Portuguese motorway opens after 36 years

Portugal tonight finally opened a 150 mile motorway from Lisbon to the Algarve, 36 years after work began.

Prime Minister Jose Durao Barroso cancelled the opening ceremony and it was replaced with a religious service because two motorway workers were killed by an iron girder yesterday.

Their trade union said the rush to complete the final 39 mile stretch was a factor in the deaths of 14 workers killed in accidents building the road in the past 18 months.

Work started on the motorway in 1966, but it has been held up by environmental impact studies, protests by communities it passes through and a suspension of EU funding due to lack of consultation with local authorities.