Sue Ellen Allen's story of prison, power and pain

Eight years ago this week, former Algarve resident Sue Ellen Allen was sentenced in Phoenix, Arizona, to a lengthy term of imprisonment that turned out to be both horrific and hugely uplifting. She told me yesterday: “I have so much to celebrate this year. It is a miracle I am alive and I live in constant gratitude.”

In 1994, Sue Ellen and her husband, David Grammer, were indicted by a grand jury and charged with defrauding US investors of around 1.1 million dollars.  After pleading not guilty but believing they had little chance of acquittal, they absconded. The following year they were tried in absentia.  

The couple lived as fugitives under false names in the Silves area of the Algarve until the summer of 2002. Former friends alleged the Grammers had defrauded them of investments and threatened to turn them in to the authorities. Sue Ellen, who was suffering from cancer, decided the game was up. She called the US Embassy in Lisbon.

“With only two more chemo sessions to go, our cozy world, our three dogs and four cats, vegetable garden, fresh food and pillow-filled world collapses,” she recalls in her recently published memoir, which contains a lot of fascinating detail.

“Yes, we are living in Portugal illegally. Yes, we are blackmailed with violence and exposure unless we pay a very large sum of money that we do not have.

“I suppose we could have fled, but we agree it is time to go back. I take a deep breath and pick up the phone to call the American Embassy in Lisbon. 'Hello, my name is Sue Ellen Allen and I’m wanted in the state of Arizona for business fraud.'

“There is a very long silence. Finally, the person on the other end asks for my information. 'I’ll have to get back to you.' Six phone calls and three days later, on Friday, the FBI calls from Madrid and we agree to meet them in Lisbon on Monday afternoon at two o’clock at the American Embassy.”

Sue Ellen and David thought they would be taken into custody and spend the night at the Embassy, but that didn't happen. The FBI agents who had flown in from Madrid said they had no jurisdiction in Portugal and so the fugitives could spend the night where they pleased. The flight left at eight the next morning and it was up to them to be there or not. They stayed in a Movenpick Hotel, split a BLT sandwich and each had a rum and coke.

“How naïve we are,” continues Sue Ellen in her memoir. “We cannot begin to conceive what is in store for us. With cancer, life is frightening, but the penal system is a spiral into hell.

“At the Embassy in Lisbon we are treated humanely; in New Jersey, things are still civilized. In Arizona, however, the good manners stop. The sheriff there prides himself on running the toughest jails in America. It is designed to strip you of your dignity, self-esteem, and sanity. Into this I walk with balding head, collapsed veins, and trembling heart.”

Sue Ellen and David were each sentenced to 10 years in jail. Sue Ellen served six years and nine months. David served seven years and four months. Both were released on parole. In her memoir, Sue Ellen describes her period in prison as “an unbelievable journey”.

The memoir is entitled The Slumber Party from Hell. “It wasn’t all hell,” she admits. “It was never heaven, but there are memories I would not trade, memories that will guide and define the next part of my life.”

The death of her cellmate, Gina Panetta, had a particularly profound affect. “Gina’s death started this memoir and Gina’s death started the next part of my life. She gave me my passion and my purpose,” writes Sue Ellen.

Together with her cellmate's parents she founded an organisation called GINA's Team. The organisation actively promotes education and self-sufficiency for incarcerated women and men at no cost to the prisons in the US.

“We bring volunteer community leaders, speakers and educators into prisons to teach life skills subjects. Our volunteer programs provide inmates with much-needed tools for re-entry, provide community members as role models and allow volunteers to see inmates as human beings.”

While the death of her cellmate gave inspiration, there were times in prison when Sue Ellen was so depressed that she contemplated suicide. Her life was in danger anyway because of cancer. But she emerged from behind bars in March this year in an extraordinary resolute and optimistic frame of mind.

Last weekend she wrote in a blog: “In September, 2002, I had a mastectomy. If you’ve read my book, you know it was a horrific experience that I equate to being alone in the deepest, darkest hole. On November 23, 2010, I had a second, preventative mastectomy and I equate this experience to being in a sun-filled meadow of flowers and sweet breezes, with family and friends surrounding me.

“The first surgery was performed while I was an inmate in our local jail. The second was performed at the Virginia Piper Centre in Scottsdale, Arizona. I have come full circle. It’s only been two weeks and I admit I don’t feel fantastic, but I know it is a miracle that I am alive. There were so many things the jail denied for my healing and comfort. This time, I was stunned with the attention and details to make sure I was cared for in every way so the healing would begin immediately.”

Sue Ellen, now 65, describes her experiences since leaving the Algarve as a story about turning pain into power. “I believe we must take the pain, the grief, the fear and the anger from our journeys and turn it into power. Turn the pain into power, not power for ourselves - power to help others who are lost or hopeless or terrified or angry, power to comfort and love.”

PORTUGAL INSIGHT

CIA illegal secret flights saga

Shame and possible prosecutions loom as the saga of the CIA's so-called extraordinary rendition flights through Portugal rumbles on.

Despite official denials, new allegations have been made that Portugal helped the United States secretly transfer detainees who ended up being tortured at the notorious Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.

It is claimed that the US requested, and was granted, permission for CIA flights carrying terrorist suspects to pass through Portuguese airspace. If true, this would be in violation of supposedly sacrosanct international charters and conventions.

In the latest development, a former Guantanamo inmate, Omar Deghayes, has claimed that some ex-prisoners are planning to sue the Portuguese authorities. Omar Deghayes, a 41-year-old Libyan, spent more than five years at Guantanamo Bay after being arrested in Pakistan. He was released in 2008, reportedly due to pressure from the British government.

An official Portuguese investigation into reports of CIA extraordinary rendition flights found no evidence of Portuguese wrong-doing. Suspicion persists that the US State Department leant on Portugal to stifle the investigation.

The Portuguese Attorney General's Office has declared that the investigation will only be reopened if new, credible and relevant facts come to light.

This announcement follows the release last week by Wikileaks of a cable indicating that the Portuguese government was asked to allow use of facilities in the Azores in the transportation of alleged terrorists.

The cable marked “secret” was sent from the US Embassy in Lisbon in October 2006, during the Bush administration. It drew attention to the likely political impact on Portugal if evidence demonstrating complicity in the secret CIA flights were to be made public.

Prime Minister José Sócrates, told parliament in 2008 that no member of his left-of-centre Socialist government (PS) had been asked for, or had granted, permission for extraordinary rendition flights through Portuguese airspace.

There has been much speculation that a number of such flights took place between 2002 and 2005, before the Socialists took office, during the last administration of the right-of-centre Social Democrats (PSD).

For example, a Gulfstream IV aircraft was reportedly flown from the airport on the island of Santa Maria in the Azores to Guantanamo Bay in November 2003. Doubts have been cast on 34 other ostensibly commercial flights through Portuguese airspace between 2002 and 2005.

A European parliamentary investigation in 2007 reported that the CIA had used European airspace for more than 1,200 flights between 2001 and 2005. Most European MPs endorsed the report's conclusion that some member states had “turned a blind eye” to the flights.

The committee that carried out the investigation criticised the “lack of co-operation from many member states” in their inquiries.

And so it goes on..... The picture is deliberately fuzzy. Full disclosure is awaited.

Like them or loath them, Wikileaks will probably shed more damning light on Portugal's involvement in this seemingly shameful saga if further US Lisbon Embassy cables are made public.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

End to euro, yes to press, no to toll

Some commentators are daring to suggest that this Christmas might be the euro's last. Its future might be prolonged, however, if Portugal is hung out to dry along with Greece and Ireland. In that way the rot can be stopped before it reaches Spain. It certainly seems increasingly likely that Portugal will have to ask for a bailout from the other EU countries and the International Monetary Fund. If Spain were forced into such a position, this would be far more serious internationally, with consequences of global magnitude. Three very different scenarios are being talked about. A two-tiered euro might be formed, with France and Germany in the upper level. Otherwise, euro zone members might be forced into increased fiscal and political unity. A third scenario envisages Germany walking out and going back to the deutschmark. Those escudos tucked under the mattress might come in handy after all.

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The European Court of Human Rights has ordered the Portuguese Government to pay €83,999 to the newspaper Publico as compensation for violating the paper's right to freedom of expression. In 2001, Publico reported that the football club Sporting Lisbon owed €2.3 million to the taxman. Sporting Lisbon denied the claim and sued. The paper was acquitted of defamation. The decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal in Lisbon in 2006. The following year, the Supreme Court reversed the ruling and ordered the paper to pay compensation of €75,000. Publico then took the case to the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Yesterday it pronounced in favour of the paper saying that its report had sufficient factual basis and publishing it was in the public interest. One is tempted to pass comment, but perhaps not.

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The committee organising the campaign against the introduction of tolls on the A22 trans-Algarve motorway is planning a “surprise protest” sometime before Christmas. A further demonstration is promised for January. The committee is also planning to present a petition with 14,000 signatures to parliament in Lisbon. Two demonstrations have been held so far. Some Portuguese reason that tolls have to be paid on motorways elsewhere in the country, so why not in the Algarve? Protestors argue that tolls would push traffic on to the EN125, which cannot be regarded as a viable alternative route. Tolls would be to the detriment of the all-important tourist industry and many already hard-hit local businesses. The government intends to impose tolls from next April. To register disapproval, go to http://viadoinfante2010.blogspot.com

INSIDE ALGARVE

America enters the war on weevils

The United States is the latest country to become involved in the war against the red palm weevil. It will be interesting to see how the Americans fare, because all efforts to contain the weevil in the Algarve seem futile.

The weevil, the same beast that is drastically altering the scenery here, was discovered in two palms in a residential area of Laguna Beach, Orange County, California. The Department of Food and Agriculture said they were the first such cases anywhere in the US.

It is inconceivable that the weevil would have been confined to just two trees. As we well know here, infestation can go undetected for quite a while. By the time symptoms become visible, it's too late.

Ann Christoph, a Laguna Beach landscape architect and former mayor, knew a thing or two about the new illegal immigrants. “It is very serious because the weevil gets inside the trees and sucks the life out of them,” she said. “White fly just hangs around on the leaves of trees, but the weevil goes to the heart of the palms.”

Meetings were convened to discuss strategies for dealing with the new threat. Since then, things have gone quiet. Hopefully the Americans have managed to eradicate the problem in its infancy, but it might be over optimistic.

The Algarve is a paradise for the red palm weevil. California would be too - and on a far grander scale. Canary Island date palms, its favourite food, are an integral part of Southern California. The trees and dates are a multi-million dollar industry.

American investigators have concluded that the source of the Laguna Beach weevils was the international trade in live palms, even though importation of palms into the United States is prohibited. Same as in the Algarve.

Prevention and cure efforts here clearly amounted to far too little, far too late. It is unlikely that any American war effort could now be helpful to us.

The red palm weevil, known to the Portuguese as Gorgulho Vermelho and scientifically as Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, originated in south-east Asia. Its destructive powers greatly worried coconut palm growers in India more than a century ago.

The weevil's spread northwards and westwards hugely accelerated in the 1980s. It did not “work its way” across Asia or “find its way” into Africa as some reports would have us believe. It was irresponsibly transported by humans. Put simply, traders in pursuit of big profits imported trees to unaffected areas from well-known contaminated zones.

By 1985 the weevil had occupied Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. By 1990 it had reached Iran. Two years later, infected palm offshoots were exported from the United Arab Emirates to Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.

The first weevils to cross the Mediterranean were carried in palms shipped from Egypt to the Costa del Sol in 1994. It was madness. The devastating nature of the pest was well known in Egypt, yet Spain had no importation restrictions in place at the time.

Two years went by before the Spanish government got around to imposing restrictions. Four years later the law was toned down. By then a lucrative trade in palms was flourishing across open EU borders.

The weevil had already spread from Andalusia to other areas of Spain, including Murcia, Valencia, Cataluña, the Balearic Islands and even the Canaries. It continued its European odyssey and turned up in force in Greece, Cyprus, Malta, France and Italy.

The EU Commission issued a belated directive banning importation from non-EU countries and demanding that all palms should travel with a phytosanitary certificate.

The high risk of the weevil entering the Algarve and the strict preventative measures needed to stop that happening should have been obvious to the Portuguese Government, the regional agriculture directorate and to local palm importers. Yet in 2007, infected trees were brought in from both Egypt and Spain without quarantine or any other impediment whatsoever.

The weevils quickly established themselves here. Municipal authorities, apparently oblivious to the problem, ignored infested trees right in the centre of towns and villages. Gormlessly, vulnerable new palms were actually added to roadsides and roundabouts.

The landscape right across the Algarve is now littered with dead and dying palms. Local battles are going on to save individual trees by setting traps, injecting and spraying, but the weevils are winning the war.

Containment efforts are expensive and ultimately pointless. Eradication is impossible until the last of the weevil's favourite palms has collapsed.

These trees were never in the Algarve in the first place. Why don't we stick to fostering indigenous plants that clearly enjoy it here?

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Wild weather, bailout blues and pine crime

The wild winter weather is not confined to the northern half of Europe. Snow drifts are blocking many roads and isolated villages in Portugal. About 40,000 people were left without electricity yesterday because of thunderstorms, high winds and torrential rain. Civil protection workers were out dealing with landslides, fallen trees and flooded houses in the centre and north of the country. Lisbon and the Alentejo were also hit. Warnings have been issued about rough seas along the Algarve's southern and western coasts. Appalling weather conditions wreaked havoc at the weekend in Madeira and the Azores.

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The Guardian newspaper has reported that it is now virtually taken for granted in Brussels that Portugal will need a bailout. The paper said it has been told by two EU ambassadors that Portugal would need to be rescued “very soon,” despite repeated public statements to the contrary. "Portugal will need to be saved. The big issue is Spain," said another senior diplomat. The Reuters news agency is reporting this morning that euro zone finance ministers meeting today will be under pressure to increase the size of a 750 billion euro safety net for countries such as Portugal and Spain in order to halt contagion.

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Police have arrested more than 35 people and seized more than 50 tonnes of stolen pine cones in a month-long operation in the district of Santarém. Police say that pine cone thieves are usually agile, unemployed and with previous convictions for theft. Much of the thieving goes on up high in the trees in the dead of night. Legitimate pine nut collection and sales is a multi-million euro business in Portugal. Producers reckon that 15% to 20% of their crop is stolen each year.

INSIDE PORTUGAL

Call for new 'assassination' inquiry

Parliamentarians are demanding yet another inquiry into Portugal's most intriguing and enduring political mystery, the death of former Prime Minister Francisco de Sá Carneiro and his defence minister, Adelino Amaro da Costa.

Thirty years ago, on 4 December 1980, a light plane carrying the two politicians crashed soon after take-off from Lisbon Airport. They were on their way to a presidential election rally in Oporto.

Conspiracy theories about the cause of the crash persist despite no fewer than eight previous commissions of inquiry. Accidental death was the original official explanation. The crash was blamed on technical failure and pilot error, but many Portuguese remain convinced the plane was deliberately blown up.

Sá Carneiro was a founder of the Popular Democratic Party, which later became the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He had been prime minister for only 11 months when he boarded the aircraft, a Cessna 421, on that fateful night.

Eye-witnesses said they saw pieces falling from the plane moments after it took off. The strongest conspiracy theory suggests that Sá Carneiro and da Costa were the victims of an assassination plot connected to an arms-for-hostages deal and a rigged US presidential election.

The crash occurred the year after the revolution in Iran that brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power. Fifty-two Americans were taken hostage when youthful Islamists stormed the US Embassy in Tehran in November 1979. The hostages were held for 444 days from 4 November 1979 to 20 January 1981. Following the spectacular failure of a US military rescue operation with eight US servicemen and one Iranian civilian’s dead, President Jimmy Carter resorted to diplomatic efforts.

Conspiracy theorists believe da Costa had information that senior Portuguese army officers were secretly passing arms to Iran as part of a plot by US Republicans to damage Carter's re-election campaign during this time.

Ronald Reagan and his vice-presidential candidate, George Bush Sr, were said to have struck a deal with the Iranian leadership to have the release of the hostages delayed until after the election in order to give them an electoral advantage.

It is thought that da Costa was targeted because he had uncovered evidence of a secret Portuguese army slush fund to be used for arms deals. He was allegedly killed to conceal evidence of the illegal arms movement through Portugal, which he was determined to stop.

Experts on IRA and ETA bombs have been among those suggesting a high-level campaign to conceal the truth.

After 30 years and eight commissions of inquiry, Portuguese parliamentarians of all parties are now being urged to demand a fresh inquiry in the hope that the truth will finally be revealed.

INSIDE ALGARVE

High hopes of royal honeymoon here

We wait with bated breath to learn from Buckingham Palace if Prince William and his finance Kate Middleton accept an invitation to spend their honeymoon in the Algarve.

The invitation has been sent by the Algarve Tourist Board via the British Embassy in Lisbon. It was personally conveyed by the president of the Tourist Board, Nuno Aires, to the retiring British Ambassador, Alex Ellis, at a dinner in the Algarve last week.

Neither the Foreign & Commonwealth Office nor Buckingham Palace will comment or say how many other such invitations have been received from around the world.

Several resorts and hotels in the Algarve have reportedly offered accommodation and facilities to the royal couple. No doubt they, along with the Tourist Board, are sincere in wishing William and Kate well and would do their very best to ensure an enjoyable time.

But a royal honeymoon in the Algarve is just wishful thinking.

The wedding is in Westminster Abbey on 29^th April. Okay, so the weather at the end of April and in early May in the Algarve is likely to be very pleasant. The countryside will be looking its best with windflowers abounding. Peace would normally reign in the post-Easter lull.

The arrival of the royal couple, however, would be accompanied by a veritable invasion of reporters and photographers, idolising fans and silly gawkers, not to mention perhaps a terrorist of two with paradise in mind.

Ensuring the couple's safety and seclusion would be a major problem, though not an insurmountable one bearing in mind the excellent job done recently by the security services during the NATO conference in Lisbon. Euro 2004 was another good example of how well the Portuguese police, working in conjunction with British security experts, can handle potentially boisterous hordes.

Obviously the hope in tourist circles here is that the royal honeymoon would boost the Algarve's image as a holiday destination. It's not a bad idea. A leading light in the local tourist industry called it “a good marketing iniative”.

But, frankly, it's a desperate one - and it isn't going to work.

For starters, it is highly unlikely that the second-in-line to the British throne and his gorgeous new wife would want to be so blatantly used for PR purposes. Secondly, lovely as the Algarve is, as a honeymoon destination for the likes of Prince William and Kate it is a bit tame. They might prefer somewhere a bit more exotic, well away from prying eyes, among wild animals other than Homo sapiens.

The Algarve is not virgin territory for the royal household. Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, came with her children and stayed in a private house near Lagos some years ago, but cut short her stay complaining of press intrusion.

Prince William knows the area a little bit having visited with a bunch of his chums on a stag week in 2005. His stay near Carrapateira on the West Coast was kept very hush-hush, but there is no way he could repeat that.

The invitation from the Tourist Board is a desperate one because, frankly, the regional tourist industry is in distress, if not a mess.

Astute insiders say the trouble is that we have not been able to keep up with the times. We're out-of-date. A great many tourists have moved on from the package holiday arrangements that served us so well in the '90s and up until the early years of the new millennium. As air travel became cheaper, people started venturing forth to new, emerging destinations.

The turnover in resorts and hotels in the Algarve was way down in 2008. The year 2009 turned out to be the worst in 15 years. It got worse still in 2010 and the expectation is that it will be worse again next year.

Let's not knock the Algarve Tourist Board and others in the struggling tourist sector for trying, but they will have to come up with a better initiative than asking William and Kate to drop by next spring.

PORTUGAL TODAY

Dream over, back to reality

More than anything, the football World Cup is about money. Portugal stood to earn loads of it had its joint bid with Spain succeeded in Zurich yesterday. Billions of euros were up for grabs. It was reckoned that the revenues for Iberia would have been six and a half times greater than the expenditure needed to host the event.

As it turns out, Iberia's bid was but a dream. With hopes for 2018 dashed, it's back to worrying about the economy today. And that hoary old question persists: will Portugal need a bailout or not?

Prime Minister José Sócrates still insists not. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” he said after the announcement in Zurich. He was more upbeat on a possible bailout and the humiliation of having Portuguese financial affairs dictated by Brussels. The 2011 austerity budget with its tax rises and public sector pay cuts will do the trick, he believes.

German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle says he doesn't think either Portugal or Spain will need a euro zone rescue plan. However, this runs counter to what many economists have been saying for weeks now, namely that it's not a question of if, but when.

"I hope the IMF does not turn to Portugal but I don't see this as an extraordinary problem," said Fernando Ulrich, chief executive of Banco BPI. "It is Germany that will decide if it comes, not the Portuguese government.”

If Portugal is deemed to need a bailout, many analysts believe Spain will inevitably be next. That would require a far mightier rescue effort.

The current economic plight of Portugal and Spain will be high on the agenda at the Iberian-American summit meeting in Argentina today and tomorrow. No doubt the Brazilian and other Latin American leaders will commiserate with those from Portugal and Spain over the failure in Zurich yesterday. This could be a good opportunity for the former colonial masters to pass around the hat.

PORTUGAL TODAY

2018 World Cup countdown

Ah well, you can't win 'em all. Someone had to lose. Dismay is sweeping through the Iberian peninsula with the announcement that Russia has clinched the right to host the 2018 football World Cup.

The decision by the executive committee of FIFA in a secret ballot in Zurich this afternoon will come as a big disappointment too in England, Holland and Belgium.

The Portugal/Spain bid was well-thought out and highly professional but it apparently lacked the appeal that Russia brought to bear.

Spain, of course, was the senior partner in the Iberian bid, but Portugal's experience in hosting Euro 2004 would have brought added expertise to the mega-event in 2018.

Together the two nations were able to highlight the fact that they have a vast amount of necessary infrastructure already in place, plus great experience in handing large numbers of visitors. “We could organise a World Cup next month if necessary,” Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in Zurich this morning.

It wasn't enough. Russia are the victors.

The FIFA executives had plenty of time prior to this week to study the rival bids, but here's how the day of decision unfolded.....

The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing arn't a patch on this. Portugal and Spain have put in a joint bid to hold the football World Cup in 2018, but they are up against formidable opposition: Russia, England and Holland/Belgium. A 22-member panel of FIFA executives will make their decision in Zurich this afternoon. Everyone says it's too close to call. Yesterday, Russia seemed to be the favourites. Portugal/Spain are said to be "quietly confident". England have a strong bid too. As David Beckham has so aptly put it, the winning goal is sometimes scored in the final minutes of a game. This morning, each of the contenders, startring with Holland and Belgium, makes a final 30-minute presentation.

9.0am - Portugal and Spain prepare to start their final presentation. One of their strongest points is that in times of austerity they have much of the necessary infrastructure already in place. For example, between them they have 21 top stadiums.

9.40am -  Portugal/Spain conclude their strong final presentation. If they or any of the other contenders do not get sufficient initial votes, it may go to a second round of voting.

10.05am - England presentation starts. The big guns in the England delegation include David Cameron, Prince William, David Beckham and Sir Bobby Charlton. It is thought unlikely that England or any of the other contenders will get the magic figure of 12 votes in the first ballot. If not the lowest scorer will be out and it will go to a second round.

10. 38am - England's 30-minute presentation, kicked off by Prince William, was very slick indeed. David Cameron and David Beckham were outstanding. You have to say, too, that much of the presentation was delivered with the sort of emotion and passion one normally associates with Latins.

11.0am – Russia's bid started slowly but has steadily gained momentum over the past two years. Despite Prime Minister Putin's decision not to show up in Zurich, many regard Russia as the most likely winners today. Their final presentation is about to start.

11.45am - The four presentations are now over. The Netherlands and Belgium were first off this morning but their assertion that “small is beautiful” is unlikely to sway the 22-member FIFA panel. It was a lively and entertaining presentation compared with that from Portugal and Spain. Led by President José Luis Rodrigues Zapatero, the Iberian presentation noted that the peninsula has 50 modern airports, is used to annually handling 70 million visitors and can boast 300 days of sunshine a year. England's was a much brighter and more polished performance, full of glitzy characters. Russia put on a competent show and tried to woo the judges by emphasising that Russia is entering a new era of openness to the world. Many would say that England won this final phase of the competition, but Russia and Portugal/Spain are certainly not out of it.

The nation to be given the opportunity of hosting the 2018 World Cup will be named at about 3.0pm.

PORTUGAL TODAY

Lisbon dispatches released by Wikileaks

The huge batch of documents released by Wikileaks at the weekend is said to contain 722 dispatches sent from the United States Embassy in Lisbon. Some are marked “Secret”. Tantalisingly, we don't know yet what is in them.

Many people would rather we were not be told, but it seems likely that we will be, especially if the contents of the documents are controversial or embarrassing in any way.

First reports suggest that many of the 722 cables focus on global terrorism, military operations and the economy. The first of the communications was sent on 24 May 2006 and the last on 25 February this year.

The US Embassy in Lisbon yesterday condemned Wikileaks. In line with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's castigation in a TV broadcast, the Embassy called the Wikileaks action an irresponsible attempt to destroy global security, adding that it could endanger lives.

Following yesterday's revelations about Arab countries wanting the US to bomb Iran, comes news this morning that China would be willing to accept Korean reunification.

There is more, much more to come.

PORTUGAL TOMORROW

Old Iberian foes stand united

Government offices, banks and many businesses will be closed tomorrow. It's not another general strike. It's a day of celebration rather than protest. It's Portugal's Independence Day and this year there is an interesting twist to it.

What is being celebrated is not the country's original independence back in 1145. That's what October 5th is all about. December 1st marks the anniversary of the restoration of independence from Spain following 60 years of Spanish domination between 1580 and 1640.

During that period of annexation, Spain dragged Portugal into wars against the English, the French and the Dutch. The 'invincible' Spanish Armada set sail in 1588 not from Spain, but Lisbon. To help pay for this and other foreign exploits, the Spanish heavily taxed the Portuguese people.

Right royally fed up of rule from Madrid by Philip IV, a band of conspirators stormed the Governor's palace in Lisbon in 1640 and by popular acclaim installed the Duke of Bragança as João IV of Portugal.

The relationship between the Iberian neighbours remained rather frosty right up until they became members of the European Union. Today they are united like never before. The two nations put in a joint bid to host the 2018 football World Cup.

They are competing against England, Russia and a joint Netherlands/Belgium bid. Portuguese and Spanish officials are said to be 'moderately confident” of winning. The executive of football's world ruling body, FIFA, will vote on it in Zurich on Thursday.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Wealth, wasted wisdom and counterfeit cash

The tycoon Stanley Ho of former Portuguese Macau paid $330,000 at the weekend for two Italian truffles.

The billionaire bought the truffles at an auction held simultaneously in Macau, Rome and London. They weighed 900 grams and 400 grams.

'The Gambling King' as he is know, held the monopoly on casinos in Macau for 40 years. He has investments in Portugal, including the Algarve, and has a road named after him in Estoril.

White truffles are the rarest and most expensive type. The 900 gram (two pound) fungus was found in Italy's central Tuscany region. The smaller one was from Molise.

The bidding was relayed via satellite link from the restaurants Don Alfonso 1890 in Macau, La Pergola in Rome and Franco's in Jeremy Street, London.

A total of 16 lots fetched altogether $373 000.“It was fun,” said Piers Boothman, associate director of Christie's International.

Proceeds will go to charity.

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Portugal has never had so many university graduates - but it has never been so difficult for young people to find jobs. For many there is a stark choice: unemployment or emigration.

 

Some commentators are suggesting that the country is on track to lose an entire generation.

The academic qualifications of Portugal's workforce generally are considered to be low. So the number of graduates applying for jobs should be good news. And yet one in ten graduates is said to be leaving the country.

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More than ever we need to question if the cash in our pockets or under the mattress is for real. A report just out says that so far this year nearly €24 million in counterfeit notes have been detected in the eurozone.

In Portugal, the number of fake €50s this year has reached a record level. Reassuringly, however, the Bank of Portugal says the chance of receiving a counterfeit note in this country is “probably very low.” However, it advises us if in doubt “to check and compare.”

Of the half a million counterfeit notes detected in the EU between January and August, more than 215,000 were €50s. The next commonest were €20s.

INSIDE ALGARVE

Controversial retail giant signs deal

At a time of dismal economic predictions, business closures and job losses, comes news of a huge new commercial venture in the region.

A year after Ikea announced its hopes of opening a store in Loulé, the Swedish chain is to to sign a co-operation agreement with Loulé câmara next Thursday.

Ikea is the world's largest furniture retailer. It specialises in designing and selling ready-to-assemble furniture, home accessories and appliances.

In addition to a massive Ikea store, the new Loulé project is expected to incorporate a retail park and shopping mall. Hopefully by the time it all comes to fruition, Portugal will be well on the road to all-round prosperity.

The Loulé deal comes as a brand new book, The Truth about Ikea, is causing considerable controversy. The author, Johan Stenebo, is a former executive who worked his way up from trainee to managing director of an Ikea subsidiary, GreenTech.

In a review on Friday The Guardian called the book “explosive.” Stenebo claims that far from offering British shoppers a bargain, at the height of its power in the 1990s Ikea betrayed its golden rule – that prices should be 10% lower than those of its rivals – and ruthlessly overcharged British shoppers to boost profits.

As Businessweek put it, “The Swedish furniture giant has long been viewed as a model company. But an unprecedented insider account by a former exec paints a much darker picture.”

According to Stenebo, “few retailers are as smart at extracting money from customers' pockets.”

PORTUGAL TODAY

Mediterranean diet dumped

It would appear that most young people in this country have lost their appetite for the Mediterranean diet that is supposed to be so good for them.

More than 50 percent of the population aged between 10 and 18 are overweight and nearly nine percent are actually obese. These are the findings of a national study to be presented at a congress on obesity in Portugal today.

The study, by a team from the universities of Oporto and the Minho, says that obesity is most prevalent among the young and especially among boys. It is the impact this could have on health in later life, on mortality rates and the economy, that is concerning specialists.

The researchers who carried out the study believe the blame for 95% of childhood obesity can be attributed to nutritional and lifestyle problems. Only 5% of cases are genetic in character. Today's conference will discuss what more can be done to contain the problem.

The overweight trend is not confined to Portugal, of course. It is rampant in the other Mediterranean diet countries of southern Europe. Indeed, people are getting fatter almost everywhere. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. The World Health Organisation predicts there will be 2.3 billion overweight adults in the world by 2015 and more than 700 million of them will be obese.

This is mainly due to increased consumption of more energy dense, poor nutrient foods with high levels of sugar and saturated fats, combined with less physical activity. The upshot here and elsewhere is expected to be an exponential rise in heart problems, type II diabetes and other diseases, including some cancers.

Much of this could be curtailed by more exercise and a return to the Mediterranean diet. So bring on the fish, vegetables, fruit and whole grains, along with a generous splash of virgin olive oil and, for those who are old enough, a glass or two of red wine.

PORTUGAL TODAY

Here's to a happy and austere New Year

Another miserable week of tedious but crucial European economic manoeuvrings ended yesterday with Portugal's parliament approving its austerity budget for next year.

The budget contains a raft of tough measures aimed at sorting out the country's high debt and low growth problems. The hope is that they will restore market confidence and avoid the indignity of a bailout similar to those thrust upon Greece and Ireland.

It remains to be seen if the austerity measures quell alarm among investors and dampen speculation that Portugal is next in line to fall to 'contagion', the much-hyped European economic domino scenario.

The austerity measures officially approved yesterday are going to be felt by all in this country. Prime Minister José Sócrates admitted after yesterday's parliamentary vote that Portugal had "no alternative at all" but to accept them.

FT Deutschland said a majority of euro-zone states and the European Central Bank were leaning on Portugal to follow the example of Ireland and Greece in seeking a rescue plan from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Reuters yesterday reported a Portuguese government spokesman as saying: "This news article is completely false".

José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president and former Portuguese prime minister, was adamant that an aid plan for Portugal had neither been requested nor suggested.

"I can tell you that it's absolutely false, completely false," he told reporters in Paris.

PORTUGAL TODAY
Parliament to vote on austerity measures

Big day in Lisbon following Wednesday's shut-down. Parliament will vote on the Socialist government's plan to introduce highly unpopular austerity measures, including pay cuts for civil servants, lower welfare benefits and an increase in value-added tax to 23 percent.

If passed as expected, the measures will be introduced on 1^st January.

The vote comes the day after a lengthy European Commission report on the labour market shows that by working longer hours for the same money workers in Portugal have helped the country weather the current financial crisis better than some other member states.

Although unemployment stands at nearly 11 percent, the average hours worked per person has increased and this has boosted productivity.
The government hopes the austerity measures starting on 1^st January will help solve the country's debt crisis and quell speculation that Portugal will be next, after Ireland and Greece, to request an international bailout.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates insists that the economic situation in Portugal is very different to that in Greece and Ireland and that this country does not need a lifeline from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Yesterday, investors kept up pressure on Portugal amid fears that we could be the next victim of the current 'contagion' crisis. If Portugal succumbs, Spain is likely to be next. The focus may then shift to Italy.


ALGARVE HOTWIRE
The Russians may be coming

News that Britain's second biggest tour operator, Thomas Cook, has bought a controlling interest in the huge Russian travel company, Intourist, brings a ray of hope for an improvement in the number of visitors coming to the Algarve next year.

The deal is expected to enable Thomas Cook to meet the growing demand in Russia for holidays in the sun. Egypt and Turkey are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries, but the Algarve may pick up a significant amount of business.

More than six million Russians went on overseas packaged holidays last year. The market is expected to grow by a double-digit percentage in the coming years, according to a statement from Thomas Cook.

This is refreshing news in the wake of Thomas Cook's cancellation of package holidays to the Algarve this winter. They will not resume until April.

Alex Ellis, Britain's 'digital diplomat'

Alex Ellis, who is soon to move on from his post as British ambassador in Portugal, is not your average fuddy-duddy diplomat.

A BBC correspondent described Ellis as “our bicycling, open-shirted and youthful man in Lisbon.”

After three years as “an unfeasibly young” envoy, Mr Ellis is to return to London to take up the post of Director for Strategy within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

What makes him different from all of his predecessors is not only that he's a youthful cyclist; he's also a blogger. He has had a blog running in Expresso online since 2008. This was in response to an Expresso invitation. Unlike many people in high positions, he writes his own blogs – and he does so in Portuguese.

What he likes about blogging for Expresso is that it allows his messages to reach a much wider audience across Portugal than they would through the British Embassy website. (To view his blog, go to http://aeiou.expresso.pt/um-bife-mal-passado=s24971.

"I blog to change the brand,” he explained, "to reach a new audience, to learn myself, and to make people laugh."

At a conference in the UK earlier this year he revealed that his mother had asked him what exactly he did as ambassador. He told her: “If you go to jail we visit you – once!”

He was jesting of course but this reply inadvertently highlighted a bone of contention in some circles in the Algarve. Modernisation within the FCO during Ambassador Ellis' tenure in Lisbon has meant less personal attention to British nationals abroad who get into trouble with the law, and more focus on such things as efficiency and cost-cutting.

Ambassador Ellis, however, showed considerable concern for those caught up in the flooding and mud slides in Madeira in February this year. He flew to the island with a consular rapid reaction team to provide support to affected Britons.

He started his Foreign Office career with the UK team supporting the transition to multi-party democracy in South Africa following the release of Nelson Mandela. He was in Brussels while negotiations were going on to establish the euro. In Madrid he worked on EU and economic issues and then in London on the 2004 EU enlargement. Between 2005 and 2007 he was an adviser to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, on energy, climate change, competition, development, trade and strategy.

Having served as a junior member of the political team in the Lisbon Embassy in Lisbon between 1992 and 1996, he was an old Portugal hand when he arrived here as ambassador in 2007. And now another chapter in his rapid career rise is ending.

Last night, on probably his last visit to the Algarve, he was guest of honour at a British-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce dinner. Today he will attend a consular lunch to mark the recent appointments of Clive Jewell as British Consul to the Algarve and Miguel Sengo da Costa as British Honorary Consul in the Faro area.

When Alex Ellis relinquishes his post at the end of December. Joanna Kuenssberg O'Sullivan, counsellor and deputy chief of mission at the embassy, will hold the fort until a new ambassador arrives.

FOCUS
Deepening anxiety in the Algarve

Today's nationwide general strike is unlikely to do anything to dispel deeping public anxiety about unemployment, job insecurity, pay cuts and rising prices in the Algarve.

The prevailing mood among workers seems to be despondency rather than outright anger, a feeling of fatalistic pessimism rather than demonstrative outrage.

The mood had set in long before the Government announced its 2011 budget, which includes cuts in civil servants' pay along with a hike in value-added tax from 21 percent to 23 percent. These austerity measures are only part of the story.

Although the Government is taking the brunt of today's nationwide expression of dissatisfaction, it is only partly to blame. External factors have been at work.

From time immemorial, fishing and farming were the twin pillars of the Algarve's economy. Tourism and property development started taking over in the 1960s but were interrupted by the 1974 revolution.

Once democracy had become firmly established, tourism and property development greatly expanded. Boosted by Portugal's entry into the EEC in 1986, they quickly eclipsed the traditional sources of income and employment.

During the first six years of the new millennium the Algarve had never had it so good. Then came the crunch. The warning signs emerged in 2007. The storm broke in 2008. It worsened in 2009. The crisis has rocked us this year and will almost certainly continue throughout 2011.

Tourism has taken a bashing because of conditions in our main market, the UK. Suffering austerities of their own at home, British holidaymakers were insisting more than ever on value for money. The exchange rates put a lot of visitors off. The pound and the euro now have almost the same value. The competition from inexpensive destinations in eastern Europe is fierce. In some ways – golf for example – the Algarve is in danger of out-pricing itself. Fortnights of fun in the Algarve sun at little cost are a thing of the past.

For the first time in decades, major tour operators have discontinued winter flights, thus adding to the already alarming number of job losses and business closures in the tourism sector.

The slump in the property market is even worse. Construction companies, suppliers of building materials, estate agents, decorators, furniture firms, landscape gardeners and everyone else involved are having a very hard time in a once booming sector that is now virtually moribund.

The knock-on effects are being felt in all other sections of the community. Wth so many people out of work, worried about being forced out of work, or having no option but to accept lower incomes in the face of ever-increasing prices for everyday needs, it is no wonder there is anxiety out there.

Interestingly, a recent poll in the United States showed that the things disturbing Americans the most are the economy, the government and unemployment. A similar poll in Portugal might come to the same conclusion.

Today's general strike is focusing on the Government's new austerity measures. It will be an opportunity to let off steam, but what lasting good will it do? Is the strike in the country's best interests?

It is unclear if the motives of today's action are directed by objective reason, fairness, balance and public-spiritedness, or whether they are essentially selfish.
Are we talking about abuses of power, either by the big unions on the one hand, or by the big bosses and the state on the other?

Are the protestors dutifully obeying union demands, displaying admirable togetherness in adversity, or acting out of fear of losing their livlihoods upon which the well-being of their families depend? Perhaps all three.

The right to strike is firmly respected in Portugal and this was reiterated the other day by Prime Minister Jósé Sócrates whose Government is now in the firing line.

The most unpopular man in the country today is Finance Minister Teixeira dos Santos. He has been dismissive of today's strike. “Trade unions have called it, they have a right to do so, but that won’t change the government’s mind about what needs to be done,” he said during a recent press conference.

“The country’s financing capacity is at stake” and that fiscal consolidation will be “harsh and demanding” but it needs to be done, otherwise “the nation’s situation will be much worse than people imagine,” said the finance minister.

Of course the whole thing comes down to money. The strike itself is going to cost the country many millions of euros in lost productivity. It remains to be seen whether it will be worth it.

PORTUGAL TODAY

Shutdown expected in nationwide protest

The two biggest unions promoting tomorrow's general strike predict it will be massive.

The protest by public and private sector workers has been sparked by an unemployment rate of about 11%, increased taxation, cuts in social benefits and increased job insecurity.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled. Public transport, schools, hospitals, government officees and local authority services are all expected to be affected.

The police are not allowed to strike but are said to be sympathetic to the walkout.

“Crazies” moving in on the debt crisis

It's much stuffier, but the Great Debt Crisis is a bit like Strictly Come Dancing, with all eyes on who's most likely to go down next.

“This country does not need any help,” declared Prime Minister José Sócrates yesterday. He was referring of course to speculation about a financial bailout in the wake of Ireland's acceptance of emergency funding from the EU and the IMF.

“What the country needs is to do what is necessary, to approve the budget, and to continue in its efforts." In other words, keep dancing.

Sócrates hoped Ireland's U-turn in asking for international help would end the uncertainty and contagion in financial markets.

"I think what was happening recently, was that Portugal was being hit by the lack of confidence over Ireland," Sócrates said. "I hope that the Irish government's decision will end this uncertainty and restore confidence to markets. There is no reason to have a lack of confidence over Portugal."

The Daily Telegraph quoted Claude Juncker, Luxembourg’s prime minister and chairman of the eurozone finance ministers’ group, as saying that “crazy” financial markets could now turn on Portugal and Spain.

Writing in the same paper, Ambrose Evans-Prichard noted that according to the OECD, Portugal will have a current account deficit of 10.3pc of GDP this year, 8.8pc in 2011, and 8.0pc in 2012. “That is to say, Portugal will be unable to pay its way in the world by a huge margin even after draconian austerity. This is the worst profile in Europe.”

Reuters news agency reported yesterday that Portugal had only a few months to pursuade markets it can avoid becoming the next domino to fall by folowing Ireland in seeking a bailout. "Its growth and fiscal outlook suggests it faces an uphill battle," said Reuters.

Le Monde thinks it is inevitable that Portugal will have to ask for outside help as has happened with Greece and Ireland.

INSIDE ALGARVE

Watch out for wobbly Wednesday

The nationwide general strike planned for Wednesday in protest against the Government's austerity measures is expected to cause a fair amount of chaos across the country. Among other things, Faro airport is likely to be brought to a standstill.

The strike has been called by the country's leading trade unions and could bring out tens if not hundreds of thousands of disgruntled employees.

A Faro airport spokesperson told me she would be unable to comment until tomorrow. Others seem to have a pretty good idea of what we can expect: total paralysis.

The announced intention of air traffic controllers to join the strike has forced the cancellation of many if not all of Wednesday's flights in and out of Faro.

Ryanair have cancelled 14 flights between Faro and Gatwick, Stansted, Liverpool, Dublin, Cork, Glasgow Prestwick, Frankfurt Hahn and Oporto.

Easyjet say they anticipate “some significant disruption” on flights to and from Portugal. “While the circumstances are outside of our control and are affecting all airlines, we do apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused and reassure you that we are doing everything possible to minimise the disruption,” say Easyjet.

If you booked through easyJet.com you will be able to rebook your flight free of charge. Normally this online service only takes a few minutes, but at very busy times it can take up to three hours.

Lisbon and Oporto are sure to be be affected too. Portugal's national airline, TAP, have advised passengers with reservations on any of their flights on Wednesday to re-book. British Airways of couse are all too familiar with cancelled flights.

The strike is likely to be felt right across the whole spectrum of public services.

What are the ethics of all this disruption and what is it likely to achieve? Your comments are welcome.

PORTUGAL TODAY

From Afghanistan to value-added tax

Portugal can today afford to pause for a moment of self-satisfaction having successfully hosted such a mighty gathering of world leaders and their momentous agreements on war and peace. Next week is going to be rather less glitzy and agreeable.

The NATO summit ended with all-round accord on an exit strategy in Afghanistan. NATO combat operations are to cease and the vast majority of the 138,000 international troops will have left Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

The other good news is that Russia has agreed in writing that it and the NATO nations pose no threat to each other. The old Cold War enemy has promised to co-operate on defence matters, particularly on the setting up of a ballistic missile shield.

Tomorrow is another day, of course, and fears have been expressed that a bailout in Ireland “may unleash market vigilantes on Portugal.” Unfortunately, even NATO could not cope with such an attack. In describing the dilemma on whether to seek an EU rescue plan, The Ecomomist quoted a Lisbon-based economist as saying: “Portugal does not want to ask for help, but it may have to.”

Tuesday will be a good day for us ordinary folk to get out and about and deal with normal daily chores because Wednesday could be problematic. Tens of thousands of public and private sector workers plan to stage a general strike in Lisbon and cities througout the country.

Organised by the biggest trade unions, the strike is in protest against the Government's austerity measures, which are designed to help solve the nation's economic woes. Many people doubt that cutting public sector wages by 5 percent, freezing pensions and raising value-added tax from 21 percent to 23 percent is the right way of going about it.

Key Lisbon summit on debt and defence

It was domestic matters first when President Barack Obama flew into Lisbon for what is proving to be one of the most crucial NATO summits in the alliance's entire 61-year history.

Obama's first private meeting yesterday was with Portugal's president, Anibal Cavaco Silva, who told a press conference afterwards that the level of US investment in this country was "far from what you would expect." Obama was standing right next to Cavaco Silva at the time, but he didn't flinch at the apparent dig.

“We've come to Lisbon again to revitalize the NATO alliance for the 21st century and to strengthen the partnership between the United States and the European Union," was the main thrust of Obama's reply.

His next private meeting was with Prime Minister José Sócrates. Again the focused was on finance. The US president said America would work with Portugal and Europe to address the current crisis.

"Portugal is working through challenges created by some of the financial markets and I think that it's important to note that the prime minister has committed himself to a very, very vigorous package of economic steps," Obama told reporters.

He said Portugal and the United States had common economic problems. Jobs and economic benefits were the "highest priority for both our countries.”

During the main business of the day, the 28 NATO leaders approved a new alliance strategy for the next 10 years. Hopefully that has sorted out such matters as the prospect of ballistic missile attacks from rogue states and the onset of all-out cyber warfare.

And so to dinner consisting of Spinach Crepes, Medallions of Veal with Serra Cheese, and Priscos Abbot Pudding, helped along with Burmester red and white, and perhaps even a little vintage Port or two.

That just leaves discussion today with a keynote address by Afghan President Hamid Karzai on ending NATO's involvement in the war in Afghanistan by the an end of 2014.

Hopefully, clinking glasses of Portugese bubbly all-round at dinner tonight.


ALGARVE HOTWIRE
Strike expected to disrupt flights

The general strike called for next Wednesday to protest against austerity measures is expected to seriously disrupt many services, including activities at Faro and the other international airports in Portugal. Ryanair says the strike will cause flight delays and some cancellations for flights operating to and from Portuguese airports, as well as those that overfly Portugal. The national airline TAP has strongly recommended that passengers who were planning to fly next Wednesday rebook alternative dates.

Obama in Lisbon for crucial NATO meeting

President Barack Obama and other world leaders are gathering in Lisbon today for a 48-hour NATO meeting which has been billed as one of the most important in the history of the alliance.

Top of the agenda for the 28 member states are the war in Afghanistan and plans for a missile defence network in Europe.

Iran yesterday launched a war of words on NATO and tested a new air-defence system of its own. NATO has no future, declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“We regard NATO decision-makers as politically backward, and their decisions are of no significance to us, because they are incapable of playing a role in future developments,” said the Iranian leader. He added: “Experience shows that NATO leaders have had a wrong interpretation of international events and all their decisions are based on false information.”

All is not well within the alliance itself. Germany and France are at odds over nuclear disarmament and the proposed European ballistic missile shield.

On the other hand Russia's more relaxed relationship with the West is evident by the presence in Lisbon of the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev. President Obama is keen to ratify a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia.

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan will address the meeting tomorrow and is expected to say he wants NATO forces out of his country by the end of 2014.


INSIDE ALGARVE


José Mourinho's new goal: the Ryder Cup

The announcement that José Mourinho is to be an ambassador for Portugal's bid to host the Ryder Cup in 2018 will evoke a mixed reaction in the Algarve.

There will be delight that such a respected and well-known personality in the sports world is to throw his weight behind Portugal's Ryder Cup campaign, which already has the full backing of the Portuguese Government.

There will be wry smiles because Mourinho does not play golf. His formidable expertise on how to play football does not extend to how to control little white balls being knocked around the manicured countryside.

Most of all in some quarters will be the painful reminder that the chosen venue for Portugal's Ryder Cup bid is in the Alentejo, not the Algarve.

The plan is to bring the world's number one golf event to Herdade da Comporta,which is near Mourinho's home town of Setúbal. This could be interpreted as a backhander to the Algarve, famous for some of the finest golf courses in Europe, let alone Portugal.

The Algarve has hosted many major international golf tournaments including three World Championships.

There will also be mixed reaction in Spain, which is competing for the 2018 Ryder Cup along with France, Germany and Holland. Mourinho, former boss at Chelsea, is now the coach at Real Madrid.

"I always play to win and I know everyone connected to the 2018 Portuguese Ryder Cup bid is exactly the same," said Mourinho yesterday.

A decision will be announced next spring.

PORTUGAL TODAY

Portugal's revenge over old rivals Spain

Forget the debt crisis engulfing Portugal and the rest of Euope. Forget preparations for the arrival in Lisbon tomorrow of President Obama for bilateral discussions and a meeting of NATO. The number one topic of conversation in the nation today is football and Portugal's 4-0 thrashing of world champions Spain last night.

Victory was all the sweeter for Portugal because they inflicted Spain's biggest defeat in 47 years. Spain had not suffered such humiliation since they were beaten 6-2 by Scotland back in 1963.

The game in Lisbon's Estadio da Luz provided Portugal with an element of revenge because it was Spain who put them out of last year's world cup.

For all the long-standing rivalry between the Iberian neighbours on and off the pitch, one of the aims of last night's friendly was to promote their joint bid to host the World Cup in 2018.

ALGARVE HOTLINE

Highway robbery

Several people have recently reported falling victim to thieves posing as travelling visitors in need of help to find their way.

The modus operandi has variations but it goes something like this. The thieves spot a woman placing her handbag in her car parked outside a supermarket.

A couple approach the woman and distract her before she gets into the car, or entice her out of it, by asking for directions to the A2 motorway, Spain or some other destination.

The couple produce a map and fully engage the woman's attention on details. Thus distracted, the women does not notice another member of the gang nicking her handbag.

By the time the woman gets into her car to drive off, the thieves have disappeared.

One woman recently fell into the trap outside the Aldi supermarket at Armação de Pera. She lost her passport, credit cards, mobile phone and all her remaining holiday cash the day before her flight home to London.

After she had her mobile blocked, the itemised bill from the phone company in England showed that the last six calls made were to Romania, four of them to the same number. She informed the Armação police.

PORTUGAL TODAY

The debt bailout dilemma: is Portugal next?

Analysts seem agreed that Portugal is at risk from the 'contagious' or 'domino' effects of Ireland's continued refusal to even discuss a bailout agreement with the EU.

An EU rescue plan for Ireland and Portugal would end current market tension and avert contagion, some economists have been saying for more than a week now. But Ireland has dug its heels in.

Suffering from chronically low growth and a high deficit, Portugal is regarded as Europe's third most vulnerable economy after Greece and Ireland.

Coming austerity measures contained in the 2011 budget include a 5% cut in civil servants' wages and a rise in value-added tax from 21% to 23%. But the tough new austerity meaures may push Portugal back into recession next year.

Many economists say that the Government's prediction of 0.2% growth in 2011 is overly optimistic. This leads to another question: if the Government can't get the economy growing, how is it going to tackle its debt, which is currently running at 82% of gross domestic product?

ALGARVE GRAPEVINE

William whooping it up on the west coast

Prince William's engagement to his long-time girlfriend raises the spectre of
a royal stag party in the Algarve next year.

The second-in-line to the British throne last visited these shores in 2005. He quietly slipped in incognito and without his girlfriend to whoop it up prior to the marriage of one of his chums.

The all-male group stayed in a nicely tucked-away B&B in the countryside next to the west coast. They spent much time surfing on a popular beach. Even a night out in the bars of Lagos went almost unnoticed.

Will he choose the same venue for his own stag party? A repeat laid-back visit prior to what is already being heralded as the wedding of the century? No way, unless the Portuguese Government is willing to mount the kind of massive security operation that will be in place when President Obama and the rest of the NATO leaders meet in Lisbon this weekend.

PORTUGAL TODAY:

Portugal caught up in 'contagious' debt crisis

Speculation is rife that Portugal will be forced to follow Ireland into seeking a rescue plan from the EU because of the spreading international debt crisis.

Portugal's Finance Minister,Teixeira dos Santos said that the situations in Ireland and Portugal were quite different. He was quoted in the Diário de Notícias as saying that Portugal had not approached Brussels, either formally or informally, to discuss special asistance.

According to the Daily Telegraph EU authorities have begun to vent fury against Ireland over its refusal to accept a financial rescue, fearing that the contagious crisis will engulf Portugal and Spain unless confidence is restored immediately to eurozone bond markets.

Portugal has struggled to achieve economic growth under the euro common currency system. It has been disclosed that Greece's economic difficulties are even worse than previously thought. Spain's economy is moribund.

“Stronger countries and weaker countries using the common currency of the euro are being pulled in different directions,” says the New York Times. “Some economists wonder if unity will hold or if some new system that allows countries to move on one of two parallel financial tracts is needed.”

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned: “If the euro fails, then Europe fails.”