Algarve news and information portal - AlgarveMais

Five star hotels in the Algarve are looking to attract more overseas tourists by appealing to those wanting to improve their health, by offering specialised spa treatments and medical assistance that is cheaper than in tourists’ home countries. Over the next five years around a dozen new private hospitals and clinics aimed at ‘health-tourism’ will open, tripling the current number of available beds.

Imo Pan Iberian Retail, the property investment fund managed by Imorendimento, completed the acquisition of a site located in Guia, Albufeira, in the Algarve Region, in order to develop a new shopping center, the Algarve Gran Plaza. The site was sold by local company Urbanipera. The fund plans to invest €88 million in the development of this new retail project, an amount that also includes the site's acquisition. The project already has a commercial licence and is scheduled to be open in May 2010.

The president of the ACP, the Automóvel Clube de Portugal, said he was pleased that the rally had been confirmed; it will take place in the Algarve between 2nd and 5th April despite the fact that they had not got the rewards they wanted as regards last year’s race, which did not count towards the corresponding world championship. Carlos Barbosa told the Lusa agency that they had reached an agreement with the government and had managed to secure the necessary support to stage the rally which is the most important sporting event after the European Football Championship in 2004.