Algarve Blog
Here's my regular take on occurrences in my favourite vacation spot... Made the Festival - but no pics!
It's a good job there were lots of religious luminaries around, otherwise I'd have been tempted to utter a few unlady-like oaths... It was a great occasion, however - despite my technological tantrums - and I'm really pleased that I finally managed to take part. In previous years, either our arrival timing in Algarve or some other thing has meant I couldn't get to see the spectacle of this lovely festival (feira). But I've finally done it, so watch out for a new page about it soon. And I'll also be updating the progress log on my Algarve Property Purchase page. Our villa is in the last stages of completion, but it's so frustrating to be living in rented accomodation while I wait to move in! Patience, Jennifer! Wednesday 3 May 2006Hold on to your handbags!
Maybe it's sun-stroke (so early in the year?) but they've decided that the Algarve's peak tourist season requires less policemen, not more! Although Algarve enjoys relatively low crime rates, it's not rocket science (that's this week's cliché worked in nicely!) to realise that tourists attract criminals. There's lots of money sloshing around during the Algarve peak season, much of it carried around on the persons of said tourists! So it would be reasonable to assume that, in a region where tourism is so important, security (or at least, the impression of security) would seem advisable to everyone, even the politicos... But no, they've decided to be contrarian and cut police reinforcements. That sends out the wrong signal, thinks the Algarve's association of hoteliers. Both to the criminals and to the tourists...
And so they've made (the association, that is) strong representations to the government about the matter. Probably, the ruminations will take so long that there'll be lots of evidence as to how the reduced police numbers worked out. So that'll make the decision easier, if somewhat tardy! Hold on to your handbags, ladies! (And remember to take them with you when you go for a dip in the sea). Sunday 12 March 2006The IT Factor
It starts a 3-day run on 17 March at João de Deus secondary school (Find it at: Av 5 de Outubro, 8004-069 Faro). If you're particularly knowledgeable, you may even win one of the competitions that will be staged during the fair. The themes are:
Expect a good showing from Portuguese (and further-afield) IT companies that will want to flaunt their wares and publicise their brands. Look for signs and posters announcing "Al@ngarve 2006". Unfortunately, since I'm interested in PCs and Internet (I want to know what's on offer in the Algarve before we move there) I don't think I'll be around just then. Probably I'll make the trip a little nearer April. Ah well, I'll just have to find out about Algarve IT the hard, slow way... Thursday 2 March 2006Water on the Brain!Sometimes, things happen that rather highlight the difference between the bureaucratic mentalities of the UK and Portugal. One such occurred recently, near Albufeira in the Algarve - and I thought it was interesting enough to make it into my blog page...
Having had an independent plumber check the water supply, they learned that the line pressure was too high and had probably damaged the meter. The latter was visibly corroded and was eventually removed so that it could be returned for testing by the German manufacturer. To add insult to injury, the serial numbers quoted on the bills and that on the meter did not allegedly tally, but the water department for the local council continues to insist that the bills are correct. The couple, David and Lisa Scutt, have enlisted the aid of the national consumer rights organisation, DECO, but are still embroiled in this fiasco, over one year after it began. They point out that, since there was a drought when they were supposed to have used all this water, they would have expected a reprimand at the time from the Câmara, but none was received. Meantime, they have handed over in excess of 9000 Euros(!) which means they're accused of using more than 3000 cubic metres of water... I just calculated that a swimming pool 10m by 5m with an average depth of 1.5 m would hold only 75 cubic metres - so what on earth does the Câmara imagine a single family has been doing with so much water? Creating their own tsunami? By the time you read this, the Scutts will probably have appeared in a local TV report detailing their experiences in the face of official intransigence. Let's hope that it's all sorted out soon after that. Of course, it's illegal to demand money with menaces - unless you're a local authority, that is... Scary, or what? Sunday 12 February 2006It's Your Round...I read that, in an effort to obtain some investment in the business, Castro Marim Golfe and Country Club is petitioning no less a luminary than Donald Trump, the renowned US real estate 'billionnaire'...
Lesser mortals, who could actually benefit from such a freebie, will have to continue to stump up the fees of course, because that's how the world works! No danger of my being offered any free memberships, I suppose? (I'm particularly interested in tennis clubs in the Loulé/Olhao/Moncarapacho triangle, should a hint be required...) Monday 30 January 2006Algarve Sunshine Puts Conservation in the ShadeI've long wondered why, in a climate as sunny as that of Algarve (300+ days of solar bliss per year) more isn't done to harness all that free energy. True, some swimming pools have solar heating. And I've stayed in villas where the hot water was courtesy of solar panels. But that must be the tip of the iceberg (if you'll excuse my mixed metaphors)!
I remember going to some building technologies exhibition in the UK absolutely ages ago (I was young and carefree back then). One particularly striking idea was a house that had no conventional heating system. There was a conservatory that gained heat from UV radiation during the day and that was blown through some rocks that formed the basement space. When the outside temperature went down at night, the system reversed and the air in the house was heated by those 'hot rocks'. And that was ages ago... so what's happened in the meantime? Are our politicians so gutless that they daren't encourage any alternative technologies that would upset the fat cat energy companies? (Memories of the on-off ban on cigarette advertising (in Formula 1 racing) springs to mind for some reason...) It has to be crazy that normal energy usage in the region includes so little that takes advantage of the fabulous Algarve climate that warms all my beach vacations! Any suggestions (on postcards please) to the Portuguese government... Who knows, it might work? Sunday 15 January 2006Algarve Oil Boom?I was casting about for something different with which to kick off this Algarve Blog page for this new year... ... When I read about the possibility of a resumption of oil prospecting around the Algarve coast!
Not that I'm sure he'd want to... His idea of Algarve living has more to do with hammocks and pina coladas that anything like working in an office worrying about whether offshore oil platforms might explode! I was intrigued nevertheless, since 'Algarve' and 'oil' had never gone together in my mental picture of things. As it turns out, though, the two have had more than a passing acquaintance for quite a while... Back as far as the mid-70s, some of the large global players were looking hard to see if exploration and production would be economic sense. It seems that, at the time, they thought otherwise. But Nev informs me that technology has moved on since those early days. It seems that they are able to exploit parts of the UK North Sea's fields that were previously thought to have little profit to offer - just because they now are able to do things they couldn't before. Of course, the last thing that an Algarve-lover like me would want to see is a series of large, ugly production installations moored offshore and visible from my favourite Algarve beaches! I understand that the area under consideration for further investigation is between Quarteira and the Guadiana river. That's a lot of Algarve beachfront under threat, so it might be time to start making some placards and dusting off the protest-march boots. We Algarve residents (okay, not yet, but soon) have to stick together against rapacious Capitalism! Okay - that's one Algarve blog done - lots more to go! Sunday 7 January 2006Return from Algarve Blog to Home page Back to top Archives Sep-Dec 05 |
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.
Talk about mixed fortunes! I finally managed to get to see the final day of Loulé's Mae Soberana (Sovereign Mother) festival - but my digital camera went on the blink!
Just when you thought politicians couldn't get any dafter, they prove you wrong!
If you're anywhere near Faro in the middle of this month, and you are 'into' Information Technology, then you might want to visit the IT fair there.
A British couple received two water bills in early 2005 that suggested they had used more water than all the other local residents put together! Despite having contested the bills with the local Câmara, they were advised to pay up and reclaim via a tribunal - which is what they've been trying to do ever since!
Mr Trump is allegedly showing an interest and has even (again allegedly) been given honorary membership of a Castro Marim course. I had to smile about that. Just what a rich man wants: saving a few Euros on a golf club membership. I suppose, though, that it's more about ego-massage than saving money.
Why is airconditioning de rigeur for new houses? Haven't Algarve residents survived for aeons without refrigerant assistance? What's happened in the meantime? Are most new houses built without due regard for thermal insulation - and is that really OK in the 21st century?
It struck me as particularly apt, since husband Nev worked in the UK oil industry (in Aberdeen) for quite a while. Could he expect to exploit his knowledge of such matters in Algarve? I wondered.