Madeira News Blog

TODAYS PHOTO : Thanks to “J” … it is forbidden to take photos in the Theatre in Funchal for the musical “Les Miserables”, so I cannot possibly say where or when this was taken.

Source : Diário de Notícias 29/4/2008

Top story is the shocker about rice! Prices are forecast to shoot up by 50% by the end of this year. The reason … India and Venezuela are to suspend exportation, with the possibility of Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil and Egypt following suit. A local spokesman believes that eventually the price of rise could double.

ESSENTIAL RICE FACTS: 15 kgs of rice is consumed annually, on average, by each Portuguese person. World rice consumption rose from 415.6 millions of tons in 2005 for 424.2 millions in 2007. Portugal is self-sufficient in ‘carolino’ rice, but imports approximately 50% of it’s total rice needs, mainly from French Guyana and Thailand. 

It’s a big public holiday here tomorrow ‘The Day of the worker’, with some special sporting and musical events planned around Madeira. The regional secretary for Madeira said that there is good cause to celebrate given “that the regional economy continues dynamic and that there are two consecutive months that  unemployment in the Region has diminished”. Oh my God! Is that party political BS or what? Probably half the island has left to find jobs elsewhere, or starved to death ‘cos it couldn’t possibly be politicians telling lies or manipulating statistics. As for the dynamic economy … I am left speechless by such utter *!”??* €£@ç.

Don’t leave it to late to book your TAP ‘€1′ flights, out of the 20,000 seats mentioned in last weeks blog, nearly 4,500 have already sold. Perhaps that’s how the government influences unemployment figures … they get TAP to do a promotion to ship out all the unemployed whilst the government counts who is left.

Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United will be feeling pretty smug today, as he and his team mates ‘earned’ a place in the Champions League final after a pretty average performance last night against Barcelona. Their opponents will be either Chelsea or Liverpool, to be decided tonight. Whichever it may be, there is only one team that the Madeirans will be supporting on the big day.

Had the Modelo new sale flyer yesterday morning, as usual big enough to wallpaper the bathroom. Highly unusual for it to arrive on the first day of the new offers … they at least wait until everything is sold out. The ‘sale’ has nearly 50 items at 50% discount (on their loyalty card), including some of life essentials such as beer, wine, and …. rice!

I expect there will already be a ‘rice stampede’ by the time you read this, and unfortunately it’s too late for me to join in … as it’s the big journey later today. I have plans to do a blog tomorrow if I can get internet access, so please don’t wander off!

Sheila’s brand new May update for SPAD and animal news is online . Please take a look, and help in any way you can … many thanks from us both.

http://www.madeira4u.com/m4u_RI/resources_i_zz_animal_news_madeira.html

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses, please send any unreported Madeira news, photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – thank you!

TODAYS PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … this is the ‘Bis Bis’ bird I am told … it looks very tame.

Source : Diário de Notícias 28/4/2008

A 26 year old Madeiran man from São Vicente was shot dead in Venezuela after he witnessed an armed robbery.

In an effort to ease the dependence on oil based products, a new project under the banner ‘Foundation Excalibur’ is going to use a budget in excess of €1 million to create a bio-diesel production facility. Using ‘microalgas’ (I think these are to do with organisms that convert solar energy) and maybe used oil. Sometime in the future it should be able to sell its energy production.

A story seemingly aimed at highlighting poverty features a 3 year old girl named Laura, who lives in Cancela. She walks around barefoot, and lives in a small dwelling (looks like a mobile home in the photo) with 11 other family members that is her great grandmothers home, where they sleep on the floor, and the where the roof has needed fixing for the last 8 years.

I remember back around 4 years ago, someone told me that there were very few sheep on Madeira because they government has forced sheep farmers to remove their animals from the mountain ranges (I recall, without certainty, that it was because the sheep cause so much damage through their feeding, and facilitate land erosion). The article refers to the confiscation of some sheep stocks. The supreme court which deals with such matters has now said that the action was wrong, and that farmers have the right to graze sheep in the mountain ranges, within certain rules.

The 200,000 escaped Dourada fish (or what’s left of them) have apparently moved around to the north on the island now. Unusually high numbers of fishermen with bucket loads of ‘catch’ have been reported at Porto Moniz and Santana.

Saturday night’s concert by Blasted Mechanism on Calheta beach was a busy night for the emergency services. 8 people were admitted to hospital in Funchal with alcoholic ‘poisoning’, 5 of which were in a coma and in possible life-threatening conditions. The idiots involved ranged from a 15 year old local girl, to a 38 year old English woman … the ambulance service and hospital will no doubt be sending you a hefty bill!

A survey/report on the price of ferry trips from around Europe reveals that the Porto Santo line ferry ‘Lobo Marino’ charges reasonable prices. Compared with prices charged for ferries in the Canary Island, Ireland,  Scotland and others it came out as good value. I just had a look at the Porto Santo Line website, and a day return trip this week would cost over €60. As it’s a 100km round trip, I reckon that’s around the same price that a taxi would charge for that distance (that’s local rates, not tourist  prices).

I have had several enquiries about the new vehicle tax system, and how to renew or apply for car tax. I have written a simple procedure for anyone who might need it. It’s on the main website, under DRIVING, in the RESOURCES & INFORMATION section.

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses, please send any unreported Madeira news, photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – thank you!

TODAYS PHOTO : Thanks to Helen … the jet ski competition held at the weekend in Funchal

Source : Diário de Notícias 27/4/2008

It’s the season for sugar cane, broad beans and new potatoes, but nothing that makes any money. Farmers keep their land going because it’s what they do best, and their families have done if for generations, and money is the last motivation because it’s just not worth the effort put in. With the younger generations finding more ‘attractive’ ways to make a living, so much land is under threat of abandonment (in terms of agriculture) as the older generations pass away.

In an article about the increased amount of beach fishing going on along the south coast this year, the Diário questions the fact that much of the fishing takes place in public and designated swimming areas (often where it is prohibited) unchallenged, and goes on to make the point about the danger of fishing hooks that get left in the water. (That had never occurred to me, but it sounds quite unpleasant). Those beaches are also likely to be particularly busy as there are several facilities and beach areas still out of action due to the storm damage this month.

Along with the hot weather comes the annual problem of forest fires, either through negligence or intent. 6 fires were attended to on Saturday in Ribeira Brava, Machico, and Câmara de Lobos.

A new catamaran is due to arrive in Madeira today, to join the growing fleet of boats servicing the tourist industry. It cost €650,000 and has the capacity for 50 passengers. Equipped with a bar and audiovisual system, it also has 2 bathrooms.

Another article looks at the strong possibility of privatising Madeira airport, saying that doing so would make it more aggressive and dynamic. Hmmm … as it’s the only airport we have, and we are on an island, I am not sure that would be a good thing … at least not without some strong legislation about it’s operating procedures.

Nacional got a 3 – nil walloping at home yesterday … on current form I dread to think what will happen next week when they play at Porto! Marítimo put up a good fight playing at Sporting yesterday, but lost in the end.

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses, please send any unreported Madeira news, photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – thank you!