Operation Shock in the Algarve

Here is an interesting article from The Portugal News Online. It stated Christmas appeared to have arrived early for the number of Firebrigades (Bombeiros) in Algarve. The report went on to outline how 6AEDs portable defibrillators were delivered on Friday 22 December, to six more Bombeiros Commands. They have titled the project ‘Operation Shock’.

epa05483448 Firefighters try to extinguish a forest fire at S. Pedro do Sul, Viseu district, central Portugal, 14 August 2016. EPA/NUNO ANDRE FERREIRA

 

Afpop which is an organisation of expats presented the equipment to the commanders at a short ceremony at the Portimão Bombeiros station. So far defibrillators have now been supplied to the stations at Aljezur, Lagos, Portimão, Lagoa, Tavira, São Bras and Olhão. Future equipment will be presented to the stations in the order suggested by the Bombeiros Federation.

Portuguese Bomeiros

If you come originally from Ireland or England you take for granted that your fire service is well-equipped that’s not always the case in Portugal. Though staffed by excellent and well-trained individuals their equipment is often substandard. A number of different expat organisations have fundraised over the years resulting in the purchase of much need equipment including ambulances. Having booked a holiday rental in Albufeira or elsewhere please donate if you get the opportunity.

Commander Mário Costa of the Federação dos Bombeiros do Algarve (FBA) said: “We are very grateful to afpop for this initiative and for the support of the foreign residents in the Algarve. Our thanks go to all who have supported the ‘Operation Shock’ campaign, which will help us to be able to save lives across the Algarve.”
The equipment supplied, as identified by the Bombeiros, is the Philips HeartStart FRx Defibrillator with ‘Infant Key’, which enables the machine to also be used on children without causing further damage to their hearts. The equipment is lightweight and can be used quickly by the Bombeiros’ nurses on the scene. The portable defibrillators are provided to equip one red ambulance in each command, which does not come fitted with such equipment as standard.
This fund-raising initiative by Foreign Residents’ Association ‘afpop’, in conjunction with the Federation of Bombeiros of the Algarve, has the aim of providing a mobile defibrillator unit for each of the 17 Bombeiros commands in the Algarve. The target amount is €20,000, which will enable afpop to purchase and supply the equipment to the Bombeiros.
Donations to the ‘Operation Shock’ campaign can be in any amount, but please contact the afpop office to ask for the details of the account. Please visit the website http://www.afpop.com and click on the ‘Operation Shock’ image. All donations are welcome and the equipment will be supplied to each station as soon as there are sufficient funds in the account to purchase the next unit.
Please remember, the next life that could be saved might be yours!
Important information:
The reason for the ‘Operation Shock’campaign is that only the yellow INEM Emergency ambulances are fully equipped with defibrillator equipment as standard.

The red Bombeiros ambulances do not come equipped with them and this is, of course, a problem if they are called to a sick or injured person, who then goes into cardiac arrest either at the scene or on the way to hospital, as manual CPR is not easy to maintain for any length of time and is especially difficult in a moving ambulance.

Tags: holiday rentals,  holiday rentals Albufeira, Lagos,  Alvor,

 

How many Irish Pubs in Alvor

I can recall my first visit to Alvor in Portugal some years ago.   We were doing the rounds of Letting Agents trying to drum up business for our new holiday rental website www.goholidaylets.com.

Alvor is an excellent choice as a holiday rental destination.   Villas in Alvor and apartment in Alvor are of the usual high Portuguese standard.   Have to say I am not a fan of the high rise towers that were allowed to be developed in the Torralta area albeit they were finished to a very high standard.

The one lasting impression I have of Alvor is the number of Irish Pubs that are located there.  The Black Stove and Hickeys Pub come to mind.

A little about the Black Stove Pub in Alvor. It was built in 2004 by Irish owners in the expanding village in the heart of the Algarve, Portugal. It has become a very popular venue with live music, good food, live sports and a great pint

They have multiple TV screens, expect to see all the major sporting events! When the final whistle blows, the night is not over! They actually import Gunniess to Alvor,  directly from Dublin!

They also provide accommodation with Alvor apartments to rent and exclusive villas in Alvor. Within striking distance of all of what the Algarve has to offer in terms of beautiful, challenging golf courses, the superb scenery in the nearby mountains and of course the sandy white beaches on the shores of the Atlantic.  Holiday rentals in Lagos are within easy reach.

Hickeys Pub is nearby it is also an Irish owned and Irish run Pub in Alvor. Pat Hickey is from Kildimo in Co. Limerick with his daughter Jane and her boyfriend David Forde who is from Ballyduff in Co. Kerry.  John Sheridan joined the team last year and is from Swords in Co. Dublin. The was set up Pub in March 2011 They have done very well in a short space of time and have established themselves as a hostelry of note.

There are not just licences premises in flat pack style that arrive in the back of an artic.  They are the genuine article comparable with any pub in Ireland.

Alvor is a holiday destination of choice for many nationalities.  With many quality holiday rentals.

The Irish in particular seemed to be particularly attracted to the place.  A large number have holiday rentals in Alvor and many have villas in Alvor and surrounding areas.  The Irish Pubs here make it a home away from home.

Tags  The Black Stove,  Hickeys Irish Pub,  apartment to rent Alvor, villas in Alvor, holiday rentals, holiday rentals Alvor, villas in Lagos, apartments in Lagos,

Lagos how have you changed.

I have lived in the wonderful city of  Lagos in the Western Algarve for the last 4 years.  We discovered it about 11 years ago and fell in love with the place.  Lagos as a holiday destination is a superb location.  Apartments to rent Lagos are widely searched on the internet as is holiday villas Lagos 

But it is interesting to observe how much the area has changed.   On arrival there maybe I didn’t notice huge changes were taking place.   New Camara office was being built and was the new PSP HQ near the roundabout as you enter Lagos on the N125.  Also new base for Marine Police HQ on the Av dos  Descobrimentos.

All these buildings have been completed for a number of years now and sit well with the local urban landscape.   Recently the bridge at Cafe Rio has opened again after major renovation.     I think problems continue there so watch this space

Nowadays cranes are back on the Lagos skyline huge amount of construction work has commenced on a number of apartment developments.   This mostly been driven by the retirement market.  French, Belgium, Italians all see Lagos as a retirement destination.

In Ireland, you might think that €235 a week is veering towards the miserly end of things, it’s more than enough to cover two months of utilities in a country such as Portugal, for example.

Tags:  Lagos holiday rentals, holiday rental Lagos, Holiday villas Lagos, apartments to rent Lagos,

Algarve News Dated 28th April 2017

Today we have taken a quick look at the Portuguese Resident online.

Headline: McCann source calls on “exclusive information on Madeleine mystery” to be handed over to police, immediately.

Some of the articles will not surprise you.  The tragic disappearance of Madeleine McCann is once again in the news because it is now the 10th adversity since to awful disappearance occurred.   The world media has once again descended on the peaceful holiday rental resort of Praia da Luz.

 

This doesn’t always happen in a way that individual’s rights to privacy are maintained.  It can at times cause a lot of stress.

I am sure if there was a positive result it would be all worthwhile.

As one who has an interest in Praia do Luz apartments and nearby Lagos Villa accommodation, it always strikes me as surreal how life just continuous as normal despite such a tragedy unfolding in this location.   It is a wonderful place to visit and stay.

Headline: Number of refugees fleeing Portugal “doubles in two months”Time’s (about to be) up for illegal holiday rentals’ online free-for-all

This article did surprise me.   I had to read it closely to get an understanding.  It appears that 1255 refugees entered Portugal mostly of Syrian origin.   Over 40% 474 left within a short period.  Some of these have their present location described as “unknown”.   It seems to be a worry for anti-terrorist agency throughout Europe.

But the fact is a lot of the refugees are highly educated and are looking for better opportunities elsewhere.

This contrast with the hundreds of thousands of European visitor that arrive in Portugal each year for the holiday of a lifetime. Staying in luxurious hotels in Vilamoura or wonderful Albufeira villas.

This quickly brings us to the last and final article from The Portuguese Resident

Time’s (about to be) up for illegal holiday rentals’ online free-for-all

It seems after a Portuguese Councils of Ministers meeting a resolution was passed which could change holiday rentals in Lagos and other places in Portugal.

They are insisting that holiday rental sites like www.goholidaylets.com only list properties that are registered with the Fiscal Authorities in Portugal.    The numbers that are registered is about 40,000   and it is guesstimated that there could be 120,000-holiday rental properties not registered.

They have given to July 1st to get your property registered or leave these websites.

Unfortunately, we all know the systems in Portugal and it could be a year before you get a property registered on the Government Offical website.

Watch this space.!!!!!!

Tags:  Albufeira villa

 

Whats happening in Algarve Today

There is no doubt the economic has improved in the Algarve.  In Lagos the beautiful Angelina Jolie recently visited to view a villa in Lagos over looking one of the beaches. In Lagos villas and apartments to rent in Lagos are again being built. Constructions sites have commenced in a number of locations.  This is being driven in some way by new investors from France Belgium and Scandinavia.   Portuguese Government has provided favourable taxations conditions for those people to invest their pensions in Algarve villas.     Its not just Lagos apartments similarly development have commenced with apartments in Albufeira.

Coupled with the fact budget airlines like Ryanair Easyjet and other regularly fly into  Faro

Recently this new tax proposal took a small set back as following pressure from the Finnish government and public opinion in the Scandinavian country, Helsinki has announced a deal which will allow it to come after expat pensioners, who are residing in Portugal, for income tax payments from which they were previously exempt.

The idea behind this exemption was reportedly conceived following pressure from interest groups in Sweden, and following Portugal’s agreement to waive income tax on pensions, the legislation effectively spread to cover all EU member states and any other nations with which Portugal shares tax agreements.
Scandinavian and French nationals have been particularly swift in taking Portugal up on its offer of tax exemption, resulting from the application of Article 81 of the IRS Code.
Figures from the Finance Ministry recently showed that while people taking up the beneficial tax treatment in Portugal failed to exceed a hundred a year in the first four years following its introduction, this number exceeded ten a day in 2015 and continues to rise.

Lisbon Belem Tower

The special regime for pensioners allows an exemption of a foreign occupational pension so long as its beneficiary qualifies for a special tax regime for non-habitual residents.
One of the requirements is that the pensioner be a non-habitual resident for Portuguese income tax purposes, while the second is that the pension is an occupational pension, paid from a foreign source.
Should these requirements be met, the pension will not be taxed in Portugal and depending on the provisions of the applicable tax treaty, it is also usually non-taxable in the source country for the duration of residence in Portugal.
The idea behind this exemption was reportedly conceived following pressure from interest groups in Sweden, and following Portugal’s agreement to waive income tax on pensions, the legislation effectively spread to cover all EU member states and any other nations with which Portugal shares tax agreements.

Fatima visit by Pope Francis to be announced shortly

As you might or might not be aware Fatima in Northern Portugal is a pilgrimage site for thousand Roman Catholics of tourists each year.  But 2017 is a special occasion as its the centenary of the first of the last apparition in Fatima.  Over a 100 years devote and not so devote pilgrims and tourist alike came in their hundred of thousands to witness Fatima.

In the Begining, the Portuguese Govenerment objected to Fatima and at times used force to enforce those objections.  But the local believers persisted and Fatima began developing as a Marian Shrine.   Over the years Fatima has developed into a huge place of religious devotions. Which includes a vast Basilica, hotels, hostels, and apartment accommodation.   Many visitors include a visit to Fatima while on a holiday to Portugal.  Booking online a villa in Albufeira or a Lagos apartment would not be uncommon with Fatima visitors.  More stay in Lisbon apartments to rent and drive or take public transport to the shrine.  There is excellent transport links to Fatima.   The culmination of celebrations this year is a visitor by Pope Francis.

There is a detailed program planned for the visit in May by Pope Francis to the Catholic shrine at Fátima, in Portugal.

Last December “the Vatican officially announced that the Pope Francis was coming to Portugal, responding to the invitation that had been made to him by the Portuguese bishops and by the President of the Republic.” The visit is scheduled for 12 and 13 May.

Although full details are not yet available.
However, Pope Francis does not plan to visit any other parts of Portugal, unlike his two predecessors when they visited the shrine.

He is just come to Fátima, as a pilgrim, to pray with the pilgrims present here and with those who will accompany him through the media.

The pontiff’s visit to the shrine at Cova da Iria in Fátima is to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary to three child shepherds.

There was recently in Fatima a seminar for foreign tour companies those attending the same seminar expressed satisfaction at the way infrastructure and hotel capacity in Fátima had developed, and said they expected strong growth in visitor numbers this year.  Booking of villas in Portugal near Fatima is in full swing.

At the seminar’s closing session Portugal’s secretary of state for tourism, Ana Mendes Godinho, based in Lisbon called on companies in the sector to overcome any lingering “preconceptions” about the religious segment of the market and work together to make Fátima an “anchor” to promote Portugal abroad. She noted that last year Portugal had seen growth in the number of tourists from markets where it had previously made few inroads, such as the US, South Korea, Brazil, and Poland.

Tags: villas in Portugal, Algarve villas, Lisbon Apartments, Lisbon Villas, Lagos apartments

Notes from the Algave

The economy is starting to move slowly in the Algarve.  If you look at the number of beautiful Lagos villas that are being built you ll get a feel for the progress.  A similar project is occurring with Albufeira apartments that will be rented in time.  Surprisingly for the Algarve, the dependence on the British pound has diminished.   The Portuguese took a bold taxation move a few years ago and this has resulted in a number of European pension recipients come to Portugal to live.  A lot are at the high end of the financial scale and more and more luxurious Algarve villas are being built.  Accessibility to the Algarve has played as huge part many airlines including Ryanair and Easyjet fly regularly to Faro

Following pressure from the Finnish government and public opinion in the Scandinavian country, Helsinki has announced a deal which will allow it to come after expat pensioners, who are residing in Portugal, for income tax payments from which they were previously exempt. The idea behind this exemption was reportedly conceived following pressure from interest groups in Sweden, and following Portugal’s agreement to waive income tax on pensions, the legislation effectively spread to cover all EU member states and any other nations with which Portugal shares tax agreements.
Scandinavian and French nationals have been particularly swift in taking Portugal up on its offer of tax exemption, resulting from the application of Article 81 of the IRS Code.
Figures from the Finance Ministry recently showed that while people taking up the beneficial tax treatment in Portugal failed to exceed a hundred a year in the first four years following its introduction, this number exceeded ten a day in 2015 and continues to rise. The special regime for pensioners allows an exemption of a foreign occupational pension so long as its beneficiary qualifies for a special tax regime for non-habitual residents.
One of the requirements is that the pensioner be a non-habitual resident for Portuguese income tax purposes, while the second is that the pension is an occupational pension, paid from a foreign source.
Should these requirements be met, the pension will not be taxed in Portugal and depending on the provisions of the applicable tax treaty, it is also usually non-taxable in the source country for the duration of residence in Portugal.
The idea behind this exemption was reportedly conceived following pressure from interest groups in Sweden, and following Portugal’s agreement to waive income tax on pensions, the legislation effectively spread to cover all EU member states and any other nations with which Portugal shares tax agreements.