December 27 to December 30, 2014, these are the days that will see TAP’s flights grounded as 11 of the 12 unions represented in the TAP unions platform is sticking to its joint intention to go on strike.
There are an estimated 130,000 seats booked on TAP flights over these busy four days and already over 20,000 reservations have been cancelled or travel dates altered.
Bad news indeed for British Expats in Portugal, France, Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Malta and Gibraltar as the UK government has put in motion specific legislation to stop UK Winter Fuel Payments from September 15, 2015.
The changes are contained in the 'Statutory Instrument to The Social Fund Winter Fuel Payments (Amendment) Regulations 2014' which excludes the benefit, currently payable at between £200 and £300 a year.
Albufeira council has astounded its ratepayers by proposing to pay off its government loan in full, years before it is due, from a whopping €25 million surplus accumulated over 2014.
The PSD led council votes tomorrow on the proposal by the Socialist Party for an early and full settlement of the council’s emergency borrowing of €16 million under the Plan to Support the Local Economy scheme, according to the socialist councilor Fernando Anastácio.
Mice, toilets that do not work, washrooms with no tap water, windows that do not open, broken chairs, flooding, water leaks and court papers piled up against damp walls.
This is the current state of many of the country’s courts after the introduction of the new ‘judicial map’ that was supposed to reinvigorate the judicial system and speed up the processing of a mountain of cases.
As the TAP dispute rolls on with planned strikes over the Christmas and New Year break looking increasingly likely, the 12 separate unions representing TAP workers have received some unexpected but welcome support from Mario Soares, former PM and former President of the Republic.
The unions’ dispute had escalated from gripes over working conditions and rotas to a more dangerous and focused conflict over the government’s plans to sell off the state owed airline.
Consumers in Britain have benefitted from cheaper petrol and falling food prices.
This has pushed November’s rate of inflation down to its lowest level in more than a decade.
The families of children massacred two years ago at Sandy Hook in the US are to sue the maker of the gun used by the killer, Adam Lanza.
In a writ, the families allege Lanza would not have been able to kill 27 people in five minutes without his “weapon of choice” a Bushmaster AR-15.
Determined to end an already successsful 2014, and to start 2015 with a party and a bang, the Algarve’s tourist board has released details of New Year’s Eve party venues designed to attract locals, Portuguese tourists and Spanish visitors.
Local councils, after years of glum austerity, will be playing host with a bit more enthusiasm and restaurants, hotels and even the region’s casinos will be hosting special New Year's Eve programmes.
