Madeira News Blog

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … The statue of Cristo Rei at Garajau, with a few seasonal modifications.

Merry Christmas everyone, and many thanks to those of you that have emailed messages … very kind of you to take the trouble. That’s it for todays blog … now lets see who comes along with messages during the day, and feel free to chip in as always!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Carlos … the long awaited photo of his presépio … nice job Mrs. Carlos!

Front Page News : source Diário de Notícias 23/12/2008

The body responsible for managing the health service of Madeira is to introduce electronic ‘chips’ to control patients and visitors through computerisation, to improve security, and to link to medical records. The chips will be introduced next year, and will also be put in the ID bracelets of new born babies with an alarm trigger incorporated, should the baby suffer a health complication. The chip will also be linked to a colour coded priority system. Although the implementation will not start until next year, the computerised systems are not expected to be completed until 2012.

In a preview of last nights ‘market night’ in Funchal, the Diário recalls how over the year the event has changed from a essential shopping event to a social and entertainment event. More and more people go every year, and whilst the pockets of street traders suffer more, the ‘tascas’ and bars gain more and more. In fact many visitors go and and buy their fruit and vegetables before the event gets going, or on Xmas eve itself, so they are ‘hands free’ on the night itself. This year, for the first time, red commemorative t-shirts were available with ‘Noite do Mercado’ as the motif. In a separate but related article, CMF (Funchal Council) are noted as giving the 53 stallholders a bit of a bargain in terms of the charges for placing the stalls. It is expected to work out at just €21 per stall, not bad for around 10 hours heavy trading.

More info on the new year firework display. Macedo (who are putting it all together) promise 8 minutes with “a lot of colour”. Altogether there will 44,000 fireworks and 71,000 ‘shots’ (only 67,000 in 2008). All the launch posts are now built, and they will start to be put in place on the 29th December. In total around 400 people are involved in this years project. The boss of Macedo promises a few surprises this year, but with no hints of what they might be.

A 60 year old natural of Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, now living in Caracas in Venezuela, was kidnapped and held for ransom before being released. The ransom was paid by the woman’s family, and the rest of the article reads like a film script, as the money was delivered and the victim was released. Almost a daily event now in Venezuela.

Tourist numbers are definitely down this festive period, after it was predicted there would be a lot of late bookings (which could still happen of course). By this time last year Funchal was ‘sold out’, but this year there are few hotels that can claim that, with 5 star units getting a particular mention. Prices are much the same as last year taking into account the inflation rate for the year. The average length of stay for December is also dropping (6.2 nights in 2005 – 4.9 in 2007), and this year is expected to be as low as 4 nights.

There are 600 Funchal families waiting to be moved into ‘council accommodation’ currently living in unsuitable conditions, but the Funchal waiting list is full until 2011. Many of these people have severe social issues, such as broken families, and staying in their current situations only worsens these problems.

Of course the big front page photo of yesterday was from  Nacional’s drawn game at Benfica.

Other News :

A 41 year old man lost an eye after the traditional firework launching at the ‘Missa’ do Porto’ in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos.

The police raided the market at Santo da Serra again on Sunday, and obviously lessons had not been learned from last month. 992 pirate DVD’s and 95 items of fake designer clothing were seized.

Madeira is to have a new visitor next month, the new cruise ship ‘Fantasia’ belonging to the Italian operator MSC Cruise. It arrives on the 9th of January, having been inaugurated last week in the company of Sofia Loren. It weighs 133,550 tons, is 333 metres long, and will carry up to 3,959 passengers and 1,325 crew. It has 99 luxury VIP suites with butler service, a 1,700 seater theatre, and a 4D interactive cinema, to name but a few of it’s many features.

During the year up until Sunday, the airlines that serve Madeira had journeyed with 889,000 empty seats, giving a worrying occupancy rate of just 71.8%. The average of 55 daily flights brought in total 2.3 million travellers during that period. I find the average daily flights figure a bit hard to swallow, so I reckon that must be in and out.

The New Democrat Party €30 giveaway went down very well on Monday, with queues stretching down the street. It was only supposed to amount to €5,000 in total, but  in the end the man known as ‘Rabbit’ put his hand deeper into his furry pocket and found another €2,500, in the end making 250 pensioners very happy. €7,500 for 250 votes in 2009? Not good value, as I reckon he will need another €3 million to buy-off a majority of Madeira’s voters … but every little helps.

The Bloco de Esquerda Party (‘Left Block’) are to start a campaign against the cable car at Rabaçal. It will start in the new year with the launching of a new petition. Obviously they feel they can better the 5,900 votes achieved for the on-line petition, and if they can go on the streets and get tourist support, then I would agree that a much better showing is possible.

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For anyone travelling over Xmas, you might find it useful to know that the 26th of December is an official holiday for Madeira this year, whereas normally it is not. That will affect public transport and other services. The 2nd of January is not a public holiday, but you might find services a bit slow and undermanned.

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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 Tobi … more Christmas lights

Front Page News : source Diário de Notícias 22/12/2008

Marítimo’s draw at Porto has most of the front page. It was the first time for 27 years that Marítimo had taken a point away from a visit to Porto, but the headline referred to some less worthy heated moments both during and after the match.

Despite expectations, the big late rush to buy Christmas presents didn’t happen as predicted. Funchal was full of people on Sunday, looking, but not spending. Quite a few traders had already given up hope and didn’t open their shops. One clothes shop trader is quoted as saying “it would have been better to have stayed at home. It was very poor, really poor”. Even the two cruise ships in port did little to lift matters, and the closure of the fruit market was seen by traders as a bad move for business generally.

There are around 300 company active insolvencies being processed on Madeira, double the number in 2007. But the pattern is changing, with more and more companies initiating the insolvency proceedings themselves, although creditor initiated action is still the bigger cause. Another trend, in order to keep a business going, is where some companies are negotiating debt payment plans direct with creditors.

The Portuguese are choosing destinations nearer to home and cheaper for their mini Xmas and new year breaks this year, with Madeira and the Algarve leading the way. That is quite different than in 2007 according to a leading travel agent. The level of bookings is expected to be much the same, but many bookings are being made very late this year. Spain and Cabo Verde are also popular short break destinations, while bookings for Brazil are down.

The Diário takes up the story of the beggars who are not quite what they seem. Elisabete tells of a beggar with twisted legs and crutches, a familiar face in Funchal, who she watched get up off the floor and walk away without any disability. Now she says she doesn’t trust any of them. Traders in the area of Fernão Ornelas say there are all sorts of things going on, with teams of beggars in working together, and citing one case of a group of them going off together in a taxi. They come into the shops asking for change for €50 and €100 notes. One shopworker is quoted as saying that the beggars have a manager, that collects the money, brings lunch, and gives support. He believes that the majority of the dishonest beggars are Romanian rather than Madeiran. Another ploy mentioned to tug at the heartstrings is the lady(ies?) with a baby in the lap. What can you say … dishonest beggars, whatever next. So what should one do, not give on the basis that it is someone faking poverty, and risk the genuine hardship cases starving? Or give, and just take it on the chin if you get it wrong? The advice is often given to give to the charities that help these people, but who knows what actually gets through to the needy, and who ever sees a beggar and thinks oh I will just pop around to the local charity office and do my bit?

The only other headline story is the ‘donations’ to the over 70′s who go to the office of the PND (New democrat party) to collect a share of their ‘jackpot’ spoils (€30 each), the story promoted from the inner pages of the Diário. I think it is a great idea, not just for the over 70′s who might have a better Xmas than they would have done, but to highlight the absurdity of a grossly over inflated budget to fill the pockets of politicians and political parties.

Other News :

Benfica 0 – 0 Nacional. Another splendid result, but not without some controversy! Benfica have complained about the refereeing and even threatened to make a criminal complaint.

On the first day of the new CTT (post office) scheme to distribute free of charge packages of donations to help poverty and social exclusion, around 80 packages were handled.

The director of the travel company TUI says that Madeira has become a niche destination, and that she has confidence in the future of tourism here.  “The visitors to Madeira constitute a selective group, that appreciate very much its natural beauty, and the tranquility that exists here, beyond the quality of the hotels.”  In the opinion of the director of TUI there are loyal clients that repeat visit many times this destination and that they are unlike the others that find popular and beach resorts more attractive. Can’t argue with that, but hasn’t it always been that way?

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!