The Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 11 January 2023

by Mike Evans

We start this report with some good news from a health perspective in that The Algarve has welcomed 196 trainee doctors who have chosen the region’s public health services to complete their medical internships, the regional health authority ARS Algarve announced on Tuesday.

The statement explains that 174 doctors will be working at the region’s public hospitals, while 22 will be placed at the region’s health centres (14 at the Central Algarve health centres group, three at the Eastern Algarve health centres group and four at the Western Algarve health centres group). The interns were welcomed on Tuesday, January 3 in Faro by ARS Algarve boss Paulo Morgado, who stressed the importance of “investing in knowledge and research” to meet the needs of society.

But knowledge is not everything in this line of work, he stressed, adding that doctors should also be known for “humility, honesty, humanity and honour,” which he said are “fundamental and essential pillars to become good doctors.”

He also guaranteed that the medical interns who chose the Algarve will have “all the support they need from CHUA and ARS Algarve” and encouraged them to continue working in the Algarve once they have completed their internships.

Retaining the doctors who come to the Algarve to complete their training has been one of the region’s biggest issues, often blamed on a lack of housing and working conditions.

Two people rehomed after fire partially destroys Portimão house

It was a bad start to the New Year for two Portimao residents when a fire broke out in their home.The fire broke out at around 8am and the cause is still unclear, a civil protection source told Lusa news agency.

Portimão Mayor Isilda Gomes said that the two women who lived at the house, one of them being a foreigner, were renting the property and have been rehomed by municipal services at a local hotel unit.

“We have taken them to a unit where we usually place people in these situations, they have been provided with clothes and hygiene products and their food has also been secured through a network of associations that the municipality works with,” Gomes told Lusa.

The mayor also said that a “more complete evaluation” of their situation will be carried out this Monday.

New project to reforest large area of Caldeirão mountains

A new project has been launched with the goal of “restoring, recovering and reforesting” around 100 hectares of land in the Algarve’s Serra do Caldeirão mountains.

The project, entitled Plantar Montado, is being carried out by the Portuguese Nature Association (ANP) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in partnership with Tavira Council and the Association of Forest Producers of Serra do Caldeirão.

The initiative will follow in the footsteps of Plantar Água, a similar project launched by ANP/WWF in 2019 which saw over 50,000 trees being planted in Serra do Caldeirão until 2022.

The goal this time around will be to recover or plant cork oak and evergreen oak trees in the parish of Cachopo (Tavira) in order to “guarantee the protection and rehabilitation of the soil, with a larger fixation of carbon and nutrients, the conservation of water lines and riparian woodland (a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water), and the recovery of ecosystems and natural habitats.”

“After the success of our Plantar Água project, we felt the need to continue our ecological restoration projects in this area of the country and expand the scale of its implementation,” said Ruben Rocha, water coordinator at ANP/WWF.

“It is fundamental to continue working in partnership with local associations, authorities and communities to recover the traditional productive potential of Serra do Caldeirão as a means of fighting desertification and rehabilitating this weakened territory,” he added.

According to ANP/WWF, the project will use “nature-based solutions” to achieve its goals, such as using organic matter from pruning and plant waste products for natural fertilisation as part of an “array of fundamental techniques for this area which is strongly affected by desertification and forest fires.”The initiative has received around €438,000 in REACT funding via the EU – Compete 2020 programme.

Elderly Man Missing since Sunday in Vila Nova de Cacela

An elderly man has been missing since 1:00 pm on Sunday, January 8, in Vila Nova de Cacela , with elements of various security forces in charge of the search on the ground, announced the Vila Real de Santo António City Council .

The man is  Idalino Pereira, popularly known as Mestre Idalino Canelas, who lives in Pocinho and was last seen in Venda Nova.The searches are being carried out by 9 operatives and 4 vehicles from the National Republican Guard (GNR), 7 operatives and 3 vehicles from the Municipal Civil Protection Service and two operatives and a vehicle from the Maritime Police.

These operations are also being closely monitored by the Mayor of Vila Real de Santo António, Álvaro Araújo, and by the President of the Parish Council of Vila Nova de Cacela, Luís Rodrigues.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Idalino Canelas should contact the GNR via telephone 281 530 150.

89 Year old Man dies in Car Crash

An 89 year old man died yesterday morning, following a car accident on the EN122, from Mértola (Beja) to Vila Real de Santo António near the town of Sedas.

The death of the driver, born in Pereiro, in Alcoutim, was confirmed at the scene.

“The fatal victim, an 89-year-old man, was the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle,” said Jorge Santos, commander of the Mértola Volunteer Firefighters.

 The vehicle in which the octogenarian was travelling “left the road, overturned and then wrapped itself in a eucalyptus tree, leaving the man trapped”.

GNR arrests man for drug trafficking in Vilamoura

The National Republican Guard (GNR) arrested a man for drug trafficking and seized 252 doses of hashish and 26 of MDMA, on Sunday, January 8, in Vilamoura, in the municipality of Loulé . The 22-year-old detainee was also seized with 260 euros in cash, a knife commonly known as a ‘butterfly’ knife and a precision scale, revealed the Faro Territorial Command of the GNR, in a statement.

The arrest was carried out following a road inspection, in which the GNR military considered that the man presented “suspicious behaviour”, with “some nervousness”, in addition to being “visible, inside the vehicle, a bag containing product narcotic”,according to the security force.

In the “summary search of the vehicle”, in the “personal security search” and in the subsequent house search, 288 doses of drugs were found, clarified the GNR, adding that the detainee will be present at the Court of Loulé to undergo the first judicial interrogation and get to know any coercive measures to which he may be a subject of.

Faro Municipal Swimming Pools reopened to the public 

The Municipal Swimming Pools of Faro reopened this Monday to the public after being closed at the end of November, following a fire that broke out in the ‘jacuzzi’ area, informed the municipality .

According to a note published on the municipality’s website, the free use of swimming pools, hydrogymnastics, ‘aquajogging’, hydrotherapy, as well as activities for adapting to the aquatic environment and swimming , resume .The fire that took place in November at the facilities damaged some pipes, forcing the closure of that equipment for about a month and a half.

Azinheira de Alportel takes second place in the Tree of the Year

In the national competition to find the Best Tree in Portugal, which will go on to represent the country in the European Tree of the year, the Azinheria de Alportel came in a close second. Azinheira de Alportel, in São Brás de Alportel , came second in the Tree of the Year contest, just behind a 140-year-old eucalyptus tree , in the municipality of Sátão, in an initiative organised by the União da Floresta Mediterrânica (UNAC).

In a vote, which according to the organisation was the closest ever, in which 10 trees participated, Eucalipto de Contige, Sátão, district of Viseu won, in what is the sixth edition of the initiative in Portugal.

The Contige Eucalyptus is considered by the University of Aveiro to be “the largest classified tree in Portugal”.

The organisation explains in a statement that its plantation dates back to 1878, when Estrada das Donárias was opened, and has been maintained since then, despite all the urban and road interventions.

The tree, of large dimensions, has been classified as of public interest since August 1964. Its planting could be linked to the celebration of the birth of one of the daughters of the then owner.

According to the results of the poll, which took place ‘online’ with more than 20,000 votes distributed among the 10 trees, the Azinheira de Alportel, in São Brás de Alportel, was in second place and in third place was the Castanheiro Gigante de Guilhafonso, Pera from Moço, Guarda.

The winning tree received 3,046 votes, followed by the holm oak of Alportel with 2,879 votes and the giant chestnut tree with 2,863. In competition were several olive trees, a plane tree, an oak and a metrosidero (or fire tree). The Eucalipto de Contige, next to the old National Road 229, will represent Portugal in the European contest “Tree of the Year”, whose voting will also take place online next month, organised by the environmental organisation “Associação de Parceria Ambiental” (“Associação de Parceria Ambiental” (“ Environmental Partnership Association” – EPA).

The European Tree of the Year contest emerged in 2011, inspired by a contest in the Czech Republic on the Tree of the Year.

Since then, the countries involved have gone from five to 22. UNAC joined the initiative for the first time as a national organiser in 2018. In 2018, a Portuguese tree won the international competition.

According to UNAC, the objective of the contest is to highlight the importance of ancient trees in the cultural and natural heritage.

“Unlike other competitions, the European Tree of the Year is not just focused on the beauty, size or age of the tree, but on its history and relationships with people”, he stresses.

UNAC is a Union of Organizations of Forest Producers that represents the interests of forest producers in the Portuguese Mediterranean area before national and European institutions.

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