The Portugal News

20 December 2014

Home » News » FEBRUARY: More Madeleine and BBC disappears

February marked the start of year-long visits from Metropolitan Police Service detectives which would last until shortly before Christmas. But a year later, little progress has been made in discovering what happened to Madeleine McCann in Praia da Luz on the night of 3 May 2007. This month was also a stage for one of the most read story themes of the year, as hundreds of thousands of dismayed expats across Europe saw their UK television channels disappear from their screens.

The first of many “new developments” in the hunt for Madeleine McCann was reported in February, with news that three individuals were of particular interest as they had made “an abnormally high number of mobile phone calls to areas outside the resort the night she went missing.”
The trio was declared of interest as while these calls were domestic, unlike their colleagues who called each other as the search proceeded, the trio made domestic calls to areas of no geographical interest in the ensuing search.
With dozens of people spoken to during the Operation Grange case review later in the year, and none declared of interest subsequent to questioning, it would now appear these three individuals have now effectively been ruled out.
While many readers would have been following revelations of the case via their UK satellite systems, they were soon forced to procure new means of watching their favourite programmes as the big television switch-off started in the Iberian Peninsula at the start of February as hundreds of thousands of expats with access to British television found to their dismay that they had no signal for any of BBC’s channels.
While the outpouring of grief neared the unprecedented, the fact that this is no longer an issue might suggest most expats have found viable alternatives to their now defunct satellite systems.
Algarve hospitals also made news just as the almond blossoms were blooming, with the merger of Algarve’s main hospitals leading to widespread concern that money to sustain these units was running low.
Head of the hospital administration, Dr. Pedro Nunes, who local Mayors asked the Ministry of Health to replace, told The Portugal News that these units “are not suffering any financial problems” and insisted that a widely-publicised shortage in some medicines was due to the integration of the hospitals’ pharmacies’ software; an “operational transition” that he believed would be “extremely beneficial” in the near future.
Ten months later, and with the seasonal flu epidemic approaching, complaints have now been reduced to the customary, with the hospitals in Portimão and Faro apparently having coped sufficiently well enough with the merger of the two units.

 Year End Review: 2014 – The year of scandals and revisiting Madeleine’s disappearance
in News · 18-12-2014

Never before had someone who had served the country as a Prime Minister been put behind bars. But 2014 changed all that, with editorials and opinion pieces pointing to the arrest of José Sócrates on corruption charges perhaps just the start of things to come. Conclusions from conversations at cafés and dinner parties across the country seem to reach the same verdict.

The arrest of Mr. Sócrates had been preceded at the beginning of November with news that Portugal’s immigration chief and the head of the civil registry had been detained on corruption and bribery charges with regards to Portugal’s Gold Visa scheme.
It is therefore quite easy to assume that 2015 will start as it left off, with more news on corruption, while the successive appeals being lodged by the former Prime Minister’s lawyer set to keep reporters busy for much of the remainder of the winter.

The beginning of summer was also marked by a series of searches and digs in the Praia da Luz as Scotland Yard launched their costliest overseas missing person’s search in the force’s long history.
While the world’s media descended on the tranquil resort as they eagerly awaited to appease their hopeful audiences in search of answers, no progress had been made in the case by the time detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service concluded their final visit of the year to Portugal earlier this month.
With DCI Nicola Wall taking over from Andy Redwood who retired earlier in December, and her speciality being homicide investigations, observers both in Portugal in Britain and Portugal are expecting more twists to the investigation in 2015. This is further apparent with news that the Home Office has already budgeted for another year of investigations, so the story which has divided the opinions of friends, families and even nations, is set for further coverage in the New Year.  

The coming year will also see the staging of a general election in the autumn.
While the partners in the ruling coalition have seen their popularity drop in the wake of the austerity measures imposed on them and the nation via the bailout Troika, the opposition Socialist Party, while leading latest opinions polls, do not appear to be getting the support they will need to govern with a clear majority.
This could mean another coalition, and the scenarios are limited. Either join forces with the Social Democrats or broker an agreement with the Communist Party, which is the only political organisation to have seemingly gained support from the disgruntled electorate. Interesting political times may lie ahead, to say the least.
The final matter which remains open for discussion is whether the recent green shoots of economic recovery will translate into the creation of new jobs, the opening of new businesses, and more importantly, an increase in the disposable income of the people of Portugal.
This in itself could influence the election next October, and if the population start seeing their standard of living rise, they might be able to forgive and even forget the severe economic measures they have had to endure since 2009.