Church to help poor, Madeiran Olympian, Madelena do Mar beach, Mugging, etc …
TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Dave … another shot of the banana festival in Madelena do Mar last weekend.
Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 24/7/2008
Lead story is the church’s pledge to help the ‘young’ poor of Madeira, saying that the politicians have little interest. The parish priest of Sé cathedral is looking for support from the christian community, in particular to donate to help with poverty. “There are ‘young poor’ beating daily on the door of the parish priest of the Cathedral in despair.” Politicians and businessmen are asked to stop the chat and take action. The young poor (typically 25-40) are a fairly new phenomenon, being people with financial commitments and jobs, who just can’t stretch their income to meet expenditure needs.
Another lead article is about an abandoned whaling boat in poor repair that may be used as an exhibit at the whaling museum to be built in Caniçal. The museum has already made enquiries about obtaining 12 model whales, and an electronic interactive kiosk. It will narrate the history of whaling and the associated industry of Madeira, but also promote the cause for conservation.
This weekend sees the festival in Chão da Lagoa, or more truthfully known as the major annual political rally of the Social Democratic Party led by President Jardim. I have no intention of plugging the event, and I only mention it to say that I wish they would go around and take down the publicity afterwards. We still have flags on the lampposts here from the same event in 2007.
The 3000 metre obstacle (hurdles?) course in the Sporting Center of the Madeira saw a 8 minute 24 second completion time by Madeira man Alberto Paulo, who will now go to the Olympic Games in Beijing. A personal best for Alberto, and the best time run in Portugal for at least 4 years.
Other News :
Tomorrow (26th) is Grandparents Day. Never heard of that one, but as it doesn’t impact me in any way, it just leaves me to say happy GD to any grandparent readers who might be celebrating.
Regular features about the beaches of Madeira have been appearing during the last few weeks, and this time it is the turn of Madelena do Mar (west of Ponta do Sol). With blue flag, parking, changing rooms, showers, and sports area, playground and beach library (summer only), everything provided is free. But you have to pay €1 for the sunbeds and parasols. It also has a pontoon, which means you can arrive by boat without getting your feet wet. 2 restaurants offer specialities of fresh fish and shellfish, most of which work out at a cost of around €13 for a meal. Only one girl was asked for an opinion, and she said she preferred it as it was before, particularly disliking the pontoon and the fact that the pebbles used to be smaller.
A French tourist visiting Madeira for the first time was mugged at the miradouro of Pico da Torre, in Câmara de Lobos on Wednesday afternoon. She was ‘jumped’ by a man hiding behind a wall who took her handbag and contents, and her camera, leaving her almost unconscious. The man ran off into a banana plantation, and police are still looking for him. There is a very sad picture of the poor lady in a state of shock straight after the incident. I don’t think these idiots realise the damage they do to the reputation of this generally very safe island, or they don’t care. It’s just a handbag with €50 and camara at the end of the day, but that poor lady will never forget and won’t be back, her family and friends will probably never come, and anyone else who hears about it will be put off. The already soiled image of Câmara de Lobos may soon be known in the guide books as a place or thing to avoid when visiting Madeira, along with the scams in the Fruit Market in Funchal.
The 20 year old man, seriously injured in the car accident with fatalities at the weekend, remains in hospital in a coma. The Diario says that the last weeks events with 4 road deaths have really shocked the population.
The new Hiper Sá that opens in Santana today promises to “revitalise the economy of that area”. The store cost around €7 million, and will be inaugurated at 6pm this afternoon. Also in the complex are outlets for electrical goods and other shops. “Revitalise the economy of that area” sounds like fat cat spin to me, as we all know it will put many others out of business, but that is just the way it is. So why dress it up as something else when people may change their shopping habits but will have no extra money to spend, giving a net benefit close to zero.
A new website with high definition photography of Madeira can be found at www.madeirahd.350.com . It looks nice, but the pages took so long to load that I gave up after a couple of minutes. That may be down to a bad moment on my internet connection.
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