Madeira News Blog

(30th May). The day’s main news headline : ‘Crisis Brings Tobacco Back To The Rally – Europe prohibits the advertising of tobacco and the sponsoring of sporting events by tobacco companies. But, in times of crisis, the government of Madeira just legislated for the opposite, to enable the Madeira Wine Rally’. Although there is an EU directive  specifically banning tobacco advertising, and sponsorship of tobacco companies for sporting events, the government here as adopted a stance to enable exactly the opposite, by amending the obstructing legislation, with every right to do so, thanks to a get-out clause included for that purpose. The Madeira Wine Rally, which celebrates 50 years of existence and 30 years of integration in the Championship of Europe, may now be sponsored by tobacco companies. Other European countries have tried to do the same thing, without success. For example, in 2006 Germany tried to challenge the EU ban on tobacco advertising around major sporting events, but was quickly threatened with court action and decided not to proceed, partly because the ‘lobby’ of tobacco companies is losing strength. The European Union considers that "tobacco advertising in sport can negatively influence a very large number of young people and adults". One exception is Marlboro in Formula 1 racing, and that right will expire in 2011. The Madeira Wine Rally is held under the aegis of the Portuguese Federation of Motor Sports and Karting (FPAK), which in its regulations prohibits the use of any connection to brands of tobacco.

So why has Madeira taken this path? One of the reasons for opening up to sponsoring by tobacco companies is the reduction of public support, by around €12 thousand. Last year the Madeira Government supported the Madeira Wine Rally with around €650 thousand, but this year, through a Regional Legislative Decree was only able to stump up €638 thousand. So the government failed to find €12,000 through it’s own legislation, such a small amount in such a big budget, and legislated again to allow the rally organisers to raise the €12,000 shortfall through tobacco advertising. Words fail me!

‘Tomorrow is the world no smoking day : a moment to regret the growing vulnerability of youths gripped by the mortal addiction’. I am going to skip this tobacco story, as I think here on Madeira the story has been superseded by idiot politicians, who clearly don’t think that health is a relevant issue.

Following the earlier story about masses of surplus Tuna coming to Madeira from the Azores : ‘Tuna Unloaded Without Inspection – It has been a year abundant with tuna coming from the Azores’. From January until now, 800 tons of tuna have been brought here from the Azores, double that in 2008. The Madeiran boats that fish out there come back here to unload tons. In Caniçal, the fish is unloaded and sold, but it is now suggested that it was time for this operation to be subject to an inspection by a veterinarian, to assure the quality of the tuna to the consumer. On departure from the Azores, the fish is fresh and of high quality. However, the long journey across to Madeira is bound to result in some degradation to the fish, and unlike Funchal, there is no inspection regime in Caniçal. The fish is sold at €2.20 per kilo in port here, whereas in the Azores it would fetch €1 per kilo from the cannery. The previous article suggests that the Azores fishermen were bringing the catch to Madeira, but now it seems Madeira fishermen are also travelling to the Azores.

‘Quinta Do Terreiro da Luta Has A New Owner – The Cable Car Company of Madeira Wants To Push Forward The Return Of The Train’. The mansion and grounds in Monte have been purchased by the company ‘Teleférico da Madeira’, an investment aimed at moving forward a project for a train in Monte, but without any definite guarantees. If the train project does not go ahead, it will become a tourist attraction that will show the quinta in its own era of 1912, the year of construction, as a romantic setting, and a reference to matters botanical, historical, and of leisure at that time. It will also be a ‘Tea House’. The grounds comprise 5,000 square metres of gardens, and several outbuildings. The doors may open to the public in July, with restoration work and reworking of the gardens being left until later. The company ‘Teleférico da Madeira’ is a consortium company with 5 major shareholders, who are : Etermar 55%, EEM (Madeira’s electricity company) 20%, Horários do Funchal (bus company) 15%, Somagescont / Jaime Ramos (president of Madeira’s parliament) 5%, and Blandy SGPS 5%. I am not going to suggest that anything untoward is going on in this ‘maybe / maybe not’ investment, but there is one name in the shareholders list that would suggest to me that there is much more ‘maybe’ than ‘maybe not’ involved.

(30th May). ‘There Are Gaps In The Tobacco Law – Portuguese Society of Pneumology launches an awareness campaign on the harmful effects of cigarettes’. To mark world ‘no smoking day’ the organisation is launching a campaign which will hit Madeira from Monday. The aim is to highlight the harmful effects of smoking, exposure to passive smoking, and gaps in the law which came in last year. In terms of the gaps in the law, a spokesperson says that there is lack of enforcement. In order to put people off smoking, aggressive images should be printed in cigarette packets, something that is not permitted on packs sold in Portugal. Also prices should be increased, and smokers should be given improved access to ‘giving-up’ consultations.

‘Neighbourhood Policing Comes To The Zones Of Sé And Monte – The Police also announce that night time police checks in Funchal are to be increased’. It has already happened in Santo António and São Martinho, and the PSP commissioner said that the reinforcements "will work exclusively patrolling on foot" thus allowing permanent contact with the local population. He also said that new measures would continue to be developed to prevent deviant behaviour, including prostitution. Operation ‘STOP’ will also be intensified in Funchal, particularly to target drink drivers.

(29th May). ‘Madeira Consuming Tuna From The Azores – The Azores are having a really good month for tuna fishing, but the problem is they eat little tuna’. A harvest "extraordinaire" of bigeye (species of tuna) is forcing the Azorean fishermen to market their fish in Madeira, where this species is "more valued" when sold fresh, and there are more guarantees of demand. "In the first fifteen days of May there were so many fish, and no capacity to absorb them in the Azores market, so our boats went off to Madeira, where the fish is more valuable", said Hélio Neves, President of the Producers Association for Tuna and Similar Things of the Azores (APASA). The catch has been high, "close to 200 tonnes this month alone" on the same boats that throughout the season last year, captured only between 180 and 220 tonnes. "In times of exceptionally high catches in a short space of time there is a difficulty in disposing of fresh tuna for sale in (the Azores), so the alternative is to go to Madeira" said the president. Hmmm! It’s probably a bit late for my somewhat ecologically friendly suggestion … just fish for what you need and leave the rest of the tuna to breed further, and then next season you will have a bumper harvest once again (or is someone going to tell me that tuna migrate to other waters?)

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Karen … the tunnel on the levada leading to 25 Fontes.

Our council here in Rib. Bra. has just issued a glossy booklet called ‘Green Beach – Blue Wave – Summer 2009′, and I was lucky enough to be one of the first proud owners. The Blue Wave bit refers to the Blue Flag that the beach hasn’t yet got, but the booklet confidently states that it will be flying in July and August. The ‘Green Beach’ bit refers to the responsibilities of all to keep the beach clean and be environmentally friendly. Thanks to the booklet, I know now how to avoid sunburn, drowning, what the different colour flags mean, how to keep the beach clean and recycle my rubbish, and what activities are planned to entertain beach users from June until September. Very useful stuff, and as it’s is also printed in full in English, handy for tourists also. Anyway, what caught my attention was one page entitled ‘Ribeira Brava – Green Is our Colour’, because I asked for recycling bins over two years ago and we still don’t have any. The one big metal bin we have serves around 20 properties, and everything from nearly all those properties goes in there so it needs to be emptied every 2 or 3 days (I am in fact a good boy, and I separate everything and take it into town where there are recycling bins). Businesses in town that are also supposed to separate their rubbish often don’t, because apparently when the rubbish collection is made it all goes in the same wagon mixed up. Not the be-all and end-all of green issues I know, but it’s the one most visible to most people. Not to mention the fact that our council brought two new coaches, to add to it’s existing fleet of vehicles, and it doesn’t need them. That is not green behaviour, but it seems that trade descriptions laws don’t apply to ‘green’, and it’s a label anyone can attach to mislead the public.

Please don’t forget that news articles will now be posted at various times during the day – Check back regularly and keep yourself up to date.

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