the Algarve so it is in all of our interest to save as much water as we can and hope that the next few weeks sees a large amount of rainfall in our area.
Now a look at some of the other stories that have been in the headlines in the past week across the Region.
Promotion Association of Albufeira Call for Bigger Police Presence in Summer
The largest association of businessmen in Albufeira will ask the Government to increase the number of police officers during the summer season and adapt their number to each season of the year, said the president.
The president of the Promotion Association of Albufeira (APAL), Desidério Silva, said that security in activities linked to tourism is the main concern of its members.
“Of course, we are going to ask for an increase in staff during the bathing season”, he said, defending a police presence “adaptable throughout the year”, which depends on the number of tourists in the Algarve. According to the official, there is an important presence of tourists throughout the year and the security forces should adapt on a monthly basis, avoiding a system that reinforces security only during the summer.
The former mayor of Albufeira indicated that these claims will be transmitted during a Municipal Security Council, at a meeting scheduled for the first half of June, which will be attended by the Secretary of State for Internal Administration, Isabel Oneto.
This issue has already been addressed in a meeting between APAL representatives and the mayor of Albufeira, José Carlos Rolo, to discuss “various matters concerning the dynamics of the city and its tourist offer”.
Accelerating the process that will lead to the installation of a video surveillance system, a matter for which the municipality is responsible, is another aspect linked to security that businessmen would like to see progress quickly.
On the other hand, according to the also former president of the Algarve Tourism Region, there are still not currently a sufficient number of lifeguards on the county’s beaches, a joint effort that “is being done”.
In addition to these topics, the same meeting also discussed the creation of a tourist tax in the municipality, which is being studied by the Chamber, as well as the possibility of creating a monitoring commission for the allocation of funds resulting from it.
Desidério Silva also alluded to the problems created by the lack of housing for workers and labour for the tourist sector, which leads “some restaurants” to, “very likely”, having to serve only one of the main meals this summer.
Over Four Tons of Hashish Seized in Cabanas de Tavira
Authorities seized in the early hours of Saturday, May 27, more than four tons of hashish on board a high-speed vessel in the Cabanas de Tavira channel , announced the Portuguese Navy.
The vessel with 125 bales, with an approximate weight of 4,375 kilograms of hashish, “was detected stranded and abandoned and with still warm engines”, specified the Navy in a statement.
The seizure resulted from a joint operation by the Portuguese Navy and the National Maritime Authority (AMN) that took place on the south coast of Portugal, with the participation of the Marines and the Maritime Police. During the operation, suspicious movements of vessels related to drug trafficking were monitored, with the authorities detecting and chasing two vessels, “the same having not been approached”, said the Navy.
The vessel found stranded in the Tavira channel with the drug on board was taken to the port of Faro and handed over to the Judiciary Police for investigation.
According to the Portuguese Navy, this year and so far, 779 bales of hashish, equivalent to more than 27 tonnes of hashish, and 20 vessels have been seized in joint operations with AMN.
Exercise Between Algarve and Alentejo Civil Protection Against Fires “Fulfilled Objectives”
The interregional exercise to test the articulation of the operational means of the Algarve and Alentejo in the fight against rural fires, identified “weaknesses and strengths, but fulfilled the objectives”, announced the Civil Protection. The regional commander of the Algarve, Vítor Vaz Pinto, said that the exercise that tested the articulation between the two regions and that ended on Friday, May 26, took place “within what was expected” in a fictional scenario of a rural fire in high complexity.
“Some situations, strengths and weaknesses were identified, which will be analysed in detail as soon as the reports reach us to understand what we have to change”, said the official. According to Vítor Vaz Pinto, the Civil Protection system “is dynamic and these training sessions serve exactly to make the response forces more and more efficient”.
The exercise called “DECIRALEX’23” simulated a highly complex rural fire in an area with great potential for fire development, which involved the municipalities of Aljezur and Monchique, and Odemira (Alentejo).
According to the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC), the “fire took place in an unfavourable context for combating it”, boosted by an adverse weather situation. It was a scenario “to test the strategic decision processes, institutional coordination and operational command of the Integrated Protection and Rescue Operations System (SIOPS), as well as the tactical execution of the manoeuvre and logistical support that the Operations Management System (SGO) provides at different levels of action and command, specified ANEPC.
At the same time, the responses of medical-sanitary support and emergency psychological and social support were tested, areas led by the National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEM) and by Social Security, respectively, with the support of the social action services of the municipalities.
Civil Protection added that the context of the exercise also made it possible to “test the activation of the municipal emergency plans and civil protection of Aljezur and Odemira that brought together their Municipal Operational Coordination centres (CCOM) on the ground.
These structures ensure institutional coordination in the face of a serious accident or catastrophe, in full articulation with the sub-regional and regional levels, he says.
In the DECIRALEX’23 exercise, 323 elements and 130 technical means from the different Civil Protection services and agents of the Alentejo and Algarve Region took part.
PSP Detains Two Men for Aggravated Drug Trafficking
The Faro District Command of the PSP , through its Criminal Investigation Squadron of the Portimão Police Division, arrested on Thursday, the 25th, two citizens aged 23 and 25 for drug trafficking in Portimão, reported that police force .
The arrests took place within the scope of an investigation carried out in recent weeks, where it was possible to obtain “strong indications that one of the suspects was dedicated to the practice of this criminal type repeatedly, including in the vicinity of an educational establishment”, says the PSP in communicated.
During a surveillance operation, the authorities arrested two citizens in flagrante delicto when carrying out a drug transaction. During the investigations, “668 doses of hashish, 75 doses of amphetamines, 37 doses of cocaine, a brass knuckle, an airsoft gun, 4,415 euros suspected of illegal activity and various materials for cutting and packaging a narcotic product were seized” , details the note.
The detainees were present at the Court of Portimão, where they were imposed the coercion measure of daily presentation at the PSP Police Station, prohibition of contact with the co-accused and witnesses, prohibition of being 300 metres from schools and prohibition of using and or buying weapons.
Over 8 Litres of Brandy Seized by Police in Loule Warehouse
Police authorities seized, on Thursday, 8,021 litres of arbutus brandy in three “unauthorised” distilleries and warehouses in Loulé , Silves and Tavira, the GNR announced today .
The brandy seized “outside the production warehouse” would have a value of 257,469 euros and “its introduction for consumption” would cause a loss of 97,050 euros to the Portuguese State related to taxes (Special Consumption Tax and Added Value Tax), estimates the security force, in a statement.
The seizure was made on Thursday by the Faro Detachment of the Fiscal Action Unit (UAF) of the GNR within the scope of operations “ARBUTUS III; IV and V”, which led to the identification of eight men and one woman, aged between 40 and 72 years old, the facts having been communicated to the judicial courts of Silves, Tavira and Loulé, reads in the note. Also according to the GNR, the operations were carried out after “three investigations that had been going on for about a year”, aimed at combating the “parallel circuit for the sale of medronho brandy outside its production warehouse”.
At issue is the practice of the “customs crime of fraudulent entry into consumption”, with the authorities having “complied with 24 search warrants in three distilleries and seven warehouses not authorised for deposit and without customs control, thus escaping the tax declaration obligations and payment of incident taxes”, indicates the GNR.
In addition to the 8,021 litres of arbutus brandy, adds the GNR, “two stills” used to produce the drink, valued at around 3,000 euros, were seized.
The “main objective” of these actions was to ensure “compliance with the legal provisions for the production, storage and sale of alcoholic beverages”, to “combat the parallel economy in Portugal” and “to guarantee the hygienic-sanitary conditions” of production, stresses the security force.
Woman Attacked After Leaving her Daughters at Kindergarten
Four hooded individuals allegedly attacked a woman on the morning of this Friday, May 26, in front of the Castro Marim kindergarten, said a JA source.
“At around 8:00 am I saw four people hooded and wearing black masks getting out of a car to attack a young woman who was going to drop her daughters off at kindergarten”, detailed the same source.
“They waited for her to leave her daughters and then they started breaking her car and assaulting the girl. I later saw INEM and GNR ,” she added.
The Territorial Post of the GNR in Castro Marim, later confirmed the existence of “attacks” and are under investigation.