The Algarve Situation Report 27 July 2022
by Mike Evans
Good morning and we start this report with the good news that the big fire which started on Monday at 13.23 near Sao Marcos da Serra was finally extinguished after a long battle by up to 600 bombeiros and 204 land vehicles and at times up to 9 air support vehicles. Although there are reports that some houses were damaged it is good to hear that in the main it was brush land that was ignited. However, as a precaution the GNR were asked to evacuate the inhabitants of several villages, namely Monte das Zorras, Alcarias, Novas, Corte Peral, Chaminé, Boião and Casas Velhas. The fire also led to the main road the IC1 and the A2 motorway being closed around the area for a time.
Carob thefts in the region double compared to 2021
The number of seizures of stolen carob in the Algarve has doubled compared to last year, with around eight tonnes of fruit having been seized in the region since January, according to GNR data .
The commercial value of the carob – an arroba (15 kilos) exceeds 40 euros, when four years ago it was 5 euros -, makes it the main target of thefts on agricultural properties in the region, with several seizures having already been recorded, despite the harvest usually taking place until September.
According to data from the GNR’s Faro territorial command , between January 1 and July 21, a total of 16 carob seizures were recorded in the Algarve – double compared to the same period in 2021 -, with five people being arrested and 39 identified. In the same period last year there were no arrests and only six people had been identified.
Also in that period, in 2021, the GNR had registered 20 reports of carob theft, a number that increased this year to 73.However, last year, around this time, the amount of carob seized (12 tonnes) exceeded the amount seized this year (eight).
According to the police, the increase in the number of complaints may be related “to the fact that the fruit ripened earlier, as well as to the existence of a greater awareness of the denunciation of this type of crime, also motivated by the increase in the price of product”.The most recent situation occurred last Friday and Saturday, when the GNR caught two people in the act and identified three others for theft of carob, in Silves, who had in their possession 340 kilos of stolen carob, in sacks.
The frequent thefts of carob, both from orchards and from warehouses, are making producers angry, and a demonstration was called for Friday, the 29th, in Loulé – where the largest extension of this rainfed crop is concentrated -, to demand the enactment of a law against their theft and trafficking.
Producers believe that the legislation proposed by a working group, which also included public entities, would give greater security to the sector, with the regulation of purchase and sale, through the obligation to register with the Institute for Financing of Agriculture and Fisheries (IFAP). The GNR has promised to be “particularly attentive to this criminal phenomenon”, seeking to “dissuade and repress the theft of this fruit”, by intensifying patrols along farms and access routes to establishments selling carob or storekeepers.
The seed of the carob tree is used in various industries, such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics or food – as an additive for puddings, baby food and ice cream stabilisers -, and also for the textile industry.
The carob pulp, which represents 90% of the fruit’s weight, is used for various sweets, such as cookies and cakes, liqueurs, syrup, bread and animal feed.
Plane lands emergency in Faro due to suspected fire on board
An Airbus A320 plane belonging to Easyjet had to make an emergency landing on Monday night at Faro Airport, due to an alert in the cockpit due to a suspected fire in one of the engines. The engine was turned off and an emergency was declared from the aircraft. After landing, firefighters inspected the aircraft, which had no signs of fire,
The alert was given at 21.53, shortly after the plane had taken off for Glasgow , Scotland.
As reported by the District Relief Operations Command (CDOS) of Faro, a red alert was triggered – “total emergency with the airport’s emergency protocol having been activated. 34 vehicles and 80 operational vehicles were mobilised to the site.
The EasyJet plane landed safely and went to the hangar where technical checks were carried out. Having concluded that there was no reason to maintain the alert, the assets were demobilised and the alert was terminated at 22.17.
The 180 passengers were then redistributed to other flights.
PSD deputies demand Water Efficiency Plan to stop drought
The PSD deputies elected by the Faro district met with the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA) earlier this week, following the measures announced by the Government that provide for a rationing of water use in the region, which faces a drought situation. The deputies called on the government to make good their promise to put in place the regional water plan.
“Contrary to what the Government has been communicating, the deputies are now aware that there was no agreement with business people in the region, nor were concrete measures taken, such as the definition of minimum consumption”, guarantee the Social Democrat parliamentarians. . They assert that there was, indeed, a conversation between the Portuguese Environment Agency, the Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Algarve and AHETA in order to avoid excessive consumption at this time.
The position now taken by the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action “demonstrates, once again, the inability of this Executive to put into practice the Regional Water Efficiency Plan for the Algarve, presented in 2020, but which remains to be implemented. In the last two years, measures should have been implemented, valued at more than 60 million euros, which could have avoided this emergency situation, by reducing water consumption in the most varied sectors”.
Olhao Youth arrested for Violent theft against elderly people
After 3 months of investigation, yesterday the GNR arrested a 20 year old man for thefts and violent robberies of elderly people in the Olhão area.
The suspect chose victims living in isolated areas near Olhão, in the Algarve region.
The individual was arrested and is indicted for seven robberies, using violence, against the elderly, which mainly involved the theft of gold items and money, but also included the theft of non-precious metals and carob beans.
The young man will be presented to the Judicial Court of Faro, for sentencing.
100,000 expected at Sardine Festival
Sardines will once again be the star of the show at the Portimão sardine festival, taking place this year between 3 and 7 August.
The Sardine Festival takes place in the riverside area of Portimão, where five restaurants will be set up, offering a serving of five sardines, potato, bread and an Algarve salad, for €9.50.
In addition to the five restaurants of the associative movement, the festival has the involvement of several restaurants in the city.
“Each restaurant commits to serving sardines during the five days of the event, but the price is set by each one,” noted the source. “We hope to exceed 100,000 visitors, the number reached in the 2019 edition, to taste this highlight of the city, in a year of recovery after the two-year break”, a source from the Câmara de Portimão, the event’s organiser, told Lusa.
The event also includes exhibitors of handicrafts and other products, from sweets to local products, set up along the space between the old auction house and the Portimão Municipal Museum.
For the next couple of days the maximum temperatures will be between 25 and 35 degrees, higher inland, and the minimum between 15 and 20 degrees, but from the end of the week we have a different situation. with an increase in temperature to values between 35 and 40, which may be higher in some places, mainly in the Tagus Valley, interior of Alentejo, Algarve and eastern Algarve”, said meteorologist Bruno Café, from Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA).
“The implementation of this project in the primary health care of ARS Algarve, through the use of a portable X-ray equipment [Portable X-Ray Unit FDR Xair] guarantees more comfort and convenience to users in carrying out radiology exams”, underlines the body supervised by the Ministry of Health. In order to respond to this, ARS has prepared a “team of Senior Technicians in Health, Diagnosis and Therapeutics in the area of Radiology” that will “go to the facilities of the entities that request their services” and guarantee “the appropriate safety and protection guidelines”. use of the new equipment”.
“The environmental and project justification decisions are now created to make the Port of Portimão, on the Arade River, one of the reference ports for cruise tourism”, highlighted José Apolinário, adding that it is “good news for tourism”. , for the sustainable use of the ocean and for the economy of the sea in the Algarve region”.
The whale had washed ashore at around 6:30 pm on Sunday and teams from the Maritime Police, the Municipal Civil Protection Service of Albufeira and the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) were awaited to carry out analyzes and removal procedures began, but the device “did not arrive in time to prevent it from being swept out to sea by the tide”, justified the captain of the port of Portimão, which has jurisdiction in Albufeira and Silves, at the time.