The Algarve Situation Report 9th November 2022
By Mike Evans
Good day to you all. Welcome to this Algarve report as the Christmas Season has started in many shopping centres around the region. We are blessed with the fact that our climate is still warm but don’t forget that crime is still around especially with houses stocked full of Christmas presents. Be especially vigilant for any unusual things in your neighbourhood and don’t forget to call the GNR or PSP if you feel something is not right. Remember Thieves need Christmas presents as well and they would rather not have to buy them!
Deterring would-be criminals is one of the most effective forms of crime prevention. Invest in a motion sensor flood-light or even some outdoor Christmas lights to highlight your home’s exterior. This often makes approaching your home too conspicuous for a burglar. Also, highlighting the fact your possessions are security marked and registered on Immobilise using window decals provide a further warning that your goods are traceable and not worth the risk of stealing!
Festive lighting – be secure. A common mistake of many festive decorators is to feed extension cables through partially open windows, criminals know to look for this vulnerability. When it comes to outdoor lighting, opt for solar or battery operated lights or install outdoor electrical outlets.
Be careful not to advertise your home to burglars on social media! According to one recent study, social media is a commonly used tool for scouting potential targets. Social media savvy families have a tendency to publish their whereabouts during the holiday season, including any vacation plans. This can let burglars know when your house is going to be empty. Uploaded photos of pricey Christmas gifts can also be a problem as if privacy settings aren’t tied down, it can allow burglars to go shopping just by viewing your Facebook profile.
Here is a look at some of the stories around the region in the past week or so.
Government to implement contingency plans in 2023 for those without a family doctor in the Algarve.
Next year, a “contingency plan will be established for each of the regions of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, Algarve and Alentejo, where at the end of September 2022, 82.7% of users lived without a family doctor assigned in the country”, advances the explanatory note of the Ministry of Health on the State Budget for 2023.
According to the document published on the parliament’s website, Manuel Pizarro’s ministry intends to develop an “integrated plan to facilitate access to primary health care for users who do not have a health doctor assigned”, by expanding the training of the specialty. of general and family medicine to the limit of existing training capacity.
“Innovative responses are also planned for sparsely populated areas where it has been difficult to attract” health professionals, says the ministry, adding that the “retirement potential” of general and family medicine (FGM) specialists is higher. that of clinicians in hospital specialties.
At the level of doctors from the National Health Service, the data accumulated until September indicate a total of 1,639 retired clinicians during this year, a value slightly higher than that recorded in the same period of 2021 (1,508), but close to the one verified in 2020 (1,667) , outputs that “may be compensated by the entry of new doctors into the system”, the document advances.
To improve the coverage of primary health care, the Government plans to increase the number of professionals, following the calls for tenders scheduled for 2023, update the performance incentive model, and progressively provide all groups of health centres (ACES) with the capacity to provide mental health care.
According to the ministry, the ACES will also see their “service portfolio” expanded, through the expansion of the capacity to carry out complementary diagnostic and therapeutic means, the follow-up of chronic patients and the availability of emergency equipment for basic support. of life.
In order to improve the access and efficiency of public hospitals, the Ministry of Health intends to review the hospital referral networks and the model of organisation and operation of emergency services.
The document also points out that the implementation of new organisational models for metropolitan emergencies in Lisbon and Porto is planned, within the scope of modernization and reform of the functioning of hospitals, as well as the internal organisation of hospitals in Integrated Responsibility Centers.
It is also planned to reinforce the autonomy of hospital management, ensuring the timely approval of budgets, program contracts and activity plans, “in order to speed up the hiring of health professionals and the realisation of investments, with greater accountability and satisfaction”. for users and professionals”, indicates the explanatory note.
After approval in general, the Government’s proposal for the State Budget for next year is being examined in detail in parliament and the final global vote is scheduled for 25 November.
Preventive arrest for false police suspected of rape
The Portimão Criminal Investigation Court ordered the preventive detention of a man who posed as a policeman and who is indicted for the crimes of rape, possession of a prohibited weapon and damage.
According to a statement from the Attorney General’s Office for the District of Faro, the court carried out a first interrogation of the accused, who was arrested on Thursday, November 3, and applied the coercive measure requested by the Public Ministry, with the man being 48 years old. years, as well as the investigation of the case, in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department of Portimão of the Judiciary Police.
The prosecutor explains that “in June 2022, around 9:30 pm, the detainee called a 35-year-old foreign woman who was engaged in prostitution, and in that sequence he arranged a meeting with her in a house located in Portimão”.
Then, inside a room, the detainee identified himself as a policeman, showed a pistol and handcuffs, took possession of the woman’s identification documents and, using a stamp pad, collected the victim’s fingerprints, which printed on a print with the logo of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF).
Then, he had sex with the woman and “took her SIM card from her cell phone, broke it and told her that she should keep silent because what she was doing was a crime”, adding that “if she had sexual relations with him, she would not hand her over to the SEF”.
The Attorney General’s Office of the District of Faro also informs that the detainee works in the restaurant and that the victim “accepted the detainee’s purpose with fear that he would report her to the judicial authorities”.
The Judiciary Police (PJ) had already revealed on Thursday the arrest of this man “on suspicion of rape and other crimes that will have occurred at the end of June”.
In a statement, the PJ said that the detainee is suspected of “rape, possession of a prohibited weapon, usurpation of functions, abuse of designation, sign or uniform and damage”, crimes that took place in an apartment where the victim was staying.
Algarve under yellow warning due to rough seas
The Algarve is one of the ten districts on the mainland that are currently under yellow warning due to the forecast of strong seas , in addition to the North Coast of the island of Madeira and the island of Porto Santo, according to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) .
The districts of Viana do Castelo, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria, Lisbon, Setúbal, Beja and Faro will have a yellow warning due to the forecast of northwest waves with 4 to 5 metres until 12:00 on Wednesday .
Also the North Coast of the island of Madeira and Porto Santo are under yellow warning until 12:00 today, with northwest waves of 4 to 5 metres expected.
The yellow warning is issued by the IPMA whenever there is a risk situation for certain activities dependent on the weather situation. On the south coast, southwest waves of 1 to 1.5 metres are expected.
Albufeira to have a third permanent firefighting team
The Albufeira City Council will support the hiring of a third permanent intervention team (EIP) of volunteer firefighters to provide assistance to the population in various areas, it was announced this week.
The protocol of conditions for hiring the EIP was approved at a meeting of the executive on the 2nd, with the municipality supporting 37,000 of the 74,000 euros needed for the functioning of the permanent team, says the municipality in a statement.
According to the mayor, José Carlos Rolo, quoted in the note, providing Albufeira with a new team permanently at the fire station “is an operational need that has already been identified, so its constitution was urgent”.
The EIP will reinforce and improve the rescue capacity in multiple areas, including fires, floods, landslides, collisions, accidents, catastrophes, shipwrecks and complementary assistance, concludes the note.
Minister commits to reducing road Tolls in the Algarve
The Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, made a commitment this Thursday to continue to reduce tolls on highways in the interior territories and on the A22 – Via do Infante , saying that the ideal was “abolition”.
“The objective is to continue to reduce tolls in the interior and on the A22 [highway 22]”, said Ana Abrunhosa, at a hearing in the Assembly of the Republic , regarding the proposed State Budget for 2023 (OE2023).
I never hid that the interior deserves the tolls to be abolished, as well as the A22. I’ve never hidden that it’s a difficult path to take. It’s a very difficult path to take. Nor do I hide that we maintain the objective, in 2023, of continuing to reduce tolls”, declared Ana Abrunhosa, explaining that the commitment included in the OE2023 includes the consideration of the reduction of tolls and the commitment to mobility, namely in the Support Program the Fare Reduction (PART) and the Program to Support Densification and Reinforcement of Public Transport Offer (ProTrans).
“The commitment I leave here is that, in this program, we work on reducing tolls”, reiterated the minister, defending that “the ideal is what people demand”, supporting the abolition of tolls.
From the PSD bench, deputy Patrícia Dantas questioned the minister about the 75% discount provided for electric vehicles on the ‘scuts’ (roads free of charge for users), which came into force on July 1, 2020 and that, “ 18 months later, it still hasn’t been implemented.”
The new toll fee discount model came into force on July 1, 2021, with the application of a 50% reduction on some sections of highways 17, 25, 29, 4, 41, 42, 28, 22, 23 and 24.
Among the motorway sections and subsections covered by the 50% discount on the toll fee are: A22, which is part of the Algarve Concession; A23, of the Estradas de Portugal concession; A23, from the Beira Interior Concession; A24, from the North Interior Concession; and A25, from the Beira Litoral/Beira Alta Concession.
The OE2023, under discussion in the specialty in the Assembly of the Republic, contains 1,204 million euros for the Financing Fund for the Decentralization (FFD) of competences, with an increase of 208 million in relation to the current year.
The final global vote on the document is scheduled for November 25.
Pilot Project to control Mosquitos starts in Faro
Environmental health researchers are developing a pilot project in Faro to biologically control the population of the Asian tiger mosquito, a species that can transmit dengue and zika.
The project, unique in Portugal, aims to test the sterile insect technique (SIT) to reduce the population of the “Aedes albopictus” mosquito , a species that poses a potential threat for the transmission of several diseases, including dengue, zika and chikungunya.
Recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce the population of these mosquitoes and prevent the emergence of diseases, the SIT technique consists of releasing sterile males that, when mating with females, make new generations unfeasible.
The two-year project is led by researchers from the Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) in collaboration with the public health service of the Regional Health Administration (ARS) of the Algarve, within the scope of the National Health Network. Vector Surveillance (REVIVE), funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The regional coordinator for the Algarve of the REVIVE program, Nélia Guerreiro, said that monitoring of the population of those insects is being carried out in a specific area of 40 hectares in the Gambelas area, near Faro international airport, where the species was identified in 2020.
“For three weeks, field activities were carried out, with the release of about 90,000 insects sterilised in the laboratory and marked, so that the SIT technique can be validated, as a complementary ecological tool for vector control”, he pointed out.
The results to understand whether the eggs that are produced by mosquitoes released into the environment “are sterile or not should only be known near the end of the year”, said the official.
Nélia Guerreiro said that monitoring carried out since 2020 on the mosquito population in the Gambelas area “has enabled the collection of very robust data, namely its density, when the mosquito is active and when it loses activity”.
“Due to the data collected, it was possible to submit a project of this type that aims to validate the sterile mosquito technique as a complementary ecological tool for a vector control program, so that in the future it can be used to suppress the existing mosquito population. in a given region”, he concluded.
Originating in Southeast Asia, “Aedes albopictus” has been spreading globally through the passive transport of eggs originated in commercial activities, namely, the global trade of used tires and ornamental plants.
The Asian tiger mosquito arrived in Europe via Albania in 1979, and since then has been detected in several countries, such as Italy, France or Spain, being capable of transmitting diseases such as dengue, zika and chikungunya, as well as filarial parasites,
The invasive species was first detected in Portugal in September 2017 at a tire factory in the north of the country, which triggered a surveillance response by public health authorities at local, regional and national levels.
A year later, the same species was detected in the Algarve in very specific areas, and it is not known precisely how it was introduced.
Lagoa comes out top in a safety, Diversity and Tolerance Report
And to end this report some good news for Lagoa, In A study carried out by the Institute of Behavioural Technology ( INTEC ), to assess the quality of life of the Portuguese, concluded that Lagoa is the municipality in the country where citizens best evaluate safety, tolerance and diversity indices.
Rounding out the podium, behind Lagoa, are the municipalities of Caminha and Bragança, in 2nd and 3rd places, respectively.
The INTEC study brings together statistical data and surveys made to the population to assess the quality of life of the Portuguese. INTEC’s work is based on three pillars: objective living conditions, subjective well-being and the perceived quality of relationships between different social and cultural groups. Thus, in this study, environmental conditions, infrastructure, opportunities offered by the municipality , general satisfaction with the objective conditions of life and happiness with life in general are taken into account.
In the study presented, the municipality of Lagoa is distinguished from the others “by the tolerance that its population has towards each other, by the way in which it integrates the foreign community and how it welcomes immigrants. It stands out for accepting and respecting differences”.
Finally, if you would like to join us at our first Inaugural lunch in Loule on the 30th November where you will be able to meet some of the team from Safe Communities and hear from our Guest Speaker Clive Jewell, the British Vice Consul based here in Portimao, places are still available although they are going fast!
The cost is 30 euros payable in cash on the day and will include a three course lunch with wine or beer or soft drinks. To book a place send your name with your email address and contact phone number to newsletter@safecommunitiesportugal.com
Last week, the GNR detained a total of 77 people in various operations in the district of Faro, including those aimed at preventing and combating violent crime, road inspection and drug trafficking . According to the report on weekly operational activity released by the Faro Territorial Command of that security force, in police actions, between 17 and 23 October, 26 people were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, nine for driving without a legal licence. and 10 for drug trafficking. During that period, 440 traffic violations were detected, 111 for speeding, 53 for lack of mandatory periodic inspection and 31 for signalling and lighting anomalies, 16 for lack of compulsory insurance, 15 for lack or incorrect use of the seat belt and/or child restraint system and 13 for misuse of mobile phone.
Dozens of people gathered on Saturday, October 22, next to the municipal auditorium of Lagoa , to protest against the real estate project approved for a temporary wetland called Alagoas Brancas in that municipality in the district of Faro. The protest action was called by the Portuguese Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity with the aim of “gathering as much support as possible to try to reverse the approval and prevent the project from progressing”.
The survey also aimed to assess the opinion of the Portuguese on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals assumed by the United Nations, but 64% of respondents are unaware of them and only 36%, more educated, said they knew what it was about. When asked about the value they attribute to each of them, on a global scale, the eradication of poverty, zero hunger, health and education are indicated, but at the national level, priority is given to health and well-being (53%), poverty eradication (52%) and quality education (39%). “From then on, and boosted by the covid-19 effect, the issue of health became a major concern in all age groups, whereas in the previous survey [2019] it was already notorious, but it was clearly concentrated among the elderly”, is mentioned in the study coordinated by Luísa Schmidt and Mónica Truninger.
A 37-year-old man suspected of stealing carob and wanted by the authorities to serve an effective prison sentence was detained by the GNR on Tuesday, October 18, in Albufeira , that force announced. The arrest took place following an alert for a carob theft on private property, and the man was located and intercepted off-site, the Faro Territorial Command said in a statement. In the suspect's vehicle, the military detected and seized 325 kilograms of carob, the guard specified.
Also with temperatures in the high 20’s for the rest of this week and into next week there will be many who will be taking advantage of the weather to visit the beach and even swim in the sea. Please remember the sea is still a lot cooler than a swimming pool even after the hot summer we have had and it is vitally important if you are on a beach without lifeguards to watch out for your fellow beach goers and be vigilant to what is happening in the sea. Each week we see of people getting into difficulties either through rip currents or fatigue and the death toll this year across the country has been a record high for drownings.
A man suspected of trying to steal a catalyst and who had been detained by the GNR last Saturday in Vila Real de Santo António will await trial in preventive detention.
“Users will have new and better conditions with the installation of new equipment, namely Jacuzzi, sauna and Turkish bath, which will complement the services provided. Its installation was carried out during the period of the pandemic, with the aim of providing the municipal swimming pools of Faro with a wider range of activities ”, also announced by the Algarve municipality.
And finally, whilst not on the same scale as Hurricane Ian, a mini Tornado hit Monte Gordo, in the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António on the 29th September causing a slight injury to a Spanish tourist.