Madeira News Blog

International, Portugal & Madeira News from Paul Abbiati:

Again, thankyou for the contributions from Peter and other blog readers in the comments section on the termination of the Madeira-Portimão Sea Transport

Events this weekend some with free admission in Madeira include:

Saturday
-The GCEA dance group Kaleidoscope will present a show at 20h30, in The Centro Cultural John dos Passos at Ponta do Sol
-The Ensemble XXI of The Orquestra Clássica da Madeira present a concert at 9pm in The Salão Nobre da autarquia do Funchal

-Art exhibition at The Centro Cívico da Ponta do Pargo in Calheta region titled ‘Art West 3 -Islands and Men’ paintings by Ruben Freitas (Madeira) e Carlos Mota (Açores)
-The Madeira Mandolin Orchestra presents at 9 p.m. in the English Church, Funchal “Light Classics” by Vivaldi – Ketélbey – V Monti – Waldteufel and Franz Liszt.

Sunday
-Boot Sale in Funchal?

Madeira’s Financial Adjustment Programme

From Bloomberg BusinessWeek:

At a Press Conference broadcast by SIC Noticias TV station from Madeira on Friday evening Portugal Madeira’s Leader Alberto Joao Jardim said that the Portuguese Government will grant about 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) in emergency aid to Madeira to help the semi-autonomous island region repay debt, Madeira

Jardim said “The sustainability of the region’s debt is guaranteed” and that the region will pay the same interest rate Portugal is paying for its international aid plan.

Under the so-called adjustment program, Jardim said that Madeira’s government will:
-increase VAT,
-cut public workers’ summer and Christmas salary payments,
-reduce the public workforce and
-sell state-owned companies to raise money, Jardim said.

Those steps mirror actions the national government is taking to meet the terms of its 78 billion-euro bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-27/madeira-to-receive-1-5-billion-euros-in-aid-from-portugal.html

From CNN:

“The archipelago will have 15 years to pay off the loan starting in 2016, Jardim said Friday.”

“The local government hopes to collect about $140 million in extra revenue this year, which means the bulk of the effort to pay back the aid will come from taxpayers…”

“The Lisbon-based government will transfer the 1.5 billion euros to Madeira until 2031..”

link: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/28/world/europe/portugal-madeira-funds/index.html

Churches of Madeira: Igreja de São Pedro, Saint Peter’s Church Funchal 1590-

“The construction of the Church began in 1590 and it was completed in 1743. The interior of the church is decorated with seventeenth century tiles which cover all nave walls, the main chapel and the sacristy. The other notable main decoration of this church are the paintings, gold and silver works and furniture from the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.”

images from the official Facebook pages of Madeira Tourism

All images from Diario Newspaper unless otherwise stated

International, Portugal & Madeira News from Paul Abbiati:

Thankyou for the contributions from Peter in the comments section on the termination of the Madeira-Portimão Sea Transport

Boot Sale Funchal Sunday?

Mercado de Agricultura Biológica, Largo da Restauração, Funchal, every Tuesday

71% of consumers classified the market as very good or excellent

An opinion poll Survey conducted by the Government, The Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e Recursos Naturais (SRARN), had the following findings:

consumers were:

“muito satisfeitos com o projecto. 71% dos inquiridos (num total de 137 compradores) classificam o Mercado de Agricultura Biológico como muito bom ou excelente e cerca de 62% considera que os produtos apresentam uma muito boa, ou excelente, relação preço/qualidade. 97% dos clientes fizeram uma apreciação global entre boa e excelente.”

Full article from the Diario Newspaper: http://www.dnoticias.pt/impressa/diario/304273/madeira/304322-consumidores-rendidos-ao-mercado-biologico

Free violin and clarinet concert at Centro de História do Atlântico, Funchal 9pm, Friday night performed by students of Madeira’s Conservatório

Near perfection doesn’t save Mourinho

From the BBC: “Barcelona survived a late fightback by Real Madrid to secure their passage through to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey with a 4-3 aggregate win.”

From Portugal Daily View:

Mission impossible: to recover from a home game 1-2 deficit in Camp Nou… Or so it seemed. Real Madrid came out of the box swinging hard, stopping Barça’s tiki-taka and creating three clear chances to score. Madrid’s players seemed to be everywhere and recovered the ball quickly and high in the field. Everything was nearly perfect, going as planned. Well, all except for those pesky efforts which either hit the woodwork, went wide or Pinto stopped.

The problem of facing the best club in the world is that it usually has the best player in the world. As such, Messi pulled a moment of magic from his pocket, assisting Pedro Rodriguez (of whom no defender seemed to be aware of…) in what was the first dagger stuck into Madrid’s hopes. Out of nowhere Barcelona quashed any chances Real had to reach the semis and keep defending its Copa del Rey trophy.

Barely recovered from the goal, Real was already down by two just before the break. Dani Alves achieved perfection when his one-time shot was only stopped by the top corner of Casillas’ net. One of those moments which in itself is worth the price of admission to the best football match in the world. At half-time Real’s almost perfect performance resulted in a 0-2 deficit (1-4 on aggregate), and all Barcelona needed were two minutes… It’s tough to compete with absolute perfection.

Full article: http://www.portugaldailyview.com/01-whats-new/football-when-near-perfection-is-just-not-enough

Portugal’s airports busier in 2011

From Portugal News:

“Last year airport’s run by national Airport Management Company ANA saw a 6.7 percent rise in passenger figures, compared to 2010.

Overall, between January and December 2011, 27.6 million passengers passed through an ANA airport; 1.8 million more than during 2010.

Figures show a noticeable rise, of 9.9 percent, in the number of people travelling within the traditional sector. Market-wise, growth was noted from the UK, France and Spain.

National flag-carrier TAP showed a rise in passenger figures of 38.2 percent;
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair experienced growth of 13.7 percent, followed by easyJet, with 12.5 percent.

Together the three airlines make up nearly two thirds (64.4 percent) of ANA airports’ global traffic.

EasyJet, Europe’s second largest budget airline, says its quarterly revenue jumped thanks to things like more business travellers flying with it

Comparing December 2011 to the same month of the year before, ANA airport passenger traffic during the first showed a drop of 0.4 percent in relation to the latter.

The biggest boosts in figures came from France and Germany

Nationality-wise, the biggest boosts in figures came from France and Germany. ANA highlighted positive efforts from UK low-cost airline easyJet and German national airline Lufthansa.

Lisbon’s Portela Airport saw a growth in passengers of 1.1 percent, though Faro Airport (Algarve) and the Azores Airport, both managed by ANA, saw drops of 8.8 and 7.2 percent respectively.

Figures at Oporto’s Sá Carneiro Airport remained unchanged.

Lisbon Airport: exclusive family area

In related news, this week Lisbon Airport inaugurated an exclusive family area.

On Tuesday, 24 January, a space dedicated to families was opened in the airport’s departures area with the aim of making the experience of travelling with children a more comfortable and enjoyable one.

The area includes a microwave for heating food, a bottle warmer, food and hygiene product vending machines, games for children, and comfortable sofas.

It was inaugurated under the airport’s ‘Family Airport’ sub-brand, which aims to identify ANA airports as family-friendly infrastructures…”

http://www.theportugalnews.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=1149-4

€37mn upgrade planned at Mitsubishi truck plant

From Portugal News:

“The Portuguese government declared an expansion plan at the Mitsubishi Fuso Truck Europe plant to be of “strategic interest”, offering incentives and opening the way for an investment of nearly €37 million by German owner Daimler.

MFTE plant at Tramagal in central Portugal will upgrade technical capacity and double work force to 675

Under the plan, the MFTE plant at Tramagal in central Portugal will upgrade technical capacity and more than double its work force to 675 to build a new model of the light CANTER truck, which is exported to more than 30 European markets. Officials estimated the upgrade and expansion will allow sales worth a total of €3.3 billion through 2020…”

All images from Diario Newspaper unless otherwise stated

International, Portugal & Madeira News from Paul Abbiati:

Madeira-Portimão Sea Transport

The Commercial Director of Naviera Armas, Javier Jalvo Garcia comes to Madeira this Thursday to explain communications announcements that the Spanish company that runs the passenger ferry freight service between Madeira and Portimao is going to end the service and the reasons for the communications announcements.

link to Diario Newspaper article

http://www.dnoticias.pt/impressa/diario/304068/economia/304178-decisao-da-armas-depende-de-aumento-do-frete

Telegraph article: ‘How to save money in Portugal’

“In these tough financial times, Portugal looks like a particularly attractive option for a summer holiday. It is cheap and easy to get to for independent travellers, and it offers some of the best-value package holidays in the eurozone. If you avoid touristy bars and restaurants and eat and drink with the locals instead, you can save even more.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/budgettravel/9040549/How-to-save-money-in-Portugal.html

Madeira’s Financial Assistance Programme

Madeira’s Leader agrees bailout conditions with Portugal’s Government

From Portugal Daily View:

“After several months of negotiations and a final five-hour long meeting, Alberto João Jardim, leader of the regional government, agreed with Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho and Minister of Finance Vítor Gaspar on the terms for a new loan for the island.

Madeira will be bailed out by the central government after a deal was signed Wednesday by the leader of the regional government with the same conditions of the Portuguese rescue loan.

The loan will have the same conditions of the rescue package signed by Portugal last May with the so-called troikaeven if Jardim insisted on more favourable terms for the repayment.

The bailout will mean consolidation efforts through the implementation of austerity measures in order to balance the island’s tight budget: this “tough” programme, according to Jardim, will imply, among other measures, an increase of VAT rates to 5%, 12% and 22% and the capping of public investment at €150m.

However, Thursday’s edition of Diário de Notícias reveals that the autonomous region could ask for a 2.5% slice of the revenue from the privatisation of state-owned airline TAP, postal services CTT and airport operator ANA, proportional to the island’s demographic weight.

link to full article:

http://www.portugaldailyview.com/01-whats-new/madeira-leader-agrees-bailout-conditions-with-portugals-government

The National Financial Assistance Programme for Madeira Region will be presented at a Press Conference on Thursday or Friday Afternoon in Funchal following a 5 hour meeting at São Bento, Lisboa between Pedro Passos Coelho and Alberto João Jardim last Wednesday.

Frida Kahlo tribute shows at Casa das Mudas Art Centre Calheta

O Centro das Artes Casa das Mudas in Calheta presents tribute shows at 9pm on Friday night and 7pm on Saturday night to Frida Kahlo

The performances are by post graduate students from The Ensino de Educação Visual e Tecnológica, do Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal (Escola Superior da Educação)
link to article: http://www.dnoticias.pt/impressa/diario/304068/5-sentidos/304163-frida-kahlo-inspira-espectaculo-de-alunos

Madeira’s natural pools are a great place for swimming, sunbathing, diving or simply to relax

From Official Tourism Facebook pages:

“Porto Moniz is well known for its open-air swimming pools, which are the result of the volcanic activity during Madeira Island’s formation, being mostly formed by reefs in the coastal lava rocks. Walkways and bridges connect the naturally formed rock pools.
These natural pools are a great place for swimming, sunbathing, diving or simply to relax. It’s constantly refreshed by the crystal clear waters of the Atlantic as the waves break against the rocks.”

Justice Minister pledges reforms

From Portugal Daily View

“Portuguese Justice Minister Paula Teixeira da Cruz has acknowledged that Portugal still has a justice system that operates differently for the rich and for the poor, but gave assurances that “the state of impunity (for some) is drawing to an end”.

Speaking at a debate Tuesday in Gaia, Cruz said there are “two systems when those with money can make a process go on for ever with appeals and incidents, while the poor cannot”.

The minister said the government was implementing new measures in order to bring judicial inequality to an end.

“We are eliminating delaying tactics and a statute of limitations after a certain stage in the process”, she said.

“We are beginning to see people being detained and arrested that seemed impossible 20 years ago”, she added…”

link: http://www.portugaldailyview.com/

Eusebio: the Black Panther turns 70

From Portugal Daily View

“One of football’s world legends turns seventy this Wednesday, and several personalities from the world of football have gathered to celebrate…”

“Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, a mythical figure in the history of national and international football is 70 years old today – seven decades intertwined with the history of Portuguese club Benfica, whose shirt he paid tribute to time and again with goals, titles and prizes.”

“After scoring nine goals for Portugal in the 1966 World Cup in the UK, Eusébio was crowned best player. Later that year, he also won the Ballon D’Or for best European player.

Today Eusébio will be opening birthday cards from around the world: FIFA president Joseph Blatter, and UEFA, Michel Platini, already sent their messages to the “Black Panther“. “May you continue honouring your club Benfica and your country Portugal. Thank you very much”, wrote Blatter.

Portuguese national team coach Paulo Bento, Portuguese player Luís Figo and the former internationals Pauleta and João Pinto also sent to King of Portuguese football their best wishes on his birthday…”

link: http://www.portugaldailyview.com/01-whats-new/eusebio-the-black-panther-turns-70

All images from Diario Newspaper unless otherwise stated