there's an announcement in The Portugal News, which I saw on facebook, that there's to be a general strike in Portugal next Wednesday, 24th November with a headline that 'all' flights to and from Portugal will be cancelled, (I have no idea whether that's completely true) and that anybody planning to fly on that day should rebook.

www.theportugalnews.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=1088-2

And the customs people are talking about extending it to the 25th and 26th also. Without customs the airport can't operate.

Is this a threat or is it a dead cert?

A threat.

EasyJet already announced on Wednesday of this week that their scheduled Gatwick - Faro flight on 24th November is cancelled.

Ryan Air have cancelled a few flights on 23rd and a lot on the 24th

just seen on the news, Ryanair cancelling 60 flights alone tomorrow, hundreds of others expected, these things often have a slightly suicidal feel about them; this isn't going to do anybody any good

I try to be as positive about the way things are done in Portugal as I can despite the comments of large numbers of moaning expats ( god knows why they chose to move to Portugal ).
However given the depth of the current economic crisis with more to come it is not only this strike that concerns me but the lack of a dynamic business approach.

I have a UK customer who wants to place an order but he is finding it very difficult to get a response from the company concerned, it is almost as if individuals seek to make life as complicated as possible.

It has taken the UK decades to realise that customers have a choice ( and this was only realised after much of UK manufacturing went out of business in the face of better and cheaper overseas competition ).

THe phrase export or die could never be more relevant than in these times but I fear that much of Portuguese industry will go the way of the UK before those few survivors realise that this is the only way forward for them and Portugal.

EMM wrote:I try to be as positive about the way things are done in Portugal as I can despite the comments of large numbers of moaning expats ( god knows why they chose to move to Portugal ).
However given the depth of the current economic crisis with more to come it is not only this strike that concerns me but the lack of a dynamic business approach.

well, EMM, welcome to the legions of moaning expats, welcome aboard.
You are only making an opinion on what you see and feel which is what certainly I, and I guess others would say; you don't have to blindly suck up everything that's thrown at you, thats the value and power of democracy, and freedom of speech.

This lovely little country is in deep 'do do' right now, the introduction of the Euro here was very inflationary and it looks like the exit may be exactly the same, a weakened currency will, as you say, make imports significantly more expensive so all our weekly shopping bills will rise yet again.

I'm concerned for the ordinary working Portuguese man (and woman); utilities, especially electricity are already incredibly expensive here, fuel costs go up and up, we're soon to be charged to drive on our little motorway; I often ask myself and others, how on earth do the locals manage to live? it's now very expensive. Any round of strikes will deter people from coming here so I'm worried.

I so agree Sunman..I like the ordinary Portuguese and feel for them.They were always kind to us when we lived there.

Left Faro airport last night (like a ghost town). All flights for today look like they had been cancelled.

Gary

Gary/Gaynor wrote:All flights for today look like they had been cancelled.

They were cancelled last Saturday