Read today's Portuguese stories delivered to your email Tradition dictates that the cycle of cheese fairs in the Guarda district must begin in Celorico da Beira which is what happens today in the self-proclaimed ‘Serra da Estrela Cheese Capital’ the town's municipal market brings together more than three dozen local producers to live up to its title and promote the region's most famous delicacy the 46th edition of the Celorico da Beira Cheese Fair opens at 9 am and the first day is marked by cheese and regional product tastings in addition to the traditional producers' lunch there is street and children's entertainment Os Quatro e Meia (Saturday) and Sons do Minho (Sunday) are the headliners for three nights that end with several DJs There is an entrance fee only for the first two shows The Serra da Estrela cheese fair cycle continues on Carnival weekend with the 48th edition of an initiative that pays tribute to local shepherds the market in the mountain town will welcome around 50 exhibitors DOP cheese producers and manufacturing units Dão wine – from the Serra da Estrela sub-region – the Serra da Estrela sheep and goat competition promoted by Ancose - National Association of Serra da Estrela Sheep Breeders promoted by Licrase - League of Serra da Estrela Dog Breeders and Friends are other initiatives scheduled by the City Hall tastings of Serra da Estrela DOP cheese with pairings of Dão wines and curd cheese milking demonstrations and ‘showcooking’ sessions is the live production of the “largest sheep’s cheese in Seia” a task that will bring together producers from the municipality The cheese produced in 2024 will be tasted right after the opening of this year's event with the 11th edition of the Shepherd and Cheese Festival a local produce market and a sheep and goat competition the traditional cheese show and tasting takes place followed by a regional lunch open to all visitors Fornos de Algodres is the next destination on the Serra da Estrela cheese fair route in the Guarda district takes place from March 21 to 23 in the renovated municipal market The festival's schedule has not yet been released by the city hall which is organizing it and has opened registration for exhibitors until March 2 It is up to Gouveia to close the cycle in the Guarda district with its “Cheese Market” which will take place from March 28 to 30 in the municipal market of the ‘garden city’ the local government has yet to release the schedule for an event dedicated to the “appreciation and commercialization” of the main gastronomic icon of the mountain region The demarcated region for the production of Serra da Estrela cheese covers the municipalities of Aguiar da Beira We appreciate that not everyone can afford to pay for our services but if you are able to we ask you to support The Portugal News by making a contribution – no matter how small You can change how much you give or cancel your contributions at any time Send us your comments or opinion on this article Reaching over 400,000 people a week with news about Portugal LISBON - The mayor of Funchal Pedro Calado (PSD) and two managers linked to the AFA construction group were detained as part of the searches that the PJ carried out on Wednesday across the country The president of the Regional Government of Madeira Miguel Albuquerque is also being investigated The Judiciary Police (PJ - Portugal's main criminal investigation agency) carried out around 130 home and non-home searches today in connection with three investigations led by the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP) which are investigating crimes of active and passive corruption New Bedford's Club Madeirense installs new officers, Tony Abreu sworn in as feast president three people suspected of committing these crimes were detained out of flagrante delicto without revealing their identities or where the arrests were made The detainees will be brought before the relevant judicial authority at the Central Criminal Investigation Court in Lisbon to be heard in a first judicial questioning and subsequent application of coercive measures A source linked to the investigation told Lusa news agency the detainees are the mayor of Funchal Pedro Calado and two officials linked to the AFA group in Madeira and Braga The searches were carried out in Madeira (Funchal Aguiar da Beira and Ponta Delgada (Azores) "The measures carried out were aimed at gathering additional evidence in order to consolidate the investigations into the crimes of active and passive corruption abuse of power and influence peddling," the PJ said in a press release Madeiran club to recognize the legacy of the late supermarket magnate Joseph E. Fernandes Today's police operation involved two investigating judges six public prosecutors from DCIAP and six members of the Technical Advisory Unit (NAT) of the public prosecutor's office as well as 270 criminal investigators and experts from the PJ "The inquiries referred to are investigating facts that could involve possible illicit practices related to the award of public contracts for the acquisition of goods and services in exchange for financing private activity; suspicions of sponsorship of private activity in return for support and intervention in the award of tender procedures to specific commercial companies; the awarding of public contracts for civil construction works to the illegitimate benefit of specific commercial companies and to the detriment of other competitors with a serious distortion of public procurement rules in exchange for financing political activity and personal expenses," according to the PJ The residence of the leader of Madeira's regional government was also searched this morning Miguel Albuquerque (PSD) has announced that he will remain in office “I’ve never had any case of corruption” and “no one buys me” were phrases used by the president of the Regional Government when questioned by reporters maintaining that Madeirans have known him “for a long time” The mayor will now head to Madeira International Airport where he will board the Air Force aircraft that will transport him to the Portuguese capital to be heard and learn about the coercive measures that will be applied to him It should be remembered that at stake are suspicions of corruption According to a note from the Judiciary Police within the scope of three investigations led by the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action 130 home and non-home searches were carried out in several municipalities in Madeira Pedro Calado (PSD) and two managers from the AFA group took place at 2:15 pm The three detained as part of the investigation into suspected corruption in Madeira are expected to be heard on Friday six magistrates from the Public Ministry and six members of the Technical Advisory Center of the Attorney General’s Office participated in the police operation From Jornal Madeira I hope Miguel Albuquerque will follow Calado in prison too Another one that loves and defends corruption all the big mafia on the island should be shitting themselves now But with over half the island working within the government and public services but there are still others to look at #Sousas Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email The Estrelacoop - Cooperative of Serra da Estrela Cheese Producers has begun the application process of having Serra da Estrela DoP cheese added to the Unesco list of “intangible cultural heritage”.  According to Joaquim Lé de Matos, the process has two stages: the first related to preparing the application which will be done by their technical team and the second concerns fundraising to support the preparation of the process to be submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) "We already have an identified team and right now we are in the fundraising phase but Estrelacoop is taking the steps so that this is a reality" said the responsible to Lusa during the inauguration of the 46th Fair of Cheese Serra da Estrela de Seia which runs until Tuesday in the Municipal Market and in the surrounding area The president of Estrelacoop would like this year to close the process related to the technical team and the sources of funding of the application the work of preparing the application "may take a year and a half to two years" "I even pointed to 2024 [that we already have the whole process complete but it's all work [that's] still to be done and we're going to work on that," he promised Joaquim Lé de Matos said he had already met with "potential people who will be part of the coordination of the technical and scientific team" The purpose of Estrelacoop is to recognize the process of "knowing how to make" Serra da Estrela cheese produced with sheep's milk from Serra da Estrela or Churra Mondegueira breeds The responsible added that the application will involve all partners related to the production of the cheese Serra da Estrela DOP including the Municipal Councils that integrate the Demarcated Region (Carregal do Sal is the DOP management group of Serra da Estrela and Serra da Estrela Velho cheeses the Serra da Estrela curd and Serra da Estrela lamb The cheese produced in the mountains is in the spotlight until Tuesday at the Seia fair where two dozen local producers participate with a total of 100 exhibitors from various areas is dedicated "to the wide promotion of cheese and other local products" such as their bread three cheese producers acknowledged that the event helps to market the product at this time of year when the region is visited by many tourists "The only guarantee that the consumer has is that the cheese originates from bordaleira Serra da Estrela sheep" he said which produces PDO cheese (sold at 22.5 euros a kilo) and for 15 euros without this certificate said that the certificate is the most sought after The luxurious Benz 8/20HP Grand Landaulet is every bit as grand as the name suggests the Grand Landaulet was mainly a Chauffer driven affair operated the vehicle from the more exposed section at the front while the owners benefited from the added comfort of a luxurious cabin Optional extras for this Benz were limited to acetylene lanterns and a horn But the model itself enjoyed a relatively peaceful existence until its obsolescence Its main extravagance was in the sheer choice of carriages available to the owners who could opt for several open and closed body types António de Matos Cid opted for the most refined carriage of them all; the bulky and expensive Landau The Landaulet body fitted to this car weighs in at a whopping 200 kg more than for example a more open and less ostentatious carriage The additional weight called for a much greater effort from the four-cylinder engine which was split into two blocks as was standard for the time as suggested by the name was enough to pull the Benz up to 65 km/h meaning that it had a nominal output of 8 horsepower and a peak output of 20 when pushed António de Matos Cid acquired the 20HP chassis from José da Silva Monteiro a Portuguese Benz dealer who was based in Porto and very well built with some highly advanced mechanics such as the four-speed gearbox the Benz was discovered hidden amongst other cars in a stately garage by João de Lacerda José Maria Sobral Cid – grandson of António de Matos Cid he agreed to offer it to Museu do Caramulo for restoration Although the closed carriage compartment was in perfect condition restoration of the rest of the car took three years to complete the Benz 20HP has covered more than 3,000km some of them in races like the Raid Figueira da Foz-Lisboa Below is a list of the 10 cheapest and also most expensive municipalities to buy propety in Portugal.  just one kilometre from Faro's city centre "This is one of the largest projects in both the Algarve and Portugal," says Finangeste in a statement The project is being developed in partnership with an undisclosed international investor The plan includes the construction of 1,641 residential units Based on data from the past 55 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900 there are about 58 quakes on average per year in or near Coimbra Coimbra has had at least 8 quakes above magnitude 4 since 1970 which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently probably on average approximately every 5 to 10 years The quake had a very shallow depth of 11 km (7 mi) and was too small to be felt by people Coimbra has had 10 quakes of magnitude 2.0 or above There have been also 23 quakes below magnitude 2.0 which people don't normally feel 2025 at 6.36 pm local time (Europe/Lisbon GMT +1) The quake had a very shallow depth of 5 km (3.1 mi) and was reported felt by some people near the epicenter.