The hottest item for investment by the super-rich is rare pink diamonds from Australia.
Coloured diamonds have been viewed as a “safe haven” for wealthy investors for some time. Pink ones particularly have shot up in value over the last ten years, going from US$13,000 per carat to $78,000 last year.
The Medieval tradition of cultivating saffron is being reintroduced in England, near the very town at the heart of its growth in Tudor times.
The Essex town of Walden (“valley of the Britons”) commemorated its crops of saffron crocus by changing its name to Saffron Walden sometime in the Middle Ages.
Lagos has produced and agreed a Budget and Big Options plan for 2015 which sees a reduction of €8 million compared to its 2014 spend.
According to the mayor, Maria Joaquina Baptista Quintans de Matos, some serious budgetary rigour has been applied to the various departments which has enabled planned and necessary reductions in local spending, down 15% on 2014, as the council focuses on "sustainability, quality and solidarity" - its latest woolly key words.
Grupo Espírito Santo has used a secret financial company to pay unknown people undisclosed sums totalling an estimated €300 million in the past 10 years.
These covert payments were made through a mysterious company called Espírito Santo Enterprise which handled hundreds of millions of euros and which only now may be investigated by the judicial authorities.
‘Try the Mediterranean diet in the Algarve" is the motto of the Algarve Tourist Board’s latest campaign currently running in the press, on radio and on billboards all over Portugal and in selected parts of Spain.
The tourist board is building on the publicity generated by the Mediterranean diet after it became a UNESCO registered ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’ product based on a successful application from Tavira.
The Algarve’s very own André Jordan, founder of Quinta do Lago and other major tourism developmEnt, has been recognised at the World Travel Leaders Awards for 2014 for his contribution to the development of tourism in the region.
The award was given to a delighted Jordan at the 35th Tourism World Travel Market event in London where he was hailed as one of the dozen most influential people in tourism in the world.
Spain’s Princess Cristina appears to be one step closer to having to appear before a judge.
The high court in Palma de Mallorca upheld tax fraud charges against her, but dropped money-laundering charges as part of an investigation into the business dealings of her husband Inaki Urdangarin.
Police are looking into the discovery of a female contract worker at the Cruz de Parteira Continente supermarket in Portimão found crushed to death inside used package-compacting machine behind the store.
The member of the supermarket’s Vadeca contract cleaning team had been reported missing and suspicions were raised when a member of staff found a pair of woman’s shoes near the powerful crusher.
