Caniço gun stash, Taxi driver punch-up, Operation Easter, Return of BA?, Vania
TODAYS PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … A view from Madelena do Mar
Source : Diário de Notícias 27/3/2008
In May 2006, a man from Caniço was apprehended and a ‘collection’ of 47 fire arms seized, including 8 automatic weapons, in the biggest gun seizure of all times on Madeira. That’s a relief … you would think. However, the Police have been ordered by the courts to return the weapons to the owner, with an apology. It was found that they had all been legitimately obtained ‘by post’ by the owner, who as a result of the police action had been fired from his job and branded a ‘criminal’, and he now intends to take a civil action against the authorities.
A little worrying that you can order guns by post, let alone accumulate such a large collection. What’s even more worrying is that the man’s name and place of abode have been published, so lets hope we don’t get to read about some nutter going to burgle his house with god knows what in mind.
8.30pm on Monday night saw a punch up at Madeira Airport between two taxi drivers, trying to entice the same client into their cabs for a ride to the visitor’s hotel in Funchal. One worked regularly for the particular hotel, and the other was soliciting for business .. which resulted in “applying him a punch in the face”. To quote the Diário, “this episode was the culmination of many other situations of illegal competition that continue to proliferate at the airport.” I wonder what they mean by that, taxi drivers breaking the law … surely no one is going to swallow that?
During the police crackdown ‘Operation Easter’, which finished on Monday, 486 drivers were breath tested and 19 found over the legal alcohol limit. All in all, 27 people were detained.
Source : Diário de Notícias 28/3/2008
British Airways (BA) longstanding grip on UK to Madeira flights (via GB airways) technically come to an end on Monday, when everything officially and legally becomes Easyjet. So who would have expected to read in today’s newspaper that BA would be applying to introduce new flights between the UK and Madeira? Possibly 5 a week. The application has to be approved by the authorities here, who seemingly have to overcome some problems, but given the prestige of BA (what!), the response is likely to be favourable. That raises lots of questions, especially about the Easyjet acquisition of GB Airways and what terms were imposed. However, as Easyjet’s prices seem to be creeping upwards in a monopolistic manner, then it should be good news for both travellers and Madeira alike.
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Us lucky people in the vicinity of Ribeira Brava are going to get a free live performance from Vânia in May. Winner of the Portuguese equivalent of ‘Pop Idol’ and the representative for Portugal in the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest, this will be a real treat for the locals who only normally get to see ‘big name’ acts when the PSD (ruling political party) tries to ‘bribe’ everyone at election time. I saw her perform last year, and she is a very good jazz singer.
20h30 live football tonight on SportTV V. Guimarães v Marítimo
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