Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 12 February 2025
by Mike Evans
Good day to you all wherever you may be reading this latest Algarve report from. At the turn of the year after over 20 years of Tolls along the main A22 Motorway which crosses the Algarve was finally made free to travel along. There had been many protests about the charges that were instigated by the government, not least because many felt that as it was paid for by EU money there should not have been tolls put in place in the beginning.
Well, after just 6 weeks there are many in politics who feel that this may have been a hasty decision!
Deputies from the Socialist Party ( PS ) warned the Government about the degradation of the Via do Infante road surface, proposing a regular maintenance plan for the A22 and the removal of the old toll booths.
Jamila Madeira, Jorge Botelho and Luís Graça draw attention to the “foreseeable increase in road traffic” with the implementation of the end of tolls on the A22, a situation that, according to the party, “requires renewed attention from the Government to maintaining the quality of the road surface”.
Luís Graça, MP and president of the PS Algarve federation, recalls that “even during the concession period, when the payment of tolls was supposed to guarantee the provision of a high-quality road, the degradation of the road surface on Via do Infante was a recurring cause for concern for socialist MPs and mayors”.
With the end of tolls and the increase in the number of vehicles using the A22, a “more demanding” maintenance and conservation plan is required. “In several sections, the surface of the Via do Infante already shows clear signs of degradation. With winter, the end of tolls and the increase in traffic, the surface will wear out more quickly, so it is important that Infraestruturas de Portugal implement measures to guarantee the safety of users”, concluded the socialist deputy. The deputies also requested the removal of the old toll gates, with “particular urgency” for those that remain on the Guadiana River border and that “despite the end of tolls, they still alert drivers entering Portugal from Spain to the existence of a toll road”.
“The end of tolls restored justice to territorial cohesion, favouring mobility and road safety, the economy and tourism in a region that had no decent alternative to driving on the A22”, considers the PS. Whether this is a case of the old regime having a go at the new government we will find out soon enough if they are right and the road starts to deteriorate with the increased traffic.
Now a look at some of the other news stories from around the region.
PSP Arrests 3 People in Tavira for Drug Trafficking
The Faro PSP District Command reports that, during the course of yesterday 10th February, it arrested three suspects, two men and a woman aged between 42 and 56, for trafficking in narcotics, through the Criminal Investigation Brigade of its Tavira Police Station.
This police action resulted from an investigation that had been carried out over the last few months, in which it was possible to determine that the suspects were carrying out their criminal activity in the city centre of Tavira , in the form of direct sales to consumers, which caused instability and concern among the resident population.
Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, two home search warrants were issued, which were carried out yesterday morning.
The searches carried out resulted in the seizure of 146 individual doses of cocaine, two individual doses of heroin, two bladed weapons, two vehicles and other materials and articles commonly used in the criminal practice in question. The suspects were therefore arrested.They will be brought to court today for questioning and the application of coercive measures.
The Faro District Command is confident that, as a result of this action, the usual tranquility will be restored in that area of the city of Tavira.
Man Arrested for Attempted Rape of a Woman in Albufeira
The Judicial Police (PJ) arrested a 38-year-old man suspected of having attempted to rape a woman in Albufeira, after entering her home without her consent, that police force announced this Saturday (8th).
In a statement, the PJ revealed that the attempted rape took place in the early hours of Tuesday (4th), with the suspect being arrested the following day. The 48-year-old woman was allegedly coerced into sexual acts by the man who entered her home without her knowledge or consent, the PJ explained.
The PJ pointed out that the woman suffered bodily injuries when defending herself from the attacker. “In 2024, the suspect entered the victim’s home, although he was never identified, a situation that caused him anxiety and fear at night,” the police force stressed.
The detainee was held in preventive detention after being present for the first judicial interrogation, a coercive measure that may be replaced by an obligation to remain at home.
Four Suspected Thieves Arrested in Lagos
The PSP arrested this Friday, the 7th, four suspects of burglary in residences, who tried to escape by jumping over the fence of a school in Lagos, with one of the group members being injured by a gunshot, the corporation reported. “Following this escape, one of the suspects was shot in the foot, at which point all of the aforementioned individuals were intercepted,” the PSP said in a statement, arguing that “warning shots were fired into the air” during the operation.
The detainees belonged to a group suspected of burglaries inside homes and were approached by the PSP while they were travelling in a car, having started to flee, first by car and then on foot, said the police force. “In this sense, the PSP pursued the four suspects on foot, with warning shots being fired into the air by the police officers involved, and the suspects, in order to avoid being approached by the police, jumped over the wall and fence of a school”, the security force explained. It was “following this escape” that the injured person “was hit by a gunshot in the foot”, explained the PSP, highlighting that the educational establishment “was used unexpectedly by the suspects” without causing injuries among students and other users.
The security force stressed that the injured suspect received emergency medical assistance at the scene and was then taken to a hospital unit, where he will receive treatment.
The case is now under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the “circumstances of the incident will be investigated in a criminal and disciplinary investigation”, the PSP noted.
The police stressed that there is “no link of criminal intent in relation to the educational establishment”.
The PSP statement comes after the mayor of Lagos said that a group of men who were trying to escape from the authorities had tried to hide in a primary school in Lagos, in an incident in which police had fired shots into the air outside the school.
According to Hugo Pereira, the four men were fleeing the PSP in a car, but when they realized they had no way out, they started to flee on foot and some of them jumped into the Escola Básica do Bairro Operário to hide. “Some were arrested when they tried to jump over the school wall and others were already inside the school perimeter, but the main action took place outside the school,” he said, adding that during the chase shots were fired into the air in an attempt to stop them.
According to the mayor, the men, who were already under police investigation, were intercepted by car outside the school area, located near the center of Lagos.
Hugo Pereira added that most of the students did not even realize what had happened, taking the opportunity to praise the security forces for the way they handled the situation.
PSP Arrests Man for Drug Trafficking in Portimao
The Faro PSP District Command, through the Criminal Investigation Squad of the Portimão Police Division, arrested a 23-year-old man on Thursday (6th) for the crime of drug trafficking, the police force reported .
“The police officers involved were on preventive patrol and found that the suspect was inside a vehicle, accompanied by another citizen later identified, apparently dealing in narcotics, which prompted their prompt approach,” the PSP explained in a statement.
The approach resulted in confirmation of the suspicion, “with significant quantities of narcotics (hashish) having been seized spread across various compartments of the vehicle in question, which led to its detention”, the note continues.
Following the arrest, further police investigations were carried out, with a total of around 4,300 doses of hashish, 2,430 euros in notes of various denominations, a baseball bat and various materials commonly used in the development of this criminal activity being seized.
According to the PSP, the detainee will likely appear before a judicial authority today for possible application of coercive measures.
Algarve Lack of Candidates for Medical Positions
The Algarve continues to have great difficulties in attracting doctors to its hospital units, with positions advertised receiving virtually no applicants. The Algarve Local Health Unit published a notice in the Official Gazette, advertised a job in the category of assistant, hospital area, medical career, Cardiology specialty, but the result was a severe lack of candidates.
Another notice was published, for “two jobs in the assistant category, hospital area, medical career, specialty of General Surgery” and again received virtually no candidates.
An Internal Medicine specialty job “was deserted due to the sole candidate being excluded for not meeting the admission requirements for the competition procedure”.
Three jobs advertised in the specialty of Psychiatry received just one candidate, who was approved.
New Algarve Town Approved by President of Republic
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has promulgated the decree that elevates Boliqueime, in the municipality of Loulé, to the category of town. This follows hot on the heels of Almancil becoming a City. The decree-law, presented by the parliamentary group of the Socialist Party (PS), had been unanimously approved in the plenary session of the Assembly of the Republic on 17 January.
The proposal to elevate Boliqueime to the status of town was presented in September 2024 by the socialist deputies elected by the Faro constituency, Jamila Madeira, Luís Graça and Jorge Botelho, joined by fellow socialist deputy Pedro Delgado Alves.
The document was approved conclusively, with favourable votes from deputies from all benches, in the plenary session on October 4th of last year.
To end this report — Lagos Chosen to Host Portugal Day Celebrations
The celebrations of Portugal Day (10 June) will take place this year in Lagos, extending to the Portuguese community in Macau. The order of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, dated 30 January and published in the Official Gazette, designates “the city of Lagos as the venue for the celebrations of the Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities, in 2025, extending the celebrations to the Portuguese community in Macau”.
The document establishes that “a Commission chaired by Dr. Lídia Jorge, writer, is set up to organize the celebrations”, without giving details about the schedule of the celebrations.
The city of Lagos is once again the stage for the celebrations of Portugal Day, 29 years after the 10th of June was celebrated there in 1996 by the then President of the Republic Jorge Sampaio.
Speaking to Lusa, the mayor of Lagos, Hugo Pereira, said that “the designation is a great honour and a historic recognition for the Algarve city”.
“It is a source of pride for all the people of Lagos because it projects the city and its role in the national economy, also highlighting its importance as the city of Discoveries,” he emphasised.
Hugo Pereira also highlighted the “honour of having the Algarve writer Lídia Jorge chairing the organising committee for the celebrations, in a program that will be defined by the Presidency of the Republic and that will have the full support of the municipality”.
In 2024, Portugal Day celebrations took place in three municipalities in Leiria affected by the 2017 fires and in Coimbra, extending the celebrations to the Portuguese community in Switzerland.
Switzerland was the seventh country to host the celebration, after France (2016), Brazil (2017), the United States (2018), Cape Verde (2019), the United Kingdom (2022) and South Africa (2023).
Until the next time Stay Safe
The Albufeira Desalination Plant, Pomarão Water Intake and Pisão Dam projects are of great importance in the set of measures that have been taken to ensure the water resilience of the Algarve and Alentejo, a commitment made by the Government from the outset.
In order to speed up response times to medical emergencies, the Albufeira PDAE is directly connected to the security and rescue forces, who receive information about the activation of equipment in real time.
Almancil is a parish in the municipality of Loulé, with an area of 62.30 square kilometers and 10,677 inhabitants, according to the 2021 Census, a population increase that has almost doubled since 1981.Being that the area consists of the two major Holiday com[plexes, Vilamoura and Vale do Lobo it does beg the question, do you have to be a permanent resident to be part of the 8,000 people. Anyway, just what this elevation to City status means to the area we will wait to see but from all of us a Safe Communities, Congratulations.
On the 27th January, the Public Security Police launched the operation “Violence? No, thanks!”, to raise awareness among students in the 3rd cycle of primary and secondary education on issues such as school violence, the use and possession of weapons and juvenile delinquency.
Because of this, the council states that: “it is essential to once again alert all citizens that these illicit practices are subject to measures to protect urban legality. Such measures are provided for in Decree-Law No. 555/99 of December 16, in its most recent version, approved by Decree-Law No. 10/2024 of January 8, in particular in articles 102 to 109. The most severe sanction is the demolition of buildings if it is concluded that they are not eligible for licensing or legalisation”.
Albufeira inaugurated this Monday, January 20, a video surveillance system with 65 cameras, installed in places with the highest influx of people and traffic, and which will be operated by the National Republican Guard ( GNR ).
The GNR seized around 100 articles and identified two men on suspicion of counterfeiting, on Sunday (12th), in Monte Gordo, in the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, announced that security force. Among the items seized were clothing , toys and backpacks, which were on display for sale in a commercial establishment in the seaside resort of the eastern Algarve, the GNR said in a statement.
Marking a new era for the local island community, the bridge’s inauguration was attended by Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, who presided over the ribbon-cutting ceremony alongside outgoing Faro mayor Rogério Bacalhau.