Sleepy Barão S. João at the centre of a clean-energy transition!
An interesting article appeared in the New York Times on August 9th with the title “Portugal Gives Itself a Clean-Energy Makeover”.
Archive by Author
Buying a second home in the Algarve
Case study: Brian & Debbie
In 2004, Brian Layton, then 61, and buoyed by the prospect of selling his Hampshire water cooler business, set out on a search to find a second home in the sun for himself and his extended family.
Brian & Debbie - buying a second home in Algarve
Eating out in Western Algarve: five special places
As the Western Algarve evolves into a premier tourism destination, so the local restaurant scene broadens in its scope and variety. Here are five very different selections, each with something special to offer, and at prices that won’t blow a hole in your budget.
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Agenda for promoting sustainable building in Portugal
The following is a condensed version of comments made by John Tranmer, Managing Director of AlmaVerde Village & Spa at the SB10 regional conference on Sustainable Building held at the Hilton, Vilamoura on 17 – 19 March, during the Plenary Session VII Financing and procurement.
John Tranmer
Peace through tourism
Our own local guru of sustainable tourism and yoga teacher Gordon Sillence is asking us all to support the UN-backed idea of 16 days of Worldwide Truce during the London 2012 Olympics.
Gordon Sillence
Kasia Wrona Exhibition opens at CENTRO CULTURAL DE LAGOS on 27th March
An exhibition by Polish artist Kasia Wrona entitled “Flames of Inspiration” opens at the Lagos Cultural Centre on 27th March and will run until 22nd May.
“Flames of Inspiration” is an exhibition of works primarily inspired by the intense and disturbing experience felt by the artist during and following the forest fires that devastated Serra de Monchique in 2003
Kasia Wrona
Living in Algarve – West is Eden
Homes Overseas Magazine interviewed Tom and Gill Blades from Streatham, London, who have been living in Algarve since 2006.
Tom Blades, 60, a composer and Gill, 53, a freelance counsellor, had originally planned to buy and renovate a Portuguese farmhouse. Tom said:
“We did not want to buy on a golf course or similar development. But we were attracted by the thinking behind AlmaVerde and impressed by the quality and type of construction and villa styles.”
The Challenges and Rewards of Sustainable Development
The following notes were originally prepared for a panel entitled “The Challenges and Rewards of Sustainable Development” at the OPPLive! Property Show at London’s ExCeL on 23rd October, 2009, chaired by Gordon Miller of www.whatgreenhome.com.
What is sustainability?
Here are some commonly used definitions:
Sustainability, in a broad sense, is the capacity to endure. In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. For humans it is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which in turn depends on the wellbeing of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources.
Algarve Property Market Snapshot – October ‘09
One thing is clear: the desire to own an overseas property is as strong as ever. Statistics of people browsing overseas property websites are on the up, and, with the demise of “emerging markets”, interest in the Algarve, as a safe, well-established market with a strong tourism infrastructure and planning controls, is greater than ever. However, over the past year, with the financial crisis and sterling languishing against the euro, actual buyers have been thin on the ground.
AlmaVerde at the Buying Homes Abroad Show in Stockholm
Event date: 19 -20 September
In past years, the market for Algarve leisure real estate has been propelled by the British and Irish, but the recent demise of sterling and the plight of the Irish economy have prompted developers to start looking in other directions.
Scandinavians have not been buying Algarve property in numbers, but there is anecdotal evidence that they are now becoming more active. There are now flights to Faro on Norwegian Air Shuttle from the capital cities of Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen, and Scandinavian currencies have remained relatively firm against the euro.