Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 9^th March 2022

Ukraine: Bus from Loulé to pick up 52 refugees

It was just after 6 am on Monday, when a bus left the Loulé Bus Terminal bound for Warsaw, Poland, to support the refugee population from the war in Ukraine and collect a group of 52 people who will settle in the municipality of Loulé, the municipality said in a statement.

“These people who choose Portugal to rebuild their lives, destroyed by the military conflict, are mainly women and children, most of them family members of Ukrainian citizens already residing in the municipality of Loulé”, reinforces the same source.

The bus that should arrive at the destination this Tuesday at the end of the day, also takes some material for the refugees who are on Polish soil, namely medical and first-aid material, food and clothing.

The delegation that will pick up these Ukrainian citizens is made up of 4 drivers (who will take turns during the journey), a doctor from the ABC – Algarve Biomedical Centre, a social action technician and a translator. The return trip will take place on the morning of Wednesday, March 9th.

Also in the coming days, a truck with essential goods will be heading towards Ukraine, which are being collected by associations, entities and civil society in the municipality of Loulé. This initiative carried out by the Municipality of Loulé, and which is part of the mechanisms for supporting and welcoming refugees, is carried out in close collaboration with DOINA – Association of Romanian and Moldavian Immigrants in the Algarve and validated by the High Commissioner for Migrations, Secretariat of State for Integration and Migration and Secretary of State for Internationalization. It also has the support of ABC – Algarve Biomedical Centre.

“Together for Ukraine”: Câmara de Tavira updates list of needs

In the context of the conflict situation in Ukraine, and following the support of the Municipality of Tavira to the campaign to support this country, the list of needs was updated, and the new goods can be delivered to the group of Ukrainian volunteers/ those in Tavira, until the 31st of March, in the building where the Youth Foundation operated (Rua Maria Aboim, n.º 1), from Monday to Friday, between 3 pm and 6 pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays, between at 10 am and 6 pm.

According to the Municipality, the goods collected will later go to the Algarve Ukrainian Association, in Faro, where the Ukrainian logistics centre for the Algarve “Together for Ukraine!” was created. Volunteers are available for more information on 961 205 514.

International women’s Day – City Hall marks the occasion with various activities in Portimão.

The municipality of Portimão is preparing to mark International Women’s Day tomorrow, Tuesday, March 8th, with several initiatives that aim to celebrate all women and their achievements and alert the community to the issue of gender equality, which is once again the theme chosen this year by the United Nations for this event.

With the aim of making young people aware of the change in attitudes and discriminatory practices between men and women in the public and private spheres, and within the scope of the activities of the TIAR CLDS Portimão project that promote gender equality, it will take place during the day. , at the Bemposta Elementary and Secondary School and at the Engenheiro Nuno Mergulhão Elementary School the activity «Dialogues for Change».

This initiative will sensitize the students of these schools to change attitudes and discriminatory practices between men and women in the public and private spheres.

It is part of the TIAR CLDS Portimão program of activities, for the promotion of gender equality within the scope of this project to fight poverty and social exclusion, to promote employment and to improve the living conditions of the population in of economic, social and personal vulnerability.

 

Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 2^nd March 2022

First Ukrainian Refugees Travel to Algarve in coming days

The first Ukrainian refugees should arrive in the Algarve in the coming days on a bus that will leave for Poland “within a day or two», with the aim of «collecting refugees who really want to come here to the Algarve”, Igor told Sul Info. Korbeliak, president of the Association of Ukrainians in the Algarve.

The association representing Ukrainians living in the Algarve region has been “working with city councils and the High Commissioner for Migration in order to arrange documentation”.

“Europe and Poland are making it very easy and allowing people to cross the border, even without the necessary documentation in normal times”, revealed Igor Korbeliak.

“For now, most of the people who will come have family members here or know someone here. Portugal is quite far from Ukraine and people try to find a place in the closest countries”, she added.

In other words, what will work is the family network and close relationships, which means that many of these people will have a place to stay.

Even so, the association is “studying and working on housing issues. We are making a list of people and it depends a lot on how many people come per family, if there are children… we are going to work in this direction”.

“Right now, as far as I know, there are still only cases in which it is the family network that is responding or that is going to Poland or Romania to bring the family”, revealed, for his part, Armindo Vicente, president of the Secretariat of the Misericórdias do Algarve.

The União das Misericórdias Portuguesas (UMP) has already started to survey the response capacity of its members, a work that began “even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine”, after a challenge launched by the minister Ana Mendes Godinho. “União de Misericórdias manages refugee centers and has equipment that can receive people. In the case of refugee centres, they are prepared to receive people for a longer period of time.

The Algarve Hotel and Tourism School, in Faro, organizes the seventh edition of the Tourism Trade Show, on March 3rd.

The Algarve Hotel and Tourism School, in Faro, organizes the seventh edition of the Tourism Trade Show, on the 3rd of March, an event that brings together the main hotel and restaurant companies in the region with the aim of making known the opportunities of the sector to the 107 finalist students, and which has the presence of the Secretary of State for Tourism, Rita Marques, in the opening session.

This year the Tourism Trade Show has 40 companies that will be present in a new format: physical and virtual. In addition to the exhibitors, workshops and activities related to the most relevant skills for the current tourism professional take place in parallel, such as Customer Service, Leadership, Motivation, Talent and Self-knowledge. Highlight for the activity “Theatre of the Oppressed” in which students, through a dramatization, will find solutions to uncomfortable situations in the day-to-day of a professional in the hotel and restaurant industry.

The Tourism Trade Show Algarve came about through the hands of our Tourism Management final year students who, within the scope of the Event Organization discipline, proposed the realization of this initiative that promotes the approximation between companies, the tourism sector and our students. There was a need to bring entrepreneurs and agents from the region to the school to get to know the environment and the surroundings of our school and students», says Paula Vicente, director of EHTA.

Minister of Territorial Cohesion present at the signing of the cross-border cooperation protocol of the “Alentejo-Algarve-Andalusia Euroregion”

The Regional Coordination and Development Commissions (CCDR) of the Algarve and Alentejo regions and the Junta de Andalusia sign this Wednesday, March 2, the Cross-Border Cooperation Protocol of the Working Community “Euroregion Alentejo-Algarve-Andalusia» ( EuroAAA), in the presence of the Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, at CCDR – Algarve in Faro.

The terms of the new Cross-Border Cooperation Protocol, which will replace the now extinct Algarve-Andalusia and Alentejo-Andalusia Cross-Border Cooperation agreements, were approved by the Secretary of State for Territorial Enhancement on 28 January.

The following day, March 3, at 9:20 am, the presidents of the CCDR Algarve and Alentejo and the Junta de Andalusia visit the Regional Centre for Emergency and Civil Protection of the Algarve and the Permanent Service Helicopter Base of Loulé, in the context of the CILIFO project. – Iberian Centre for Research and Fight against Forest Fires, a project developed in the territory of EuroAAA and co-financed under the INTERREG ESPAÑA PORTUGAL Cross-border Cooperation Program (POCTEP 2014 – 2020).

Monchique marks this year’s sausage fair exclusively on-line

This year the Enchidos Fair will be held exclusively online.

Although the pandemic situation is controllable and the trend is for a return to normality, the municipal executive understood that the fair would not yet take place physically due to the need for its prior preparation.

However, not to forget to mark the date, the event will be celebrated during the next March 5th, from 10:00 am, online and exclusively on social networks (facebook, youtube and instagram) of the municipality and parishes of the municipality, with live broadcasts at 10:00 am, 12:00 pm, 1:30 pm, 3:30 pm and 6:00 pm.

In addition to sausages, gastronomy, handicrafts, sweets, arbutus, bread and honey, other products will have a prominent place, in an initiative that praises the producers and the entire economic, social and cultural fabric of the county, highlights the Municipality in a press release.

 

 

Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 23^rd February 2022

Algarve is the region where unemployment grew the most in January

The Algarve was, in January, the region of the country that registered the biggest increase in unemployment, compared to the previous month (+4.2%), according to data released by the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP).

At the national level, unemployment increased by 2.3%, a figure that rises to 2.4%, taking into account only the mainland.

According to IEFP figures, the Algarve had, at the end of January of this year, 25,623 unemployed people enrolled in the IEFP services, 1,033 more than at the end of December, still a lower figure than that registered in January 2021 (33,571).

These data are influenced by the fact that the recruitment season in the hotel industry normally starts in the months of February and March.

At the end of last month, Alentejo had 15,673 unemployed registered with the IEFP services, 48 ​​more than at the end of December (+0.3%).

According to IEFP data, job offers in the Algarve region increased by 10.1% (+72), compared to December, but even so, there are 568 more (+259.4%) than in January 2021.

In Alentejo, job offers also increased last month, by 10.4% (+146), compared to December 2021. There are 51 more offers (+3.4%) than in the same month of the year previous.

Data released by the IEFP indicate that, at the end of January, 355,868 unemployed were registered with the Employment Services of the Mainland and Autonomous Regions, 2.3% more than in December 2021 (+7,909 people), but 16.1% less than in January of the same year (-68,491 people).

RTA prepares seminars to clarify support for companies

RTA provides clarification on helplines, venture capital and labour migration in the tourism sector.

At the beginning of March, the Entrepreneur Support Office of the Algarve Tourism Region (RTA) promotes a cycle of seminars to clarify the available support lines, financing for companies through venture capital and good migration management. labour in the sector.

On the 3rd of March, Thursday, in partnership with Turismo de Portugal, a webinar will take place on «Lines of Support» to provide information to entrepreneurs in the region about the lines of support for treasury and investment available to the tourism sector. Tourism.

The event, which can be followed on RTS’s social networks from 2:30 pm, will present the Smart Territories Line and the Regenerate Territories Line of the Transform Tourism Program, the Offer Qualification Support Line, the Treasury Support Line for Micro and Small Tourism Companies – COVID-19 and the Tourism Support Line 2021, with a moment reserved for clarifying the doubts of entrepreneurs.

Then, on Tuesday, March 8, also at 2:30 pm, the RTA and the International Organization for Migration – United Nations Agency organize an information session aimed at the private sector on «Management of Labour Migration in the Tourism Sector», in the auditorium of the Algarve Hotel and Tourism School, in Faro.

The initiative aims to discuss the advantages of a good management of labour migration for companies in the tourism sector, as well as to determine the difficulties and opportunities that arise in the processes of recruitment, hiring and integration of foreign workers, as part of the project «Promotion of a Good Management of Labour Migration to Portugal», co-financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Foreigners and Borders Service and the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP). Applications are open until March 4th.

Action on dating violence clarifies parents and students in Vila Real de Stº António

Violence in dating or relationships is increasingly being talked about, in which, sometimes in a covert way and culturally defined as romantic, there are underlying violent behaviours (verbal, emotional, physical, psychological, etc.) that cause pain and confusion.

On this issue, the Vila Real de Santo António Parish Council promotes on the 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th of this month, an action on dating violence with the theme “Dating makes you talk”, in a protocol with the University of Algarve, within the scope of the internship in Social Education, where through a group dynamic, it is intended to alert young people to the distinction of a healthy relationship, an unhealthy relationship and an abusive / violent relationship.

This Tuesday at 11:00 am, there will be a session for the students of the Secondary School of VRSA, on the 23rd, at 11:00, for the students of the D. José I VRSA School, on the 24th, at 15:00, an open session for young people from the Parish, with the special participation of a group of students from the Secondary School, who are carrying out a study/work in the scope of LGBTI people and finally on the 25th, at 18:30, there will be a session for parents, within the scope of conscious parenting.

Interested persons aged 12 or over can ask the school for the referenced days. For the other days, registration is done through this link or by email to juntafreguesiavrsa@gmail.com with personal data.

Four men aged between 21 and 30 were arrested by the GNR for drug trafficking in Albufeira.

According to the security force in a statement, the first situation took place on February 19, during a patrolling action, when the military “approached a man who adopted suspicious behaviour” upon realizing the police presence. During the inspection, it was possible to detect that the individual had 19 doses of hashish, culminating in his arrest and the seizure of the narcotic product.

In the second case, the following day, and in another patrolling action, the Guard’s soldiers approached three men aged 21, 23 and 30, who had 98 doses of hashish in their possession, having been arrested and the narcotic product seized.

The detainees were made arguidos, and the facts communicated to the Albufeira Judicial Court.

Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 16^th February 2022

CHUA opens new Electroencephalography Laboratory

The Cento Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve CHUA inaugurated today, Monday, February 14th, the new facilities of the Electroencephalography Laboratory (EEG) of the Neurophysiology Unit, as well as a new high-tech EEG equipment.

This new equipment helps in the diagnosis of various neurological diseases, allowing EEGs to be performed in an outpatient setting, continuous EEGs in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Video-EEG monitoring with night sleep, among other tests.

“The new laboratory will be an asset for CHUA and above all for its users, improving the response of Neurophysiology to the entire population of the Algarve. The new features of electroencephalography allow CHUA to become a reference centre in the area, focusing on innovation and qualification of the offer in Neurophysiology and responding to the needs of the adult and paediatric population”, said the Coordinating Technician, Ana Magalhães.

Present at the ceremony, the Clinical Director of CHUA, Horácio Guerreiro, highlighted “the importance of investing in cutting-edge technology as a key aspect for quality in the provision of differentiated care”, as well as for “the retention and attraction of health professionals, who are now beginning to find in CHUA more opportunities for clinical and technical differentiation».

São Brás de Alportel celebrates the centenary of the first air crossing of the South Atlantic

São Brás de Alportel is on the map of the national celebrations of the centenary of the air crossing of the South Atlantic (100TAAS), carried out by two aviators of the Portuguese navy Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral. As important as the trip was the fact that the navigation devices, designed by Gago Coutinho, which marked the history of world aviation, were tested.

On the 17th of February, the 153rd anniversary of the birth of Gago Coutinho will be celebrated in the municipality of São Brás de Alportel with an opening ceremony of the commemorative program, a lecture and the inauguration of the traveling exhibition “1st aerial crossing of the Atlântico Sul” which will be on display until February 27, at the atrium of the Covered Municipal Swimming Pools, at 17:00. This exhibition was prepared by the Air Naval Commission for the Centenary Celebration of the South Atlantic Air Crossing (100TAAS).

On the 27th of February, the Nature Walk Cycle will also be dedicated to Gago Coutinho, showing the “Rota Gago Coutinho – Geodesy in São Brás de Alportel”, a route through the 14 geodesic landmarks of the São Brasense territory, recently requalification.

The opening ceremonies of this program take place right next to the artistic replica of the seaplane “Santa Cruz, by Carlos de Oliveira Correia, which since March 30, 2017, the date that marked the 95th anniversary of Travessia, is located next to Rua Dr. Alberto de Sousa, in the outer space of the Municipal Covered Swimming Pools.

With more than 20 tons of iron and a wingspan of more than 14 meters, the replica of the “Santa Cruz” appears as a reference in São Brás de Alportel, dignifying the History of Portugal. The replica of one of the seaplanes used by Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral for the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic is part of the program to celebrate the centenary of the crossing.

Drought: Irrigation in the Algarve divides environmentalists from authorities and producers

Newsroom, Feb 15, 2022 (Lusa) – The lack of water is causing concern in the agricultural sector in the Algarve, but while environmentalists demand limitations on irrigation, especially for avocados, authorities and producers are calling for diversification of reserves and greater efficiency in consumptions.

Speaking to Lusa, Cláudia Sil, from the Sustainable Water Platform (PAS), considered that the growing focus on avocado crops is “harmful” for the water reserves that exist in the Algarve and warned that this “is not an autochthonous species” and represents “a culture that needs water permanently”.

“The avocado tree is not autochthonous, it is a species that evolved adapting to a tropical climate, and one of the characteristics of a tropical climate is that it has a lot of water, therefore, it is a crop that needs water permanently. At this moment, it is already possible to see yellowed avocado crops in the Algarve, so the avocado tree is suffering from a lack of water,” he said.

For Cláudia Sil, the avocado “is a crop that effectively consumes a lot of water”, considering that it is necessary to “analyse the cultivation methods” of these irrigated plantations, because “the more plants per hectare” there are “the more resources and the more water” there is, while the profit remains only for the producers.

“Irrigated agriculture is totally discouraged in the region, orchards with great irrigation needs should not be developed, what we advocate are alternative crops, with other cultivation methods, such as relishing the rain fed crop”, he said.

The regional director of Agriculture and Fisheries, Pedro Monteiro, acknowledged that the region is in a “complicated situation”, with “a substantial part of the Algarve already in extreme drought”, but underlined that “agriculture is increasingly dependent on water, as like other economic activities”, and that the lack of water is also felt in rain fed fruit trees, such as almonds, carob or figs.

“This poses a huge challenge for agriculture, it has to be more efficient in the application of water to the plot, to the plant, more efficient also in the distribution of water, namely, in hydro-agricultural uses”, he considered, quantifying the 2,050 hectares of land, existing avocado orchards in the region, with an annual production of 15,000 tons.

On the producer side, he added to Lusa, there is an “increasing focus on technology that allows for intelligent water monitoring” to “measure the amount of moisture that exists in real time in the soil” and “apply only water to the soil “and plant according to what is strictly necessary”.