The Algarve’s water crisis worsens

Barlavento reservoir

Reservoir levels in the Algarve have fallen agai n, coinciding with global temperatures approaching record highs.

The amount of water stored in all the Algarve’s river basins fell in June and again in July. The Barlavento basin in the western Algarve is the worst affected, with a level now below 20%. The Arade in the central Algarve fell from 40.8% in June to 37.8% last month. 

The situation is much better in the east of the region. The Guadiana basin is 83.35% full, and the Mondego reservoir has a level of 85.5%.

Official meteorological statistics show that at the end of June the south of Portugal was suffering extreme drought, while the intensity was more moderate in the cities of Beja and Evora in the Alentejo, as well as part of the districts of Setubal, south of Lisbon.

Current temperatures in the Algarve are fairly mild compared to other Portuguese places in the past. Portugal's highest recorded temperature is just above 47.4 degrees Celsius (117.32 Fahrenheit). Normal summer temperatures in the Algarve stay in the mid-30s °C, but sometimes soar towards 40 °C (104 °F). 

On Sunday, July 21, the world experienced its hottest day on record. Just 24 hours later that record was broken,  marking the hottest recorded in thousands of years.

The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service has been able to accurately reveal this as they have developed a scientific technique for assessing historical temperatures. The technique can be used in a variety of helpful ways, including suggesting the best spots to place wind farms and letting homeowners know how much their solar panels might generate. 

Severe heat waves cause hundreds, if not thousands of deaths across Europe, the United States, and Asia. The United States Embassy in Lisbon has issued a warning to American summer visitors to Portugal to be careful of the possible consequences of being outdoors in the local heat.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world. It is rising roughly twice the global average, according to official data. The hottest places on the planet just now are in parts of countries including Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Pakistan. The biggest problem of all is the failure of humans to properly control climate change.

While the Algarve is at the peak of its wildfire season, all units of fire brigades, police forces, and various volunteer groups are on constant standby to deal with any outbreaks. So far, such outbreaks have been most severe in Alberta, Canada, and parts of California. There are currently about 100 large wildfires raging in California. One of them is the worst in Californian history. 

The existential threat of global warming does not seem to be nearly as important to many world leaders nowadays as spiralling knife and gun violence, and international wars.

However, Bloomberg Green has just come up with some good news: “Last year, the world invested $1.8 trillion in climate tech. Much of that went toward renewable energy and electrifying transport, climate tech sectors that are relatively mature. Pioneers — a program that’s run for more than a decade — focuses on areas where innovation is most needed, ranging from reducing buildings’ carbon footprints and developing clean fuels.”

The United Nations Secretary-General and former Portuguese Prime Minister António Guterres recently delivered a special address on climate action in which he warned that we have only 18 months to save the world.

Pulling back from the brink “is still just about possible”, he continued, but only if we fight harder. It all depends on decisions taken by political leaders during this decade.”

 

Writen by Len Port,

Edited by Catriona Anderson.

Proofed by Roger Nuttall. 

British fraudster on the run after Faro police fail to act

A ruthless fraudster who has cheated several Algarve homeowners out of more than €1 million is on the run after Faro police failed to arrest or question him about his reported criminal activities over the past two years. 

A British couple, who have been residents in Portugal since 2018, raising their family on their property near Loulé,

planned to build a second home on their land for their daughter and a live-in carer once their daughter reached adulthood. 

The couple wanted to temporarily live with their whole family in this separate home while having their existing villa renovated. 

In November 2022, this British couple researched how to construct their daughter’s home, including an expanded driveway and additions to their swimming pool. After finding the website www.mod-eco.com on the internet, they made an appointment to view the Eco Modular Homes Unipessoal Lda workshop in Loulé in November 2022. 

They met the company’s CEO, Sam Chamberlain, and decided to order the delivery of materials and proceed with the construction of a four-bedroom modular home. Since then, they have learned via a specialist private investigator and public company records that Sam Chamberlain was previously known as Sam William Jenkins, born 14 December 1985, in Birmingham, England. 

He changed his name shortly after arriving in Portugal in 2016. He stole from his then employer, the Casa Fajara boutique hotel in Vale da Carrapateira, before eventually setting up Eco Modular Homes, Unipessoal Lda with a partner, Bruna Viana Cardoso, a Brazilian national, on 18 January 2023. 

The British couple received a quote from Chamberlain for the proposed new home, as well as for the construction of a driveway, and work on their swimming pool. The quote stipulated a project completion date of July 2023. 

The couple confirmed by email to Chamberlain acceptance of this quote on the following terms: 50% payment as a deposit, 35% payable upon half-completion, and 15% payment upon completion of the project.

In order to speed up delivery of the required building materials, the British couple paid cash or made transfers to Chamberlain via the Santander Bank in Portugal, Revolut and Lloyds Bank in the UK. The project was never completed, and Chamberlain fled with the money.

In April, construction work began on the driveway in front of the family’s main house. The work was delayed and progressed slowly. It was never finished and was left with a dangerous access full of deep holes.

Meanwhile, through social media messages and videos, the couple has learned that €1 million has been defrauded from other residents, both Portuguese and foreign.

Other victims include one who was defrauded of €40,000 and another who ordered the building of two houses. At least half a dozen others have been ripped off.

In April 2023, unbeknownst to the British couple, Eco Modular employees reported Sam Chamberlain and the company to the Policia Judicaria (PJ) in Faro. They told Inspector Catia Morais about their suspicions of fraud and criminality. Another employee contacted the PJ and provided an extensive dossier of documents to Inspector Morais.

Intel Suisse, the financial fraud investigator looking into this scam, has unearthed Chamberlain’s past UK background and activities. The British couple has filed complaints with the Faro PJ, based on the belief that Sam William Jenkins moved to the Algarve from England in 2016, changed his name to Sam William Chamberlain soon thereafter, and embarked on a campaign of criminality.

Written by Len Port, based on information provided by David Mapley

Editor: Catriona Anderson.

Proofreader: Roger Nuttall. 

NEW TROUBLES LOOM FOR PORTUGAL AND THE EU

Portugal and other EU countries are now quietly but increasingly concerned about the prospect of Donald Trump returning as president of the United States and “tearing Europe apart.”

Portugal has always fully endorsed the US and European countries  giving large quantities of weapons to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s occupation.

Portugal has always fully supported the European Union, and also the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), of which it was a founding member.

Donald Trump says he intends to immediately end the war in Ukraine and give Russia victory by stopping support for Ukraine. He has shown little interest in continuing America’s close bonds with the European Union, or with continuing ties with NATO.

The other main worries for Portugal and the rest of Europe are that the US will side firmly with Israel rather than a two-state solution with Palestine. Furthermore, there could be complications in the billions of dollars/euros cross-Atlantic trade relations, and efforts to counter the climate crisis.

The good news in recent days has been that representatives from Portugal and 50 other European countries attended a private summit in England in which the newly elected British prime minister vowed to “reset” relations with the EU shattered by Brexit.

Also, the moderate Ursula Von der Leyen has been voted by a substantial majority to serve a second term as president of the EU Commission. The former Portuguese prime minister, Antonio Costa, is now well entrenched as president of the EU Council. And in Portugal, the main opposition centre-left Socialist Party has proposed having negotiations with the new centre-right government “in good faith” about next year’s budget.

However, the Europe being “torn apart” prediction is likely to be of increasing worry for Portugal and the rest of the continent. “This is the moment most of Europe’s leaders hoped they would never see,” reports the much respected American digital news company Politico. “The date is November 7, 2024.”

The Politico report continued: “The former reality TV star’s return to power would not only be the biggest test in transatlantic relations in post-war history, but it could also pose an existential risk to European unity as the tensions over how to work with the world’s most powerful country pull the continent apart”.  

 New posts on this site are currently on hold due to temporary unusual circumstances, but we'll be back!

UK may "soften" EU relationship

Keir Stamer, UK's new prime minister

The United Kingdom’s soured relationship with the European Union since the Brexit referendum eight years ago could improve somewhat with Britain’s new Labour government led by Sir Keir Starmer. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the EU’s current relationship with its closest partner, the United States, in the lead up to its November election. 

 

The EU hardly got a mention from either the centre-left Labour or right-wing Conservative parties during the run-up to the British election, which gave Labour a landslide victory. The Conservatives, who had been in power for 14 years, fully endorsed the outcome of the Brexit referendum, which resulted in just short of 52% of voters choosing “leave”. Many do not regret that result even though it bitterly divided the nation, and has led to a serious economic downturn.

 

Portugal, historically the UK’s oldest ally, is an unequivocal supporter of the EU and was shocked by Brexit. While Britain’s Labour Party opposed Brexit, it agreed to “uphold the wishes of the British people.” 

 

Labour avoided the subject during this year’s election campaign and manifesto for fear of upsetting disaffected Conservative pro-Brexiteers they wanted to swing their way. However, Starmer has said that under his leadership he will not try to fully rejoin the EU, but will seek to soften the unpleasant relationship that has developed. 

 

This is viewed as of special importance to the EU as the bloc is still the UK’s largest trading partner. There are common problems too, such as tackling the high rate of illegal immigration. 

 

The EU may not maintain its close partnership with the United States unless Joe Biden steps down and is replaced by a much more competent Democratic Party presidential candidate for the November election. His age and recent follies make him much less likely to win the presidential race against Donald Trump. A return to the White House by Trump is widely predicted to be disastrous, not only for the EU but much of the whole world due to his attitude to such things as NATO, the war in Ukraine and the existential global warming crisis.

 

EX-prime minister Costa now a European president in Brussels

 

Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa has been formally appointed to take on the second highest job in the European Union, that of President of the European Council. Ursula Von der Leyen has been reinstated for a second term as President of the European Commission.

 

The nominations were approved at a special summit on Thursday by the chancellor of Germany, the president of France and the prime ministers of Greece, Poland the Netherlands and Spain.

 

The outcome had been widely predicted, though Costa’s forced resignation as prime minister last December raised eyebrows.

 

A lesser-known politician, Estonia’s Kaja Kallas , is to lead the bloc’s foreign policy service. These three key officials are expected to serve for the next five years.

 

The main critic since the first hint of confirmation on Tuesday has been Hungary’s Viktor Orban who believes the results have been hatched by the European People’s Party, with leftists and liberals. This runs counter to everything the EU was based on, says Orban. He insists that the top officials should represent every member state including his own, which is led by right-wing nationalists.

 

 

The main challenges facing the top three leaders and their advisers are expected to be political turmoil at home, and the prospect of a highly divisive President Donald Trump abroad.

 

Von der Leyen is a German conservative Her second term in the number one position places her in charge of the bloc’s executive branch. Costa, until recently leader of Portugal’s Socialist Party, will now be at the helm of the authority which includes the heads of government of the EU’s 27 member states. The two top leaders are generally seen as an appropriate balance in terms of their political and geographical backgrounds.

 

A significant contribution to Costa’s success in his bid for the Brussels job was the unequivocal backing he received from Portugal’s Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, despite the fact that Montenegro heads the centre-right coalition that has long rivalled the centre-left Socialists in Portugal’s national elections.

 

Costa made many key allies when he attended an EU summit in Brussels in January. Yet just a month earlier he stepped down as Portugal’s leader when investigations got underway into alleged irregularities in his government’s handling of several large investment projects. Costa denied any wrong-doing and was never charged.  However, several of his close associates remain under investigation

 

Costa, 62, is believed to have all the right credentials for Brussels, including that of a moderate profile combing socialist democratic values with an orthodox approach to the economy. It is also seen as a “pragmatic negotiator.” His career so far has included working as a lawyer, mayor of Lisbon, and prime minister from 2015 to 2023.

British troops help troubled Irish homeowner in the Algarve

Orla Dargan

 

An Irish woman with a home in the Algarve is still the victim of a nasty land dispute, but she is now getting help from British veteran paramilitary soldiers and the British Foreign Office to sort out an ongoing

water supply problem.

 

The original land dispute was so aggressive that Irish born and bred Orla Dargan feared for her life, and went into hiding from the person allegedly trying to grab her land.

 

Her many problems associated with the dispute are now focused on water, which she says the Faro municipal council ordered to be cut off by the local water company, Fagar, in September 2022.

 

“They even removed the water meter. I still have no water, and I am not sure why, despite the fact that in February this year I was officially permitted to finish the building project I had long started on my home, and had paid an extra €2,800 to extend the building licence.

 

“I had legal permission to finish my building, so I wrote to the municipality authority at the beginning of June asking them to reinstate the water. Nothing happened! When my architect called them, they said they were very busy! The elite British ex-soldiers now staying in my home are having to collect water from a public well in the town.” 

 

Ms Dargan continued: “One of the soldiers, Capt G, contacted the British Embassy. He spoke to the local British Consul who then called the Fagan Water Company.

Had this not happened, I am not sure how long it would have taken. I have heard it can sometimes take two years. Most civilised countries would treat the supply of water as a matter of urgency. It's a basic human right in the UN Charter of Human Rights. 

“In the meantime, I am not only very stressed, but all my beautiful plants have either died or I have had to give them away.” 

 

Ms Dargan bought her home in the foothills behind Faro after retiring  as a city investment banker in London. Her father was the CEO and chairman of the Ireland-based Aer Lingus international airline. He also served as the chairman of the world’s biggest building material manufacturer and distributor.

 

“It really is quite bizarre that an Irish woman is being assisted by top British retired troops and the British Embassy.”

That said, she had to be security-cleared in the UK back in the days when she was doing audit work related to Challenger Tanks. She also sat for five years on the council of the British Board of Agreement, the body that organised construction materials in the UK. At that time she was the head of corporate development at Hepworth Plc., a major UK construction materials group.

 

Given her distinguished career, it is not surprising that Ms Dagan finds “the whole thing with my Algarve home very odd and, very sad. But I am not alone. Other foreign homeowners are having dreadful problems too.”