People in Faro are relieved and excited but do not expect a speedy recovery from impact of Covid
Tatiana stands by the counter of the souvenir shop where she works in downtown Faro, with little in the way of company besides the postcard racks, the shelves of trinkets and towels, and an all too familiar silence.
“Only three customers have come into the shop so far today,” says Tatiana, who lost her job at Faro’s airport last October after her contract was not renewed.
Continue reading...The government has revealed the destinations to which quarantine-free holidays will be allowed
The government has just announced its green list for quarantine-free international travel into England. The countries on it are Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, Israel, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, and Portugal, including the Azores and Madeira.
Related: England’s traffic-light system for foreign travel: all you need to know
Continue reading...Traffic light system to be used cautiously despite European plan to let in Covid-vaccinated tourists from June
Britons’ summer holiday plans were given a major boost on Monday, as the EU confirmed vaccinated travellers will be able to fly to Europe from June, though it’s understood the UK could give the green light to travel to fewer than 10 countries.
The changing quarantine requirements for popular holiday destinations looks set to make 2021 the year of the last-minute booking.
Continue reading...Countries across Europe are starting to relax coronavirus restrictions as case numbers fall
Counting on an accelerating vaccination campaign to keep new infections in check, much of continental Europe has announced plans for a gradual exit from lockdown over the coming weeks as case numbers begin to fall. Here is where things stand:
Belgium (at least one vaccine dose administered to 25% of whole population) aims to permit outside dining in restaurants and bars again on 8 May, with a mandatory 10pm closing time and tables limited to groups of four. Non-essential shops and hairdressers reopened on Monday.
Continue reading...The world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge has been completed in Portugal. The bridge, Arouca 516, sits 175 metres above the River Paiva in the north of the country. Its 516 metre-long walkway breaks the record previously held by the Charles Kuonen Bridge in the Swiss Alps. Located near the tiny town of Arouca and within the Unesco-recognised Arouca Geopark, the bridge took two years to construct and is held up by steel cables and two large towers on each side
Continue reading...Arouca 516 opens 175 metres above the River Paiva in north of the country
The world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge has been completed in northern Portugal, where residents of the nearby town hope the tourist attraction will help revive a region whose economy was devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hidden between rock-strewn mountains covered with lush greenery and yellow flowers inside the Unesco-recognised Arouca Geopark, the 516 metres (1,700 feet) bridge hangs 175 meters above the fast flowing River Paiva.
Continue reading...A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Cambodia to Peru
A collective of projects across Iberia is protecting commercial signs to create a living archive
Fire engine red, bordered by polka dots and stretching the length of three cars, the sign for the Orte clothing store had long loomed over Madrid’s Alcalá thoroughfare, its presence steady even as fast-food restaurants and chain stores began moving into the area.
When the store closed its doors and the space was poised to be rented, news swiftly reached Alberto Nanclares. Within days he was on site, working with a team to painstakingly pry the sign from the facade where it had sat for more than five decades.
Continue reading...But judge rules that ex-premier does not have to face corruption charges
A Portuguese court has cleared the way for former prime minister José Sócrates to stand trial for money laundering and falsifying documents, but cleared him of corruption charges in the years-long case.
Sócrates is accused of pocketing €34m from three companies while he was in power between 2005 and 2011, but the ex-prime minister has maintained his innocence.
Continue reading...From France to Spain, Germany to Greece, tight rules are in place to contain the spread of coronavirus
Europe may not be subject to the drastic lockdown measures introduced to combat the first wave of coronavirus a year ago, but many countries still face another Easter of greatly reduced meeting and movement.
In France, new restrictions come into effect across the country from 7pm on Saturday that limit travel to within 10km (six miles) of home, absent one of the allowed “imperative” reasons. Sworn declarations known as “attestations” will be necessary for anyone travelling outside these rules.
Continue reading...Plan will also allow states most reliant on tourism to make bilateral arrangements with non-EU members – including UK
The European commission has unveiled a “digital green certificate” that could allow EU citizens who have been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from Covid-19 to travel more freely within the bloc this summer.
The plan would also allow southern states such as Spain, Greece and Portugal, whose economies are most reliant on tourism, to make bilateral arrangements with non-EU members – including Britain – providing the deals are approved by the commission.
Continue reading...Fires have always been a part of our natural world. But they’re moving to new ecosystems previously untouched by fire – and this is concerning scientists
Wildfires are spreading to fuel-abundant regions of the world that used to be less prone to burning, according to a new analysis of 20 years of data by the Guardian.
While the overall area of annual burn in the world has remained relatively static in this period, the research indicates a shifting regional fire pattern that is affecting more forests and fewer grasslands.
Continue reading...Berlin planning to ban travel from UK, Portugal, Brazil and South Africa to stop spread of variants
Germany is planning a near-total ban on travellers from Britain, Portugal, Brazil and South Africa as European governments increasingly move to bar entry from countries where more contagious Covid-19 variants are rampant.
Berlin’s initiative came as EU interior ministers met to discuss a more coordinated approach to international travel restrictions.
Continue reading...Seven years ago, she was nearly killed in pursuit of the sport she loves, but she defied expert’s predictions and made a stunning comeback
In the photographs of her record-breaking ride, the Brazilian surfer Maya Gabeira is a tiny blade on the water, cutting a line of white spume down the deep ridge of the vast grey wave that climbs behind her. The wave in question measured 22.4 metres (73.5ft), the highest ever surfed by a woman, the first to be measured and verified by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and a couple of feet greater than the one surfed by her nearest rival. It is also the biggest wave measured this year, surfed by man or woman.
Gabeira, who broke her own previous Guinness world record of 68ft, attributes her achievement to what she calls “taking a critical line”. In short, she takes her board to the fiercest and tallest part of the wave, “where the most powerful energy is, where it is actually breaking”. This, she says, is how “you put value into your wave”.
Continue reading...Italy prepares for national lockdown over Christmas; Spanish minister warns of third wave
Austria is to enter a third lockdown from Boxing Day but will stage mass coronavirus tests in mid-January to determine who will be exempt from certain restrictions, the government announced on Friday.
Italy is preparing to outline new measures that could lead to a complete lockdown over the Christmas and new year period, while the Spanish government has warned of a possible “third wave” of infections.
Continue reading...The race is on to find a steady source of lithium, a key component in rechargeable electric car batteries. But while the EU focuses on emissions, the lithium gold rush threatens environmental damage on an industrial scale
Even before the new mine became the main topic of village conversation, João Cassote, a 44-year-old livestock farmer, was thinking about making a change. Living off the land in his mountainous part of northern Portugal was a grind. Of his close childhood friends, he was the only one who hadn’t gone overseas in search of work. So, in 2017, when he heard of a British company prospecting for lithium in the region of Trás-os-Montes, Cassote called his bank and asked for a €200,000 loan. He bought a John Deere tractor, an earthmover and a portable water-storage tank.
The exploration team of the UK-based mining company Savannah Resources had spent months poring over geological maps and surveys of the hills that ripple out from Cassote’s farm. Initial calculations indicated that they could contain more than 280,000 tonnes of lithium, a silver-white alkali metal – enough for 10 years’ production. Cassote got in touch with Savannah’s local office, and the mining firm duly contracted him to supply water to their test drilling site. The return on his investment was swift. After less than 12 months on the company’s books, Cassote had made what he would usually earn in five or six years on the farm.
Continue reading...Initiative offers landlords the option of renting their properties to the city for a minimum of five years
For centuries, the maze of narrow, cobbled streets that make up Lisbon’s Alfama neighbourhood has told the story of the city’s past. But in recent years, as trendy cafes and tourist flats proliferated, the historic quarter began telling a worrying tale of the city’s future.
A rapid transformation had rippled across the city centre as Airbnb-style tourist rentals swelled to a third of the properties. As locals found themselves priced out and communities began hollowing out, many began grumbling about the aftershocks of terramotourism – a tourism earthquake.
Continue reading...Strict measures – including curfews and states of emergencies – are in force once more across the continent as Covid cases surge
The country announced a second lockdown from 30 October after daily Covid-related deaths reached their highest levels since April. Due to last at least a month, it is having a limited effect: new infections and hospital admissions dropped sharply at first only to increase sharply at the end of last week. , health ministry data showed
Continue reading...Record daily infections in Germany; Naples hospitals at risk of being overwhelmed; France reports slowdown in rate of new cases
Germany’s partial lockdown could be extended beyond the end of the month and hospitals in parts of Italy are near breaking point as Covid-19 cases continued to surge in both countries, despite positive signs elsewhere in Europe.
New daily coronavirus cases in Germany hit a record of 23,542 on Friday, the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases reported, prompting government spokesman Stefan Seibert to say measures “were not expected to be relaxed” by next week.
Continue reading...Portugal imposes state of emergency; global cases pass 50m; infections in Germany ‘levelling off’
Hungary and Portugal have become the latest countries in Europe to impose tough new restrictions to stem the second wave of the coronavirus, as the first signs of light at the end of the tunnel emerged in France, Germany and Belgium.
As the US pharmaceuticals company Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, said their experimental Covid-19 vaccine appeared safe and more than 90% effective, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, announced a partial lockdown.
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