Madeira News Blog

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?

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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 Eiryl … “exercise equipment in the park at Machico. I did have a go and think we should see more of these in UK parks”.

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 21/4/2009

Main headline and picture yesterday : ‘Less Cars Sold – The first quarter on Madeira marked by a 32% fall in sales, double the European average’. Well not quite, but if 17% is good enough for the Diário, it’s good enough for me. That’s 3 less cars per day over the last 3 months, but still 696 new cars sold over that period, which I thought didn’t sound too bad. What is weird in the chart of European car sales, that while every country has lost substantial sales, in Germany new cars sold 18% more than the first 3 months in 2008. Norway was the worst hit, so perhaps that falling oil revenue is hitting home.

A second main headline ‘Cut In The Nurses – The government orders a reduction in overtime. A measure that will put at risk 37% of a nurses salary. The impact on the quality of service is causing worries for the union’. It has already happened in the Health Centre of Câmara de Lobos (but as they don’t have any doctors, that probably doesn’t notice so much). All the hospitals / health centres are likely to be hit, but the director of nursing for Madeira defends the measure saying that will be mitigated by the ongoing recruitment of 83 new nurses. The 37% saving in salaries will be achieved by cutting nurses overtime by 7 hours a week. “Our colleagues are unhappy and concerned about the quality of service. Working hours have already been reduced, but this cut was not offset by the entry of new nurses. It is easy to see that with fewer professionals and with increased time they will not be able to meet all requirements”. That last bit was from a union spokesman, if you hadn’t guessed. I really hope it works out, but from recent experiences, my view is that the nurse to patient ratio is very high in Funchal Hospital. The real trick of course will be ramping up productivity, and that does not normally fit well with the culture here. It will probably hit us poor sods that have to go to the health centres more than it will hit patients in Funchal.

“Less navel and more Socialist Party” said Bernardo Trindade, the politician overall responsible for Portugal’s tourism industry. In a spurt of what President Jardim is famed for, he used his official visit to plug his own political party, though exactly what he meant I haven’t got a clue!

‘Leaders Owe Explanations – PSD and PS In commotion : Jardim hides negotiations he had in Lisbon, and Maximiano Martins demands transparency in the actions of Gouveia, leader of the socialists.’ It is alleged that Jardim traded Madeira’s place in the European elections for favours in the national elections, namely more PSD seats in the assembly of the republic, and hid the matter from his party. Maximiano Martins is the representative of the socialists of Madeira in the assembly of the republic. You already know the stories from the last week or so, so if no one minds I will cut this one short.

The extension of the grant of the ferry service, between Madeira and Porto Santo, was the first item on the agenda of the plenary session on Monday, in the Legislative Assembly of Madeira. The extension of the award was decided by the regional government, ten years before the end of the contract. A situation that surprised the opposition, and the Socialists have applied to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the matter. I think it was probably a good move by the PSD-M to do this, to keep the Porto Santo Line tied in. Who else would be stupid enough to start this operation from scratch again, especially looking at the huge drop in passengers numbers over the last few months.

‘National Showing – Madeira goes to the Book Fair in Lisbon, in terms of literature and investigation’. Several councils and other entities have clubbed together to have a stand in the Lisbon Book Fair (30th April – 17th May), to show what Madeira has to offer in the way of books published.

‘Atheletes Protected – New rules in athletics safeguard Madeirans’. Something about protecting our sportspeople from ‘national and foreign invasion’, with a 60% component of Madeiran teams now needing to be made up of local talent, or residents.

The other sports headline is ‘Nacional Waits Historic Game In Silence’ – referring to tonight’s game (Weds) Nacional v Paços de Ferreira, in the semi-final of the Portugal Cup, which could take them to their first ever final, having already drawn the away leg. If they manage it they will probably meet Porto in the final. It’s on TVI, channel 4, live at 6.15pm. The rather frustrated Diário calls it a ‘black out’, with all the players refusing to speak to the media until after the game.

Other News :

The government is going to make a credit line available for companies in the sugar cane industry. It is expected to be in the order of €1.5 million. In addition it will reduce the IVA (VAT) on honey from 14% to 4%. That’s sugar cane honey don’t forget, not from bees. How can they cut IVA like that, isn’t the difference with IVA applied between luxuries and necessities, and outside of the control of the ‘Pooh Bears’ of Madeira (some of who like nothing more to immerse their snouts in the honey pot).

In another honey story (cane, not bees), half the production from 2008 is still unsold, a significant reason why the sugar cane growers are only being paid 25 cêntimos a kilo for this harvest. Monday morning, the trucks crammed with cane began to queue at the Honey Factory of Ribeiro Seco. Until May 5th they will continue to do so. The owner of the company Vasco Melim, almost 80 years of age and 63 years in this industry, sees the work starting but admits that the situation is unfavorable. Almost 80 years old, and 63 years in the same job, seems amazing, but not so surprising. I think if I worked just 15 days a year I would live to a ripe old age as well. I used to want to work in an ice cream factory, then it was in firework production, but now I am heavily swayed towards sugar cane grinding. It seems that blog writing is totally at the wrong end of my working wish list.

The issue of euthanasia is being discussed at a meeting of the Portuguese bishops, which will run until Thursday, in Fatima Portugal. One doctor in Funchal who was asked for an opinion on the matter, said that in the 41 years he had worked in the job nobody had even ever asked him. Similarly, he states that the issue arises often in conversation with colleagues and none of them had ever been confronted with a request for medically assisted death. It is illegal in our country, but the bishops are discussing it anyway, along with the elections taking place this year. Odd combination … or is it, or am I thinking of involuntary euthanasia?

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Tomorrows blog will not be up to it’s usual standard, sorry. I will explain why in due course, but in a nutshell, I have had to go to Portugal unexpectedly and won’t be back until Friday. That might knock on for a couple more days as I catch up with the news, but I will aim to post something tomorrow (Thursday).

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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 Jon … Gizmo & Lucy, Jon’s pets both adopted from SPAD (Association for the Protection of Domestic Animals). If you feel an aahhhh moment coming on, get in your car now and get off to SPAD in Funchal to adopt an animal … you won’t regret it.

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 20/4/2009

Yesterday’s main headline . ‘Aquarium Of Porto Moniz Makes A Loss Of €600 Thousand A Year – The tourist attraction has already accumulated debt of €3.4 million, and attracts less than 7 thousand visits a year. After 3 negative annual results, the solution to avoid bankruptcy is to change its business status to become a municipal company’. And that is exactly what the council is doing, changing the legal status of the aquarium to avoid bankruptcy on technical grounds, before it is called upon later this year to cover its losses and restore the equity in the company. 2008 saw losses of €637 thousand, with an average of less than 20 visitors per day, meaning each visitor equates to a loss of €91 … that’s the front page story anyway, as inside it claims that in 2008 there were 37,700 visitors, which sounds somewhat more feasible. That latter figure then represents a loss of €17 per visitor. Either way, it seems like the taxpayer will be picking up the bill for a facility which is clearly badly located.

The day’s main photo came from Sunday’s match, and shows a Marítimo player face down on the pitch, banging his fist in frustration … ‘Five Consecutive Games Without Winning – Wasteful Marítimo returns to make a step in the race for Europe, in a draw with Belenenses. The manager continues without losing and believes in qualification in the EUFA Cup for his team’.

‘Fishing With Bombs Is Terrorism, But The Courts Don’t Use Their Powers – The marine biologist, Domingos Abreu, warns of the harmful effects of a practice that jeopardises the seabed’. The offenders are duly identified, but justice does not prevail, as Abreu warns of the complacency of the justice system in punishing the culprits. The former regional director for the environment said that attitude of the courts is not helping the devastation of biodiversity and underwater ecosystems off the coastlines of Madeira and Porto Santo, with the offenders receiving suspended sentences. Using explosives for fishing was very popular for decades, but laws were passed to stop the practice, but explosives are still available through illegal sources. Fish caught in this manner can be found on sale, although it is not easy to detect that they have been bombed rather than fished. He explains that “an explosion in an aquatic environment, particularly in the marine environment, due to the increased pressure and fragmentation of material, causes a non-selective mass destruction that does not discriminate amongst all within reach of the bomb … what happens in a fraction of a second can take decades to recover”.

In the continuing row about a nomination for a Euro MEP from Madeira … ‘Jardim Accepts Place Rejected By The Azores’. The PSD in the Azores told the national leader of the Social Democrats, that they would not accept the 8th place on the Euro MEP nomination list, and were consequently given a higher position. The social democrats nationally undervalue Madeira says the Diário, because Madeira is considered the sixth most important region in Portugal.

‘Carlos Pereira Refuses Candidacy In Funchal – The deputy considered the invitation to be leader of the socialist party in Funchal Council, but dismissed the prospect, leaving the party president João Carlos Gouveia even further out in the wilderness’.

The president of the Socialist Party, João Carlos Gouveia, has now confirmed that he accepted the resignation of his party’s leader in the regional assembly, and said that André Escórcio quit due to “lack of conditions to perform the duties”. Gouveia has now said he will take over the leadership role himself. I think his options have run out, but after the ructions he has caused, I am not sure how his colleagues will take the news. In fact the parliamentary rat-catcher, a cat believed to be called ‘Tiddlos’, might prove to be a more popular choice.

There was another political headline as well, but sorry, I can only take so much of politics.

Other News :

The mill at Calheta started up yesterday to process the new harvest of sugar cane, and is expecting in the next month around two thousand tons of raw material, mainly from Calheta and Ponta do Sol. Increasing competition and unfair competition mean that the aim will be to produce more spirit (aguardente) to export to Spain / The Canary Islands. The ‘honey’, used in large quantities to make Madeira’s famous ‘bolo de Mel’, is actually taken from sugar cane and not bees, and it is with this product that manufacturers complain of unfair competition with inferior imported products. The processing plant at Ribeiro Seco also opened yesterday, expecting between 800 and 900 tons. They have set their purchase price at €0.25 a kilo. They will concentrate on sugar syrup (which to me is much less misleading than calling it honey).

A fire ‘of large proportions’ was tackled by firemen on Saturday, in the zone of Anjos (Madelena do Mar). The large dry thicket fire took several firefighting units to control, in difficult windy conditions.

From yesterday, the legal costs of obtaining a divorce, an eviction, and other such civil actions, became more expensive. It is also now necessary to pay the costs ‘up front’, instead of the phased payments necessary previously. One of the motives for the changes, is to encourage people to use other means to resolve problems and disputes, rather than turning directly to the court systems. According to the ‘Council of the Bar’, the average increase will be 86%, but in low value cases these legal costs could increase by up to 166%. The new regulations apply to judicial courts and the administrative and financial courts.

‘Resident for tax purposes in Portugal’. In an article aimed at clarifying tax liability for those who may have income or earnings from abroad, the situation is as follows according to guidance published by the Diário:

You are considered tax resident in Portugal where:

- You spent over 183 days here during a tax year.

- You have spent less time here, but you had a property on the 31st December 2008, that you intend to maintain / occupy as a habitual residence.

- You have a tax resident spouse who meets the conditions, but this is not so clear cut.

Please confirm your own tax liability with someone qualified, as this information cannot be confirmed as being correct / applicable in any individual case.

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!