Madeira News Blog

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Jon & Deb … “A few pics of the Christmas lights etc. for your perusal and blog submission….taken after “switch on” on Friday 28th ….. not all in focus, well it was cold! Just a point re beer/coffee costs at this end of the island …. a large beer never costs as much as two euro and coffee is the same price (Garroto, Chinesa = 60/80 euro) morning, noon and night – sometimes with a free brandy – we have NEVER been ripped of in any of our local restaurants! Totally agree with your comments re Funchal Fruit Market – we warn our guests …….. Info re dodgy tourist board bed allocation and the ability to actually fight illegal building works in the wings ….. New Year stuff! ” John & Deb are in Gaula (Santa Cruz) if anyone wants to try the local hostelries there.

Front Page News : source Diário de Notícias 29/11/2008

With the rest of the Xmas lights in Funchal switched on Friday night, all that remains is to know the programme for the rest of the festive season. More than half the €4.6 million budget has been spent on the lighting, which has involved nearly 2,500 people. The street entertainment starts on Saturday 6th December (music and whatever else is normally done), with Friday 12th being a climax when street bands and folk groups join in. 

New Year will be highlighted by the firework display provided by ‘Macedos Pirotecnia’, and will last 8 minutes on the theme ‘Alchemy of the Color’. 39 launch posts are being established (24 in Funchal, 8 coastline, 6 on the sea, and 1 in Porto Santo).

We seem to have a diminished Christmas lighting display in Rib. Bra. (not yet switched on). The odd thing is that this year the câmara (council) has completely lit up the municipal gardens with tens of thousands of LED lights. It looks very nice, but is a little odd, because most of the lights are at the back and cannot be seen by people in the town after the gates are locked before nightfall. I can see them as I am higher up, and so can the ducks and peacocks that live there, but that’s about it.

Hotel occupation rates are low at 51% for most of December as usual (58% in 2007), and new year is at 81% (95% in 2007). The secretary for tourism reckons that it is still early days and further bookings can be expected. I expect that observation covers Funchal, whilst elsewhere hotel occupation rates are expected to be at the same levels as last year, approximately 0%.

‘Madeira condemned by EU’. Madeira has to return €2.5 million because of a breach of law in funding obtained for the creation of public networks for information and learning in health, education and public administration. The breach has occurred because suppliers were used that did not properly qualify in the selection (tendering) process. The problem applies to Portugal as a whole, and not just Madeira.

The fifth fashion gala of Madeira commenced on Friday, with plenty of contributions from local designers, but also criticism due to the lack of heating and attendance by local dignitaries.

The other two front page stories were about football and politics and didn’t look too interesting so I gave them a miss.

Other news :

The sea lion that came ashore for medical treatment has been confirmed as having gastroenteritis, with problems in her liver and pancreas. She is reacting well to treatment, but her condition is “worrying”. The condition is thought to be as a result of injuries sustained two years ago that left her immune system vulnerable.

25 years ago Madeira became a pioneer in Portugal for the implementation and use of photovoltaic cells for generating energy from the suns rays, leading to a growing enthusiasm for renewable energy solutions of all types. With around 3,000 sunshine hours a year (and that’s official) what better place could there be!

Since the year 2000, Madeira has managed to reduce the number of annual workplace fatalities by 40%.

A young man of 20 years who took to the via rápida on roller skates has been identified by police. A 3 minute video of the event posted on the internet was used to identify the idiot, along with footage from the police security cameras. He now faces a fine of up to €600.

Portugal has produced has a list of the one thousand biggest companies, with just 13 Madeiran companies mentioned. The biggest is ELCA Cosmetics, (53rd), followed by Galp Madeira (187th) and Electricidade da Madeira (188th). The bus company ‘Horários do Funchal’ just sneaks in at 956th.

Only one of 15 amendments to the 2009 state budget submitted by the social democrat government of Madeira were accepted by the socialist government in the Assembly of the Republic. The overall state budget was approved in Portugal last week, with all the opposition parties voting against the socialist majority. The fight goes on then, and we can not only look forward to further divisions between Madeira and Portugal next year, but another fighting performance (and hopefully top entertainment too) from President Bertie.

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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, topical photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to the Diário, although I haven’t yet asked … ‘Véu da Noiva’ in Seixal (Veil of the Bride) … see story below.

Front Page News : source Diário de Notícias 28/11/2008

Top headline shows an alarming photograph of an explosion blowing the roof off one of the hotels in India attacked by terrorists.

There is an alert for parents of small children about the dangers of packets of small crystals that are being brought by youngsters here in Chinese shops and bazaars. The small coloured crystals expand in water into soft balls, and the concern is that small children will ingest them after using them to decorate inside their drinking water bottles, and also that they will block pipes and lavatories if put into the sewerage system. The matter was highlighted by a school in Caniço, with particular concern for toxicity after it was found there was no information on the packets.

The big rockfall reported recently that blocked the coast road and tunnel near Seixal / São Vicente was followed by two more on Thursday morning. The road was closed anyway, so there was no danger to people or property, and many tons of rock fell into the sea. In case the photo above is too small to see it shows a huge pile of rubble at the bottom of a newly sheared cliff face, creating a new headland into the sea. If it gets much bigger, they will have to send around the map makers to reshape Madeira. The famous waterfall that used to flow down the surface now goes straight out from the rock-face.

The regional government has managed to secure a second line of credit for small and medium size businesses, after the first lot of €20 million ran out within 15 days. The new line is for a further €20 million.

The work on the enlargement and refurbishment of the 5 star ‘Madeira Palace’ hotel has been stopped for around two months, after the project ran out of money and the bank refused to allow any further credit. As well as the contractors stopping work without payment, the 115 members of staff there have already been told they will not receive a salary for this month, nor their extra payment before Christmas. The trade union representing the workers says that the company is in a grave financial situation, caused by the action of the bank, but negotiations are still ongoing to resolve the situation.

The sea lion that arrived in Funchal and took a kip on the quayside on Thursday, as mentioned in yesterdays blog, was captured and taken for a medical exam. She was identified as the same sea lion that was taken in from the sea two years ago, suffering with some fairly serious injuries to her ‘limbs’. This time she is suffering with convulsions and vomiting. Vomiting is not surprising … I think I would if I ate a live octopus. I am certainly not qualified as a sea lion mind reader, but maybe she remembered from last time that humans do have some uses and don’t just pollute the sea, and popped in for a ‘check up’ and a good free feed. I think I heard on the radio a few minutes ago that she has the marine version of gastroenteritis.

Other news :

I didn’t notice anything, but on Thursday at 2.25am Ribeira Brava suffered it’s own earthquake, registering at 2.2 on the Richter scale, the seismic activity occurring at around 2 kilometres of depth.

Moving to the economy section: The British youth of 16 years who is trying to set a world record as the youngest around the world sailor was due to arrive on Madeira last night in his boat ‘TotallyMoney’ (his sponsor by any chance?). This was not a scheduled stop, but was necessary due to a fault in the auto-pilot system. Michael Perham will spend 4 and a half months at sea, considerably more if he keeps making unscheduled stops …

This weekend’s football fixtures: Today 6.45pm Beleneses v Marítimo on SportTV; Tomorrow 6pm Braga v Nacional also on SportTV.

Don’t forget you have a long weekend, as Monday is a public holiday, with buses, public offices, and some shops etc. being closed. Have a good one!

The following weekend also has a public holiday, and that will signal the end of the traditional religious festas for 2008. If you need a final festa fix before Xmas, there is one just outside Ribeira Brava, email me if you want more details.

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, topical photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Eiryl … some pretty pink flowers. I have no idea what it is called, but I bet it has ‘umbrella’ somewhere in the name.

Front Page News : source Diário de Notícias 27/11/2008

At long last the EU has approved the ‘subsidy of mobility’  for the ferry service between Madeira and Portimão in Portugal. It seems that Portugal forgot to submit a formal request to the EU for the subsidy, and hence the delay. It just remains now for the EU to formally notify the decision, before residents rebates can be processed. The article doesn’t make it clear, but it seems that the subsidy of €30 each way that one can presently enjoy for air travel will also apply to ferry journeys. That will bring the price of the cheapest ticket to €45 each way.

The Mercado dos Lavradores, perhaps better known as Funchal Fruit Market, is going through hard times with the “salespersons of the market agonizing with the crisis”. Plenty of tourists still going there, keen to taste the produce and take photos, but no one is buying. In terms of local customers it is mainly older Madeirans that still use the market on a regular basis, with the youngsters going for the ‘washed’ products in the supermarkets, where they can buy everything in one visit, and park the car without problems. “The economic crisis that hits the pockets of the citizens is going to reduce purchases.  However, does not it explain everything.” Sometimes it seems that I see a totally different picture than the Diário, as the fruit market has such a bad reputation for overcharging foreigners, word must get around. It’s a ‘must see’ attraction for Madeira, but when you can type a few words in Google and get a whole list of complaints, how is it that locally it is still such a well kept secret? Even tourists that do not know of the problem and buy there will only get stung the one time, and that’s if the sellers get away with it the first time.

Something happened on Wednesday, something that has never been seen by man in the history of Madeira. An adult sea lion spotted by fishermen caught and ate an octopus, and then took a snooze on the varadouro* of São Lázaro, Funchal, between the parked boats that were out of the water. It even stayed put and posed for the Diário photographer. (* varadouro – does not exist in the 3 dictionaries I possess, but judging by the photographs it was on a concrete quayside).

The last article is about a young local lady who is excelling in the sport of andebol (handball) and is seen to be going places internationally.

Other news :

Machico council (câmara) is working with emergency services and other organisations to produce an ‘emergency plan’, to be ready in 2009, 7 years after it was started. This will then fulfil legal requirements which affect the whole of Portugal. Machico had a particularly difficult job, as apart from overcoming political obstacles, it has factories in the Zona Franca, the premises of Shell, and an industrial park. I wonder if it covers things like giant tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and collapsing mountainsides, as a little island like this must be in more danger from nature than it is from anything man made.

Low temperatures over the last few days have caused the deposit of some snow on Madeira’s highest peaks.

Ths shop-workers trade union that a few days ago lost it’s fight with Funchal council to reduce the Christmas period working hours, has now turned to the Regional Inspectorate for the workplace and asked it to carry out  inspections to ensure it’s members aren’t working over and above what is legally or contractually permitted.

European football : Sporting and Porto both made it through to the last 16 of the champions league, but Benfica took a bit of a hiding in the EUFA cup last night, and Braga lost as well.

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If anyone is interested in free Portuguese lessons for foreigners, from January these can be found in Ribeira Brava, in the secondary school of Padre Manuel Álvares. The course, which already has 12 people signed up, will be two afternoons a week (3 hours each), until June. The 150 hour course will comprise 3 x 50 hour blocks, depending on the starter level of the individual. You will need to go to the school to register before starting (taking all the usual ID documents), and just to say that the course is almost certainly going ahead, but requires a final sign-off by the education authorities. Be warned that I will be one of the students!

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, topical photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!