Madeira News Blog

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … Quinta do Lorde, probably one of the biggest mistakes this island has ever seen. What an eyesore!

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 30/3/2009

Main Headline : ‘Regional Government Insist On Making A Compliant Against Sócrates’ – The region continues to defend it’s position that it has a legitimate right to borrow more money from the banks, and is preparing itself to move outside of the restrictions imposed from Lisbon. It is compiling a ‘dossier’ to support its claim that the restrictions are illegal, and that they impede the right to obtain finance outside of the regional budget, as set by the republic. The article goes on to say that the accounts of Madeira are in better shape than in Portugal as a whole, and as such debts incurred now will place a lesser burden on the taxpayer than the restrictions imposed by the state. The case presented will show that Madeira on it’s own in fact complies with the debt restrictions set by the European Commission, whilst Portugal does not. In figures, Madeira’s debt represents 14.7% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product), in Portugal debt represents 71.3% of GDP. You would have thought this was more about the constitution that allows Madeira autonomy, rather than facts or figures, but the complete article actually shows Madeira in better financial shape than I would have expected. 

The residents of Boaventura fear isolation with the building of a new ‘via expresso’ road that will take visitors away from the village, and affect local trade. With just over 1,500 inhabitants, emigration is the best solution for those seeking a better life, and for those that stay there to work, there are just two options: agriculture or civil construction.

‘Lodgings For Students Scald – The prices charged in Funchal for student accommodation are comparable to those in Lisbon, with just Porto charging higher rates in Portugal’. Funchal is among the Portuguese cities where students pay more for accommodation, according to those who come out to study at the University of Madeira (UMa), and that as they do not have access to university accommodation, are forced to rent a space to live. The price of a room can vary between €100 and €350 a month, depending on the quality of the facility chosen. The chairman of the Academic Association of the University of Madeira (AAUMa), recognizes that accommodation is one of the things that affects in particular students from the Azores and mainland studying in the region, saying “The accommodation in Funchal is extremely expensive compared with, for example, the rental of a room in Minho, or in the Beira Interior, or Évora”. He has no doubt that the monthly expenditure of an outsider who studies at UMa “easily surpasses  500 euros monthly.” That’s as much as the minimum wage, so I guess unless one has rich parents, it is a case of staying nearer home.

There is yet another article on the situation of Portugal in the world cup qualifiers, with just second place in the group looking achievable now, and even that depending on the slip-ups of other teams. Second place means going into play-off games for the 8 best teams in that position.

The slightly surreal main picture of yesterday’s front page shows the inside of the church in Porto Moniz, filled from floor to ceiling and from wall to wall with scaffolding. Headlined : “Scaffolding Inside the The Church For 5 Years”, it goes on to say that safety inside is a concern, and delays in the repair works may lead to the loss of €75 thousand in grant money. The Diário calls it the ‘Factory of the Church of Porto Moniz, but it’s real name is Nossa Senhora da Conceição, and it could lose 75% of the approved grant of €100 thousand euros, due to delays in works that began in 2004. This is due to deadlines for completing the repairs expiring in September 2008, after an extension had already been granted. The population are fed up with the situation, and now even have safety fears after an object fell from above recently.

‘More Than 75% Deliver IRS Through The Internet : The deadline for doing your tax return electronically (through the internet) is 15th April’. The estimate is that between 75 and 78 thousand tax submissions will be made this way in 2009, but not for the reasons you may think. The number of houses and taxpayers with internet access and know-how is not part of the equation. It is mostly down to a number of help organisations that have sprung up over recent years, which include to some extent the Finance offices, where as well as help with the figures, they will actually input through the internet on behalf of the taxpayer. Paper submissions are down from 42 to 28 thousand compared to the last tax year. The date limit given in the title is for income from work and pensions from Portugal (Anexes A – H). Any refunds due will be made by 16th May, if validated without access to documentation by the tax authorities of course, and if bank details are provided.

Other News :

On Saturday April 4, if you fancy a bit of exercise, and at the same time draw attention to an important matter, go at 9 o’clock in the morning to the Sé Cathedral in Funchal. The ‘Marcha Pela Saúde’ (Walk for Health) is an initiative organised by the Madeira branch of the Portuguese League Against Cancer, which invites everyone to join in, and in particular they are looking for family participation covering the different generations. There is also some entertainment arranged for the end of the event, but I won’t spoil it for you.

‘Taxis from Santa Cruz with new prices’. Following approval by the Regional Directorate for Trade, Industry and Energy (DRCIE), new prices apply that are slightly different from those charged in Funchal and on the rest of the island. One of the main differences is the reduction of the distance travelled before the taxi meter starts adding to the starting cost, which has been reduced by 250 metres. From there, the meter will clock up 10 cêntimos for every 80 metres travelled, and will also add that same amount for every 30 seconds the taxi is stopped. The ‘flag’ (starting price?) will remain unchanged at €3.95. A spokesman for the taxi association ASAT said “Instead of requesting a price increase, we opted for a reduction in metres. We believe it is a measure that affect fewer customers.” A 6 or 8 seater taxi will continue to add 20% to the price when transporting at least 4 passengers, but the night time hours for all taxis has changed, and the night rate will now run between 9pm and 6am. The article mentions that new rates will soon apply to all of Madeira. That is a simplified version of what is given, but as the airport falls within Santa Cruz, it may be that travellers find the amount they have been used to paying has changed.  

The natural development of links between the various security forces, combined with greater prevention and quicker responses to potential criminal activity, are among the factors that explain the positive results presented in the latest Annual Report on Internal Security for 2008. The region, as reported last week, joined a group of five districts in Portugal that recorded significant decreases in terms of occurrences of crimes. This happened with general crime, as well as the more serious, complex and organized criminal activities. In the case of the Judicial Police, during the past year there were 7% less cases requiring investigation, compared to 2007.

Lots of financial advice given today for those who have to submit tax returns, all useful stuff, but that is mainly double-dutch to me. However, there was one point I did understand and thought was rather odd, and that is the inability to reclaim IVA (VAT) or to offset in ones business accounts, where the purchase was made in another member state of the EU. The reason given being that Portugal does not receive that IVA. Ones options are to reclaim the IVA in the country of expenditure, or pass that on as an additional cost onto your customer. The first option sounds like a lot of time and effort, the second a customer turn-off. Is that what Europe is all about? As always, please verify any financial information before acting on it.

The ferry ‘Volcán de Tijarafe’ stayed in Portimão (Portugal) longer on Sunday, knowing that it’s return trip would be hampered by another ‘full house’ in Funchal harbour yesterday. It was scheduled to arrive at 6pm, to avoid the ‘full house’ caused by four visiting cruise ships. Bad timing for the 200 Madeiran students off to the Canary Islands for their ‘final year Easter fling’. That’s two consecutive days that Funchal port was full, yesterday with 7,400 tourists.

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My school holidays started yesterday, so me and my chums have no more Portuguese lessons for two weeks. I have the ’school card’ now, so I am officially a student, and that allows me use of the school canteen. I would like to try it out as I expect it is really cheap, but the thought of being the butt of discussion for hundreds of kids is too much to overcome. Maybe I should go in disguise … as a teacher perhaps.

I am sure that nobody is really interested in my weekend, so just one little story from Saturday night when I went into town to watch the football, having just consumed my evening meal. It doesn’t happen often on this scale, but I went in this one place and ordered a beer, and 10 minutes later arrived a plate of freshly cooked bbq chicken and chips. So rather than cause offence, I accepted with thanks and spent the next half an hour picking through it. I just don’t have the heart to say no when when it is something they have made especially, and I remember last time when it happened in the same place, the lady owner looked like she was going to burst into tears when I turned the food away, and she asked why I didn’t like it. That’s an extra trip to the gym again this week then.

I will be back with news tomorrow, promise.

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 Sarah … An ‘A’ Frame house in Santana. I went in one once and they are not as small as they seem, but I guess with a whole family inside it’s a different story.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 29/3/2009

Yesterday’s main headline : ‘Zona Franca Loses Businesses’. The Zona Franca, the tax advantageous or ‘off-shore’ zone of Madeira, had 6,242 companies registered in the year 2000. At the end of last year there were just 3,630, a drop of 42%. These are alarming statistics for the regional economy, especially for economic growth. Over the 22 years of it’s existence, the only sector still in growth in the Zona Franca is the ‘Industrial’ zone. The Financial Services sector has lost 33% of it’s businesses over the last 10 years, whereas the International Services zone has reduced by 44% over 8 years. The final sector, the International Registration of Ships, has 238 entities, but in 2000 had 264. The SDM (Madeira Development Company), that manages the International Business Center of Madeira and the Zona Franca, says that the decision by the European Commission in 2002 to stop the acceptance of new entrants in the Financial Services Sector (including insurance) has had a significant impact. I never realised there were anything like that number, but that is certainly a big drop over 8 years, especially when Madeira has the lowest IVA (VAT) rate in Europe.

The main picture shows Cristiano Ronaldo on his knees, after the disappointing 0 – 0 draw at home to Sweden. Our very own Danny of Madeira, missed one of the best chances of the game, whilst Ronaldo also blew several chances.

After several days of bad traffic accidents it seemed tragically inevitable that one would result in a death. On Saturday afternoon a 71 year old woman died from her injuries in Funchal Central Hospital after being run over. The driver was also hospitalised, suffering with shock.

Madeira’s embroiderers who work within the organization ‘Casa de Bordados’ have become aware that they have not had their social security pension contributions paid. Several of the workers who are approaching retirement age are now worried about their pension situations. Whilst the workers pay 2% or earnings, the employer should also pay a contribution amounting to 10 or 12% of earnings. To add to their problems, the workers are having to wait for between 6 and 7 months to get paid for the work they do.

‘Young Entrepreneurs Cheat Unemployment’ – Entrepreneurs of the future, Filipe, Ana and Ivan, pursued a dream and eventually escaped unemployment. One formed the company ‘Solimpeza’ last November with €5,000 he had to borrow. That business specialises in industrial and domestic cleaning, and includes boats and cars, and now has five employees. Filipe Gomes, 19, who seems to be the boss said on the problem with unemployment “I believe that despite the crisis that has developed, the Madeirans can not close their businesses, because that will only increase the problem.” Ana Ripoll runs a store called ‘A Indiazinha’ (Little India), born from something she saw on holiday in Barcelona, she sells imitation jewelery and fashion accessories, including exclusive and handmade pieces. And then there was Ivan … ho hum, is that the time! Diário quote – “Who said that the ‘kids of the neighbourhood’ can not be entrepreneurs?” Not me for sure!

‘Sceptic Tanks Put Public Health At Risk In Teneira’ – In a gripping tale on one of my favourite topics, overfull tanks are resulting in unpleasant sewerage overflows into homes, and the road, and even water tributaries. 30 families in this area of Caniço complain of the danger to health, and call in the council in Santa Cruz to intervene, using a 56 signature petition for leverage, after the câmara ignored earlier requests. Even a medical expert was called in to take a look, and he wrote to the council, telling them that the houses were unfit for habitation … ignored. Counsellor Emanuel Gouveia, was very surprised with the situation, and also said that this was the first time I heard about this case, “that is putting at risk the health of the population”. He promised “Given the gravity of this situation I can say is that this week we will arrange an inspection on site”. The power of the media never ceases to amaze me. Perhaps after they organise the emptying of the sceptic tanks, Uncle Bertie can come along a re-inaugurate them?

Other News :

40 Madeiran’s are off to China for a ‘cultural journey’ over Easter, for two weeks. The initiative is part of the XIII edition of ‘On the Community Route’ which organises for its followers travel to exotic and ‘long haul’ destinations. I wonder if they have written to the president of the Peoples Republic of China, ( Zhuxi to his pals), to advise him that these people are not of the same school of thought as President Jardim, who stated that the Chinese people are not welcome on Madeira as they undercut local businesses. 

One school in Calheta is running a campaign to make parents aware of the importance of oral health, spurred on by a local dentist. The purpose is to alert parents to the need for healthy eating, dental care at home, and regular dental care. I have to admire the initiative of the dentist, but whilst I am sure his motivations are sincere, it might be worth reminding ourselves that a large percentage of the population here has never been to a dentist because they can’t afford it.

Professor Carlos Amaral Dias, a psychoanalyst, who was here for a congress recently, says that it is frightening to hear that by 2025, depression will be the second biggest killer (for medical reasons). The original statement came from the World Health Organization and is valid for the entire planet.

Anyone going to the Lido swimming complex this Summer, beware as you now have to pay for car parking on top of the entrance charges.

‘Sodiprave given certification of quality’ – those good people who compete with ‘Cabo Girão’ to supply us with our eggs, has obtained certification that covers company management and veterinary services, to add to those they already have for slaughter, processing, and distribution. A spokesperson said that ISO 22000 certification is the next step. “In practical terms this certification is a more demanding and more specific in terms of food safety. It is more comprehensive because certification includes all services and not just the product itself.” Apart from the fact that a deceased chicken is on the supermarket shelves within 24 hours of the kill, there are no other specific benefits mentioned for the consumers. I might well lean towards Sodiprave eggs in future, as the price is always pretty much the same as Cabo Girão, although it’s a bit hard to tell because there there often no prices given in Hiper Sã and Pingo Doce here, and I end up choosing by expiry date. Before I came to Madeira I always brought free range eggs … has anyone got any idea what we get from the two companies here? I have a feeling I am going to regret asking this question though.

We have slipped back into Winter according to the news on channel TVI this morning, who say today in Funchal it will be a maximum of 15ºc and minimum of 13ºc. I know we have significant variations across Madeira, and it was cold last night, but I don’t believe that daytime temperatures would ever be that low.

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A message from Alan :

GOOD MORNING MADEIRA

Well Its official I am with the blog!! We are both up in the air.

I’m on a plane to UK, and this might be the penultimate blog.

Not a lot I can do now. It’s up to you.

Thank you to everyone who has pledged and thank you for your
kind words and encouragement.

If you are a reader and have not yet pledged please do so NOW, or on Wednesday you might be trying to translate the Diario on your own.

The only person who might like that would be Uncle Bertie, and we can’t have that can we.

Cheers

Alan      alanflowerman@mac.com

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 Jaquine … who kindly obliged my request with this photo of the cherry blossom in it’s prime, in the orchards of Jardim da Serra, where new cultivating methods have been adopted.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 28/3/2009

In yesterday’s main headline, the Court of Appeal of Lisbon (TRL) has declared insolvent the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Madeira (AMME). The decision of a Funchal court was overturned, despite the complete debts amounting to only €26,000, which was the reason given for not justifying earlier bankruptcy. The appeal action was started by a Brazilian  resident who claimed she was owed €16 thousand. The article doesn’t tell you anything about the organisation, except that is had subscribing members, so what this means for the good businesswomen of Madeira I don’t really know.

The regional government here, and the equivalent for the Canary Islands, yesterday arranged a team of ‘inter regional’ representatives, with the objective of identifying and studying areas of potential cooperation in terms of the economies and institutions. Vice president Cunha e Silva represents Madeira, with his opposite number for the Canaries, so it is being taken seriously. The Diário promises more detail in Sunday’s newspaper. In my opinion this really is an excellent idea for Madeira. The two ‘regions’ have worked together in the past couple of years in areas such as emergency response, conservation, and fishing, and this is a very logical step forward, in something that could provide a real boost to our stagnating economy. Tourism of course would be the top of my list, with two centre holidays, with the Armas ferry playing a big part, and I reckon Madeira has more to gain than the Canaries do.

There is a big picture of Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portuguese team mates, in preparation for last nights crucial world cup qualifying game against Sweden. That headline reminds us that it was after a the previous unsuccessful encounter between these two teams, that manager Big Phil Scolari got the chop. The game was a drawn 0 – 0, but Portugal easily deserved to win. They now have a real battle to qualify, with second place in their group being the most realistic possibility.

‘Police Searches In All Of Madeira – Bars, Discos, Marinas,  Neighbourhoods : Police (Security, Justice, & Maritime), SEF (Foreigners and Border Controls), SPA(?) and council inspectors rummage everything’. The two pictures shown in the Diário show police frisking people in the street. I thought originally that they were all wearing ‘afro’ wigs, but this was censorship by the Diário in not revealing the identities of those being searched. This was a mega-exercise at national level that began at around 7am on Friday, and went through to dawn yesterday. The results of the operation here won’t be known until Monday, but nationally, by yesterday afternoon, 39 arrests had been made and 3 illegal weapons seized. 5 of the arrests were for drug trafficking. It is not entirely clear what the overall objective was except to mention ‘monitoring civic behaviour and conduct’, but the arrests made perhaps give a more specific indication. Anyway, they didn’t call around here and seize the blog, so it looks like I am OK for the time being.

‘João Carlos (Abreu) Buys A Cocktail For a Madame’, tells the story of the ex minister for tourism for Madeira making his debut on the TVI series, ‘Flor do Mar’, set on Madeira. He is pictured as a “seductor” sitting next to Rafaela, who recently turned from a banana growers daughter with some rather naughty habits, into a bit of a ‘madam’, in a seedy nightclub in Funchal (filmed in club ‘Kool’, up by the Savoy Hotel). I missed that particular episode unfortunately. I was going off the series, but the last few weeks it has really come back to life. In one particular bar I go in, the owner is always happy to fill me in one any missed episodes or events, which is just as well as I don’t know anyone else who watches it anymore, despite it still being the top rated program for viewer number in Portugal.

‘Nurses Criticise The Power Of The Assessors’ – It is their very own nurses association saying that the health service is in the hands of the assessors, and is creating discontent in the Health Service of the Region through actions that show less and less respect for the nurses, and to the health service users. Part of the problem is that the assessors, who travel from Lisbon, are under strict instructions to meet only with doctors.

Other News :

A twelve year old boy was run over by a car in Caniçal on Friday morning, and is now in hospital in a coma in a very serious condition. Witnesses said that the child crossed the road without looking and the driver was surprised by the appearance of the boy, and was unable to stop in time.

The Lido bathing complex (Funchal) was vandalised in the early hours of Friday morning, with fixtures and equipment getting smashed and thrown in the children’s pool, and a bar was also a target. The police are on the case, aided by the whole event being captured on security cameras. The Lido facility was previously attacked and damaged twice in 2008. Sounds like a case for CSI Funchal and their new forensics outfit.

Those dreadful looking electronic display boards in Funchal are to be used to provide information to motorists in a new road safety campaign. In a joint initiative between police and Funchal Council, the objective is to be proactive in reducing road accidents, in particular focusing on drug/drink-driving, excessive speed, and aggressive driving. It’s ironic that accidents are most likely to occur, when speeding drunk drivers are craning their necks to read what an electronic display board says … that’s my opinion anyway.

Two people were injured yesterday afternoon after a brutal head-on car accident occurred on the main road of Madalena do Mar. The frontal crash occurred around 18:15, causing injuries to a man and a woman in different cars. The female victim was trapped in the car, forcing the Firemen of Calheta to use cutting equipment to remove her. Both victims had multiple injuries and were subjected to various tests in Funchal hospital, where he remains. That’s for you Alan, as you emailed me Friday about the gridlock in your road. In fact yesterday’s newspaper was full of stories about road accidents aside from the ones mentioned, some were pretty serious too.

The socialist party (PS-M) have called for an enquiry into the government decision to pay €25 million to the consortium, that managed the solid waste plant at Meia Serra. They want to know how the government can “blow in less than a month, half the capacity of indebtedness authorized by the Republic … on resolving a problem that was caused by the government”. I can almost hear those PS-M politicians whistling from here in Rib. Bra.

After a meeting between President Jardim and the ambassador (from Lisbon) for Turkey, AJJ has publicly given his support for Turkey’s application to join the EU, and is in fact a “big supporter”. It was the first visit to Madeira for the ambassador, who has been in post since 2007, who was generously sharing his time between the 200 Turks who live in Portugal, and the solitary one that lives on Madeira. Auntie Bertinha was seen sat out on her balcony that very afternoon, tucking into a very large tin of some juicy square reddish jelly sweets, dusted with icing sugar … but I digress … I was going to say something about corruption in politics, but I forgot what it was.

I read that the Italian cruise ship ‘Costa Fortuna’ was in Funchal early yesterday bringing in over 3
thousand passengers. I went on a cruise ship from the same company a couple of years ago (yes really!). I forget the exact name, but it could have been the budget sister ship ‘Costa Mucha Lessa’, if I recall, where a small beer cost a mere €8, and one had to spend all day in bed in order to avoid bankruptcy on returning to land. Who on earth named that ship ‘Costa Fortuna’? Perhaps there was a twist of reverse psychology in the naming, and it actually brings in more punters.

The new 5 star Hotel Meliã Madeira Mare in Funchal Lido was inaugurated on Friday, by what’s his name again … President Jardim. The hotel has 220 rooms, cost €32 million, and created 100 jobs. AJJ was said to be very surprised by high quality of the establishment, and the architecture, and he congratulated the management team on their achievement. Another new hotel at this moment is about as useful as a poncha served underwater, but has anyone else noticed that Uncle Bertie is now rapidly stepping up his public appearances with just over two months to the European elections.

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I am sorry that I am still unable to say what is going to happen with the blog next week, and it may not be until Tuesday that a decision is made. Several people are doing things that will all have an influence on the final decision, and it has all turned out more complicated and less clear cut than I was hoping.

DID YOU REMEMBER TO PUT YOUR CLOCKS FORWARD ONE HOUR?

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 Sarah … “I stayed at the Quinta Splendida, Caniço for a few nights this month, may I say the gardens are beautiful, shame about the standard of accommodation, its not all deluxe like their images show!!!, after 3 nights and problems we checked out and went to a 5* in Funchal, much better!!!”

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 27/3/2009

In yesterday’s main headline ‘Government Wants To Pay A Packet To A Group Of Barons’ – “The regional government has just ordered the payment of €25 million to a consortium that includes amongst others a politician(s?) and other businessmen (of AFA, Somague and others)”. The money will go to the consortium that  managed the solid waste treatment plant at Meia Serra, to help clear it’s debts. Meanwhile other smaller companies are going bust because the government has failed to pay up on it’s debts to them. The consortium, OTRS, had the management contract up until last November, and had threatened the regional government with court action over ‘credits owed’ totalling €22 million, and even they were surprised to be told that they would be paid so quickly. I have to be restrained how I express myself here, but one member of the consortium called Jamie Ramos, surely purely by coincidence, happens to be the the parliamentary leader of the social democrats of Madeira (PSD-M).

‘Lorries and Cars Squabble on the Via Rápida’ – It was an accident in a tunnel near Cabão Girão, that saw a man hospitalised (now under observation), and quite severe traffic congestion, but is not normally something that would make the front page.

‘Crime Statistics Down On Madeira’ – The annual report on crime on Madeira shows a significant reduction of incidents compared to 2007, down 3.8% with 7514 crimes reported (around 20 a day). The general trend is in the opposite direction from Portugal’s main cities, Lisbon, Porto, Setúbal, Aveiro, and Braga, that all show increases in criminality over the same period. Domestic crime however does not show Madeira in such a good light, as it is amongst the worst areas of the country for complaints made to the police. There were 10 deaths labelled as ‘domestic’ in 2008 for Portugal. Problems of a criminal nature in the schools of Madeira were also still on the increase, with theft (22.6%) and ‘harm to physical integrity’ (33.2%) dominating the complaints nationally, and with Madeira amongst the worst parts of Portugal. Great news indeed generally, as I know drug criminality is down in numbers, but perhaps we can put this down in part to the exposure of the levada mugger and his family on this blog at the end of 2007, forcing the little bugger into early retirement. I wonder if the figures take into account crimes by politicians, but somehow I don’t think they count.

‘Inadequate legislation may undermine monitoring on the beaches of Madeira’ – referring to the Summer season lifeguards, that only seem to appear in force on most beaches when the kids are off school. The organisation SANAS says that new regulations will increase the cost for the câmaras (councils), with clear disadvantages for safety. The new rules, which were published last August for implementation this year, requires that beach surveillance is licenced, and that an inspector from Lisbon needs to come here to carry out evaluations … “a long journey”. In addition, the cost of registration for the lifeguard course has inexplicably increased by 80%, making it inaccessible to young people wishing to provide a public service during the school holidays. It doesn’t get mentioned in the article, but if I recall correctly, the new rules also specify the number of lifeguards needed per 50 metres of beach, which wasn’t there before. From this year, two lifeguards are needed to supervise  any beach of up to 100 metres, and then one for every 50 metres (or part of).

There are outraged parents who have been told that contrary to the current law, some private creches that look after their children, will be closing during the Easter holidays. The education authority has said that it wants to hear the parent’s complaints.

Back to yesterday’s story about the discounts for prescription charges for health service users, the President of the Order of Pharmacists declares that the solution to the problem of contributions (to ensure the discounts return) is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health. In a part clarification about who is affected, the article says “the regional government decided to cut the subsidization to beneficiaries who visit Madeira. In this way, the drugs are all for the user of the continent, that have to pay for them in full.” Still not clear? … nor me … but yesterday’s comments have now hopefully clarified the matter. One Diário reader commented that the move stops people from the continent getting medicine discounts on Madeira, and that it was already the case that Madeirans in Portugal could not obtain the discounted prices. That is the correct situation, but there is still confusion in the air amongst the public.

In today’s sport headline, the new manager of Marítimo has said that “the dream is to be champion”, and that he wants to celebrate winning honours before joining ranks with the ‘big ones’. Carlos Carvalhal says he is confident of success for Marítimo that will put them in the exclusive group of the big three (or four, as it will then become). In an interview with the Diário, a month after his appointment, he was asked if he was happy with the one victory and two draws his team had obtained so far under his leadership. Surprisingly, he said ‘no’ he wanted all nine points. OK, clearly one has to be positive for ones bosses and the teams fans, but this goes to the point of sillyness, as no Madeiran team can ever achieve the height of joining the ‘big ones’ without masses of money from some Russian or Arabic buyer. And with crowds of just a few thousand a guaranteed fifteen times a season, staying in the premier league year after year is in itself a miracle.

The last article, in a bumper day for headlines, is about the failure to pay staff salaries in the Experimental Theatre of Funchal, because the regional government has not been making its support payments. One actor, who has a part in the TV series ‘Flor do Mar’, is reliant on his salary from that work in order to live, whilst four colleagues are having to look for loans to see them through the two months so far without a salary payment.

Other News :

Interpret this how you wish, as I am going to try. In the first two months of 2008, 32 thousand contraceptive pills were sold on Madeira, but in the same period this year only 26 thousand were sold. So why was 2008 23% higher than this year? OK, expenditure on medicine is down generally due to economic conditions, but to make up the complete picture we are left with three possibilities, and that could be any combination of the three. Firstly, and the one I really want to believe, is that in the latter part of last year women, decided to stockpile contraceptive pills. The latter two possibilities will result in either a very untimely baby boom, or a lot of very grumpy men, or both.

It has now been revealed that the military exercise, involving 140 personnel, that took place over the last week on Porto Santo, was a test for ‘future actions of cooperation’ between the various armed forces and security forces. However the colonel of the Military Zone of Madeira, at the end of the exercise made a statement, explaining why there were no other forces involved. I still think the collection of lost golf balls during the ‘Madeira Open’ last week was the most plausible reason, and looking at the photo, some of those soldiers have very bulky trouser pockets.

I he
ard on the radio this week that work was starting again on control of the pesky ‘Aedes Aegypti’ mosquito, which started to spread out of Funchal last year. We now have to talk about this potential dengue carrier in terms of ‘control’, as the possibility of eradication has long gone out of the window. Perhaps those bitter winter temperatures we had might of knocked off a few though.

Whilst trying to find out a bit more news on the subject I stumbled across an English newspaper readers letter and answer on the subject, from last year, which I thought you might find interesting.

Q : “I have heard that Madeira is mosquito-free, and would like to take my wife there. Can you confirm this for me … ” ****** A : “As far as I know, Madeira is mosquito-free, mainly because it is an island in the middle of the Atlantic and never gets quite hot enough for the devils to breed.”

No league football this weekend due to the world cup qualifying matches. Portugal host Sweden tonight (TVI channel 4 at 8.45pm).

Portugal won the under 21’s tournament of Madeira, after beating Finland 3 – 1 yesterday. I watched a bit of the match yesterday afternoon on TV, and I couldn’t see a single spectator.

Loads more good stories I could have done from yesterday’s news, but I am all out of time and puff.

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Don’t forget that the clocks change tonight, they spring forward a hour at 1am. So if all goes to plan, it won’t be dark until after 9pm tomorrow.

Also occurring later on today, in a worldwide initiative called ‘Hour of the Planet’, between 20:30 and 21:30 all people of the world are invited to turn off the lights in their homes and save on the consumption of electricity. Funchal is officially taking part. As long as it’s just the lights that’s OK, but in view of the football tonight, it is essential that the TV and fridge stay switched on. Why they didn’t just make the ’switch off’ time a bit earlier beats me?

Have a good weekend, and if you have the urge please don’t forget to drop Alan an email alanflowerman@mac.com, as the end of the month is almost upon us.

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 … An unusual Madeiran resident found in the zoo in Prazeres.

A bit of a rushed shortened news summary today, due to other commitments yesterday that I explained.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 26/3/2009

The Port of Funchal has received an international award for services to cruise tourists. The magazine “Dream World Cruise Destinations” also emphasized cultural and scenic interest when awarding of the prize for ‘Best Destination Experience”. The distinction was made during the largest fair for the cruise ships of the world, in Miami, which ended last Thursday. Madeira participated in the Seatrade Cruise fair through a partnership with the Canary Islands, called ‘Cruises in the Atlantic Islands’. Great news, but I bet those 1,100 passengers that came with Thomsons on Monday, and couldn’t dock through lack of space, wouldn’t agree.

‘Child begging is coming back in Funchal’ – The economic situation, and the lack of policy to control begging, is encouraging families to send or allow their children into the streets to ask for money. The majority of the youngsters are coming from Câmara de Lobos. The coordinator of the ‘Movement of Apostolate Children’ (MAC), confirms the current scenario that has been returning in force recently, saying that many of the youngsters are from institutions or knocking off from school lessons. She says there is little that can be done to take these children off the streets, as it means intervening with the families, who don’t want to know, and often seriously need the money. The regional government had promised “that it would resolve the situation in the medium term, and withdraw children from the streets”, but so far nothing has been done. The consumption and trafficking of drugs also escalates the problem, and sexual exploitation also gets mentioned.

Main headline : ‘Separatism in the Pharmacies’. Cuts by the regional government in subsidising prescriptions through the national health service, means that purchasers of medicines are having to pay the full price. People are outraged, and don’t understand why they now have to pay the full price for their medicines, as it becomes clear that the region failed to pay it’s dues in 2008. The change is now official, and whether you get your prescription in the pharmacy or the hospital, the system now rejects any discounting. The Diário gives two examples of the difference in costs (with / without discounts) : Flu medicine €9.43 / €26.43 and Insulin €0 / €32.76. I remember a story some months ago that Madeirans were unable to get discounted medicines on the continent, so it seems it is now the case here? CAN ANYONE CONFIRM? When I had sciatica a couple of months ago, I noticed that I paid the full price of the medicine I needed, and I thought at the time that maybe that was because it was actually an over-the-counter medicine and the prescription wasn’t actually needed to buy it. 

In the political story of yesterday, the quality of democracy on Madeira gets criticised, because of the continuing election of the president of Madeira and his party of social democrats, without a serious challenge.

‘Another defeat for Madeira in an almost full house’ – Portugal under 20’s football team beat Madeira 1 – 0. The 4 team tournament will finish today. I could have sworn that it was the under 21’s the day before yesterday, but regardless, a 1 – 0 defeat against the resources of Portugal is no disgrace.

40 dancers show their talents in the Madeira Technopólo on Saturday. The Association of Dance and Art presents “Peer Gynt, etc.’, which combines several genres of dance. It starts at 8.30pm, and tickets cost €10, or are half price for ’seniors and students’. The other highlights are excerpts and pieces from ‘Swan Lake’, classical jazz ballet, Tchaikovsky, Lloyd Webber etc. The choreography is original.

Other News :

Three species of birds considered “vulnerable” and who are under a special care of conservation, the ‘woodcock’ and two species of seabirds, have been identified as the ones that die regularly through collisions with power lines in the region. Each year, 24 of these birds die in these circumstances, more than was expected, and due in the main to their nighttime activities. The best solution to avoid these deaths is to bury the power lines, but that is too expensive. Another option being considered is to place low level solar powered lights on the power lines in the danger spots. The project looking into the matter is being funded by the Electricity Company of Madeira. How on earth do they know there are only 24 every year? Do these birds ‘phone in’ as they plummet towards land, or do locals trained to recognise these three species scour the island and notify the authorities when they find an incident? Of course no one wants these birds to die, but if there are just 24 a year, it is hard to believe that so much effort is going into this area with so many other urgent problems on the island. It smells of European involvement somewhere, probably those same people who want to ensure that our bananas are not too curved or too straight.

Consideration is being given into building a promenade between Ribeira da Janela and Porto Moniz.

A national nurses strike is set to take place over 2nd and 3rd April, with the trade union appealing to those on Madeira to take part. The dispute is over proposed changes to nurses career structures (or something like that).

The Empresa de Cervejas da Madeira (the company that makes Coral beer), are most disappointed that the trade union representing workers went to the Diário to warn them that a strike was on the cards. The company is to meet the union on Monday, and has expectations that the dispute will be resolved. PLAY SAFE – STOCKPILE ANYWAY, you know you can’t trust a trade union representing brewery workers.

The Ambassador for Ireland in Lisbon wants more tourist exchanges between Madeira and Ireland. In a meeting with with President Jardim they explored ways to lay the foundations for a new relationship between the two islands. In a difficult environment, we must find new ways to stimulate the economy, said James Gerard Brennan, Madeira and Ireland can only gain by promoting more flights and tourism initiatives. Brennan stressed his concern about the economic situation worldwide, stressing that Ireland “is in great difficulty.” He believes that everyone should do their best to address these problems and, perhaps, “within two to three years it will be possible to restore the economy”.

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For 5 days only Easyjet are running a special half price sale to all your “favourite destinations”. You can save up to 50% on over 250,000 seats for travel between 22 April to 10 June 2009. the sale ends at midnight on Tuesday 31 March 2009. I haven’t checked it out for Madeira, but as these sales are now pretty much fortnightly, if not just wait for the next one!

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The trip into Funchal yesterday (business aside) was nice, with trigo soup and a couple of non-alcoholic bevvies. Two coffees at the Golden Gate cost €3.10, exactly what it said on the price list. Another café, of which I forget the name (it says Pelourinho Cafe on the receipt but it wasn’t that on the sign), had 3 different tariffs on their price list, – inside service, – outside service, and – even more outside service, with the most extreme prices just about matching the Golden Gate’s wallet crunching rates. Needless to say we were sat in the ‘even more outside’ zone, where a couple of beers, five coffees, and a coke came to almost €11. On ques
tioning the bill, a very apologetic waitress reissued the bill with the lesser outside prices, and all was well.

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Alan asked me to post this response to a question on yesterday’s blog:

Can anyone give me an indication as to how much more is needed to keep the blog running thanks & how do I make a donation (cash or paypal?)

ANSWER (from Alanf)

Hi Anon?

First , the short answer: there are NO wrong answers, just think what you would pay if this was on a news stand and make a pledge.

Lonnnnnnnnnng answer.

I don’t know,

What i will tell you is this.

When this started I made a promise to myself that I would NOT discus with anyone what is pledged by any person. To be brutally honest I don’t care what you want to give, if you only think that it’s worth a centy-thing a year, what the hell, go with that. We all have a limit on what any one item is worth. In this case my limit is €1.00 per day, So now you have to remember my promise and I apologise if I bend my rule.

The minimum wage is about 20 Euros per day, that is a start point and a very low one at that.

So it is like this:

Per day

Me     $ 1.00

Will      $1.00

Nut      $1.00

TB        $0.50

JD      $ 1.00

Jccc      $ 0.50

Sheep.s  $1.00

TOTAL    $ 6.00

That dose not look good, but we have a few pledges that are one offs. The lady long way north who sits on flowers is in for £ 100 and Mc is good for £20. that little lot comes out at 6.33 Euros per day so at this point in time we are 13+ Short of our target. There is a possibility of commercial sponsorship that comes with some strings and is reliant on us raising the lions share of the funding.

You can not leave this to others to sort out you all need to do your bit, large or small every pledge counts and is gratefully received. As they say let your fingers do the walking, get on that keyboard and send a pledge to alanflowerman@mac.com

So, there you have it Anon, we make or break this by April 1st, If you have DEEP pockets that would be nice but if you can spare 50 centi-things you are just as welcome at this table.

Please also consider this. If we lose this resource we can’t go back and save it. Also If you make a pledge  you are morally obliged to pay, This chap has to make a living and it is a waste if that is on the dark side in a supermarket.

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 Jon & Deb … “View from our house in Gaula for the blog (if you think suitable) taken last weekend – just to prove to your readers that the sun does shine here!”

Thanks Jon & Deb, any topical and interesting photos always welcome. I don’t normally pick or choose which get shown, except where I get a lot of the photos with the same subject.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 25/3/2009

The temporary diversion of a river in Faial, that has been used for illegal extraction of sand and stones, has meant that adjoining land used for growing crops, belonging to private individuals, has become contaminated with sand. That sand has technically been obtained ‘without a licence’, but the land owners affected are able to gather it and dispose of it, by selling it if they choose to do so.

Main Headline : ‘Garrote to the companies’ – The debts accumulated by the regional government currently amounts to around €100 million, even though it is lower than it was a few years ago. Bad debts with the government have already led to company insolvencies and bankruptcies, and those that are surviving are obliged to turn to the bank for bridging help. Because of the lack of money circulating in the economy, many companies are struggling to pay wages, suppliers and bank loans on time, and much of that is due to the regional government failing to pay it’s bills on time. The commercial debt of the Government has declined since 2005 after having reached an astronomical figure. And although the government has not disclosed the debt value at the end of 2008, the Diário knows that it is close to €100 million. When these government debts are unpaid longer than the statutory 45/60 days, as well as late payment interest, it has to pay a supplementary interest fee of 9.5%, and that totalled €17.7 million in late payment charges in 2007. Often these payments can be delayed for two years, and in some cases even more.

In a different but ironically related story, during an inauguration this week President Jardim helpfully said : “It is better to have little profit, or almost no profit for a year or two and hold the social situation, because this is cyclical, and until there is increased demand and normality returns, it is indecent to use this situation to lay people off”. If companies are making no profit because the government is taking two years to pay their bills, I am not sure that anything ‘indecent’ is the fault of that company rather the fault of Uncle Bertie’s government.

‘Satisfied but not radiant’ – has the lions share of the front page, and is an interview with Ruben Micael of Nacional, who has been selected for the Portugal national ‘B’ team. His international debut is on 1st April against Romania.

Another article is about the festival ‘Artmar’ which takes place in Câmara de Lobos between 4th and 6th June. The event, which is renowned for it’s star musical performers (not that I have heard of any of the ones mentioned apart from Mariza), has been brought forward from September, after rain affected the event in the last two years.

Other News :

In the most important story of yesterday, that in my view should have been on the front page, workers at the Empresa de Cervejas da Madeira (ECM) are quite likely to go on strike. If the next management – union meeting in the next few days doesn’t settle the pay rise dispute, then disaster could strike our main brewery and leave us without any Coral. WARNING – STOCK PILE NOW!

The 3 planned strike days of the pilots of SATA, the Azores airline that serves Madeira, have been cancelled. The company has made an improved offer (on what I don’t know) and that is being given consideration by the pilots trade union.

I think it was Tobi who mentioned it a few days ago, but the cable car at Garajau is now officially ‘back to normal’, after a year out of action following damage and lack of an operating licence. The round (up and down) trip costs €2, with that price being held throughout the Summer.

I think we must be in ‘bad medical news week’. After yesterday’s article about tuberculosis, today there is a report saying that more than 26 thousand Madeirans are affected by diabetes, the worst affected region in Portugal.

The Regulatory Authority for Social Communication has rejected the applications of Telecinco and Zon in the competition for a fifth channel of open signal. According to information provided by official sources, the two candidates were excluded for not meeting “the requirements and regulations for admission to the contest”. The new TV channel will compete with those from RTP, TVI, and SIC, and will be available free and without satellite or cable subscriptions. I am not sure where this goes now, as it seems that Telecinco and Zon were the only companies interested in taking on the fifth channel.

The old prison in Funchal, Cadeia dos Viveiros, that was emptied of prisoners this month, is to be in part turned into a day centre for old people. The PSD, with CMF and the Junta de Freguesia of Imaculado Coração de Maria, met to decide it’s future, which will include 40 apartments for social housing. I am just trying to picture this social housing project, and I would predict 40 studio flats, 3 metre square, very secure,  with open plan toilet, but no bath or shower, and rather small windows that will not help remove the smell of a history of incarcerated men.

Reducing interest rates in the Eurozone are now reflecting in the new Eurobor mortgage interest rate, and will make the average mortgage holder €21 a month better off per €100,000 borrowed. The 1.5% rate is predicted to fall even further, and stay low for a long time, and at present it is possible to borrow €100,000 and pay as low as €367 a month in repayments, depending on the offer chosen.

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 … one of those ugly looking digital information displays that are popping up in Funchal. I wasn’t that keen to publish it, but one of today’s articles about political propaganda made it seem more appropriate.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 24/3/2009

Main headline : ‘Unemployment Beats All The Records’ : Officially the number now is 10,789 after 857 new cases were added in February, 22.8% up on the same month last year. It is the highest number since records began 39 years ago. 27% of the unemployed have come from the construction industry, 23% from service industries, 21% from hotels and tourism, and 17% from trade and commerce. According to official figures, released yesterday by the Office of Employment and Vocational Training, Madeira registered the largest monthly increase in all the regions of Portugal, with over 8.6% compared to January. At present there are only 146 job vacancies available. Experts say we are only at the beginning of the crisis, and that we can expect worse for another year or two.

The official reason for the situation here is “financial strangulation” by the Government of the Republic. It doesn’t say who said that, but I am not struggling to imagine who might have said it.

A serious car accident left 6 people injured in São Roque on Monday night. A child of 9 years remains in intensive care, along with two adults under observation, who may need surgery. More than ten fireman from Funchal attended the scene to free the passengers, after the car lost control and hit a wall, and then hit a pedestrian, before hitting a parked car. 

A company from Caniçal continues to persist with the illegal exploration / extraction of stone, even though the local council (câmara) confirmed that they have no licence to do so. The activity is taking place in sítio de Entre Águas. At the scene of the illegal activity, one journalist was threatened with an attack, and then prevented from leaving the site by having his car blocked in. Police were involved and two individuals are being investigated.

The health centre in Estreito do Câmara de Lobos is having big problems, with a medical staff of just three, when it actually needs another 20. Local users, especially the elderly, get up during the early hours just to have to wait hours to get a prescription. The main photo from the front page shows 7 people waiting for the centre to open, seemingly just after daybreak, another had more like 20 in the outdoor ‘queue’. A lady of 68 said she had been waiting there since 5am, another patient said they had waited 4 hours before being told they couldn’t be seen, and then had to come back. The region of Câmara de Lobos has a population of around 40 thousand, but it is estimated that more than half of these do not have a family doctor. I think this is recycled news from a few months ago, but a now worsened situation after the recent death of a doctor. I wonder what it is like when the doors open in the morning, as queueing systems rarely exist here, so is it the fittest and fastest who actually get seen first?

The battle of the political placards and posters is well underway in downtown Funchal, in defiance of the regulations of CMF (Funchal Council). The first organisation to breach the rules was actually CMF itself, but they have now removed their material. The PCP have now put theirs up, despite having signed up to the cross-party agreement to control political propaganda in the historic city centre of Funchal. CMF have also allegedly been using the ugly electronic screens (today’s photo) to broadcast PSD pre-election messages, even though it seems that the regulations prohibit anything more than 45 days before an election (the European elections are in June). Does anyone actually think if there was no posters, no election campaign, just absolute silence for the whole of 2009, that there would be any difference to the absolute outcomes or even the size of the parties majorities?  I feel sorry for those of you in Funchal who have to put up with this nonsense much longer and intensely than we get out in the sticks!

The under 21 football squad of Portugal arrived here on Monday, for the 13th ‘International Tournament of Madeira’, which involves games and training in both Barreiros (Marítimo stadium) and Choupana (Nacional stadium). Orlando Sá, a player from Sporting Braga, is the spokesman for the team, and guarantees “The expectations of the team for this tournament are the highest”. “Last year we won and this year we want to repeat the feat, doing, if possible, even better. We want to win – that is the spirit of the entire group.” The Tournament of Madeira serves to prepare for other challenges of greater importance, namely the International Tournament in Toulon and the qualification phase for the European Under 21 Championship in Denmark in 2011. They will play 3 games against Cabo Verde (last night), a Madeira team, and Finland. In last nights games the scores were Portugal 2 Cabo Verde 0, and Madeira 0 Finland 1 (but I am not 100% sure of the latter result, as I can’t yet find confirmation).

Other News :

Last year saw 31 new cases of Tuberculosis on Madeira, well up from just two in 2006, but still one of the lowest incident rates in Portugal, and half the national average. Doctors are looking at new ways to deal with cases of a multi-resistant strain. Successful treatment is given in over 92% of cases.

A military exercise started on Monday on Porto Santo, with around 130 army personnel involved. Operation ‘Dolphin’, despite circulating rumours, was not undertaken to recover lost golf balls from the Madeira Open Golf Tournament.

‘Jardim da Serra goes forward with a revolution in the cultivation of cherries’. In 2008, it was announced to all of Madeira the intention to revolutionize the method of cherry cultivation, and right now and as a result, there is a ‘cherry blossom spectacle’, that should last at least until the end of this week. Numerous farmers and workers have attended training courses to learn new techniques for pruning and grafting, a small step towards the modernisation of production. It is now a matter of ‘wait and see’ if the usual 200 tonnes of cherries crop will be improved on with the new techniques. Anyone going don’t forget to send me a photo (pretty please).

It turns out that our visitor, Jaime Gama, president of the assembly of the republic, who was meeting with the politicians of Madeira over the last few days, was playing coy and softly softly for a very good reason. He wants to be the next President of the Republic. The PS (socialist) politician does not want any hostile regions under his administration, and so has been nice to everyone, including President Jardim. That is the opinion given in the Diário anyway, but there doesn’t appear to be anything official about it.

Following on from yesterday’s blog about the lack of space in Funchal docks, the Diário says that Funchal lost thousands in revenue because it has a small port, and cannot accommodate four or five cruise ships simultaneously. Full capacity (4) is already predicted for 18 days this year, but there is no strategy to deal with the extra-sized and extra 52% in cruise ship traffic that has grown since 2000. 14th April will see 6 cruise ships arrive, and 5 are expected on 4 dates, with 8 so far at new year. As well as the €4,000 revenue lost from the ‘Thomson Celebration’ (which can be as high as €10,000, depending on size factors), 1,100 tourists did not get to spend any money here, and 330 joining or leaving passengers had to be boarded or taken-off by lifeboat. No mention of the disappointment for 1,100 passengers, which I would think was quite importa
nt too!

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Just adding to yesterday’s debate about the blog future and funding, if it does continue it will be a brand new much improved blog format, hosted by someone much reliable than I have had in the past. It will potentially have lots of new features, be much better structured, and be able to carry multiple photos (great for carnival, flower festival etc.), will be easily searchable if you are looking for an old news article, and will look much more attractive than the one at present. Hopefully I will have a definitive decision after a meeting with several interested parties tomorrow.

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This is the direct link for the blog about this blog’s future. I will keep this direct link on for a while, so you can click here and read, or respond if you can help or have any good ideas. I will be checking it for new responses daily : www.madeira4u.com/blog.html/3508

This will be the last time I post this direct link.

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!