Madeira News Blog

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Sarah … more great footage from the flower festival, this one from one of the earlier days when the kids dressed up.

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 28/4/2009

‘Just Four Games Lost In Eleven Years Of Championships’. Madeiran ladies, Esmeralda and Cristina, are pictured from the Madeira Ladies Handball team, formed in 1998, with the ambition of being the top women’s national team in all competitions. They even exceeded that with honours at European level, and with this season still unfinished they are practically already celebrating their 11th league title. In the national championship the team have during those years played 230 games, losing only 4 times. Cristina Vieira played in 226 of those games.

Yesterday’s main headline : ‘Breast Cancer : Tests Running At Half Gas – The mobile screening unit working Madeira is insufficient in helping to prevent a disease that strikes 500 women every year’. In the case of Funchal, the breast cancer testing centre hasn’t been working during the last 6 months, after it was noticed last November that there were cracks in the wall. The mobile unit just can’t manage on it’s own, with only 50% of the work being fulfilled in screening women between the ages of 45 and 69. It seems that the Secretary for Social Affairs ordered it’s closure for safety reasons. It is predicted that it will restart soon. There’s not much point in telling women that it is time critical to screen for cancer, if the service provided operates like that. As well as 6 months lost, it would take at least another 6 months to catch up, if that was actually possible. 

‘Customs Hunt Five Kilos Of Hashish At The Door Of The Armas Ferry – A Spaniard Was Caught With The Drug On Saturday’. The drugs were disguised as presents, and were found by Customs and Excise.  C & E have no powers in drug trafficking, so the 40 year old man was handed over to police, and is now being kept in custody. The drugs were sufficient for over 50,000 individual doses. I can’t believe that’s the first time it has ever happened, but drug seizures rarely make front page news these days.

‘Case Of The Wild Duck Unresolved For Three Years On Porto Santo’. It was 3 years ago that the Pato Bravo (Wild Duck) was assaulted on Porto Santo, the owner (of the bar of that name silly), was so badly hurt he was at deaths door for three days in a coma, and spent three weeks in hospital. The robber was caught with at the airport trying to flee, having been identified on video security, but since then nothing has happened and the robber is living in England. The owner / victim has made complaints with the authorities to try and get the matter concluded, but he has been stonewalled with the answer that the matter is subject to ’secrecy of justice’. 

‘Madeira Prepares Itself Against Swine Fever – The virus that is alarming the Americas has already arrived in Europe. Madeira is taking the defensive measures adopted in Portugal. So far, there is no knowledge of any Madeirans in Mexico’. Spain already has 20 reported cases, and although there are none yet in Portugal, 3 hospital are on alert. Madeira will follow the guidelines of the health department (DGS), and will take all the preventative measures recommended by the World Health Organisation. One of the measures nationally will be to check the flight (the passengers presumably, as I doubt if the plane has caught it) that comes from Cancun in Mexico, with 200 passengers, before anyone is allowed to disembark. Portugal has a stash of 2.5 million suitable vaccinations, left over from the risky days of Bird Flu, that are still within date, and will be called upon if necessary in the event of a swine fever outbreak. Pig meat is still on sale here, and guaranteed to be unaffected, although in spite of that, prices are in free-fall.

‘700 Evoke The History Of Funchal In August’. In continuing plans to mark the 500 years of Funchal City, plans are in hand to organise a commemorative parade on 21st August this year. The parade ‘A History of Funchal in the Street’, will follow on from a similar event last year, but this time will concentrate more on the use of period costumes, and to have more men involved. Anyone wanting to take part, especially men, can check out the website www.funchal21deagosto.com and register an interest there, and opt for ‘wardrobe days’ during May. Being a man, I would love to join in, but the 21st is always ‘toenail clipping night’, so unfortunately I will have to give it a miss. I am left wondering that if Zarco only discovered Madeira in 1420, what sort of clothes were the locals wearing so soon after. The photo with the story shows folk wearing expensive gowns and billowing silky dresses, but I would have guessed it was something more like loincloths back in those days.

Other News :

‘Government does not know where to take tourism ‘. Yesterday there was a parliamentary debate on Tourism, an initiative of the Socialist Party, who beforehand had accused the regional government of not having a strategy for tourism. I wonder about these socialists sometimes … 1). when will they learn that a government with an absolute majority now, and for the foreseeable future, doesn’t need a strategy for anything, and that’s why it doesn’t have one for education, health, poverty relief, drugs and alcohol abuse etc. etc. 2). What is the point on having a debate on the matter, when any ideas that the PS come up with will be rejected on principle, whether brilliant or not – the best tactic with a good idea is to leak it to a PSD politician, so he can claim the credit, and that is the best way to serve the people of Madeira when representing minority parties … yes I know it hurts to do that.

Madeira’s new stamps were launched on Monday morning, featuring a series of fruits characteristic of this region. The stamp with the lowest rate, €0.32, shows the Anona (Custard Apple), and 330 thousand stamps will be issued. Others are the Pitanga (Surinam Cherry), with a rate of €0.68 (230 thousand copies), the Avocado, with a rate of €0.80 (200 thousand copies), and the Guava, with a rate of €2 (265 thousand copies). I have definitely covered this before, but if it’s good enough for the Diário …

‘European Commission watching the fees charged by the banks’. They believe some of the bank fees are unjustifiably charged to consumers, as was said Monday by the European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Meglena Kuneva, adding that Brussels will in July release a detailed study of the commissions that banks charge. “The study is not yet ready, but everything points to the existence of a large number of unacceptable fees” said the Commissioner, at a seminar on the 35th anniversary of the DECO-Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection. “Consumers have the right not to be robbed by their banks” she said. Research shows that “in more than two thirds of cases” it was impossible to “distinguish the structure of bank commissions to determine the actual cost of service.”. Quite right too … I bank with BPI and have done for around 4 years, and suddenly they whipped €21 out of my account last month, after no charges for all that time. They referred me to a letter sent last December … would that be the one by any chance that I took to my local branch to be told “don’t worry, it won’t affect you”?

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One the subject of ‘unfair competition’, that our favourite newspaper, The Diário’ is claiming against the Jornal da Madeira, I took a look at the JM yesterday to see what they said about the World Association of Newspapers writing to to the president of the republic of Portugal. They report on a conspi
racy of letters, emails, and telegrams aimed at pushing forward a law called ‘pluralismo’, that will deal with some of the issues that the Diário is complaining about, but has been hanging around for some time unapproved. Thanks to ‘Snitch’, by the way, for posting the copy of the WAN letter yesterday, and nice to hear from brother ‘Snatch’ as well.

Talking to a couple of locals about it last night, they were of the view that the JM had no respect on Madeira, despite the fact that it is the mouthpiece for the political party that most people vote for. To demonstrate the fact, I was shown the ‘Obituaries’ section of both papers side by side. The JM had just 3 entries, which would have been massively discounted at the taxpayers expense. The Diário had 4 or 5 times as many, and I was told that they cost around €75 an entry.

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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, stories, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … even more stunning than yesterday’s photo from Sunday’s flower festival parade. In fact, I am so impressed that an extract from this photo will probably be a permanent feature on the new blog (if Tobi doesn’t mind that is).

To those who took the trouble to send in flower festival photos, many thanks. I had so many I won’t be able to use them all now, but I will keep them in the reserve folder so we can have the odd reminder now and again, until next April.

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 27/4/2009

‘It’s yet More Beautiful – Flower Festival parade left tourists well satisfied’. Thousands of Madeirans and tourists watched the parade on Sunday afternoon in downtown Funchal, and hoards of children took part. the 54th festival involved many well known faces from the small screen, especially from the TV series ‘Flor do Mar’, and Madeira’s current favourite daughter, the singer Vânia Fernandes. Several comments from the tourists were very favourable, and one group from France said they were motivated to return to see it again. There is some film footage here : FLOWER-FESTIVAL  (although it didn’t work when I tried earlier, hopefully it will be fixed).

In a second but related article, Madeira’s Secretary for Tourism says it is difficult to determine which of the two events is responsible for bringing the greater number of visitors to the region, in trying to evaluate the success of the end of year celebrations and the flower festival. Conceição Estudante admitted that last weeks event had fully met it’s objectives, and had brought a partial recovery in tourism. She added that the goal now was to make other events, such as the ‘Atlantic Festival’ just as popular. Yesterday’s parade, with the theme “The Little Prince”, brought many recreations of the characters of Antoine Saint-Exupéry, the author of the book. The variety of flowers were huge, but it was no surprise that the rose, which in the book is described as the best friend of the Prince, was supreme. 1,100 participants took part in the 9 parade groups. That would be some achievement making the Atlantic Festival just as popular as the top two events, as visitors would have to stay 3 or 4 weeks to see all the displays. I have an idea that would be popular for tourism. In lieu of a grassy knoll, which would be ideal and more permanent, why not put stocks in Saint Catherine’s Park, and make our politicians take turns to be the target of rotten tomatoes for a week. Even I would be a regular visitor to Funchal to see that. I think Senhora Estudante just about deserves to be excluded from the line up, though she is no longer in my good books after ignoring my last letter.

Main headline of yesterday : ‘Crisis Gives Favour To The Cheaper Meats – Chicken and pork are stealing the market share of beef. The purchasing power of people is affecting the consumption of beef. Fillet and loin remain in the butchers displays, whilst rump is gaining ground. This is happening not just in the domestic market, but also in hotels and restaurants’. The ‘cut’ in the flesh has affected the market since last year according to the supplier Nóbrega, with customers moving to cheaper alternatives, although overall there has been no significant fall in meat (and poultry) sales. It is not just the customer pocket dictating the trend, but the rising prices of meat generally are deterring hotels and restaurants from buying what they used to buy. I don’t know much about meat, as I rarely buy any, but it seems chicken and pork in my local Pingo are cheaper than ever on some days … unlike fruit and veg which just seem to get more and more expensive. Maybe I have been sheltered by farmers freebies for too long, but as that source has temporarily dried up until July, I am having to buy everything for now. I paid €1.10 a kilo for spuds yesterday, and I brought apples for the first time since last Summer, as the price was down to €0.69 a kilo in Hiper Sã (the truth is I don’t like them that much either). 

‘Fátima Creates Contest For Young Talents’ -  In an extension of a theme that already runs in Brazil, Angola, and Venezuela, Fátima Lopez wants to put the entire nation on the search for the best young talent in Portugal. The ‘Face Models of the Year’ competition, on reading further, has nothing to do with talent, and is more about modeling and fashion involving a rubber woman called Fiona. Madeira will have its own regional final in 2010 if all goes to plan. She is a famous stylist apparently.

‘Adoption Is Still Not Consensual – The children come first, but it warrants more attention to the situations where there are biological family ties’. “There is a lack of humanity”, “It is horrible for children when they are separated from parents when there are emotional ties”, are a couple of the quotes from Sister Celeste Silva, from a children’s home, referring to cases where the courts have made the decision that children should be put up for adoption. She is referring to children in her care, who can stay there, but still receive visits from parents until visits are cut by court order, leaving offspring scared and confused. “I am not saying that we should not opt for adoption. There are cases where this is the best solution, but I realise that there are other (better) alternatives for the sake of the emotional stability of children”. The option to remove custody of children from parents is based on the law and the facts (from reports of social workers and psychologists), where there is evidence that children face serious risks. Particularly those children in danger of abandonment, abuse, lack of affection, overwork, or behavior that jeopardizes their development.

The only other headlines were Nacional’s win at Belenenses on Sunday, putting them back in fourth place above Sporting Braga, and that the defeat for Marítimo away at Benfica has virtually ruled any hope of a European place for them.

Other News :

‘Easyjet’ has already carried 100 thousand passengers in just six months. The low cost airline has also registered 125 thousand reservations on it’s service between Madeira and Lisbon, since opening up last October, giving it an impressive occupancy rate of 93% on it’s twice daily flights. Credit to them, especially as they have forced TAP, the Portuguese airline, to drastically slash prices on the same route. However it seems Easyjet has a diminishing reputation with the British, who on the UK – Madeira flights, are now paying much higher prices than when the new connections started in 2007, so no brownie points for you there Sir Stelios! The latest Easyjet sale finishes tonight, but unusually no one has commented as to whether it is any good this time.

‘Lobo Marinho Registers 43.8% Occupancy’. The company that owns the Porto Santo ferry was unable to fill 450,000 of the 800,000 places on it’s 694 trips made in 2008. It has the capacity for 1,153 passengers, but only averaged 505 per sailing. nearly half those passengers who travelled, did so during the 3 main Summer months. The regional government and Porto Santo Line were therefore a little surprised that the president of the câmara (council) of Porto Santo has called for another boat to do the same service (seemingly to start from Porto Santo in the mornings, and return there at night). He also mentioned that the Madeira-Portugal-Canary Island, Naviera Armas, ferry could do a stop there, but it is not entirely clear whether those are the one and the same suggestion.

After the debut visit o
f the ‘Ruby Princess’ at the weekend, another newcomer, ‘Vision of the Seas’, came in yesterday. It is traditional for a newcomer to get welcomed by a tug boat spurting jets of water for its inaugural visit.

120 years ago today the dictator António Oliveira Salazar was born, and now the man has been recognised as a political example for the current leaders in Russia, alongside Franco, Hitler & Mussolini.  And I thought Russia was trying to move forward …

Those good people at Galp, who have many petrol stations on Madeira, have come up with or copied a good idea to save the environment … an on-line lift sharing scheme, where people register their work journeys, or other regular routes, and offer to give people with the same needs a lift. Quite honestly I doubt if many blog readers will find it of interest, especially as the site is in Portuguese, but here it is anyway www.energiapositiva.pt

Sam at Madeira Active very kindly sent me a copy of the letter from the World Association of Newspapers, as mentioned a couple of days ago. It is in English, and was sent to the president of Portugal, Cavaco Silva. It is a strongly worded critical letter about the attempts of the Jornal da Madeira to crush our favourite daily, The Diário de Notícias. As it is in PDF format, I cannot reproduce it on the blog, but if anyone want to see it email me and I will send it on. Thanks very much Sam!

Oh joy!!! Thank you Leixões for that lame home draw last night. Nacional are now 7 points ahead of you, with 4 games to go … two wins will be enough to qualify for Europe, maybe less, but with Benfica, Porto & Sporting in Nacional’s final fixtures, maybe it would be better if Leixões could lose just one more.

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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, stories, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi …great photo, but the float is just stunning. Yesterday’s flower festival parade.

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 26/4/2009

Yesterday’s main headline ‘Professional Beggars – It’s not illegal, but there are networks of organised beggary that exploit physical deficiencies and the good faith of the citizens’. They arrive in Funchal by taxi, and live in luxury rented properties, with one landlord confirming that they pay the rent. Tricks of the trade seem to be feigning amputated limbs, and using wheelchairs and babies as props. Once in a while someone comes by to empty the takings from the plastic cups, and tell the gang when it’s time to go home. The Diário says they are foreigners, who have brought the bad habits of eastern Europe. There is no proof, but one comment suggests they can make up to €500 per day. The Diário reporter went undercover and followed them around, publishing a log of movements and events of ‘The New Mafia’. We already know of this of course, in small pockets, but this is the first time that it has been reported in such a formal manner. It was only a couple of months ago on this blog, that we discussed the lady supposed to be crippled, who at the end of her ’shift’ gets up and walks off.

‘Radical April – War vehicles in the city, flags of FLAMA, the usual lunches and evening meals, and an empty parliament : It is April on Madeira, audacious and radicalised’. That story had 4 front page photos, and relates to the marking of the ‘Revolution of the Carnation’ on Saturday, 35 years after the dictatorship was ousted. The new democrats political party organised the return of troops onto the streets of Funchal, along with 6 military vehicles. Lots of things going on, but the highlight for me would have been the ex-mp, José Manuel Coelho (aka The Rabbit), megaphone in hand, ordering President Jardim to surrender, which he did and he was subsequently taken prisoner, but was rescued soon after by the police. (FLAMA = Liberation Front of the Archipelago da Madeira).

‘União Champion – The final hectic test, with incidents in Prazeres, where the title race was decided’. After beating Estrela da Calheta 1 – 2, CF União won the Coral League of Madeira.

Bernard Trinidade, the secretary of state for tourism in Lisbon, will not stand for the socialists for a place on Funchal Council (Câmara) in the forthcoming elections, as was reported in the Diário of the previous day. Of course he won’t, and that’s why I didn’t mention the matter before, despite the Diário and other politicians taking it seriously. Shame though, he would be a great asset with all his contacts and experience in tourism, but let’s face it, it would be like going from chief executive to boot polisher in terms of status.

‘Serra D’Água – The Diário goes to another parish, where the lady farmers ask for a market’. There are little more than 1,500 inhabitants, but farming is big business. The men who have jobs work mostly in civil construction, and the women stay home, with a ‘bit of plowing’ to do as well. The Pestana sisters, who live near the hydro-electric power plant, say that the only art they know is the ‘hoe’, “we dig it, plant it, water it” says one of the sisters, adding that all the produce is for personal consumption. There is much abandoned land in the area, purely because there is insufficient water to keep the crops alive. Many of the residents don’t know how to read or write, and the president of the ‘Casa do Povo’ 3 years ago managed to get an adult education class going, but now only 10 people continue to attend. Unusually, no mention of crime or drugs, as highlighted in many previous reports.

‘Farinha Sells His Company – The continental group Norvia acquires the majority shareholding in Prima, that belongs to Avelino Farinha’. I have never heard of either company, so that kills that story off!

Other News :

The first two days of the flower festival brought 19 thousand visitors to the Flower Exhibition in Avenida Arriga, compared to the 34 thousand that came last year during all the four days. Sounds good, but wasn’t there bad weather last year though?

If you like to shop in the Anadia shopping centre in Funchal, look out if you choose to use the lifts. According to the inspection discs in the two lifts, the last time they were checked was on 11th November 2005.

In a speech in the Madeira Technipolo on Saturday, the leader of the socialists gave his assessment of the PSD-M (social democrats) and the ruling government, calling it the ‘black heritage’. The list included an abysmal record on alcoholism, drug addiction, schools, hospitals and health centers without decent conditions, plundering of nature, corruption and fear “this is the heritage of the PSD and the Government”, said João Carlos Gouveia.

In yesterday’s football, Nacional managed a great 1 – 2 away win at Belenenses, keeping alive slim hopes of a place in Europe, whilst Marítimo lost 3 – 2 away at Benfica, despite a very good performance … somewhat better than the 0 – 6 home defeat against the same team earlier in the season.

A very thin newspaper yesterday, probably with everyone out enjoying the ‘April 25th’ commemorations, and the flower festival too.

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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, stories, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … the first photo in of some of the wonderful floral displays at the flower festival … more to follow …

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 25/4/2009

‘Tourists Impressed With The Floral Displays On The Avenue Arriaga – The Flower Festival began on Wednesday with the inauguration of the floral carpets and the flower market’. The Diário solicited opinions from several tourists :

“We are very much enjoying the atmosphere in Funchal, and very impressed with all the preparation for this great flower festival” said Gilles from France. “These flower carpets are truly magnificent” and “we went to the flower market and found marvellous types of flowers we didn’t know existed, and we can hardly wait for the parade on Sunday“, said another couple from France. I am not quite sure why this story waited until Saturday, as it’s a bit ‘old hat’ now, but Madeira has a real winner with this flower festival … long may it continue. There is some video footage here in case you are not lucky enough to be here at present:

FLOWER FESTIVAL

Thanks to all who sent in photos – no more general shots of the flowers please, but some of the parade today would be nice – thanks!

Great news for baby Rodrigo, in that a 100% match donor has been found. Rodrigo, probably within the last few weeks of his life, is to be saved by a German lady who has offered her bone marrow to treat his acute leukemia. The father of Rodrigo thanks the four thousand Madeiran people who offered themselves as potential donors. The search for a donor went international after hopes for a donor on Madeira, and then in Portugal were exhausted, and the lady has accepted the request to make the donation. The transplant is likely to take place later next month, and will not cure Rodrigo’s illness, but will provide a means to a cure. Top story of the day, and quite rightly so.

‘Liberty In Question 35 Years After – the worries criss-cross social, political, and economic matters, but the major threat is to the freedom of expression’. “Three decades are not enough to ensure freedom. Freedom of expression is an area in which politicians feel most threatened”, says the Diário. It’s a very opinionated article involving quotes from a number of politicians with varying views, most of which indirectly support the newspapers feeling of suppression. Some of the opinions point to Portugal as a whole, but generally Madeira is singled out not having gone all the way to making it’s people feel truly free. It’s strange to read and believe that people still feel that way, but without being fully embedded in the Madeira culture it is hard to sense what it is really like to have these insecure feelings hanging over you.

In response to the open letter of the Diário, sent to various entities worldwide in protest about the unfair competition from The Jornal da Madeira, The World Association Of Newspapers demands an investigation in the the newspaper market on Madeira. WAN has said that the regional government of Madeira threatens freedom of expression, and have asked for an urgent investigation into the matter. They have sent a letter to the President of the Republic, Cavaco Silva, to express “serious concern” regarding the actions of Madeira’s government, and their direct influence on the Jornal da Madeira, of which they are the major shareholder (99.7%), and that they are using taxpayers money to subsidise (€38 million in 15 years). The complaint continues that government purchases of space in the two newspapers is on a 10 to 1 ratio, in favor of the Jornal. One part of the letter, in referring to the decision to distribute the JM free to readers, says “It seems there was no effort to keep the Jornal da Madeira as a profitable operation, but a deliberate policy to use government funds to undermine the Diário de Notícias”, adding that the anti-competitive behavior of the JM and regional government directly affects and threatens the 120 jobs of the staff of the Diário. The World Association Of Newspapers represents 18,000 publications worldwide, and it also has formal representation in the Council of Europe, UNESCO and the United Nations, and clearly packs quite a punch. Serious stuff, but I think it’s great what is going on here, and the initiative that the Diário has taken, but you have to wonder why they didn’t do it years ago.

The big photo of the day shows a man, head in hands, and obviously in a state of depression : ‘Two New Unemployed Per Hour – Since the financial crisis started to bite in August 2008, the Institute of Employment has received over ten thousand claimants. Almost 50 new unemployeds per day”. (I am now on high alert for the word police). The article is full of breakdowns and statistics, which are too much to reproduce here, but the comment is made that because 24% of Madeira’s workers are civil servants (national and local governments / authorities of all types), and that there have been no lay-offs, the true situation here is much worse than stated. In Portugal 18% of employees work in government of some sort. The government accuses the Diário of using “speculative” figures, saying that official figures won’t be available for the first quarter of 2009, until mid May. Uncle Bertie blames it all on prime minister Sócrates for his budget cuts.

I will skip the sports story, otherwise you will be reading this all day …

Other News :

Parliamentary leader Jaime Ramos (social democrats) announced that by June this year, there will be a thousand new jobs created in the construction industry on Madeira. This information, which is good news for many, is possible through another important announcement : that regional government will launch several major projects by the end of May, which will involve an injection of €400 million into the economy.

A scrapyard of ‘unthinkable dimensions’ has been growing for some years at Poiso in Santo da Serra. It is over a kilometre in length, and houses thousands of cars and other metal waste. However, according to the Regional Directorate of the Environment, its days are numbered because of the hazardous effect on the environment. Scrap metal used to be exported as a profitable operation, but now the price of scrap iron is so low that the cost of transportation makes it impossible to continue. 

The ‘Ruby Princess’ made it’s debut appearance in Funchal yesterday. The cruise ship, constructed last year, brought in around 3,000 passengers, and picked up around 100 new passengers on Madeira. I have a picture for you, but the Flower Festival is priority at the moment.

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I mentioned last weekend that I went to Funchal Central Hospital the week before last, nothing serious or painful for me, but I had just arrived when that tragic death occurred in a stairwell, right at the time I was stood outside that stairwell door. I heard an awful crash, that was more than just flesh and bones for sure. Staff came running from all directions, and there were people crying in the corridor and in shock. I asked what was going on, but the staff wouldn’t say anything other than there had been a serious accident. It was in the newspaper the next day about the accident?, saying that a patient had fallen from the 8th floor of the hospital stairway right down to the basement, and had probably died instantly.

Due to that, my porter abandoned me for 20 minutes, but eventually I got to my destination and saw a doctor. I don’t really like discussing my medical matters for all the world to see, but I don’t think I can really avoid it i
n this case, because what happened was quite important and could apply to anyone at some time. Around 30 years ago, following an accident, I had to have an artificial tear duct inserted, a very small pyrex tube. It was a very specialised operation, conducted by an eye hospital in London.

The tube sat there happily working away for those 30 years, until the week before last, when while I was sleeping it fell out. I went to my local health centre to ask if they would shove it back in in sterile conditions, but they wouldn’t, and sent me to Funchal Hospital to see a consultant there. He tried to do the job, but failed, so I asked what next. The consultant said I would have to go back to London to get it done, and I told him that I was not part of that health care system so that was not possible, but asked if it could be done in mainland Portugal. He said there was only one specialist, in Porto, who could do that job, and said to me to ring him in a couple of days time, and he would give me his phone number. I was gobsmacked. He was expecting me to make contact and make all the arrangements myself, and pay for everything. Obviously I refused to accept the situation and he wouldn’t budge initially. Whether this is Uncle Bertie’s philosophy on foreigners creeping in, or health service policy I don’t know, but it was only when I told him that I was going back to my local health centre to get them to deal with it, that he eventually changed his mind, in bolshy sort of way. An appointment was then made for 8am on Tuesday, back in Funchal, for the arrangements to be started.

I arrived their last Tuesday and was amazed to see so many people there, but I am guessing that everyone had 8am appointments, and it was just a question of waiting to get seen. Surprisingly I was in and out of the consultants office within an hour and a bit, but I would imagine that many others would have waited most of the day. Anyway, I guess I had annoyed the doctor on my previous visit, as he wouldn’t speak to me in English at all … a bit tricky when discussing important medical matters, but I managed. He told me that he had made an appointment for me in Porto the next day, gave me an envelope of paperwork and told me to wait outside for someone else to see me. A nurse came soon after, and told me to go to the department that arranges for patients to go to Portugal. That part took a long time, as authorisations were needed, documents needed to be signed, flights were booked, and I was given €100 cash to help with my expenses. No one knew what time my appointment in Porto was except that it was a PM time, but as the only flight to Porto was at 7am in the morning, it didn’t really matter. The lady who organised all this was great, she didn’t speak any English, but she made sure I was fully informed about what I had to do, and dealt competently and patiently with all my questions. So I returned home quite nervous, but well prepared for my journey, which would start at 5.30am the next morning.

Part 2 of the story will follow in a few days.

madeira4u

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, stories, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … Working at last! The cable car at Garajau.

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 24/4/2009

The Portuguese Association for Medical Products is to ensure that the health service here clears its debts, many as old as 3 years. The debts were accumulated by Funchal Hospital within a former structure of Madeira’s health service, for products such as wheelchairs, pacemakers, syringes, pregnancy testing kits, amongst others.

Yesterday’s main story : ‘The Election Commission Orders Santa Cruz To The Public Prosecutor – The war of propaganda posters enters a new phase : The Election commission considers that the council of Santa Cruz disobeyed the law in removing the posters of political parties and has referred the matter to the courts’. It is an unprecedented situation in Portugal, and following the decision of the council to remove the election campaign posters of the Left Block and CDU parties, the president of the council will now be judged for the crime of disobedience after refusing to replace the posters that were removed. The council has the support of President Jardim (how surprising, as it involves the posters of other parties), and a similar situation also exists in São Vicente.

‘New Record : Unemployment Hits 11,456 – For the first time the level of Madeira’s unemployment exceeds the national level’. In Portugal the unemployment level is stated as 8.6%, whilst on Madeira it has now hit 9%. At the end of 2008 Madeira had 6%, whilst Portugal was suffering 7.8%.

‘Secretary Of State For Tourism In The 8th Meeting Of Generations – He is in Venezuela on 23rd May to talk about  tourism as a means of union between populations’. This is about an annual meeting that aims to connect the peoples of Portugal and Venezuela, in sport, politics, social, and cultural matters.

‘Diplomatic Party Causes Pile-up’. A diplomatic convey with a police escort caused an accident on the Via Rápida near Viveiros on Thursday, involving four vehicles. No one was seriously hurt. A police spokesman confirmed the accident, but refused to give an further details pending an internal investigation.

The main picture of the front page shows a narrow road dominated by heavy lorries : ‘Hell Of Lorries Continues – The landfill sites that serve an abundance of heavy vehicles becomes legalised. But the annoyance for the locals who utilise the roads is tremendous’. The winding road called Estrada das Carreiras (ER 203), has stretches where two lorries cannot pass. It serves two landfill sites, now properly licenced, and there is nothing in law that can be done to remedy the situation. The road surface, which was not built for so much heavy traffic, is suffering badly as the trucks loaded with tons and tons of earth and stones take their toll, and even the rally organisers have rerouted the courses for participants. Residents complain that houses are being damaged due to the heavy movements and that the noise is unbearable. One resident said that they cannot even open the front doors of their houses along the stretch of road between Vale Paraíso and Poiso. Savvy tourists and excursion companies have already abandoned use of the road. The Diário reporter counted up the number of passing trucks during one afternoon, and from that estimated that 232 trucks pass along that road every day.

Other News :

Two new licences for Pharmacies will be up for grabs soon, for anyone who fancies opening up shop in Monte or São Roque.

Hotel occupation rates are up to 87% for the 54th Flower Festival. The losses in tourist numbers from the British and German markets, have been partially replaced with clients from Portugal, along with Russians, Czechs, Poles and Estonians. The secretary for tourism is optimistic that the domestic and emerging tourist markets will offset traditional tourist losses, but it is still too early to be sure. (please send in a few photos if you can – thanks).

In a report in the Diário a few days ago, repeated on this blog, it was stated that although the number of cruise ships coming here in the first 3 months of 2009 was up, the number of passengers was down by 1% on the same period last year. In one of those silly errors that newspapers sometimes make, the number of passengers was input as 113,164, instead of 131,164. So instead of a 1% reduction, it was in fact an increase of over 15%!

Portugal is to have a new saint from tomorrow, with a canonization taking place in the Vatican. Blessed Nuno Alvares Pereira will become São Nuno de Santa Maria, watched by a full house of visiting Portuguese, all prepared to pay between €800 and €1300 to see the event. I can’t afford to go, but for sure I will be marking the occasion in some manner that involves a beer or two.

Weekend football : Both our teams play on Sunday, with Marítimo visiting Benfica (0 – 6 on Madeira, still the biggest thrashing this season in the premier league), 8pm on SportTV1. Earlier, at 4pm but not televised, Nacional go to Belenenses, and if they lose I think they have no chance of getting into Europe next season.

The latest Easyjet offer : “Up to 25% off every seat, on every route to and from the UK throughout Summer 2009. Book now for great discounts on every flight from 1 June to 30 September. Offer ends at midnight, Tuesday 28 April”. These offers are a bit hit and miss from Madeira, but I thought I ought to mention it anyway.

Today marks the 35th anniversary of the ‘Revolução do Cravos’, or the revolution of the carnations, being the end of a period of nearly 50 years of dictatorship. No doubt anyone here will see the occasion being marked in some way. 

I am hoping to catch up on some zzzzzz’s and work on the new blog, but I wish everyone else a good 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, stories, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … A bit of art for a change … the roof at Dolce Vita shopping centre in Funchal.

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 23/4/2009

Most of the front page was given over to the big game Wednesday night : ‘Historic Disappointment – Defeat to Paços de Ferreira (2-3) eliminates Nacional from their first final of the Portugal Cup. The manager admits that the team didn’t start well and let escape a “unique moment” ‘.

‘Centre of São José Has 8 Days to Find A Home’. Faced with eviction and working against the clock, the club of 160 members of the day centre and sports facility (amongst other things) have just one more week to find a new home. It has been evicted through the courts for non-payment of rent. The centre does receive social funding, but has the overhead of 5 staff salaries.

‘Finance Court Lets-off Regional Secretaries And Câmera’. The government departments of the Environment, Tourism, and, Natural Resources, as well as the council of Câmara de Lobos are all to escape prosecution. The offences in the reports, that date back to 2005 / 2006, include illegal practices in the awarding of contracts, diversions of funds, sins of expenses, invoicing discrepancies, and acting against the public interest, to name a few. The only reason I could find in the article for letting them off is the fact that the administrations have changed since the offences were committed.

Madeira’s chamber of auditors concluded that the institute responsible for wine, embroidery and handicrafts made a loss of €356 thousand in 2007. A shame, but boring … if it was about 2008 it might be a smidgen more interesting, but only just.

Someone eventually noticed that the ‘new’ sporting facilities at Água doesn’t have a walkway or pavement for pedestrians. Some locals point out some difficulties in getting to the sporting and leisure facility belonging to the parish council. This, I believe, is the new construction that sits under the runway of Madeira Airport. It is quite popular with the local population as well as those from outside, many of who go there on foot. For locals that involves walking along a road, and crossing a bridge and roundabout, with provisons only for cars. At the eastern entrance it can be necessary to walk in the gutter to avoid traffic. Someone else says it is no problem as long as both cars and pedestrians respect the white line on the road there for the benefit of both. Right or wrong, good or bad, I notice that ‘out of town’ supermarkets, sports centres, and other facilities assume that everyone drives to these destinations or goes by bus or taxi, rarely providing adequate conditions for pedestrians. I suppose the worst examples are the tunnels, with very narrow pavements on both sides (instead of one wide one), and in some cases pedestrians have no pavement at all, or prohibited to walk through as they are not safe.

… and some boring political story involving the social democrats.

Other News :

‘Forestry living the best moments in the history of Madeira’”. On the Day of the Earth on Wednesday, the regional secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources stressed that “the forests are living the best moments in the history of Madeira, recalling the various projects undertaken, especially those of reforestation. António Manuel Correia spoke at the inauguration of the improvement works at the Forest Park of Pico das Pedras, costing €143,495, with an 85% funding grant. Among the changes are the playground and improvements in access for people with disabilities. One sarcastic reader commented “Rabaçal … the trees are clapping their hands”, referring to the new cable car construction I presume.

Having got everyone to change their plans for today, the transport strike affecting buses, coaches, petrol stations etc. has now been called off, after the government and trade union reached agreement. The union wanted 3%, but were offered only 1%, so guess where they settled  … 2%, but they do get an enhanced lunch allowance as well.

“Less navel and more Socialist Party” said Bernardo Trindade – I couldn’t translate it on Wednesday’s blog and I still can’t, but the Secretary of State for Tourism who said it, is in trouble for saying it, especially with his own party who say it was “unpleasant”.

The possibility of an enquiry into the monstrosity being built over east, called ‘Quinta do Lorde’ is now a subject of agreement between Madeira’s opposition parties. One of the political parties presented yesterday a proposal to set up a committee of inquiry into the actions of the Government, whereas previously the majority of the social democrats has been used to squash any attempts to get to the bottom of the scandal. Under the rules of the regional assembly, a group of 10 members can demand an enquiry, but no one party was big enough to do it. Now there are 14 signatures to take this forward. Amongst other factors (if I recall correctly), the development is on ‘green belt land, and is taller and has more ground space than the plans submitted showed.

In national news : The Prime Minister announced yesterday in Parliament that the Government will submit a proposal to extend compulsory education to 12 years (duration), and introduce a program of secondary school scholarships to start next year. The measures were announced by José Sócrates in his opening speech of the fortnightly debate in the Assembly of the Republic, this time devoted to the theme of education. Currently the legal minimum time spent in school is 9 years, and this proposal will mean that in future children will stay in school, or a professional training scheme, until the age of 18. The system of scholarships will mean that no one will be excluded from the 12 years rule because of financial difficulties, and this will pay in two phases, €138 and then €105 a month to parents.

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I had an embarrassing start to the day this morning, as when I went out to hang out the washing, I got locked out on my veranda, on the 4th floor, wearing just my bed clothes. Having tried everything I could to open open the patio door, I eventually managed to attract the attention of a passer by, who alerted a neighbour, who then contacted the person with a spare key. I was back inside within half an hour, with everything intact except my pride.

To the nosey neighbour who watched the show first from above and then from below, and found it highly amusing, but didn’t make any attempt to offer help. I am glad to have made your day, but I am sorry to have spoiled your fun, because now everyone knows before you had a chance to spread the gossip. Think on this dear nosey neighbour … I managed to deal with the situation, because I have friends and because I was able to explain the problem in Portuguese. When you need help you have no one, and no one will understand you when you ask. Of course I hope nothing happens to you, but perhaps next time you see someone in trouble, you might think twice about openly laughing about their plight.

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, stories, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Vic … Sea Cloud 2 from Caniço.

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 22/4/2009

The main story of yesterday : ‘Jardim Obliged To Bail-Out ViaMadeira -  The banks are reluctant to loan money to the maintainer of various major roads, pushing the regional government to rely on economic diplomacy that could result in a loan of €472 million’. If the banks don’t want to get involved, that almost certainly means that they don’t expect to be repaid at all or in an acceptable manner. Sounds like a future hit for the taxpayer of you ask me!

There is a study planned for the natural parks of Madeira, that will include the caves, and also additional studies into the habitats of our sea lions, that will feed into an international study being done in this field, that originated from a conservation initiative started in 1988.

The ongoing row about the positioning of the PSD-M candidate on the list of potential Euro MPs seems to have been resolved. The president of the social democrats nationally is to move Madeira’s candidate from 8th to 5th place on the list, meaning that it will be pretty much guaranteed that Madeira will continue to have direct representation in the European parliament. Where that will leave the original post holder, who was sacked for protesting about Madeira’s placing, remains to be seen. A big embarrassment for any other politician, but for Uncle Bertie who would be unlikely to suffer form even a gunshot wound, it’s just another chapter in a long long saga.

Other News (some saved up from the last week) :

Machico beach in São Roque, after finally improving it’s water quality to earn the ‘Blue Flag’ for 2009, is in danger of losing that status already. Ongoing work on the historic pontão (pontoon) that started 3 weeks ago, is spoiling the water quality with soil and stones. We will know the decision next month.

The number of cruise ships coming into Funchal, during the first quarter of 2009, was up 9% on the same period last year. However the number of passengers ‘dropped off’ was down 1%. 73 cruise ships have docked so far, compared to 67 last year.

Those who can remember back to December, may recall an old sea lion named ‘Desertinha’, who came to shore in Funchal in a sick condition. Efforts to save her failed, and she died, but her body was preserved with the purpose of giving her a permanent home on Madeira. It has now been decided that her embalmed body will be homed in an annex to the main house in the Botanical Gardens, which used to be used as a shop for the ‘Friends of the Botanical Gardens’. She will form part of an exhibition which shows the various conservation projects going on. The centre will not be ready until the end of this year.

The Portugal property market is undergoing a period of ‘adjustment’ according to a property consultant firm, who think this will certainly continue for the rest of this year. It also sees the possibility of more buyers appearing, after a strategic “wait and see” (yes, that how it was said in Portuguese) period by the “players” (ditto), but that may depend on the availability of credit.

After the new services already introduced in Funchal and Ponta do Sol, ‘Casa Pronta’ now has more facilities open in Câmara de Lobos and Porto Santo. Casa Pronta (Ready House) is a facility where you can perform all operations related to the purchase and sale of urban homes. You can pay taxes, do the contracts of purchase and sale, make the necessary registrations, request an exemption from payment of Municipal Property Tax (IMI), or do a change of address for tax purposes. These facilities cover all of Madeira, and are not specific to the districts in which they are located. Soon to follow, and along the same principles, will be an office in Edifício 2000 in Funchal, dealing with matters of inheritances.

President Jardim of the Regional Government of Madeira is being honored with the medal “Tiradentes”, by the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro. The last statesman to receive one was president Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. A spokesman here said “it not so common” that an important person living outside of Brazil is blessed with such a commendation and “It is no secret the things that [Alberto João Jardim] has done. It is the highest commendation that the State of Rio de Janeiro offers to people who have “contributed to the development of country and humanity”. Well done Unc. Bertie, anyone who can follow in Hugo’s tracks is indeed a worthy candidate!

Last night’s football game between Nacional v Paços de Ferreira, in the Portugal Cup semi finals, ended up a disaster for our lads, losing 2 – 3 after Paços were awarded two penalties. I didn’t see the match, just the goals and the penalty decisions, but I am going to bite my tongue, but no doubt today’s newspaper will have something to say on the matter.

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Whilst in Porto yesterday, I went into a bar for lunch. Can you believe that for €5 I had a lovely bowl of soup, a fish main course with rice, potatoes and salad, a pudding (which I declined as I was too full up), a large orange juice and a coffee at the end. I am not complaining, especially as I wasn’t the one paying, but how can anyone make profit on that?

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, stories, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!