Confidence within the EU increasing despite Brexit

Support for key perceptions of the European Union is showing a strong increase among the majority of EU citizens despite  –  or perhaps partly because of –  Britain’s shambolic efforts to leave.

The overall approval rating among respondents in a survey conducted in all 28 member states before the European parliamentary elections in May this year showed a peak last recorded between the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and approval of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. 

Since autumn 2018, the proportion of respondents with a positive image of the EU has increased in 23 member states, including Portugal, where it has climbed seven percentage points and now stands at 60%. 

The findings of an EU Barometer post-election survey published last week show “the best results in five years”. Many people now trust the EU more than their own national government or parliament. This trust level is topped by 72% of respondents in Lithuania and 68% in Denmark.  Portugal, with 57%, is sixth on the trust table.

A strong sense of optimism prevails across Europe, most notably in Ireland, where 85% of those questioned felt upbeat about the future of the eurozone.

Within the eurozone, confidence in the euro has weighed in at a new record high of 76%; and in the EU as a whole remains at 62%. 

A large majority of respondents (81%) agree with the free movement that allows EU citizens to live, work, study or do business in any country they choose within the Union.

Significant variations emerge when respondents were questioned about the situation of their own national economy. Almost half of the respondents are happy with the situation:  e.g. Luxembourg (94%), Denmark (91%), Netherlands (90%), Germany (83%) and Sweden (80%). The results for Ireland and the United Kingdom were 75% and 41%, respectively. 

Respondents from several other countries, however, regard their national economy as “bad”; especially in Greece, where an approval rating of only 7% was registered. The equivalent in France is 29% and in Croatia, Bulgaria and Italy the percentage is in the lower twenties. 

Also in the recent survey, many other interesting statistics emerged from face-to-face interviews with around 27,500 citizens in the 28 member states. 

The number one concern remains immigration (34%), although this has dropped six percentage points since last year's survey. Meanwhile there has been a six percentage point increase, to 22%, in what has become the number two concern: climate change.

It’s beyond the scope of EU Barometer surveys to speculate on any correlation between migration and climate change, but it’s likely that the widespread movement of people in the years ahead will be closely related to global warming. Well-documented rising sea levels, devastating flooding, more common extreme weather conditions and ultimate desertification may alter or destroy traditional food production and fundamental lifestyles to the point where there will be no feasible alternative to large-scale migration, not only from Africa into Europe but also from southern Europe northwards.  

The European Union has been in the forefront of deliberations on these dangers, with the Paris Agreement and more recent deliberations in Bonn and Geneva. 

All in all, in the wake of two devastating world wars and a global financial crisis, there is a sense of togetherness in Europe that may long outlive the self-indulgent determination of those in Britain who want out – deal or no deal – on 31 October.  

The cost of care for the elderly

Care for the elderly within an aging population is an ever growing challenge, but quality services are already in place in the Algarve for visitors and permanent residents from abroad, as well as local citizens  –  at a significant cost.  

The various services include assistance from unofficial carers, registered caring agencies, retirement homes and sheltered communities with nursing facilities.

The Portuguese have traditionally looked after their own elderly within their family circles.  This is partly due to their culture, as well as costs and a state system with poor resources.  Foreigners who have not worked in this country and paid into the social security system are obliged to return to their country of origin or seek private care.

With people generally living longer and illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia increasingly on the rise, private care has become all the more vital. 

Competent help at home can be best obtained through reliable personal recommendations. 

Arrangements to help those with physical or mental impairments can range from a few hours a day a few days a week, to round-the-clock full-time in extreme cases.

The current normal hourly rate for informal daytime care is €10; less overnight. That means that round-the-clock care can reach  €6,000 or more a month.

Registered agencies charge more – typically €12.50, €15 or even €17 an hour during the day – in providing a wide range of home services all over the region using networks of fully trained associate nurses and carers.    

A cheaper option for those in need of full-time care would be a partially state-funded retirement home. Full-board in a single room – if you can find one –  may cost  €1,900 a month, not including medications or special medical treatment.

By contrast, the Madrugada charitable organisation, founded in the western Algarve in 2009, offers palliative care free of charge. Most of its patients affected by a life-limiting illness  are located in its main operational area, between Lagoa and Budens. 

Dependant on fund-raising events, donations and charity shops,  Madrugada’s  clinical team provide care to those who prefer to spend their remaining days in their own home.

Madrugada say the criteria for receiving home care considers the patient’s wishes, the clinical indications, the suitability of the home environment for safe and effective nursing care, the willingness of the patient’s family and current medical team to work in tandem with their professional team.

Special care equipment is made available to ensure that patients remain as safe and as comfortable as possible.

In addition to palliative care, Madrugada provides more normal hourly or daily services with carers looking after patients at home.

Another unique organisation in the Algarve but in a very different setting is the Monte de Palhagueira sheltered community. Comprising a village of 33 privately-owned properties next to a 20-room nursing home, it's located in a beautiful hillside setting at Gorjôes,  a 20-minute drive from Faro Airport. 

Other features interspersed by landscaped gardens and  connected by tranquil lanes include an Anglican Church, a restaurant, a tennis court, two swimming pools and an ornamental lake.

The village properties are all different in size and shape, costing from £90,000 for a one-bedroom apartment to £340,000  for a three-bedroom, two-storey villa.

Properties seldom come on the market and when they do, those already living in the community or on a waiting list have first choice. 

The nursing home costs at Monte de Palhagueira depend on the size of the room and the level of care, but are between €1,100 and €1,350 per week.

Whichever of the above options is most appropriate, two important points, especially for foreign residents to bear in mind, are the likely need to plan well ahead and the volatility of foreign exchange rates.

 

Monte de Palhagueira

Wild Boar, a menace moving south

Wild boar and their close relatives, feral pigs, are making more of a nuisance of themselves closer to the coast in the Algarve this year because of previous wildfires inland. 
Family groups of these somewhat dangerous animals have been reportedly enjoying themselves on popular beaches, including Quarteira, Albandeira and Nossa Senhora da Rocha. Mercifully, they stay hidden during the day, only appearing at dusk and dawn, and so do not interfere with human sunbathers.
Javali, the name for wild boar in Portuguese, are not often seen on golf courses either but their nocturnal presence has been apparent on some, such as Gramacho near Carvoeiro and Parque da Floresta west of Lagos. Morgado near Portimão suffered badly before it was fenced.
The attraction of golf courses in spring and summer is that they are well irrigated, making scratching for food easier. 
As omnivores, the wild boar and descendants of escaped domesticated pigs gone wild, eat acorns, nuts, seeds, fruit, creepy-crawlies, mice, small reptiles and much besides. They dive into wheelie bins in search of lunch and dinner scraps.
In many places such as Odeaxere near Lagos they destroy farm crops. In the Odelouca Valley near Silves they have been turfing up young Quercus canariensis, a special and rare native tree, being cultivated by environmentalist Antonio Lambe. In the process the boars have damaged parts of the irrigation system. 
Hunters and their dogs go after wild boar in what is known in Portuguese as a montado. Usually on a Saturday in the autumn a man in a red scarf near Messines would conduct the hunt blowing a horn. The dogs, specially bred for this type of hunting, would leap on the boar before the hunters get there. 
“Those tusks are unforgiving. It's pretty gruesome,” says John Greenhill who has watched from an opposite hillside. 
“After the kill, the boar is transported on a pole to the hunting club lodge to be butchered. A lot of drink is taken, mainly the hard stuff, bagaço or medronho.
“I have a neighbour whom I have never met who used to put a wire noose on the boar path, always on a steep part so the boar would run headfirst into it and strangle itself slowly. I know this because I have cut two dogs out of the trap.
“I used to go regularly and destroy the nooses, so eventually whoever it was gave up.”
The presence of more wild boar closer to the coast this year is thought to have been forced by the extensive wildfires in their favourite habitat in the hills and foothills of the Algarve.
Early risers may now spot wild boar in the countryside anywhere from Aljezur in the far west to the Guadiana River in the far east.
This year, for the first time in decades of living in a small wood just north of the N125 at Porches, the Fitzpatrick family have watched groups of up to ten feral pigs close to their home. And there have been reports too of javali in the Porches countryside south of the N125.
Sudden outbursts of barking by fenced-in dogs at around sunrise or sunset can be a useful  signal that wild boars or feral pigs are passing nearby.
Javali are capable of wrecking cars and have done so in collisions on ill-lit country roads in the Loulé area
People out walking in the countryside need to be cautious. Should you encounter one or more of these mighty, fanged creatures, back off!  Avoid any form of confrontation.
Don’t for a moment imagine you can outrun animals with such robust bodies but relatively little legs. They can sprint at 40 km/h and jump over obstacles one and a half metres tall.

Although short-sighted, wild boar and feral pigs can quickly sense potential trouble but generally try to avoid conflict with humans by running for cover in dense undergrowth.  
Global warming permitting, they are here to stay. They are among the most widespread wild mammals in the world and among the least endangered.

Reformed UK criminal helps beat Alentejo property scammers

An elderly couple, who say they fear losing their home in southern Portugal because of a scam, have turned to a reformed criminal for help.

All the characters in this remarkable saga are British. The victims are Richard and Jane Wallinger, who fell in love with Portugal’s lifestyle and people on their first short visit in 2002. They sold their home in the UK in 2004 and used the funds to buy a house 30 kilometres from the town of Ferreiras do Alentejo in the district of Beja.

They say they were conned into trying to buy another plot of land by an unmarried couple who turned out to be fraudsters. The person trying to solve the ongoing problem is Shaun Smith, a former “enforcer” who was sentenced in Liverpool to five years' imprisonment for a firearms offence.

Released from prison in 2009, Smith is now the director of an investigative and debt collection company. He has recently risen to fame as a bare-knuckle boxer in a Netflix documentary featuring his gym in Warrington, Cheshire.

Richard Wallinger, a former racing driver, says he handed over an initial payment of £50,000 in cash to a supposed vendor for a plot of land on a Ferreiras do Alentejo farm. He later made a bank payment of £60,000.

Wallinger says the amount he paid, including tax and lawyer fees, totalled the equivalent of €184,000. The vendor whom Richard had paid later denied receiving the £50,000 cash. His partner still lives on the farm but says she is no longer in a relationship with him, yet he has since been seen at her home.

Wallinger insists, however, that in 2004 the two alleged fraudsters had promised to repay him the full amount for the land he thought he had bought but which was never in his name. They had only given back the £60,000 and were now trying to sell the land to another couple.

In January 2007 both the alleged fraudsters attended a mediation hearing in the UK and agreed to return an outstanding amount of   £116,000 to Wallinger within 21 days.

That did not happen, so Wallinger arranged to have the High Court order served at the farm on the vendor’s partner as she was the registered owner, but this backfired. She won a court judgement against Wallinger in which he was ordered to pay costs of £5,000.

Everything became more complicated when the British court order was transferred to the Portuguese legal system. The Wallingers were unable to attend civil hearings in Portugal because of poor health. They were both battling cancer.

A charge was lodged against their property in Portugal and the amount they owe has now reached nearly €145,000. Their financial problems and fear of losing their beloved home drove them to consider committing suicide.

“Jane and I have endured 16 and more years of hell at the hands of these evil fraudsters,” says Richard. “Only ou~
r strong competitive background as motor racing championship winners has helped us to deal with the stress and trauma”.

A friend referred them to Shaun Smith, who had totally changed his ways and turned his back on crime. As director of Shaun Smith Enterprises Ltd., he fully sympathises with the Wallingers’ plight. Last month he wrote to the alleged conman setting out some disturbing figures.

According to Smith, the fraudsters owes the Wallingers the original High Court amount of £116,000, plus interest at 8% per annum from January 2007 of £113,292, and collection costs to date of £15,000. Total: £244,292.

Smith offered to meet and discuss how the debt might be settled before further costs are incurred, but he has not yet received a reply.

Smith has described the situation as “diabolical.” He has emphasised that he “is going to fight tooth and nail to save the Wallinger pensioners from losing their home”.

                                                     

   Jane Wallinger

Richard Wallinger

   

                                   Shaun Smith                                 

UK and Portugal sign bilateral agreement on voting rights

The British Embassy in Lisbon has just issued a statement on a new bilateral agreement that secures the rights of Portuguese citizens in the UK and British citizens in Portugal to stand and vote in local elections in each other’s countries after the UK leaves the EU. 

The statement says the agreement was signed in Lisbon by Lord Callanan, UK Minister of State at the Department for Exiting the EU, and by PT State Secretary for European Affairs, Dra Ana Paula Zacarias, in the presence of the Minister for Internal Administration, Dr Eduardo Cabrita. 

The agreement guarantees that all who have the right to vote in local elections and hold office on the day the UK leaves the EU will maintain that right in the future, whether the UK leaves with or without a deal. It also recognises the right of new UK residents in Portugal to vote in local elections (after 3 years of residency) and to stand in and be elected for local office (after 5 years of residency).

This is another important reassurance for UK nationals living in Portugal and for PT nationals living in the UK, that their rights will be maintained, and it enables these citizens to continue to determine who represents them in the country they reside in.

Lord Callanan said: “The oldest diplomatic agreement was signed between the UK and Portugal in 1386, now, over 600 years later, we’ve signed a treaty to secure the rights of our citizens in each other’s countries after the UK leaves the EU. This agreement gives further guarantees to the estimated 40,000 UK nationals here in Portugal and the 400,000 or so Portuguese citizens in the UK, that our historic alliance is still strong and their democratic right to vote will be protected, in any Brexit scenario.”

Portugal at odds with its oldest ally, remaining firmly pro-EU

Democracy inevitably involves different opinions and often heated debate, but the nature of political diversity is much less toxic in Portugal than in many other European states, particularly the United Kingdom, Portugal’s “oldest ally”.

Portugal is one of the EU’s smaller and also one of its most loyal member states.  Polls show that a significant majority of the population are happy to be within the EU, despite the harsh austerity and bailout obligations imposed on them by Brussels during the financial crisis.   

Following decades of dictatorship, both mainstream political parties have been strong advocates of European unity since joining the EU in 1986.

The delegation of 21 officials heading for Strasbourg and Brussels to serve between now and 2024 will comprise nine Socialists, six from the centre-right PSD, two each from the EB Left Bloc and the Communist party pcv7pev (CDU Alliance), and one each from the conservative CDS-PP and, for the first time, the People-Animals-Nature party, PAN.

When the leader of the Socialists, António Costa, became prime minister with a minority government in November 2015, he was dependent on the backing of the Left Bloc and the anti-EU Communists. Few pundits expected this loose alliance to last long. Yet the clear Socialist victory in the latest EU election was the first time a sitting government in Portugal won an EU election in 20 years.

The popularity of the Socialists has been spurred on by recent improvements in social services, education and transport facilities, and a great reduction in unemployment and poverty rates.

Their main rivals since the revolution, the centre-right Social Democrats, came second in the May EU vote but with a reduced percentage and the loss of two seats in the EU assembly.

The new Portuguese delegates will now separate into groupings with their closest political partners from the other 27 states for the start of the new session in Strasbourg on 2 July.  

The huge surge predicted from the far-right did not happen. In Portugal the far-right barely exists at all, but the populist movement across the continent, especially in France – never mind the UK – is still looming and poses a threat to EU stability.

Conversely, there were surprising gains from Liberal and Green parties in the latest EU election, most significantly in France and Germany.  

The upshot of all this is that the new 751-member European Parliament, of which Portugal is a small but staunch member, will be more diverse.

Let's hope that it will be able to act in a much more positive manner in the absence of the UK, which is hell-bent on leaving the EU at the end of October.  

In addition to many convoluted issues involving economics and immigration, the 2019-2023 EU parliament as a whole is expected to focus on reform, with greater emphasis on curbing such dire ongoing problems as global warming, social inequality and corruption.

Portugal’s mix of delegates can be expected to enthusiastically support such action, teaming up with the two mainstream EU groups who lost many seats in the election and no longer hold controlling power due to the surge in support for various independent and Green parties, as well as less dramatic showing by the far-right populists.   

Although the overall outcome of the election is expected to make EU parliamentary dialogue more complex, there is nevertheless optimism that the new configuration will promote positive reforms, including more action on social inequality, climate change and environmental issues.

Between now and the next EU parliamentary election in 2024, the people of Portugal and the many citizens from other European countries who live here can look forward to a degree of unity and confidence unlikely to exist in Italy and France, and certainly in the United Kingdom.   

Insights into Adventure, Mystery and Intriguing Personalities throughout the History of the Algarve

The revised and updated third edition of People in a Place Apart is now available in both digital and print form from amazon.co.uk.

The paperback edition can be bought locally in the bookshop in the main plaza of the Vale do Lobo resort. Other bookshops in the Algarve are expected to stock it soon.

More information can be obtained from the Faro-based publisher, Sílabas & Desafios.