Madeira News Blog

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?

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!