Madeira News Blog

Well the journey started badly as m’ blog team set sail, with storms a’blowin’ and worse predicted … no that’s a bit tooooo dramatic. Actually we got on a plane, and that’s where this blog is getting typed. We started off the trip by bus at 8.15am, changed buses in Funchal, and arrived at the airport around 10am. The smoker castigation has already started there, with new restrictions already in force, with lots of bright new shiny signs. The queues for easyjet were the longest I have ever seen, as were the queues through security, so we only just made it in time. About 20 minutes late leaving Madeira, and facing heavy headwinds, we are already destined to be somewhat late, which is a bit of a bummer as we have vital supplies being delivered at 5pm (courtesy of tesco.com).

Nice plane this easyjet airbus A319627784-1.75, except it suffers with excessive turbulance. Nice and clean, big more legroom than usual, and the usual slightly grumpy looking staff … I think it’s because they don’t have any free grub to give away and feel guilty (and so they should). No frills, no entertainment, does exactly what it says on the fuselage. Surprised to see Sam Cox’s name (Madeira Times website) in the inflight magazine, even more surprised to see an inflight magazine!

Anyway, our major study of how the public place smoking ban has affected the UK pub trade is due to start tonight, in Weston-super-Mare (also known locally as w-s-mud). It’s going to be a tough endurance test for sure, but a well deserved exclusive for our readers.

OK, a quick look at today’s Diario Cidade (free at the SAM Bus Station), front page about domestic violence and the fact that 98.6% of the victims who go to the support centres are female. There’s a good reason for that, an important statistic that seems to have been missed out … 98.6 % of male victims of domestic violence are too embarrased to go for help, we go to the pub instead, leaving just 1.4 left to go to the support centres (the 1.4% of incidents probably happening outside pub opening hours). Sorry, its no laughing matter.

Finally, a story about the forged euro bank notes in circulation. During the first 6 months of this year 265,000 forged banknotes have been removed from circulation in Europe, mostly being €50 notes. Not too much danger in my neck of the woods, as most people have probably never seen one, and the chances of most local businesses having change for one is almost zilch.

Next report live from the Raglan Pub w-s-m … don’t miss it!

www.madeira4u.com

The beer company ‘Coral’ wants to aquire more customers and boost sales by producing over a million litres in 2008 of a new beer called ‘Coral Classica’.  This new beer is “more sophisticated” and more expensive than its current range, in that it uses a malt used in the manufacture of whiskeys, and its a slightly stronger brew than the normal Coral. It has taken 15 months to get to the launch stage.

Over the last year, Coral produced around 20 million litres + soft drinks and sales of imported products, turning over in the order of 55 million Euros.

Some questions :

3. If Coral wants to produce and sell over 1 million litres of this beer in 2008, you have to ask how a virtual monopoly business is going to increase its beers sales on an island with a static population, and with roughly the same number of tourists arriving each year. Coral want us to drink more beer!

OK, I am fully supportive of the objective to increase Coral’s beer sales, and am willing to do my best to help, but not by drinking more expensive ’sophisticated’ beers.

www.madeira4u.com

Source :  Diário de Notícias 27-11-2007

The holder of the biggest private collection of live insects of the world, is interested in creating an “insectário” on Madeira.  He plans to find a permanent space for the around 1,300 species captured by himself over the years from around four corners of the world. 

This is intended to be a tourist attraction, as well as a scientific study facility.

After the troubles with this new mosquito that has made its home here, I just hope he keeps them all well locked up!

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A couple of foreigners were detained on Sunday night, in Funchal, by Police on suspicion of drug trafficing. Their nationality has not been disclosed (anyone want to take a bet?)

The police operation resulted in the confiscation of around 13,670 individual doses of heroine, as well as 3,570 euros, and five mobile phones.

They will be locked up in the police station where they will probably be bitten to death by the aforementioned mosquitos (see earlier blog).

No …. seriously, what the hell were they doing with 5 mobile phones! I struggle to cope with one, I don’t know how to work the darn thing properly, and invariably I forget it when I go out of the house.

www.madeira4u.com

With the new year approaching rapidly, the time to think about quitting smoking as a new year resolution has come to the fore, one reason being the change in the law due that affects bars, cafes & restaurants, due to come into force in January 2008.

Portugal has a high average for the number of smokers. In 2005, around 31% of the male population were smokers, showing a small decline over recent years (32.8% in 1998). Women smokers were on the increase, up from 9.5% to 10.3% over the same period.

Apparently, 55% of those smokers intend to quit.

A bar owner explained to me last night his dilemma in the situation, saying that the total ban that has come into force in several European countries should have been the model for the new Portuguese law, and not the half baked measures now proposed. The bar in question has no outside seating area, and if he banned smoking he would lose all his smoking customers to the bar up the road. If he allows smoking, it will cost several thousand euros for the smoke extraction equipment and installation required by law, a price he cannot justify, and possibly not afford.

The madeira4u blog & news research team is going to go to great lengths and expense to research the situation further, with a visit to a European country that has recently introduced a total ban on smoking in pubs & restaurants. There, between beers, we will sample the smoke free air in many establishments, and report back on the effects the ban has had on businesses, customers, and smokers in general. This is expected to be a tough assignment,  spending long hours in real live situations, but we think you madeira4u blog readers are worth the trouble and expense, and deserve real quality on-the-spot reporting. Monitor this blog for exciting updates!

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A bad weekend for football on Madeira, with both Nacional & Marítimo losing their games. Porto seem to be running away with the points at the moment, but it’s still early days.

The draw for the 2010 World Cup group qualifiers has been made. Portugal are in group 1, along with Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, & Malta. A stiff challenge, but could have been much worse.

www.madeira4u.com

No major stories in todays press, but still plenty of aftermath about the big rock fall in Câmara de Lobos last week. Did you see the size of those rocks?!?

Well that seems to have started a bit of a panic, with the whole island now in danger of collapsing into the sea. I saw a map in yesterdays paper, with a number of red bits and tags. Unfortunately my head wasn’t switched to translation mode, owing to the effects of two large glasses of this years new red wine, but I did notice that the town where I live there was a big big red tag. But we already had a big rock collapse 2 years ago, when half a mountain slipped into the harbour. Surely it can’t be our turn again!

Anyway, in todays paper there an interview with a man who has his house precariously perched on the top of a wobbly looking cliff, somewhat concerned as to when its come to come down.

Other weird happenings stories of the day are :

CaboTV now has 88,000 homes ‘wired up’  … they sting me for nearly €60 a month (including internet) so lets see … if TV costs about €20 a month for the basic package, that’s comes to €1.8m per month, or 21 million eurobucks a year, and that’s leaving out the premium channels, the internet, and their new phone service. Not bad work if you can get it … it’s nice to be a monopoly!

Anyone tried that new TV company on Madeira yet ? (There’s a blog about it a few weeks back)

Apparently, if you buy vegetables at the various Sunday markets, you will pay 25% less than you used to … I wish someone would tell them at Sã-doce-modelo, their veg just seems to go up and up. I am even eating the potato peelings now in an effort to save on our weekly shopping bills.

There was one more story, but I seem to have lost it, about the rise in the numbers of twins / multiple births in Portugal increasing by 70%, I think it was in about the last 10 years. Now that has to be global warming, even the the collapsing island and potato prices aren’t!

www.madeira4u.com

Just reading a travel bulletin board where someone wrote in complaining about the pesky timeshare people in Funchal, and the amount of times they got stopped whilst here on holiday.

Having lived here for 4 years, I can honestly say I have never been stopped once, let alone been hassled by anyone. In fact the last time I remember ever being stopped was on the Canary Islands, many years ago, and although I wasn’t rude to the guy (I just said I was too busy and not interested) he then proceeded to follow me through town and try and tell me that the scratch card he was holding was a guaranteed winner for a video camera. Eventually he lost interest … that is until the next day when he saw me again.

I am not keen on this sort of hassle, especially when on holiday, so I can sympathise a bit with the people who complained.

Now I hear you ask … how have I managed to go 4 years without ever being stopped. The answer is easy … I just don’t into Funchal. I have a close friend who works in time share, so I hear a lot about what goes on, and it sounds a fascinating world, with a sprinkling of alcoholics and drug addicts, where everyone knows each others business, and where after work meet-ups with a few beers are used to analyse the days events and soothe the stresses.

I hear times are hard at the moment, and that success and failure are seasonal beasts, yet I also hear of new ventures and shake-ups in the timeshare world that would indicate the industry is alive and well.

You guys have a tough job, and I admire you for your courage in doing something I could never do … and it just remains to say that with a bit of politeness and mutual respect from both sides, I don’t see why anyone should have cause to complain.

www.madeira4u.com 

Source : Diário de Notícias 23/11/2007

I guess most people have heard by now about the huge rockfall in Câmara de Lobos that killed two workers that went out for a cigarette. Judging by the pictures in todays paper, it seems fortunate that the fall wasn’t further along the cliff, where there is a large building that would probably have been buried with far more severe consequences.

Don’t forget that the first switching on of christmas lights in Funchal takes place tonight. Unfortunately us country bumpkins can’t afford to go, and we will have to wait for our own local displays to materialise, which under the threat of budget cuts could be a little disappointing.

Charter flights direct between London Gatwick Airport and Porto Santo Island, operated by the British holiday company Atlantic Holidays will commence in 2008. The first flight is planned for Monday 5th May, and every Monday running through to 27th October using a Boeing 737-300 operated by XL Airways with the capacity for 179 people. A GB Airways flight was also planned, but is on hold for the time being, but with new hotel capacity becoming available it is known that other operators are interested in operating flights direct to Porto Santo.

Much more flight news and information for Madeira, & Porto Santo here:

http://www.madeira4u.com/m4u_Travel/travel_flights.html

I am somewhat amazed by the new services that have started, and the new flights that have been announced, and I am so glad now that I never brought that house we liked in Santa Cruz!

www.madeira4u.com