Why is it that the long-established second-home resorts in the Algarve have managed to steer mostly clear of the ill winds of the recession?
They may only be separated by 170-odd miles, but when it comes to comparing the fortunes of the two high-end tourism hubs of the Iberian peninsula, it really is a tale of two coasts. As the glitzy Costa del Sol, tarnished by corruption and over-building, limps out of a slump, Portugal's central Algarve quietly treads a smoother path.