A Deloitte study for the Portuguese Association of Energy has concluded that prices for electricity in the liberalised market are 3% lower than the in the regulated market with consumers having saved around €40 million in 2013.

In its analysis Deloitte concludes that ‘in 2013 the average price per megawatt hour in the free market was €6.9 lower than in the regulated market, which translates into a savings of approximately € 40 million to consumers in the domestic segment.’

The number of deaths from terrorism rose by an alarming 44% in 2013, with Iraq being the country most affected.

During the year there were nearly 10,000 terrorist attacks from which nearly 18,000 people died. Of these 6,362 people in Iraq were killed.

AMAL, the mayors’ group that likes to get together regularly and then make pronouncements, has done just that and professes it solidarity with the current mayor of Portimão, Isilda Gomes, because it says there is a strong possibility that the municipality will "be forced to close its doors."

Gomes’ latest problem is over insurance as she authorised a three year deal for €670,000 to cover the council’s buildings, vehicles and personal injury insurances but had not run it past the Court of Auditors.

Beleaguered Venetians are trying to outlaw travel bags with hard rubber wheels in an attempt to reduce the seemingly incessant noise they produce.

Shopkeepers, cafe owners, and residents have all complained about the noise coming from wheeled luggage along the narrow alleyway paving stones and bridges.

A lack of clear information has been blamed by Spanish motorists for the cumulative debt they now owe in unpaid tolls incurred while travelling on the Algarve’s Via do Infante motorway and beyond.

The Users Commission of the Via do Infante reports that Spanish motorists "continue to experience many difficulties in understanding how the system works,” and it is not just the Spaniards.

Britons are returning to southern Spain to buy property.

Sales of holiday homes in Spain have jumped by 25% this year over 2013, according to Currencies Direct.

Falling prices in the UK have encouraged consumers to spend.

The largest discounts in more than a decade have lured shoppers who had put off buying during the warm autumn weather.

An underwater survey of Portimão’s old bridge has concluded that the 139-year old structure is in good condition after its refurbishment five years ago.

The visual check-up on the support pillars was carried out by a specialist diving team from the newly created Center for Underwater Inspections which as a division of Estradas de Portugal has the certification to undertake all types of inspections of the nation’s bridges.