Madeira News Blog

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Pirex … a sunbathing starfish … very unseasonal, but why not! (actually I presume it is dead as I don’t think they come out of the water voluntarily)

While most of the island was enjoying Xmas leftovers on the Friday public holiday, the good people at the Diário were clearly not included, as a thin but complete newspaper was produced for yesterday.

Front Page News : source Diário de Notícias 27/12/2008

Friday saw Funchal fairly busy with many places open, with last minute presents being purchased, but mainly unwanted gifts being exchanged. The newspaper refers to an invasion of Madeiran families in the main shopping centres. Meanwhile, in downtown Funchal, it was mainly tourists on the streets,  enjoying themselves and acquainting themselves with local traditions, delicacies, and “folklore”, dodging the rain when necessary. One of the picture shows a shop window with ’50%’ in big red letters. As the real sales cannot legally start until next week, I am not sure if that was advance warning or an interim promotion. The article says that normally there is a month allowed for goods to be exchanged, so why is it that everyone has to do it the day after Xmas … I really would like to know that?

The president of the Republic of Portugal, Cavaco Silva, feels embarrassed by Madeira. A meeting arranged in October for the PSD-Madeira (Social Democrat Party) has been cancelled by CS as ‘not convenient’. The meeting was arranged for the PSD to make several formal complaints about the way that Prime Minister Sócrates and his government have treated Madeira.

Even with no football this week, the sport still managed to get on the front page with “Race for the prizes returns in January” … pretty obvious and not really front page material me thinks!

The only other article was again about the row over the funding of politicians and political parties, the ‘jackpot’. This time a judge has defended the government of the regional assembly, saying that it has no constitutional power to change the formulas that determine the €5.5 million, or the way political parties are funded.

Other News :

In a move that will no doubt please some, from 1st January the law on property registrations changes, and instead of being tied to the particular ‘Conservatória’ of the area where a property is built, it will be possible to register at any office in the country. This is just one of a number of changes aimed at making property transactions simpler, and simpler means less for the lawyers, who are not so pleased about the situation. “Ready House” (Casa Pronta) allows someone to carry out many of the actions of a property purchase or sale in one office at one time, and that includes paying taxes, making the contract legal, exemptions for council tax, apply for dwelling rights, and change registration details.

Bulk gas prices are falling for both bottled and piped gas, but the reductions are not great, and are not being passed on in full to consumers by the reseller. For example the latest price cut takes a 13kg bottle of butane down from €21.04 to €20.45, when delivered to a property (it is less when brought at the retailers premises). 

Financial crisis or not, the popularity of cruise ships visiting Madeira continues to rise with 2009 set to be a record year. 2007 saw 262 visits, this year will achieve 285, and already for 2009, 307 visits are predicted. The most regular visitor is likely to be the ‘Thomson Celebration’ with 29 visits scheduled, being one of the few cruise ships that operates throughout the year, and there are also some debut cruise ship appearances planned.

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Anyone fancy doing a guest blog in 2009? It can be anything Madeira related, factual, personal experiences, scientific studies or whatever. The blog is always open to contributions anyway, so please have a think about it and maybe I will get a day off for a change. Maybe even a group blog? Believe me, when you find your contribution in print for the whole world to see, you will feel 1.828 metres tall.

Another idea I have for 2009 is to compile a diary of worthwhile events all over the island. It’s hard to define worthwhile, as that is pretty subjective, but I would think that a purely religious festa held inside a church might be out of scope, whereas the run in Funchal today would be included. I don’t think a comprehensive list already exists anywhere, but if I am wrong please point me in the right direction. It would need people to contact me when they know of or stumble across something suitable, with a little bit of detail. Any thoughts?

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 rather spectacular looking flowers that I don’t recall having seen before. (Come on Ulf, I bet you know what they are called)

I was a bit surprised to find there was a Xmas day edition of the Diário, on-line at least. My fault for looking I guess, but it was pretty ‘thin’ anyway. There was no edition yesterday though, so the blog will be back on schedule tomorrow.

Front Page News : source Diário de Notícias 25/12/2008

Intense rain and strong winds did some damage through to early on Xmas morning. Fallen trees, several car accidents, and even some flooding are all blamed on the weather. Strong winds have been causing landing problems at the airport, and Tuesday night several planes were unable to land immediately, and needed “several attempts” (a bit scary I bet!). Also, a river got blocked and flooded into several houses in Quinta Grande.

There was a serious injury at sea on Wednesday when the ship ‘Saga Ruby’ was being brought into port under very difficult sea conditions. One of the crew of the tug boat ‘Boqueirão’ was hit in the face by a towing cable, causing serious injuries that were being treated by a plastic surgeon. Also, while ashore, a very ill passenger from the ‘Saga Ruby’ had to be rushed to hospital by an air force helicopter.

The other lead article was about the nightlife entertainment going on over Xmas and yesterday, and I was surprised to see how many places were actually open on Christmas night.

Other News :

Apparently eating too much in one sitting at Christmas can make you ill, especially when there is alcohol involved. You learn something here every day!

The bin men in Funchal were rather pleased after the market night on Tuesday in Funchal, as there was much less rubbish to clear up than usual and the job was all finished by 9am on Wednesday. A council spokesman said that was not due to people being tidier than usual, but  was more to do with the heavy rain affecting the number of people attending. The emergency services weren’t so pleased however, as 14 people had to be treated that night for alcohol intoxication.

Proof that the Portuguese people have less money to spend this Xmas comes in the form of less cash withdrawals from ATMs (multibancos), to the tune of €18 million compared to the first three weeks of December 2007.

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This is interesting. This website claims that the new sandy beach at Machico is illegal under international law. http://www.wsrw.org/index.php?parse_news=single&cat=105&art=997

The claim is from Western Sahara Resource Watch, who say that the Sahrawi people were not consulted in the sale of the sand to Madeira. Is the evidence strong enough that we should we boycott the beach in protest?

I bet they didn’t ask Tobi if they could use his photograph, and they certainly didn’t contact me about quoting the blog, not that I mind (in fact I am quite flattered).

The bad weather seemed to peak last night, and today a few patches of blue sky have appeared. There has been so much rain that most of the dry areas in the river bed of the ‘Ribeira Brava’ have been washed away, leaving the duck population of around 80, near to the sea, high and dry and without much to eat. If anyone has stale bread, grain, sweetcorn, or anything else suitable they can spare, I am sure them ducks would be eternally grateful.

Thanks to Sarah for this event information:

Sunday 28th December – São Silvestre Race – Round the city of Funchal, at 9 pm. I am assuming it is this :The Madeira Athletics Association will hold the 50th edition of Round the City. This event is considered to be one of the oldest contests of this kind in Portugal and Europe. As in previous years, this contest has brought to Madeira some of the most important athletes of the national and international panorama. The route is approximately 6,000 metres in length and in each race there is an increasingly greater number of registered participants.

No games this weekend for our local football teams.

Have a great weekend!

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 Tobi … Xmas flower display – that’s it for Christmassy stuff, and thanks for everyone for taking the trouble of sending their photos in.

Front Page News : source Diário de Notícias 24/12/2008

A small piece on the famous farmers market in Funchal on Tuesday night, saying that the sellers were not concerned by the poor weather forecast. I guess that was written before the event, but the main story headlines “Rain interferes on the night of the market. The unstable weather certainly did not help, but even so many Madeirans were equipped with umbrellas, and fulfilled the tradition of the ‘Noite do Mercado’ “. Not as many people turned up as were expected, but that was probably as the rain had already started at the end of the evening. A few turned up to do their shopping, but the majority were there to enjoy the occasion, with a ‘vinho e alhos’ sandwich, a ‘quarto de litro’ (wine?), a beer or a poncha, and maybe a dance and singsong. The rest of the article is taken up with interviews with revellers, shoppers and traders. There are some photos here, but you may need to be logged in to get access: www.dnoticias.pt/Default.aspx?file_id=dn04010212241208

Trade Unions representing workers in construction, commerce, hotels and other sectors are angry that many workers did not receive their Xmas subsidy in time. They say that the excuse of the ‘financial crisis’ is not acceptable. The subsidy is payable to salaried workers at Christmas, almost as an extra payday. Lots of examples are given, but the unions believe there are many more cases yet to come to light. That is really sad, as I know so many people rely on this payment to fund their Xmas presents and celebrations. It certainly won’t be much of a festive season for many without it, and I doubt whether these people will be returning to work with a high degree of motivation afterwards.

The children’s playground in Ribeira Brava (near the church) is normally well used, but there are those who see it as a ‘step back in time’. The equipment is made of iron, and the floor area is not of an adequate standard to protect children, contrary to current legislation. The article points out the amount of money the council has spent on new facilities and upgrading throughout the town, but although the councillor interviewed agrees that the playground needs to be upgraded, he says that “the times are difficult” and funding is not available. Funny that as it was only a few days ago that I read about the €27 million budget allocation for the town. This is a backward thinking PSD run council for sure. This week I witnessed again the cleaning of the sea front swimming pool … great, but it will not be in use for many more months. They are planning to upgrade street lights to make the town safer, but there is no one out at night to mug, and it is a safe town already and the street lights are fine, and I hate to think what is spent every year on dressing up the town for various celebrations and festas (always nice, but well OTT).

The front page sports story is an interview with the Marítmo defender ‘Marcos’, who says he dreams about playing in the English league. The other story is the continuing political row over the ‘jackpot’ budget, which by now must be a familiar word in the Portuguese language, and I expect to see it appear in new editions of Portuguese dictionaries.

Other News :

‘Much party, but little shopping’ that is the headline for the story about the Market Night in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos. One trader said after 14 hours on his stall he had sold half of that he had sold in 2007, another said “people only want to eat and drink”. Financial crisis … I don’t know, but it seems to me people will always buy the same amount of fruit and vegetables, whilst other purchases suffer. Is this not a case that these pre-Xmas markets are turning into social events, and people don’t want to be lugging heavy bags around with them? If that is true, this phenomenon is destined for disaster, as if the traders can’t sell their produce then there is no point in a market … and no party.

A heartwarming story about a lady called Guida Pinto who was going blind as she needed a cornea transplant, and until 5 months ago she couldn’t get one or afford to pay for one. However the Diário came to the rescue and as well as publishing the story, also opened a bank account for donations, paying for her to go to Lisbon for the operation.

Back on the subject of illegal fireworks, the Diário reports that illegal ‘bombs’ are being smuggled in from the continent. The reason being that they are more powerful and louder than the the ones legally on sale here, and that’s what people want … despite the extra danger they create.

The plans for a massive urbanisation for the area west of Funchal, called Amparo, are in the courts at present awaiting a judicial ruling. Opponents of the development are optimistic that the judgement will recognise a number of illegalities in the plans and stop the project before it starts.

A new partnership between two travel companies has resulted in a new price comparison website for Portuguese travellers, where bookings can be made online. The new site searches many airlines servicing Portugal (and Madeira of course) and gives an instant price comparison. TAP and SATA came up on my attempt, but they say that Easyjet and members of the ‘Star Alliance’ will also be searched where the route services Portugal. They didn’t give a website address, but I managed to track it down :

http://www.euromar-travel.com

aqui

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I know you can buy Colgate toothpaste here in all the supermarkets, so I thought it was worth mentioning that ‘fake Colgate’ toothpaste has been found on sale in both America and Europe, and although it presents no health risk it may contain an extra ingredient found in anti-freeze. I suppose I can understand how people are tempted to make fake designer clothing etc., as they are expensive and can be easily copied and sold much cheaper, but toothpaste! Having just brought 3 tubes in Modelo when it was half-price a few week ago, I am highly suspicious that they may indeed be fakes, the trouble is how will I know? As I don’t live in a cold country, there is not much point putting it in a car radiator to see if prevents ice forming, so perhaps I need to clean my teeth and then put my head in the deep freezer for half an hour to see if my teeth remain ice free? If I do find it to be forged, can I then take it back to Modelo and demand a refund, and how will I be able to prove my case to them? Perhaps I can resell them on Ebay? Too many difficult questions for a festive period … it’s all making my head spin!

I mentioned before about this, but he has now gone to taxiing full time : Nelson’s Taxi – now working around the clock everyday. Covering pick ups between Calheta and Ribeira Brava, along with special airport pick up / drop off prices … just mention madeira4u. email : nelsonlala4@hotmail.com Tel 964 487595 He speaks English very well, and is reliable and honest.

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!