Algarve Blog

This Algarve blog is intended to keep you in touch with the latest in Algarve affairs. Now that I'm living here, I'll be able to keep you right up-to-date with what's going on in the Algarve and around those wonderful beaches.

Here's my regular take on occurrences in what used to be my favourite vacation spot... now it's my favourite place to live.

 

Confused? You Soon Will Be!

Senhor Barroso, who is currently head of the European Commission and used to be Prime Minister of Portugal, called again recently for a European Constitution.

He was quoted as remarking that he thought old questions should not be reopened.

No mention, note, of the fact that, only two years ago, France and Holland rejected the Constitution in their respective referenda.

Added to which, recent polls suggest that almost 70% of Portuguese would favour returning to the Escudo as currency and ditching the Euro.

This suggests that our 'leaders' are even further out of touch with the rest of us than I had hitherto feared.

But it does tend to confirm that they really don’t care what voters think. And, likely, they’re determined to have their way however many referenda it takes.

Of course, European Commissioners don’t have to be elected. They get their jobs via political cronyism. So I suppose they really don’t need to care what ordinary folk want.

Must be a sort of Euro version of 'Catch-22'... Heads they win; tails we lose.

Men in Black…

The fire brigade in Albufeira is on its way to becoming the first in Algarve that can rescue you while conversing in English!

Os Bombeiros, to give them their Portuguese title, are receiving lessons from foreign expatriates in the area.

It’s sad that more expats don’t speak Portuguese, but I can vouch from my own experience (at weekly lessons) that it’s not an easy language to learn. Let’s hope the Bombeiros don’t find English as difficult!

The idea stems from the realisation that, while Albufeira has some 40,000 full-time residents, the numbers during peak season swell to 10 times that many. A large percentage of tourists are, of course, British or English-speaking, and most of the rest have a working knowledge of the language, so I suppose that it makes sense for the rescue services to be able to communicate with the rescued.

Let’s just pray that the firemen keep up their language skills during the winter off-season…

It wasn’t me, officer…

There was a fairly hefty police raid on the weekly market in Estoi, located not a million miles away from my new abode.

It took place a couple of weeks ago, and I thought I saw a couple of hundred (!) policemen there, but the reports I read claimed only 95...

They were mostly armed which, as a Brit used to unarmed coppers, I always find a tad alarming. Especially since they were turning over market stalls for things like counterfeit videos and DVDs, not Class A drugs or surface-to-air missiles (at least, not on the stalls I’d been perusing!)

Some 21 individuals were arrested or fined during the raid, but I’m happy to report that I made it home in one piece…

… Presumably because none of the fruit and vegetables I’d purchased had been illegally copied or smuggled into the country as ‘grey’ imports.

Exciting stuff, Algarve shopping!

Green Gas?

Everyone, it seems, is talking about, considering, or about to try ‘going green’. Whether you watch TV or read a periodical, you can’t get away from the subject.

Of course, when so many words are written or spoken about something, it’s inevitable that some of them will be waffle, ill-thought-out, or just plain silly.

We perhaps worry about what we're doing to the world, and so heed what's written and said on ecological matters more than we used to...

Recently, I was perusing an article in an Algarve ‘free’ newpaper. The text had been submitted by a director of an asset management company, though why this would make him an expert on anything other than charging exorbitant fees for managing other folks’ money I failed to establish.

The usual stuff about carbon trading as an antidote for global warming were dutifully trotted out – then came the first gem.

The gentleman claimed that ‘the average person in Britain emits about 11 tons of carbon dioxide a year…’

Now, unless the average Brit eats many more cans of baked beans than was previously thought possible, that quote doesn’t stand scrutiny. Each Brit may on average be responsible for the emissions quoted, but is probably not emitting them personally.

It’s just such woolly thinking that turns people off what is a serious subject, and one that deserves our full attention, if we’re to leave succeeding generations a world worth living in.

Okay, rant over. Now I quite fancy some baked beans on toast, but would that constitute mistreating the planet?

A Bridge Too Few…

Plans are afoot (in fact the work has started) to repair the metal bridge that crosses the Arade river in Portimao.

The authorities have issued assurances that the bridge is not actually in danger of collapse, which is good news for the banana boats that sail beneath it to visit Silves. Apparently, the bridge is long overdue some maintenance, on account of its advanced age (131 years, it transpires).

Fortunately, there are other means of crossing the river, as you can read in my page about Portimao. But do check that you know how to get about the town if you’re visiting any time before November, which is when the works are due to finish.

Meantime, there's the new retail park just outside Portimao, where you can shop 'til you drop (I spent 7 hours there, last week!) when you're taking a break from those Algarve beaches...

Green Gadgetry

Ever keen to be seen at the forefront of world matters, the politicians in tiny Portugal are trying to take the lead in green energy, it seems.

Billions of euros are to be invested in renewable energy projects.

I always feel queasy when such huge sums of money are mentioned. One only hopes that Portugal won’t be as hopeless as Britain at forecasting how much large schemes are going to cost. (The escalation of the projected cost of the 2012 Olympics in London comes to mind, since it jumped from 2.5 billion sterling to 9.3 billion in only a few months!)

It’s not that I don’t think the Portuguese should play their part, though. The new biomass plant near Castelo Branco looks like a good step forward.

The plan is to increase Portugal’s percentage of renewable energy from 36 (not bad) to 45 (very impressive). I didn’t see a date when that 45% was to be achieved, however, so either that was an oversight, or the politicians are being cagey about targets.

And I’m worried about all those huge wind turbines that we’re likely to be seeing on Algarve hilltops, as it's not that far to the border and you know that famous Spaniard Don Quixote could never resist tilting at a windmill.

It’s not rocket science…

Portugal has signed up to a target for renewable energy, I read recently. With over 300 sunny days (that's 3000+ hours of sun) every year, it should not be beyond the wit of engineers and scientists to harness some of that readily-available Algarve energy, I would hope.

I’m doing my bit by soaking up as much sun as I can. Then I radiate it outward after sunset, thus saving on heating bills for our house(!)