Category Archives: Useful Information

British Consulates in Portugal

New telephone numbers for British Consulates in Portugal from May 2015

british_embassyCourtesy of Algarve Daily News at: http://www.algarvedailynews.com/

From 1st May 2015 telephone numbers for the British Consulates in Portugal are changing. If you need assistance, consular staff can be contacted throughout the week on 21 392 4000 for the British Consulate in Lisbon, and 282 490750 for the British Vice Consulate in Portimao.

Our Consular team in Portugal is available to provide assistance Monday to Friday, from 9.00 am to 4.30pm. In an out of hours emergency these numbers will also connect you to the Foreign Office in London, where consular assistance is provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The consulates in Lisbon and Portimão are open to the public for personal appointments, or walk-in assistance, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9.30am to 2pm.

You can find detailed information on how we can help British nationals in Portugal, travel advice, living in Portugal and other news from the British Embassy in Lisbon as well as a link to our appointment booking service at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/british-embassy-lisbon

You can also follow us on Facebook at BritsInPortugal where we post useful information and news about consular initiatives and activities in Portugal and beyond.

British Consulate in Lisbon: 21 392 4000

British Vice Consulate in Portimão: 282 490750

Visit http://www.gov.uk/fco for British foreign policy news and travel advice and http://blogs.fco.gov.uk to read our blogs.

Water Bill -Digital Invoice

We have had many enquiries concerning the letter that is being sent with the water bills. Below is an English translated version which hopefully will be useful.

For added information, the form to be completed requires –

Name of Consumer (as appears on your current Water Bill)

Area de Leitura – shown in the attached photograph as No. 1

No. de consumidor – shown as No. 2 

Enderco electrónico pretendido envio da sua fatura digital – e mail address for the invoice to be sent

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Dear Consumer

Following the sustainable environmental policy and further to the administrative modernization, the Municipality of Aljezur will be implementing digital  invoices in the near future.

This project aims at achieving a more efficient relationship with our customers, by replacing the traditional water consumption bill on paper, with a digital format invoice. This policy is currently used by other service providers (electric and telephone companies), therefore, instead of receiving the usual bill by post, all consumers may now receive their bills sent directly to their email addresses, thereby reducing current expenditure costs and most importantly, contributing to a more sustainable environment.

In addition to receiving a bill by e-mail, with this new project consumers will have access to all invoices issued on the Town hall’s website (http://servicosonline.cm-aljezur.pt/servicosonline/).

If you wish to receive a digital format invoice via your email on a monthly basis as from the beginning of next year, you are required to fill out the below form and return it to the following email address servicosonline@cm-aliezur.pt, or deliver it duly completed, to any of the water collection points (at the Town Hall services, or at the services of any of the Parish Boards belonging to this County).

We are counting on your cooperation!

We hereby additionally inform you that you may already make use of the online service made available by the Aljezur Town Hall´s  website, to submit your applications without the necessity of going to the services personally.

Register now and enjoy the benefits of this service.  Do not hesitate to contact us if you need help with this process as we will be happy to assist you.

Car Sharing

Car2

This may be a useful tip for Vale da Telha residents or visitors travelling to and from Faro Airport…
One of our members sent us this e-mail, after joining the scheme:
“I wondered if you had seen the web site for BlaBlaCar.   It is a car sharing scheme worldwide. I did think it would be useful for people to know about it, to offer or to be able to get trips to and from the airport.
“The day I  registered  a lady was offering a lift to  Lagos from Aljezur for 1 euro!”
===
We checked the website out ourselves and at the time we checked someone was offering a lift from Aljezur to Faro Airport for two people at €9 apiece!
The website is shown here:
www.BlaBlaCar.pt/
Check it out–you may find it suits your needs.

 

IPTV. SET TOP BOX To receive TV channels

imageAndy Fisher of Expat TV will be demonstrating this system on Wednesday 26th Feb. at 7pm in the Piranha Bar.

All BBC and ITV channels are available as well Channel 5 and all Free View and movie channels and many more. Plus 14 day catch up. Come along and have all your questions answered.

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New Driving Laws in Portugal

From the Algarve Daily News:

RoundaboutMore than 60 amendments to Portugal’s Road Traffic Act came into force on New Year’s Day, including the lowering of the alcohol limit for professional drivers and drivers who recently have passed their test, new rules for cyclists and new rules for the nation’s multitude of beautifully constructed roundabouts.

The Highway Code now provides for the creation of ‘residential areas of coexistence,’ ie where man and machine operate in perfect harmony with specific rules for traffic such as speed limits reduced to a gentle 20kmph.

There is an important paperwork change – Portuguese identification cards now are needed if the driver does not have the new citizen card. It is hoped that foreign drivers will be OK with a passport as non-Portuguese citizens are neither entitled to an ID card nor a citizen’s card. Many expats do not have fiscal cards but should carry the paper document, free from Finanças, with their fiscal number on it.

The law that fiscal numbers must be produced when asked is to enable authorities to check if a driver is in debt with the taxman. Failure to present the card will result in a fine of €30. Whether this is to be challenged by the over-burdened Constitutional Court or not remains to be seen but the increase in spying into citizens’ financial affairs by the traffic police will do nothing to improve the pact between state and citizen.

There is an important change at roundabouts. The only road users that can use the right-hand lane at a roundabout are those that are taking the first exit. Everyone else must use the inner lane i.e. if going straight ahead or turning left. The fine if you get this new maneuver wrong is between €60 and €300 and over the next few weeks the GNR are likely to be perched at their favourite roundabouts, waiting….

Annoyingly, different sources of information have different interpretations of this new rule with some suggesting that the right hand lane is for both the first and second exits. More clarification will be needed so in the meantime stick to the IMTT’s interpretation, right hand lane – first right only.

The new code reduces the alcohol level permitted to 0.2 grammes per litre of blood for drivers on probation i.e. those that have held a full license for less than 3 years, and for drivers of rescue service vehicles, taxi drivers and commercial drivers of vans and trucks.

In the event of an accident, in addition to the mandatory test for alcohol blood level, there now will be screening for drug use using rather accurate test kits.

Cyclists gain new rights with new rules giving them equal rights to vehicles in many cases.

The police are required to inform any driver fined more than €200 that he or she can pay the fine in installments of €50 or more, over a period not exceeding 12 months.

Mobile phone and i-Pod headphones with two earpieces are banned but those with a single earpiece are still allowable. No, you can’t say you were only using one of the earpieces as double earpieces are banned totally.