The Portugal News History Page

The Portugal News HISTORY PAGE
a virtual "Time Machine" back to life in the 70's and 80's

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The Portugal News Events Calendar

Welcome to The Portugal News 'Time Machine' our history Page
On these pages you will find extracts from our oldest editions going back into the 1970's and 1980' long before we had an electronic on line version of the paper. Here you will find articles and pages that give fascinating insights into major events, town & villages as well as prices at the time, and even restaurant reviews (prices were a lot cheaper!). We are constantly adding to these pages, so please check back from time to time into our Algarve "Time Machine" and travel back to life here in the 70's and 80's. Divide Escudos by 200 to get today's value (more or less) in Euros. A 'conto' was slang for 1,000 Escudos. If you want to know when there is something new, we always announce new additions to these pages on our Facebook Fan Page

Extracts, reports and photos from our editions from the 1970 and 1980's. These are PDF scans of sections from old file editions, so please understand that the quality will not be as good as modern technology now permits.
This page is still under construction and more items are being added constantly.

Do you have old menus, photos or other items from the 70's and early 80's. Please send us a scan in PDF or JPG
and we will see if we can integrate them in this important & growing archive of Algarve 'as it was in the beginning'.
Please call 707 500 655 if you need help or information

Mysterious goings on at Vale do Lobo, November 1980
Sander Van Gelder and Vale do Lobo were rarely out of the news in the 70's and 80's as his ambitious plans progressed. There was a lot of opposition, from owners and others with business interests, not all of it totally "transparent". This unique front page (there is only one copy) from November 1980 makes fascinating reading. Van Gelder was not without enemies. The fake announcement in the national press saying VDL was in liquidation was just one example of the tactics of the time. See LATE 1970's (above) for another article from February 1979
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The case that is still in court in 2010 - October 1981
Probably one of the most disputed planning permissions is the A Rocha development that was announced in 1981 and is still in court in 2010. It has to be one of the most hotly disputed cases with court orders flying everywhere, yet the developers seem not to have given up yet. More recent news can be found by searching our online archives via our home page.
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The Lost City of the Algarve - January 1982
Midway between Lagos and Vila do Bispo is what writer Frank Bowers described in 1982 as the lost city. Its a fascinating two page report with details of ruins he thought were possibly Roman, a 500 year old Church and much more. Perhaps by now its been built over, but perhaps not.
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Lagos in the Golden Age - August 1981
Three pages of history of Lagos in what was described as the "Golden Age", the sixteenth century. History buffs will love this, its packed with interesting facts and details plus some illustrations. This is again the work of writer Frank Bowers who wrote several historical articles for the Algarve News at that time.
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Singing in the rain - February 1982
Almost 30 years ago we were celebrating that it rained as we had just gone through two years of drought. Note also the front page story about the opening of the border between Spain and Gibraltar.
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Carvoeiro floods 1988, 'Streets of water'
November 25th 1988. Carvoeiro & Ferragudo, houses and shops were flooded, crops ruined, and millions of Escudos damage caused. Click the links to see the front page from December 1988 and the special pull out pages 10 and 11 with many extraordinary photos of the flood during and after.
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Charles and Diana June 1981,
A front page and article shortly before the marriage of Charles and Dina, And yes, but much later, Lady Diana did visit Portugal some time later, and worse, for fun, was said to have "tweaked" the Prime Ministers braces at a formal dinner in Lisbon (we are still looking for that article, can anyone remember the month or even the year?).
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A villa for £27,300? Yes, in July 1981
A Carvoeiro developer advertised that he could build you a luxury three bedroom villa for £27,300, plus a plot of land from £5,000. Its probably fair to say that prices have gone up since then. See this full page advert.
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If the villa above is to expensive, how about this? December 1980
An agent was offering eight roomed cottage in Almancil for conversion at £12,000. No, you didn't miss read that. It came with 2,000 square metres of land and mains electricity
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Revolution in telecoms, now you could dial 11 different countries direct. August 1980
There are so many things we take for granted now, but back in 1979 you could only make an international phone call via an operator. Then in August 1980, STD was introduced by PT, but only available in the 089 area, and if you are really observant, you will spot that the international codes were not standard. The UK was 099 41.
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