WEDNESDAY BRIEFING

Mid-week headline news 

                              – June 14

 

Portugal-UK anniversary

King Charles III and President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will meet in London tomorrow, Thursday, to lead celebrations for the 650^th anniversary of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance.  This treaty of friendship, peace and cooperation was signed in London’s St Paul’s Cathedral by England’s King Edward III and Portugal’s King Fernando and Queen Leonor on June 16, 1373. It is the world’s oldest existing diplomatic alliance and still involves such things as bilateral trade and cultural events. Celebrations in Portugal will continue into next year with a project between the English National Ballet Company and dance schools in Braga.

Wildfire warnings

The rural area in the Algarve municipality of Tavira has been named this week as at “very high” risk, while Sao Bras de Alportel is at “high risk” of wildfires. This is according to the Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA). The institute placed 33 other municipalities in the districts of Faro, Beja, Setubal, Evora and Leira at a “moderate” danger level.

Canadian wildfire Help

Portugal has sent 140 operatives to help fight the forest fires that have long been out of control and caused devastation in Canada, particularly the western state of Alberta. The Portuguese team left today on a commercial flight from Lisbon. 

More Chinese tourists

A search engine dedicated to Portugal is seeking to encourage more people in China to visit this country. The program, all in the Chinese language, highlights 750 points of interest, including tourist attractions, special entertainment, shopping, gastronomy and hotel facilities. About 385,000 Chinese citizens visited Portugal in 2019, the year before the COVID pandemic, the permanent representative of Turismo de Portugal in China told the Lusa news.

Drop in Golden visas

“US citizens Abandon Portugal” is the headline of a Schegen Visa report that points out that Golden Visa demand has dropped 37% following the government’s decision to terminate the scheme.  He figure of 37% was provided by the international advisory firm Get Golden Visa.

No end to Maddie case

The German prosecutor in charge of investigating the so-called “prime suspect” in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has admitted his inquiries could go on until after Christian Bruckner has been released from prison for a rape conviction. No firm evidence has been reported from the recent search by Portuguese, German and British police next to the Arade reservoir frequented by Bruckner in 2007 around the time Madeleine went missing. 

Bringing back bees 

Several indicatives have just been launched in the Braganca district in the north-east of Portugal to preserve bees and recover previous standards of honey production. Beekeepers say droughts have been the cause of a drop of 80% in honey production, the worst decline in 40 years.