Madeira News Blog

TODAY’S PHOTO : The ‘Manchester Morris Men’ made their debut at the São Pedro Festival in Ribeira Brava. Got a good appreciative crowd, and it was well publicised on local radio. I stayed long enough to take this photo, but I went in disguise for fear of getting recognised … gives a bad name to men this sort of thing.

Some more photos and captions added today at the bottom of the new webpage Sao Pedro Festa:

http://www.madeira4u.com/m4u_RI/resources_i_zz_sao_pedro_festa_2008_ribeira_b…

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 29/6/2008

President Jardim is in Venezuela visiting Madeiran emigrants. He has already visited London this year for the same reason. Nice Jolly if you can get it, but I can’t imagine the prime minister of my birth county coming to Madeira (except for a holiday of course).

The spokesman of the Regional Command of the PSP (Public Security Police) says that the owners of bars and nightclubs must trust more in the police, in reaction to increases in violent incidents both inside and outside these establishments. He refers to the levels of cooperation received when the PSP attend an incident and try and identify the culprit(s). In the last month there have been at least 4 serious cases of assaults, and the image of Madeira has been tarnished  as a relatively peaceful place for nightime activity. In one of the incidents referred to, a 29 year old footballer  was attacked with a glass in a toilet, and is now blind as a result. The 4 incidents are given as taking place in Funchal, Machico, Água de Pena, and Gaula. I just don’t recognise this side of Madeira … the worst I have ever seen in 5 years is a couple of drunks scuffling on ocassions, and owners of cafes and bars have been eager to call the police the moment trouble starts brewing. The police then normally attend within minutes, and tell the offenders to behave themselves  and go home.

Someone was asking a couple of days ago about the Madeira Classic Car Rally … it was won by a Madeiran, João Mota in a MGB of 1971.

A spiny plant called fusete, and also called Madeiran Berberis, that is endemic to Madeira and is found rarely at high altitudes has been found to have special properties in the treatment of skin cancer. It is being put forward as one the high hopes for the cure of malignant skin cancer or melanoma.  The study has been jointly undertaken by universities in Portugal and America, and a cancer research institute in Spain.

Other News :

The new Madeira based airline FlyMI hopes to have it’s operation up and running for tourist charter flights by the end of this summer, if negotiations to ‘lease’ a Boeing 737-800 are successful. Originally it announced it would start flying next new year, following the delivery of it’s own aircraft of the same type.

It’s ‘Madeira Day’ here tomorrow, a public holiday, so don’t forget that the buses run a different service.

The Bolo de Caco at São Pedro Festa this weekend was out in abundance, but again I saw it being made with just flour and water … no sweet potato. I am begining to wander if I have ever tried the real thing yet. Anyone know if Hiper Sã or Modelo make theirs with the proper recipie?

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses (you can reply direct using the form at the bottom of each blog comments page), please send any unreported Madeira news, photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : São Pedro Festa in Ribeira Brava last night … espetada on the beach was never so popular (for more photos see below)

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 28/6/2008

Yet another weak news day, but I will struggle on.

The official inauguration of the ferry operation for the ‘Volcán of Tijarafe’ takes place in Portimão today, having already taken 3,000 bookings for passengers on return trips (Madeira / Portimão / Canary Islands). Despite support from Madeira and Portuguese governments, the issue of the €30 each way residents subsidy has still not been resolved in the hands of European bureaucrats, and this eventually could impact on the decision whether to operate the ferry service all year round.

Other News :

This year so far SPAD (Protective Society of  Domestic Animals) has taken in 1,528 stray animals, compared to 1,257 in the first half of 2007. SPAD is pretty fed up that it has to do all the work without the necessary human and financial resources, whilst the local councils do nothing, despite it being their role to deal with stray animals … “The current legislation dictates that the towns are the responsible for the idle and wandering animals”.  Even the regular funding for SPAD from Funchal Council has dried up, with no money received since February. SPAD has space for barely 350 dogs and cats but somehow, in the interests of animal welfare, it takes them all in, with the old and sick animals being put down where necessary to make more room.

A dreadful situation for SPAD to have to put animals down to make more space, and it must be pretty soul destroying to think that after the hundreds of free sterilizations they have done, and the massive campaigns they have taken to educate people and raise funds over the last 12 months, that the number of strays handed in is going up and not down. What can we do about it? We can help SPAD directly of course, but if you feel like going to your Câmara (council) office and complaining, here are the relevant laws (very roughly translated, so please don’t blame me if I got a bit wrong) :

Law n.º 315/2003, of 17 of December – article 2º paragraph Z – names town councils as a “Competent Authority” (ie takes responsibility for the following laws)

Law n.º 315 – article 19º nº1 – It falls to the town councils to collect and capture stray animals for reasons of public health, of security, and to preserve the peace for other persons and animals, and ensure the protection of property.

Law n.º 314 / 2003 of 17 of December – article 9º nº2: Compels the councils to undertake initiatives and actions to reduce the population of stray animals, in accordance with the Veterinary Director General.

Law n.º 314 – article 11º nº1:  “The town councils, of their own accord, or in association with others towns, are obliged to possess and maintain installations to be used as animal kennels”. 

Law n.º 314 – article 13º nº7:  It falls to the lawfully constituted societies (for animal control/management) to collaborate when it comes to be requested by the competent authorities. 

And I suspect it is probably this last law that cause the problems to be pushed back onto SPAD.

In a very long and detailed article there is a bit more about the new energy efficiency certificates that become compulsory for all buildings on Madeira, from 1st July. As from next week, anyone building new, or remodeling old properties will need to have the new certificate when requesting a licence for construction. The energy rating will be assessed between levels A (good) to G (bad), just like electrical appliances. The certificates for housing will be valid for 10 years. If the property being constructed has a good exposure to the sun, then solar panels will be obligatory for the supply of sanitary hot water. The ‘catch up’ exercise for all existing properties is not included in the article, but I will cover this when the information is published.

77% of the electricity produced in Madeira is consumed by buildings (air conditioning, lighting, electrical appliances, etc.). 

A turtle that lived in these waters 12 years ago and was tagged for monitoring purposes, was found in Canadian waters, 2,700 kilometres away.

São Pedro Festa / Saint Peter Festival, Ribeira Brava. The main night was last night and the town was packed. More events today, and it is likely that many of the stalls will stay on another day or two. I have done a special webpage of photographs … take a peek! The photos are not great due to a flat camera battery later on, so a mobile phone camera was used, but plenty of room for more photos if you have any.

http://www.madeira4u.com/m4u_RI/resources_i_zz_sao_pedro_festa_2008_ribeira_b…

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses (you can reply direct using the form at the bottom of each blog comments page), please send any unreported Madeira news, photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : A proud and clever mum … got herself out of the river during the storms 2 months ago and went to raise her family in the safety to the municipal gardens in Ribeira Brava where she now has 8 youngsters. All the other chicks in the river perished in the storm.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 27/6/2008

The biggest part of the front page is a photo of Spain reaching the final of Euro 2008, where they play Germany on Sunday evening. The headline “Spain Ready To Avenge Portugal”. Somehow I don’t think the good people of Spain will be thinking that way, as from what I can work out there is no love lost between these two nations.

The body responsible for the vigilance and conservation of the nature reserves of Madeira Archipelago say that it is very understaffed, with only 34 guards or rangers covering the tasks, with at least double that number needed, but there is no money to do anything more.

At the end of a recent Festa in São António, the president of the council is alleged to have made a speech with the aim of inciting ‘collective disobedience’ in the crowd, as a result of some displeasure with the police. The matter has been reported to the ministry which deals with such matters.

Other News :

Of the 9,559 students registered to do the National Exams this month (phase 1), 2,440 have dropped out and maybe opted to go for phase 2 in July (it appears that these are normally held for retakes and grade improvements). The English Language exam registered the biggest percentage of absence, 55%.

An update on the increase in taxi fares announced yesterday, says that they will be implemented on 15th July, but they are capped at 5.5%. Currently the rate per kilometre is €0.99, but that is supplemented by an hourly rate of €0.42. The increase is a consequence of a rise in the price of fuel of 25% since the end of 2007.

Oh dear! Not a very newsworthy week for me.

——————————————

Tonight is the fourth and final firework and music display in the Atlantic Festival, Funchal. Portugal do the honours with ‘Saturday Night Fever’ as the theme. Any photos gratefully received, thank you, though I expect the festa of São Pedro in Ribeira Brava will be given priority.

My contact in Funchal ran into a couple of English tourists on Wednesday, carrying a couple of bags of fruit, and were making the observation that Madeira must be a very expensive place to live. They had just come back from the Farmers / Fruit Market in Funchal, having brought a kilo or so of 5 different fruits. No apples, oranges, or bananas, but even so with cherries at a record €6 a kilo, you wouldn’t have thought that would break the bank. They were charged an astonishing €50, yes FIFTY EUROS, by the seller in the market, and they paid it. And this same couple were also astonished to hear that you can buy a cup of coffee for less than €1, saying that so far they had always been charged €2.

www.madeira4u.com

I might have a day off the blog tomorrow as it’s São Pedro … but if I do one it will be later in the day for sure, as this festa goes on all pretty much night.

Aside from your valued blog responses (you can reply direct using the form at the bottom of each blog comments page), please send any unreported Madeira news, photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Wil … another great underwater shot from one of Wil’s diving trips off Madeira’s coast. Looks like a platypus, but what would I know?

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 26/6/2008

TAP have refused a request by the Regional Government of Madeira to put a ‘ceiling’ on the prices they charge residents of Madeira to travel to and from mainland Portugal. With the liberalisation of that particular route, and the residents subsidy of €30 per journey, why would they do it? With SATA covering the same route, and Easyjet later this year, and the option of the new ferry, the competition is there, so why should they bow to government interference? Those who read this blog regularly know that TAP gets a lot of bad press, but for once I am sticking up for them.

The other 3 front page stories are football, the continuing saga of unlicensed sand extraction (as covered at the weekend), and something that was too uninteresting and technically challenging for a translation by a man of my limited skills.

Other News :

The Ilhas Selvagens, which form part of the Madeira Archipelago despite being nearer to the Canary Islands have been included in a project to identify the ‘Seven Wonders of Nature’ in the world. The islands are a restricted nature reserve, with several many rare species as residents. In total there are 277 candidates on the list which you can see at www.new7wonders.com . I have just visited that site, and would have to say that the whole logic of the thing is flawed. 99.99999% of the worlds population has never seen the Ilhas Selvagens because they are so remote and access is by permit only, so how can you vote on the basis of the one aerial photograph on the website?

In an unusual style robbery of a tobacconist in Funchal, the thief found his way in through the roof of the building by removing roof tiles and entering through the attic. The thief stole money and cigarettes from the shop, and the immigrant owner owner said ” I left Venezuela to flee the robberies and the insecurity …”. The Diário have named the robber the ‘Trapezista’.

In a few days the company that operates the ferry service Madeira / Portimão / Canary Islands, ‘Naviera Armas’, is to open a shop in the port of Funchal to sell tickets and advise travellers. Up until now you had to ring their call centre or use the website to obtain information.

Taxi fares are to rise by between 5 and 5.5% later this year, after an agreement was reached between the government department responsible and the two taxi associations. The rise will help to cover the increase in fuel costs.

You may have noticed that I am scratching round for interesting news, and finding little, so I hope for better luck tomorrow.

—————————————————–

My trip to Modelo yesterday was interesting as always. I like Hyper Sã, but everything there is neat and tidy and it all goes very smoothly … never any fun or surprises, and Pingo Doce is generally more expensive. But Modelo is the shopping equivalent of our fine government. The regular faults will always be there (no prices, wrong prices, can’t find stuff, out of stock, gangways blocked with pallets, big checkout queues etc.), but yesterday I discovered something new. And that wasn’t the new range of pretty average greetings cards they have on display at a whopping €2.29 each (I presume someone must have told them that foreigners from certain countries are stupid enough to pay that sort of sum, but I don’t think it will catch on with the locals).

I usually make a point of passing the table that has the reduced price items that are near their sell by date (In Rib. Bra they put a purple bar-coded label on them), and yesterday it was laden with bottles of Sagres Beer … judged to be the finest beer in Portugal, and with a new purple price label of €0.24 each. Now its not like I had a choice in the matter, so in the trolley they went with a few other items nearing the pongy date. 21 in all.

At the checkout I put all the 21 items at the back, so I could watch them go through at hopefully the correct price at the end, but little did I know that the bar-codes do not work on their tills, and every code on every item had to be entered by hand. Bless the cashier who worked so hard to read and input the tiny 26 digit bar-code numbers, but she got it wrong 9 times that I noticed and had to do it again. 21+9=30, x 26 digits = 780 digits to input. It took around 20 minutes, and you can just imagine the grumblings in the growing queue behind me.

Preparations are nearly complete for the Festival of São Pedro this weekend in Ribeira Brava. The thousands of lights were switched on last night, and the town is a mass of flowery decorations and flags. Building the barbecues and bars on the beach and other patches of wasteland is well underway, but these are not self-assembly kits, these are made from wooden pallets, planks and sticks, and sometimes with a fresh foliage roof. I have not managed to find a programme of events, but asking around town, it seems that the entertainment starts tomorrow at noon, with the 600 strong parade starting at around 10.30pm, followed by the firework display. Everything is open all night long, so I am told. Then Sunday (the actual day of Saint Peter), there is another programme of entertainment. Starting at 6pm in the evening there is a series of performances, including ‘The Dance of the Espadas’, groups from South Africa and Northern Portugal, and according to local radio where I have heard them mentioned several times already this morning, the star event is a dance group from England (Manchester) of international renown. I am not going to name them and spoil the surprise, but on Monday I will reveal all for those who weren’t able to attend.

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses (you can reply direct using the form at the bottom of each blog comments page), please send any unreported Madeira news, photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Continuing with the facinating theme of the vegetation of Porto Santo Island, this is a cactus, and I can tell you nothing more. This blog software is now giving me problems with loading photographs, so at the moment I am limited to anything that works.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 25/6/2008

Ah, the story I was waiting for. São Pedro, the biggest festival this side of Madeira takes place in Ribeira Brava this Saturday night and a strong turnout is expected. The parade will have 11 groups from all over Madeira, with a total of 600 marchers, and 120 stalls have already booked for the occasion. After the parade there will be a firework display. The 40 beach barbecues and bars are in the process of being set up, and this year there is a sandy beach area too (saves hobbling over the pebbles). Saint Peter is the saint of fishermen, and many people normally arrive by boat, but this year the Diário says that will not be the case. Car parks near the sea front will be open all night, and the police will allow extra street parking. I will look out for the programme of events to get the times for the parade and fireworks, otherwise pretty much everything else stays open all night long. Saturday night is the main night, but the Sunday and Sunday night are also busy, but there are no parades or fireworks.

The new Portugal / Canary Islands / Madeira ferry service on the ship ‘Naviera Armas’ has already been branded a success by the operators, in particular citing the ticket sales in the Canaries as exceeding all expectations. They say that it is too early to say for sure, but the conditions seem right to operate the service for the whole year. The transportation of cars is a particularly popular feature with travellers, and also the commercial transportation side is doing well. The only negative point made is about the lack of publicity about the new service.

A long long story about the escapades of the boat ‘Hi Flyer’ that left Calheta early Sunday morning with it’s 3 local crew, on route for the mainland. About half way through the journey, they ran into problems with a fuel leak and started to transmit an SOS signal. On Monday morning they were spotted by a military plane, and the rescue was being organised with the crew being told to  ‘abandon ship’, which they refused to do. Eventually with the aid of 2 aircraft and a military vessel, they got themselves sorted out, and with more fuel made it to the mainland. Thanks to calm seas matters were much better than they could have been.

Other News :

To help keep the kids entertained or occupied during the summer period, over 200 initiatives have been organised over the next couple on months, all over Madeira (mostly in Funchal). Promoted by both public and private entities, activities in the mountains, or on the beach, for just a day or maybe a month, the activities offered give a huge range of choice. Some are free, some are charged.

An unnamed Madeiran hotel group is paying foreign workers just €175 a month in wages. A trade union, BE, accuses the company of using slave labour and has challenged Regional Inspectorate of Work to take its focus of the small companies that it pursues and spend more time on the ‘big sharks’. I suspect that these workers may be getting food and accommodation in that package, but nothing mentioned in the article.

President Jardim attended ‘Porto Santo Day’ and made some interesting remarks in his speech. He said that the state (Portuguese Government) of President Sócrates is pretty useless, and likened his party ‘PS’ to the Dictator Mugabe of Zimbabwe, because he ignores the needs of the people. He went on to say “he only exercises policing functions and those of constant inspection”, and AJJ accused him of stealing funding from Madeira in what he considers ‘an attempt to crush the Madeirans’. Over to you Carlos for a meaningful explanation of our presidents mystic message.

Today sees the inauguration of the new Modelo store in Machico. This will be Modelo’s 94th hypermarket in Portugal, and has an area of around 2,500 m2. It is the 8th Modelo store on Madeira, but the group that owns Modelo also has 18 other businesses/branches here, including Wortens, Vobis, and SportZone, and employs a total of 900 people.

———————————————————————–

Not mentioned football for a few days, but after last night’s Euro 2008 game between Germany and Turkey, it has to be said that the German side (who won 3-2) in the last minute or so, are a bunch of dirty, cheating, conning, lying, so so lucky football players, with only one talented footballer. And Ballack, who cheated to knock Portugal out, is a whinging disgrace. Officially Turkey had 16 shots on goal to Germany’s 6 (and I can’t recall more than 4), and although possession evened out towards the end of the game, Turkey dominated in most areas of the field. I won’t know until later, but for the first time ever, I could be supporting Russia in a football match in Sunday’s final.

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses (you can reply direct using the form at the bottom of each blog comments page), please send any unreported Madeira news, photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Porto Santo Island … this is the famous ‘Dragon Tree’, which almost became extinct on the island due to over harvesting for it’s resin used to make potent red dye. There are still several on Porto Santo, and I know that there is at least one on Madeira as I spotted it at the weekend.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 24/6/2008

The economic difficulties on Madeira are making a noticeable change to the shopping habits of it’s inhabitants. In an effort to save some centimos shoppers are switching to the low cost brands and supermarket own brands. One supermarket chief said that his ‘own brand’ sales have gone up by 6% so far this year, where nationally the increase has been just 3%. Pingo Doce state that their own brand products are of a quality better than or equal to the product leaders. Shame that, ‘cos if Mr Pingo had been prepared to identify the ‘own brand’ products that are absolute rubbish, it could save us all a lot of effort and wasted money. For example, I find their own brand dog food absolutely tasteless and it contains crunchy lumps, … nothing like the quality of Fray Bentos (who despite popular opinion, have actually made some fresh batches since they were established in 1899).

The vice-president of the Regional Assembly of Madeira was nabbed (but not arrested) by Police on Sunday night after a SATA flight from Lisbon had touched down on Madeira, because he had been using  his mobile phone on board, despite being told to turn it off. He denied the allegations in part, but a number of passengers have confirmed his disobedience. He justified himself afterwards by saying that “There is no law that prohibits the use of mobile phones on planes, what exists is just the regulations of the companies”. He continued “I used the mobile phone because I was curious to know the result of the elections in Gaula, and when I was told that we won, I turned off soon”, said Miguel de Sousa, guaranteeing that “nothing abnormal happened”.  I am not going to mention the party that this idiot represents because I don’t want to be partyist, but he is clearly a very senior man in politics here and yet doesn’t understand that mobile phones affect aircraft navigation systems. Who would want to ring up Madeira to find out an election result anyway, as there is only one party that always wins.

Other News :

The PSD party won the election In Gaula on Sunday. That election has been responsible for the shortage of decent front page news recently.

The national exam of mathematics that was taken by many students here on Monday was deemed to be ‘canja’ (chicken soup = piece of cake). That opinion was unanimous amongst the students of the Secondary School Francisco Franco. Ah perhaps it’s not tough enough, and maybe that explains why I sometimes get charged the wrong price in bars and cafes, or the change comes back incorrect!

The Group of Astronomy of the University of Madeira want to recuperate the nocturnal blackness that Madeira has lost over the last 30 years due to the intensification of the street lighting on Madeira, that interferes with the observation of the most distant galaxies of from earth.  It has scheduled for 2009, (International Year of Astronomy), a visit to the eleven town councils of Madeira with the objective of sensitizing them to the efficient utilization of public lighting. The solution is simple they say, by using a system of lights that point downwards, or reflectors, and maybe they can save some money at the same time. I actually agree with them, and I have seen some stunning night skies when we have had power-cuts, but at times when street security concerns are growing I think you might be whistling with that one!

A new health centre that opened in Santana on Monday marks a notable achievement for this government, in that Santana was the last of the prefabricated buildings to be replaced by a proper and permanent construction, and that particular one had been in the prefab for 24 years. The inauguration was performed by regional secretary for Social Matters, Francisco Garden Branches, instead of the usual Alberto João Garden who must have been rooted somewhere else. (Thanks to the translator software for that, with the final addition being all my own work).

A busy week on the Via Rápidas last week saw 72 broken down vehicles being towed off, 7 accidents, 37 objects of ‘large dimension’ being removed, and 10 animal rescues. Meanwhile on the streets generally, 21 road accidents occurred at the weekend (11 in Funchal) with 10 people injured.

8 of the ‘windmills’ that generate electricity up in Paul da Serra are to be replaced with more powerful models, subject to the necessary permits being granted. The old generators are 1.5MW models, restricted by the size of the span of the blades to 35 metres because of the difficulties in transportation to their original location. The new set of ‘Perform 3′ will generate a massive 32 GWh per year (up to 7 times more than at present), and have a blade span of 45 metres and are 65 meters high. The project construction is expected to start this year and will cost €16.6 million, including €3 million in transport and installation costs, using a crane that will cost €570,000 to employ.

Hopefully the ‘comments’ box will reappear today … but I won’t know until after I have posted today’s blog. I will check and see straight after so no need to tell me if there is still a problem. If the ‘comments’ box doesn’t appear, rest assured I will be trying to resolve the matter, but you are welcome to send comments by email instead in the meantime.

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses (you can reply direct using the form at the bottom of each blog comments page), please send any unreported Madeira news, photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : São João Festa … last night’s festival in the real town called São João. Sorry about the picture quality, as I forgot to take a proper camera. See story later.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 23/6/2008

New laws that came into effect on the 20th May and apply to tourist transportation have not been communicated to or understood properly by the travel agents and transport companies, and many are now operating outside of the law. The laws which are along the lines of consumer protection, are stricter than those previously in place, and affect coaches and smaller vehicles and address in some detail the services they provide, including the programme and schedule. Fines for non-compliance range from €600 to €20,000, and the police, and transport and tourism officials, have the right to ’stop and inspect’. It’s not clear exactly what the changes mean or the benefits for tourists though?

The Madeira archipelago already has several natural marine reserves being the Ilhas Desertas, the Ilhas Selvagens, at Garajau, and also Rocha do Navio, which are protected under law. But now the government intends to designate a fifth such reserve, which has already been submitted to the Regional Assembly for approval. The islands around Porto Santo and their surrounding sea will fall within the scope of the new legislation, which will affect commercial fishing, tourism, and the dispersal of effluents, as they presently operate. These coastal areas are home to a macro-habitat of animals and vegetation unique to this part of the world, and indigenous species that need special protection. Species around the area such as mackerel, chicharros, squid, etc. also find these waters a favorable environment to reproduce and hence attract larger species such as sharks, swordfish, whales, dolphins and turtles. Also around Porto Santo there are some special seas birds species. To avoid any confusion, the whole of Porto Santo will not be included, so for example I don’t think the ferry will be affected.

Other News :

Madeira already has a shortage of family, general medicine, and specialist hospital doctors, and over the next 10 to 15 years the situation is going to get worse. New doctors take a long time to train, and are difficult to retain, so the fact that 57% of the doctors here are already aged between 46 and 65 means they will be retiring faster than the ‘new blood’ comes in. In 2006 Madeira had 561 doctors, 2.3 per thousand inhabitants, somewhat lower than the national average of 3.5 per thousand. 58% of our doctors are male, the rest are female (just to avoid any confusion!).

I think I recall mentioning recently that Quinta do Lorde at Caniçal was one of 3 beaches not to get its ‘blue flag’ for water cleanliness … well that was rectified on Saturday. One of other towns, Machico, may not get it’s blue flag until the Summer of 2010, possibly sooner, even though the works there are practically concluded. No news of progress for the other beach at Câmara de Lobos.

A bit out of my league, but the ‘Chaîne of Rôtisseurs’ is opening a chapter on Madeira. The ‘brotherhood’ is a international gastronomic association of French origin. The chapter will be headed by a director at Reid’s Hotel, who has been a member for some years. The mark of the ‘Chaîne’, that can be found in the establishments whose professionals are attached to the brotherhood, is also a guarantee of quality. I thought that although not of interest to lower class mortals like me, there are more than one blog readers who have served time in The Prince Albert in Funchal, who might now be qualified and tempted to join the brotherhood.

—————————–

OK, I know you are itching to know … yes I overcame my phobia for healthy exercise last night and walked, yes walked, to the mountain known as São João! Wow, it’s high. In fact it’s so high, that on a scale of 1 to 10 in height, it scores just below 9, and hence doesn’t appear on certain maps. In fact the town just above SJ is called Boa Morte (Good Death), because I don’t think there is enough oxygen to survive there.

I know São João is celebrated in several places, including Funchal, but there is no substitute for having the festa of São João in the real town of São João, not even with all the money in Funchal. I don’t know what sort of namby pamby affair went on in Funchal, but in the real SJ it was sizzling with something … but that may have just been the bbq chicken. Arrived just before 9pm, just in time to see the second half of the parade, with the town band, climbing the hill. The parade came in two halves, with about 10 people in the first half, and another 10 in the second. The parade went to the church with most of the rest of the population of SJ, and the missa (sermon) was broadcast outside for those of us unlucky enough not to be able to fit in. It seemed to be rude to eat and drink while that was going on, so I abstained, despite having a thirst big enough to wipe out at least two of the stalls.

When that was over It was time for the fressssh hot bolo do caco, oooozzzzing with garlic butter, yum. This was the cheap version of bdc … I know, as I watched it being made with nothing more than flour and water, but it tasted fine!

Then to a stall with ‘fresh cider’ very nice too, and after a general walkabout amongst the several hundred locals (and just one beer) it was time for the highlight of the night … the midnight sea dip! And they did, they went in their droves, kicking and screaming their way into the sea. I could still hear them when I went to bed just before 1am.

I have done the bigger touristy festas before, but this was the first ’small time’ authentic festa I have been to and it was great … and that was just in the early part, as I imagine the real fun starts after the midnight sea dip. The people of SJ made so much effort to put on the festa, probably with very little money for preparation, or to spend, but they made it work like they were one big family. It’s in the diary for a visit again next year.

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses (you can reply direct using the form at the bottom of each blog comments page), please send any unreported Madeira news, photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!