Algarve Blog

This Algarve blog is intended to keep you in touch with the latest in Algarve affairs. Even though I can't spend as much time there as I'd like to, that doesn't stop me from endeavouring to stay up-to-date with what's going on in the Algarve and around those gorgeous beaches.

Here's my regular take on occurrences in my favourite vacation spot...
 

Enticement on the horizon

It's so cold and miserable here on the South Coast that I'm taking retaliatory action...

...I'm starting to plan my next Algarve vacation - and I'm looking for a big treat:

a stay in an Algarve villa!

It's a while since we last 'went large' and I think that, with so much having happened in our lives recently - not all of it nice - we deserve a luxurious week.

I'd have liked to make it longer, but neither Nev nor I can spare the time... What does that say about our priorities, though?

Well, if we can't have a fortnight, at least we can pamper ourselves. That's my reasoning, anyway.

So, it's nose to the Internet, rather than the grindstone, looking for my dream Algarve villa for a week in late April, probably.

The weather should be guaranteed gorgeous by then, touch wood!

I've begun my research already, since it always puts me in a good mood just thinking about being back in Algarve...

...and you can check out the fruits of my endeavours on my new Algarve Villas page.

But you'll need to be quick, if you want to beat me to the best bargains!

Now, don't say I didn't warn you.

Who'd have believed it?

They're starting to take road safety seriously in Algarve... allegedly!

There's to be a clampdown on anything that moves (well okay - a slight exaggeration, but I'm still recovering from the shock of what I've read!)

Stricter drugs tests are to be introduced, and use of mobile phones while driving will be banned (unless there's a hands-free kit in use).

Well, all I can say is that didn't work in the UK. Everywhere you look in Britain, drivers flout the law and drive around with cellphones clamped to their heads. I can't see the police in Algarve being any less stretched than our lot, so don't hold your breath for any changes soon.

Those caught disregarding the new cellphone rules will face heavier fines (up to 160 Euros).

What's more, parents are to stop risking their children's lives, as seat belt regulations mean that under-12s must be strapped in. You can be fined up to 600 Euros for that one!

Then, you'll need to carry a luminous jacket in the car, to wear at the roadside if your vehicle gives up the ghost. (I wouldn't be tempted to linger anywhere near the side of an Algarve road if my car broke down - but a nice luminous jacket might keep me warm while I waited for the breakdown service).

Ditching litter from cars will also be punished under the new, draconian measures (300 Euros this time).

These Código da Estrada measures will be introduced soon, I've read. But will they work?

Road safety is a cultural thing, I believe, and is quite slow to change. In Britain, it took decades for the majority to take the drink/drive laws seriously, and there are still those who think driving while sozzled is okay...

So, I've a feeling that it will be a while before recklessness behind the wheel is a thing of the past in Algarve.

But, it would be nice to be wrong.

Faro Road Bridge Shock Horror?

If you go down to the woods today... you'll be a lot safer if you get there without negotiating the Ilha da Faro road bridge!

It seems that a damning report about the state of repair of this bridge has come to light recently and it makes 'interesting' reading.

The main problem with the report seems to be that it is almost 3 years old and has been buried in a bureaucratic backwater.

Now that it's been unearthed, its recommendations should be put into place as soon as possible, states the discloser of this vital information (and President of Faro Câmara), José Vitorino.

Among a number of measures reported in the Resident, the local English-language newspaper, there should be a ban on all traffic of more than 3.5 tonnes. Even those vehicles that are permitted should maintain a minimum distance of 30 metres.

This is likely to be regarded as something of an imposition by local drivers, who normally operate in the 0.3 to 3 metre range!

It will be interesting to observe how quickly and how tenaciously these conditions are enforced, since driving safety is a concept that is only inching its way into the Portuguese consciousness...

Don't forget, you heard it here first - and if you didn't, why hadn't you let ME know via the handy form on my site's Your Algarve Best page?

As always, my advice is to drive cautiously in the Algarve, and to keep your wits about you. (Plus, avoid crossing the Faro bridge if at all possible - you have been warned!)

... Nor Any Drop To Drink!

It's dry-as-a-bone in Algarve (and throughout Portugal), apparently.

Temperatures have been higher than the seasonal average (let's hear it for Global Warming!) and that means less water for consumption...

What does this mean? Well, if you're a holiday-maker, only there for a short time to enjoy yourself, probably not much. Even if you're in the tourist service industries, it's likely to be good news, short-term.

But, if you're in agriculture to make a living, things won't seem so rosy (or is that rosé?).

The farmers' confederation, whose acronym is, unhappily, CAP (shades of European agricultural subsidy excesses) claims that pasture land is already affected, and crops may soon follow. And, it seems, fruit trees will be thrown off-kilter too, and will flower too early.

Local environmentalists are keen to see measures put in place to conserve water use, so expect to be sharing baths and shower facilities with complete strangers this summer, if they have their way!

It is claimed that there is already a programme for efficient water usage in place, but it has not been implemented due to bureaucratic inefficiency. I, for one, refuse to believe this slur on our Algarvean civil servants!

Unfortunately, the prevalent attitude that I have encountered in Algarve is that water is, and always will be, plentiful. It will take a massive public re-education programme to change such views, and leaving it until now does smack of complacency or inefficiency (or both).

It looks like I'm not going to make it back for an Algarve break until March at the earliest, so I suppose that either I'll find that the beaches now give onto a sand-blown desert, or at least that I should have taken my own massive stocks of drinking water, and maybe even a pocket-sized reverse-osmosis machine for de-salinating sea water.

All I know is, that would require a heavy discount on my holiday tickets!

We'll see what happens. Watch this space...

Lies and Statistics...

Some interesting facts about Algarve tourism were published recently, and I was struck by the strange ways that statistics are treated in some quarters.

Overall, it seems, tourist numbers were down to their lowest levels since 1993. And this was despite the hosting of Euro 2004 soccer finals in Portugal and Algarve.

And that's my first departure from the official line... I think the numbers were down because of Euro 2004, not 'despite'. I tend to watch more TV soccer (football) than I'd like because my husband enjoys it, but neither he nor I would go anywhere near a stadium before or after a match was to be held because of the perceived likelihood of bad behaviour by a small number of 'fans'.

Multiply that effect for a major championship, add in the fact that some hooligans travel with the precise aim of causing trouble at such events, factor in some exaggerated claims for accommodation uptake (places saying they were full when they weren't) - and is it any wonder that people stayed away in droves?

An interesting fact I learned was that some 58% of those using Faro airport are Brits! I knew that a lot of us love Algarve, but wow! that's impressive. Another take on that figure, however, is that about 400,000 folk passing through Faro every year are headed for western Spain, so some tourist money escapes the region as soon as it has arrived. Great for Faro airport, of course, but bad news for Algarve's economy.

Apparently, golf and theme parks were both badly-hit sectors of Algarve's tourism industry, while casinos actually registered an increase in income. Moral? Tourists seem increasingly less keen about 'active' activities, preferring instead to spend their time in smoke-filled gambling dens... And we wonder why obesity is 'on the up'!

In order to end on a positive note, I should report that Senhor Hélder Martins, Algarve's tourism supremo, is optimistic. You may remember my earlier blog about the good senhor's enthusiasm for increasing facilities for Algarve naturism. My guess is that he sees a chance to offset the dearth of clothed tourists by attracting hordes of nude holiday-makers...

That's either bare-faced cheek or naked opportunism.

You decide...

Life Goes On

It's an awful thing to write (or even think), but it's true nonetheless.

I haven't, I must confess, felt much like updating my blog since the terrible news about the Tsunami came through about 2 weeks ago.

Somehow or other, a celebration of 'normal' life didn't strike me as appropriate, with so many dead and so many survivors' lives in ruins

But, really, being morose won't change a thing, when I think about it.

One especially sobering experience was seeing a TV interview with a woman (representing some aid organisation) who put the whole thing in context. It was horrible, she agreed. The trouble was that equivalent numbers of people died every year from natural disasters like drought. Not so sudden, and not so media-attended.

It made me realise that this is just another job for the aid agencies. A logistical nightmare, of course, but just another job, in the eyes of those who see suffering on a daily basis.

We can only hope and pray that as many people as possible are saved.

And that we don't forget the survivors, once the media spotlight has moved on, as surely it will.

There but for the grace of God...

If you'd like to contribute an opinion to my blog, please use the handy form on the Your Algarve Best page, and...

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