Madeira News Blog

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Eiryl … flower displays in central Funchal.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 30/8/2008

The Spanish Anticorruption ‘Bureau’ has asked its counterpart in Portugal for collaboration in investigating the presence and actions of the Russian Mafia operating here on Madeira, and suspected of stripping profits and / or laundering money in the ‘Zona Franca’, the tax protected business community. The Tambovskaya branch of the Mafia makes it’s money from a network of criminals in Russia, and last June in Spain 20 members of the gang were arrested in Spain and charged with numerous offences including money-laundering, murder, extortion, drug dealing, illicit association, falsification of documents and tax fraud.

Animal cruelty, or even murder, makes the headlines for the second time in a week. This time it happened in Câmara de Lobos where a dog barking in the street was found to have been soaked with sulphuric acid. The police and SPAD were called to try and help the poor animal, but the vet had to put him down. In a second horror story in Ribeiro Serrão, in Camacha, the story is about a woman who is said to have poisoned animals including roosters and pigs, and beheaded a dog. The woman has been charged with several offences, but is still on the loose awaiting sentence. Utterly disgraceful! I had a look at the Diário’s on-line debate on the matter of animal cruelty yesterday, and there were 6 pages of letters published, and I think some of the authors must have been on the verge of tears. Thanks to the Diário for publishing my letter on the subject, and especially for the grammatical corrections that I am sure my letter desperately needed.

For a small island of just over 40 square kilometres you would think that planning permission would be as rare as hens teeth when it comes to major developments, but it appears not. The Câmara (Council) of Porto Santo has granted planning permission for a 221 apartment 5 star tourist village to the Pestana Group (coincidentally the same group recently accused by the man known as ‘Rabbit’ of passing large sums of money in brown envelopes). Costing €35 million, the village is the second phase of the 5 star hotel project by the same group. All in all the development will consume 63,000 square meters.

Other news :

The president of the council of Porto Santo Island wants to increase the resident population from the current 5,000 up to 9,000 in order to support the islands touristic ambitions. Confidently he says “we will have these three to four thousand people in the next 10 years”. There are certainly plenty of empty unsold properties there to help house them, but somehow I expect they will be beyond the budget of a person employed in tourism. I am looking forward to Monday when Porto Santo’s tourist season ends … they are hogging far to much space in the news there last few months.

Whinge of the week :

Anyone watching the national news on TV over the last few weeks won’t have missed the wave of violent crime that has hit mainland Portugal. It seems that the first two or three stories every day are about armed bank robberies, post office and jewellery shop raids, caches of arms found, drug problems, and more recently carjacking. It is hard to get it in context though, as it seems that everything nationwide gets reported and makes headline news.

The government seems to have been badly prepared, but are looking to be taking prompt measures to deal with the problem. It seems that penalties for those prosecuted will not change, but other steps being considered are ‘preventative prisons’, changes to the gun laws, and setting up a new division within the the PSP (Public Security Police) to specialise in violent crimes of this nature. Probably the proposed micro-chipping of vehicles also falls in here somewhere, but I don’t think that the government would admit to that.

I left a country that experiences such problems every day on a far greater scale to come to Madeira, and in fact the stories we are hearing so much about recently wouldn’t even make most newspapers, let alone the front page, so I shouldn’t be so concerned I suppose. I knew that one day Portugal would suffer the same fate as it’s more criminally advanced neighbours, hoping that it wouldn’t be in my lifetime, but it is certainly advancing at a pace I didn’t expect … lets just hope that this most unpleasant aspect of life takes a long long time to manifest itself to the same levels on Madeira, and let’s hope that the government here are proactive and prepared for such crimes and don’t wait until it is too late.

The drug problem is usually the route to a crime wave, and combined with a struggling economy, the signs are not good. The government here needs to tackle poverty and drugs as an absolute priority and with a 100% commitment, but I don’t hold out much hope of the PSD changing their policy of spin and headline grabbing. As far as drugs go, this is a small island, so surely to control the situation cannot be so tough and costly to combat in these days of high technology. We don’t even need a prison here for violent criminals and drug dealers … we have Cabo Girão, and we have sharks … nature’s perfect executioners.

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Cracking game of footie last night as Porto went to Benfica for a 1-1 draw. I can’t imagine anyone but Porto winning the Portuguese league again this year.

Anyone know if you can buy a wireless TV transmitter here, and if it will work with the power box from CaboTV? It’s one of those gadgets that plugs into the CaboTV signal, and boosts broadcasts the signal throughout the house so you can have other TVs in other rooms without a load of cable involved. Thanks.

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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 Pirex … Porto da Cruz swimming facility

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 29/8/2008

Yesterday was a pretty dry headline news day, but here goes:

With less than a month to go before schools start up again there is panic in the air after publishers have failed to deliver essential books to Madeira (as well as Portugal). Most the fault is probably due to indecision on the curriculum for the forthcoming academic year. One bookstore owner said there are always problems, but this year is chaos.

Commercial fishing has seen it’s catch drop by 620 tons compared to the first half of 2006, with a catch of 3,408 tons (3,421 in 2007). The Espada fish did OK though, with a catch of 1,627 tons, 30% up on 2007. The Tuna catch was down 19.6% on 2007. Average prices paid for fishing boat catches are on the up. In 2006 the average price per kilo was €1.87, in 2007 it reached €2.43 (up 30%), and now is at €2.51.

Cristiano Ronaldo of course gets a write up for winning the best player award in the Champions League competition, and he also won the best ‘attacker’ award, even though technically he is not a striker, despite scoring over 40 goals last season.

The other story is about the problems of debt and unemployment in the face of the current economic problems. You have read it all before, so it will just suffice to say that matters are not getting any better.

Other news :

Anyone bank with ‘Millennium BCP’? There is an attempt going on to get customers details by fraudulent emails. If you get one, delete it.

Two large fires in Caniço and Água de Pena on Thursday. The latter took firemen 6 hours to control. I think it’s about time we all started doing our particular rain dances to help out the suffering firemen and farmers … I just did mine and almost sprained my ankle … but hang on there is a small grey cloud drifting over.

A tender competition to build a connection to the Via Rápida from Câmara do Lobos has been awarded to three big companies, Tecnovia, AFA and Soares da Costa. The contracts are worth €34.5 million. The road will be finished in two and a half years, and will give improved access to and for the 3,700 residents living in Jardim da Serra.

Finally, this little article was tucked away somewhere, that I would have considered a big story:

President of the Republic of Portugal, Cavaco Silva, has promised legislation that will oblige the installation of a microchip in all vehicles that will contain the registration details, insurance details, and information from the vehicle testing stations. The chips will help with traffic control, abandoned vehicles, car theft etc. Each chip will cost around €10, and you get just one guess about who will have to pay it? That should get the human rights movement in Portugal well worked up then!

In fact that story did make the top few on TVI news last night.

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Weekend football fixtures : Sunday 4pm Nacional v Naval, Monday 7.15pm Marítimo v Guimarâes. The latter game is on Sport TV 1. The big game this weekend is Benfica v Porto, tonight at 8.45pm, on Sport TV 1.

Here is a reminder of how the top of the Portuguese league looked until this weekend … look carefully at who is top as I doubt very much that you will see this formation again this season.

  Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS

1 Nacional 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 2 3

2 Sporting Lisbon 1 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3

3 Braga 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 3

4 FC Porto 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3

Marítimo have drawn a tough team in the UEFA Cup against the Spanish team Valencia. Games on the 18th September and 2nd October.

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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 Vic … a beach shot, I am guessing from somewhere over Caniço way?

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 28/8/2008

One of the opposition parties has accused the government of not doing anything to deal with the water shortage that is badly affecting farmers. Some farmers complain that they have not had any levada water for over a month. One farmer in Câmara de Lobos claims his bananas went 92 days between watering, and his banana plants are already dried up. Bad news for us consumers I fear, a crop shortage will put prices up for sure. I am not quite sure I believe that farmers aren’t resourceful enough to find water for themselves though, as to obtain levada water it is only a matter of diverting or removing a plug, exactly what the officials do when they turn up on the scheduled day, only you do it in the middle of the night. Failing that there is tap water, but that is somewhat more expensive of course. I am not making a suggestion here, just an observation.

Mariza performed in São Vicente Wednesday night and gave a concert judged as first rate. Even though it rained people stayed and watched throughout.

By next year Madeira will have around 35,000 hotel beds available, but although the profits are good, it is necessary to sell more accommodation. Of the 55 units classified as hotels, 10 are 5 star rated and have nearly 5,500 beds available. Around a third are 4 star, and have over 8,000 beds available. One businessman in the tourism sector believes it is time that normal room prices were raised above the €100 a night threshold, which is already in place in Reids, The Savoy, The Cliff Bay and several others.

The ruins of the old hotel in Camacha, just 200 metres from the church are home to 10 hard drug addicts who go there to satisfy their addictions. In just one day the police collected 50 syringes there. Residents complain that when they call the police nothing happens.

Madeira’s six watchtowers up in the high zones, built to detect smoke from forest fires are effectively redundant, according to the Regional Director for Forestry. Once considered an important element in environmental protection, the towers now just serve as elevated points in which to house radio communications antennae, and on occasions to watch for illegal nighttime hunting. The need for fire detection has now been superseded by more regular patrols across a wider territory.

Other news :

More occasions of the use of forged bank notes are reported, with a false €50 used in Pingo Doce and a false €100 used in Modelo. Both forgeries were spotted after the shopper(s) had left the premises.

The regional government is making full use of its new powers in the control of fuel prices since it ended the free market on 1st August, with two price falls. An announcement was expected yesterday that the price of diesel would drop a further 4.8 cents and petrol 3.1 cents.

The new Easyjet route between Madeira and Lisbon starting on 27th October has already sold over 8,600 tickets, exceeding the company’s expectations and allowing them to forecast an occupancy rate of over 80%. I suppose we just wait now for the Portuguese Airline TAP to give us the usual BS and tell us that their sales have gone up also.

Still on the subject of Easyjet, they have a sale on until midnight on Tuesday. ALL flights taken between 1st October and 17th December have a 20% discount. Beware on the Madeira to Lisbon route though if you are a resident on Madeira, as the sale price takes you below the €30 rebate level, and I believe you will be unable to claim anything back.

Have a good weekend!

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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 Pirex … Ponta de São Lorenço

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 27/8/2008

The Madeira Walking Festival is to held again, with the financial support of the Regional Directorate of Tourism to nearly €7,000. The events will take place between the 13th and 17th January on both Madeira and Porto Santo. The timetable, details of walks, and prices are here :

http://madeirawalkingfestival.bookingmadeira.com/timetable.asp

As most the walks are priced at €24 … seems more like a commercial venture to me, especially as it seems to marketed as a event to unite and treat walkers. OK, transport needs to be paid for of course, but for that price I would want a 3 course meal and hot bath thrown in at the end.

The 27th Madeira Canoeing Contest started on Tuesday, with around 50 Portuguese and foreign canoeists taking part.

President Jardim makes it back onto the front page after a few days of absence, but at a quick glance it seems to be just a political squabble with all the usual hot air.

Other news :

The Union / Association of  Professional Police  starts 6 new courses in September, amongst them French and English language. The aim is to increase the number of multilingual police officers to enable a dialogue with foreign citizens, be able to give simple information in the street, read someone his rights and make someone a suspect. 

Sometime after it was first reported, the initiative to provide police on bicycles has finally got the go-ahead.  From next week, 10 officers on Madeira and Porto Santo will slide on their bicycle clips and mount up to patrol the beach and tourists zones (just Funchal on Madeira).  They will be equipped as normal police with gun, tear gas, and handcuffs , but wear shorts and a cycling helmet. Already I have horrendous visions of that dreadful American series ‘Asas nos Pés’ that seems to dominate the AXN channel, where bicycle police whiz around after criminals performing daredevil stunts. The handcuffs should come in handy for stopping people pinching the bicycles when parked up. Please send me a photo if you see one.

Madeira’s population is ageing, but little is being done to improve the quality of life of the elders, or to encourage families to have more children. The expense of having children is a big turn-off these days, with parents thinking twice about the costs involved. In particular the days where parents could leave children with grandparents of relatives whilst mum and dad go off to work are disappearing, and the cost of professional child care is just impossible to manage. Some statistics:

By 2035 25% of Portuguese people will be over 65 years old (17.4% today), and by 2060 that will rise to 31%.

On Madeira as a whole there are 73 over 65’s to every 100 children (aged up to 14), that ratio was 63 to 100 in 1996, whilst in Porto Moniz the ratio is 161 / 100, and in Santana 162 / 100. Câmara de Lobos has the best ratio at 38 / 100. I think that’s what they call a demographic time bomb, and also thinking that through I am pretty glad I will not be around to see it.

News source AFPOP (Association of Foreign Property Owners in Portugal) bulletin, August 2008.

Firstly just to clarify the situation with vehicle testing (MOTs). The extension of the period that you can take your vehicle to be inspected was extended to 3 months, but the very last day you can take your car for inspection is the actual anniversary date of the original registration date. So if your car was first registered (as new) on 28th August, then you have from 1st May until 28th August to have the inspection done.

Secondly, to clarify the position with the meter rental charges for example with gas, water, and electricity utilities. These were outlawed from 1st July this year, as were charges for inspection and minimum consumption. If you look at your bills now, there should be no mention of the word ‘aluguer’. However, there are two exceptions. 1. Your electricity bill will continue to have a monthly charge for ‘Contribuição áudio-visual’, and 2. water bills can have a charge called ‘Tarifa de Disponibilidade’, which replaces the old meter hire charge and covers your council making your water available to you and for maintenance. So it seems whilst private utilities were stuck with the new law, public ones managed to find a loophole.

Finally, good news perhaps for anyone renewing their residence permits: You can actually phone up and make an appointment now rather that wait for ages in a non existent queueing system. Phone 808 202 653 from a land-line, or 808 962 690 from a mobile phone, and choose option 1, and then option 2. Help is then available in 7 languages. You can also email to sef@sef.pt. Non-EU nationals can also use the website www.sef.pt to make an appointment, but as the website is pretty useless it’s probably not a good option.

I have now let my membership lapse as a member of AFPOP member after around 4 years of membership, as I find it just doesn’t cover anything for Madeira at all, probably not helped by the fact there is no representative here. Add to that the out-of-date bulletins on the website, and the poor responses to questions I have submitted, for me for now it has run it’s course. However its bulletins did have some useful information, and if any other members see any useful articles in the future with information I haven’t yet included in the blog, perhaps they could let me know.

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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 Peter … Campanário beach … you can’t get to it on foot or by car, so this may be the best view you are likely to see.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 26/8/2008

A local economist and deputy of the PS (Socialist Party) has identified 3 major issues that need to be the priorities in 2009. The 9,000 unemployed, the 22% of the population that live beneath the poverty threshold, and drug addiction. I wouldn’t argue with most of that, but we are still in 2008 so why are we waiting until next year?   

I did mention it on this blog last year, but São Vicente is to have it’s own golf course built. The President of the council (câmara) there says there are several investors interested in a partnership. In the original article it said that the new course would be completed in 2011.

The controversy about the illegal extraction of sand and inert materials from the river and banks in Ribeira dos Socorridos rumbles on, as do the trucks that are carting the materials away. However Funchal Council (CMF) have now put a new focus on the matter, saying that the removal of the materials is creating a potentially dangerous environment for when heavy or prolonged rain next comes. The spokesman believes that the materials already removed need to be replaced, hoping that it happens before October, and adding that the source of 65% of Madeira’s electrical needs is under threat.

Other news :

In Caminho das Voltas (high up, overlooking Funchal) a lady whose two dogs went missing went looking for them was mortified to find them ‘hung’ by the neck in a nearby hen house. The local man believed to be responsible for the killings has a track record of poisoning and cruelty to animals. The owner will make a formal complaint through SPAD (Society for the Protection of Domestic Animals), who will then a make a formal complaint to the authorities. The culprit will be fined in accordance with the laws covering aggression against animals. I was pretty disgusted by this and I wasn’t intending to cover the story, but 1). It does show that there is a law and a route for dealing with such matters, and 2). The Diário has started an online debate on the matter, asking whether there is problem with the culture here, with plenty of angry responses from the public already. Although what happened is the responsibility of a sick and evil individual, recognising and debating an issue like this has to be step forward.

The poor lady who lost her 8 year old son after a wasp attack, and couldn’t afford to pay the funeral expenses, is to receive help from the Social Security to pay them.

The apple orchards in the high zones of Camacha are under threat from a cancerous type of fungus that attacks the the tree trunks and branches. Trees are dying and this years crop is seriously affected. The farmers also blame water shortages and fruit flies for dwindling crops. Well, if there are 42,000,000 more of them swarming around every week, I am not really surprised. Infertile they may be, but their other habits are probably much the same.

Madeira’s 130 beekeepers own between them 2,720 beehives, and this year they have been receiving government assistance with pest control. As a result honey production this year has hit 40 tons, which at the selling price of €8 per kilo works out at €320,000 annually. Looks like our poncha is safe for 2009 then!

The new Hiper Sã store in Santana has cost local businesses dearly, with sales plummeting staff are going to have to be fired. At first the novelty of the new supermarket attracted the people, and now they find they can buy everything they need there. One misguided trader of 32 years in business thinks the older businesses have some advantages to help resist the crisis “I can call a taxi, help customers carry the purchases, or advise in the purchase of products”. Nice sentiments, but not the reality … welcome to the real world of supermarket domination, where price is king.

During the winter, TAP (the Portuguese airline), is to offer 3 weekly flights between Madeira and Venezuela (Caracas). It will do so by making a quick pick-up / drop-off on Madeira on it’s flights between Lisbon and Venezuela.

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After the Monday on-line edition of the Diário newspaper failed to function properly, I did manage to get a very quick flick through the paper edition, which had an article on ‘Murder Dinners’, about which I am going to say no more. I am hoping that Mr A. who is a member of Madeira Amateur Dramatic Society will do it for me, and get the event some much needed publicity.

There was a short discussion about jellyfish here a few days ago, and on the national news Monday night there was a story about two children in Portugal that got badly stung by jellyfish and were taken to hospital. As part of the story they showed some mobile phone video footage of a man who had a jellyfish attached to his head like one of those swimming caps, and it was one hell of a job to get it off, and he was in a pretty bad state once it was off. Anyway, in case anyone has the jitters I haven’t seen a jellyfish here for well over two years, and I go for a walk down to the beach every single day.

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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 again to Helen … a wicker’ toboggan that formed part of the parade for Funchal 500 last week. From what has been said about a a bit of a poor show, perhaps it’s time to move on and just look forward to a far better event for Funchal 1000.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 25/8/2008

Madeira is to export fruit flies to Morocco in a contract worth €495,000 over 3 years. The sterilised flies are produced at a plant in Camacha … a staggering 50 million per week. 8 million of these infertile males will be sent to Morocco, and the contract is a recognition of the quality of the insects produced. The evolution of biological agriculture reduces the need for chemical insecticides in farming. The fly breeding project started here in 1993, and they used to be released on Madeira by air, but since 2007 they are now released from the ground, saving yearly €400,000 in flight costs.

A serious forest fire in Fonte dos Almocreves, the high zone of Santa Cruz, took 25 firemen 8 hours to control on Sunday afternoon. The fire was threatening residences, and so reinforcement firemen were called in from other areas to assist. Locals are talking about arson, as it is not the first time fires have started in that area, which is quite difficult for the firemen to access. Other fires were tackled and controlled in Caniçal, Ribeira Brava, Camacha and São Martinho.

In a critical article about President Jardim, the Diário looks at the huge debt that Madeira is carrying, because the government here ignored national budgets and spending rules … basically spending money that didn’t exist. It is a quite a long detailed article, but it has far to much technical content for me to attempt to translate.

Operation ‘Safe Night’ was a police operation that started on Friday night and ran through to last Saturday morning, covering the areas of ‘nocturnal fun’ in Funchal, and the surrounding roads. 10 drivers were caught under the influence of alcohol, and another 3 were driving without licences or similar problem. Two of the drivers attempted to escape from the police, without success. In total the police checked 195 vehicles. They found 26 offences or which 5 were considered serious. Perhaps the two attempted escapees hadn’t realised they were on a small island, or maybe the alcohol had numbed their brains sufficiently into thinking they were driving bat-mobiles? (topical humour).

Other news :

Porto Santo Island is aiming to increase its current accommodation to reach 7,500 hotel beds, in a bid to become a major European beach destination. Currently with around 3,000 beds, it aims to reach it’s ambition over the next 10 to 15 years. How is it then there are a reported 20,000 tourists on Porto Santo at the moment, perhaps they are all camped out on the beach? And surely the way to attract more tourists is to extend the tourism season from the current 3 summer months that operate there, especially as it claims to offer 300 ‘beach days’ annually … or are the population there happy with 9 months off every year?

Nothing more … as I tried several time to access the non-headline stories without any luck. Either the Diário website had a technical problem, or there is no news, just a front page. OK, a bit of chat to fill in then …

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I had to check it wasn’t April Fools day with that first story, but I remember seeing an Easyjet magazine with something similar in (written by Sam of The Madeira Times). So if we get 42,000,000 infertile flies let loose here every week where are they all. With so many I would expect swarms of them out looking for revenge on whoever took away their manhood. They must have some top ’stud’ flies at this place in Camacha, how else could they produce such vast quantities. Must be top job on the island for some lucky flies, and they probably live in a luxury box, having females sent in every 10 minutes or so, living off the very best gone-off Madeira bananas and maybe SPAD (those good animal protection people) help out with the supply of other materials essential for making a happy fly. Pardon … you would like me to change the subject?

Antone off to São Vicente for the big festa that started yesterday and runs through until Sunday? I don’t have a programme of events, but if you are lucky you might get to see Mariza (Portugal’s most renowned fado singer) and Rednex (who I only remember for that awful song ‘Cotton eye Joe). Any photos much appreciated.

A couple of months ago one of our blog readers had a hefty bill to pay as a result of hire car damage whilst it was parked. Enquiries with local car hire companies reveal that they offer CDW (collision damage waiver) insurance that may or may not cover you for all liabilities, and they may not be entirely truthful if you ask. Aside from that fact, the cost is expensive, at least €10 per day. At the time one of our blog readers, Karen, recommended a company that does annual insurance policies and daily insurance cover, that you can use to decline the insurance from the car hire companies. As well as saving a substantial amount of money, you would have the peace of mind that you have no excess to pay in the event of an accident as long as you follow their terms and conditions. We at madeira4u have struck a deal with that company and you can access their ‘click through adverts’ through the website. As well as saving you money when hiring cars (Europe or worldwide) it earns us a little commission also, which helps cover our running costs. If you are hiring a car as a one off, or do it regularly, please check out the deal, or recommend to family and friends. Many thanks! Access the ‘click through’ adverts here : http://www.madeira4u.com/m4u_Travel/travel_car_hire.html

Has anyone seen that yellow powder Turmeric for sale anywhere please? Boiled white rice looks so boring. Or perhaps there is an alternative?

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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 Helen … a Parachutist at the Funchal 500 celebrations on Thursday.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 24/8/2008

Despite the economic problems, we on Madeira are continuing to go on holidays, in fact more than previously, but the types of holidays chosen are changing. Low cost travel (by air, or by ferry to Portugal / Canary Islands) is definitely changing the shape of travel, because families can save so much money on the journey costs. A big travel agent, Mundo Vip Madeira, says that the number of travellers has increased 18% on 2007, but pointed out that people are asking for cheaper options. The package to the Canary Islands, the old favourite, is sold out until the end of September. Caribbean, Cape Verde and the Tunisia are the more popular destinations outside of Europe, whilst Brazil is falling in popularity.

The United Kingdom is the current favoured destination for emigrating Madeirans, where there are already 120,000 living (YES ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND!), whilst the scattering of Madeirans worldwide amounts to around one million. South Africa (400,000) and Venezuela (300,000) have the largest Madeiran communities, but they are aging, and the young and more dynamic are definitely headed for the UK. Could the last youngster leaving Madeira  please turn off the lights!

The big front page picture is of ‘Danny’, a Portuguese footballer who is likely to be transferred within Russia for a massive €30 million.

Other news :

Having scoured the newspaper front to back, there is again nothing that warrants the effort of a translation, unless you want to know about a cracked pavement, a rubbish and recycling point that gets overfilled, or a man who puts trash in his neighbours garden.

Marítimo lost 0-1 yesterday in a game at Naval. Nacional also played and won 3 – 1 away at Leixões, putting them top of the Portuguese league!

Helen wrote in to comment on the Funchal 500 celebrations … sounds like another dissatisfied customer “On the whole, the celebrations were very disappointing and there were long gaps between events which made it a very long day.  The parade was mainly very sombre, if you had stumbled across it, you would think it was a funeral celebration.  The fireworks were very good but probably not as good as at New Year. As usual, the publicity was very poor.  Even though we had a programme, I rather suspect we missed some things.  If anyone had flown in specially for this, they would be disappointed.  I hate to offer such negative comments but the whole event had a very amateurish feel about it. Such a shame.”

I had a letter from CaboTV last week, or Zon Madeira as I think they are now known. In a desperate attempt to get new and retain old customers, they are now offering the telephone facility free of charge for 12 months (unlimited free calls to Portuguese land lines), which was previously €9.99 per month. I had a look at their website and the offer was there for all to see, so I thought it was fair play that they wrote to me to tell me. However, you have to contact them to get switched to the ‘free phone’ deal, so why didn’t they just do it anyway … because they want me to feel loved I expect, but also so I agree to keep my whole TV / Internet / Phone deal for another 12 months.

So now we have 4 options for TV, including just a normal TV ariel, but excluding the illegal reception of Sky TV. We are feeling the benefits of the new found competition I am sure, but the confusion also. Do I go for Meo or Zon, what is going to be the best deal, and how come Meo has more channels than Zon, and what about the new Zon box HD … do I need it? Has anyone worked out in rough terms which is the best deal for TV, phone and internet, either in packages or individually … not an easy task if you don’t understand Portuguese.

ps – of those who volunteered to trial the ’sign in’ version of the madeira4u blog, as far as I can see Alan is the only one who tried it. Tobi, Vic and Sam did you get the email invitations I sent?

www.madeira4u.com

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