Madeira News Blog

(27th August). ‘Passenger That Travel On 28th And 29th Need To Check Before Going To The Airports – ANA-Airports of Portugal appeals to passengers to contact the airlines and travel agents’. The first two day strike of TAP airlines starts tomorrow, involving staff represented by 5 trade unions. Cancellations and delays are expected, and ANA, the airports operator, wants to avoid unpleasant situations at the airports. More information is published in today’s newspapers and on the TAP website (there is a link on the right hand side of this page), or ring 218 431144. The next strike is planned for the 11th and 12th of September.

‘More Fish (Long Bill) And Tourists / Fishermen – August has more customers, but it doesn’t hide the crisis facing the industry’. "The business is no longer what it was. Customers are fewer in number, hence the month of August has around 30% less than the same period last year. However, it is noted that demand is much better than that of early-season (June), because in that month the (boat) charters fell almost 50%". So says Pedro Gonçalves of the company NAUTISANTOS, Ltd. "Yet we have had charters almost every day, which is always good" he says, referring to a mini recovery for his big game fishing business. There are many long bill fish this season says another businessman in the sector, saying that warmer seas are bringing them in closer to shore. Madeira is known as one of the best places in the world for this type of fishing, and in 2008 430 Blue Marlin catches were made, 12 of them weighing over 1,000 pounds (454 kgs). One other attractive feature is that from port to the best fishing zones is very short, needing just 5 minutes to be able to start fishing. In other European big game fishing locations the travelling is usually an hour or more.

‘New Tourist Office In Rossio’. The deal has been done, but the official announcement won’t be until September. The Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport has already signed the lease with a company for the use of a space that will be between the Rossio and Praça do Comércio, in downtown Lisbon. The old office for Madeira Tourism in Portugal closed suddenly some months ago.

‘Hotels On Madeira And The Algarve Maintain Staffing Levels – The main hotel groups say that demand is sufficiently good to maintain jobs’. The regions most affected by rising unemployment in July were the Algarve and Madeira, according to the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training, but the hotels say they have maintained the employment levels from previous years. Figures released in July showed that unemployment had increased over a year by 50.3% on Madeira, and 104.2% in the Algarve. The Pestana Group, with 10 hotels here and 8 in the Algarve, says it has kept the same number of workers, and taken on temporary workers. Vila Galé group, also operating in both locations, also said it had not cut back on staff. It just shows the profits they used to make in the good old days then, if they can maintain the same overheads with much reduced revenue.

(26th August). ‘Salary Bank Accounts* Save Up To 240 Euros Per Year – "As a rule, they are free of maintenance costs (bank charges) or do not charge an annual fee for the cards". This applies especially if managed through the Internet, says a study by DECO, the Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection. The study covered 19 banks, of which 6 claimed to provide an "account for citizens with low incomes", i.e. providing a minimum level of banking services. DECO is challenging the Ministry of Finance to create a citizen’s account, accessible to any customer, with reduced maintenance costs and a free debit card. Deco also notes that some transactions can be carried out at multibanco (ATM) machines for less than it would cost on the telephone or at the bank counter. The full report is due to be published next month. It is my understanding that a conta-ordenado*, is for people working and having salaries paid in, but I think it is the same account that I have for example, with nothing being paid in on a regular basis, but is subject to no bank charges as long as a minimum balance is maintained, but I am not 100% certain, and it may vary with different banks.

(24th August). From the Jornal da Madeira : ‘Sea Front With More People In The Bathing Complexes – The expectations for this beach season were not the greatest. However, the number of entrants in all the facilities managed by Frente Mar, has exceeded the numbers in previous years’. A spokesman for the company Frente MarFunchal says expectations were poor this Summer because of the crisis, Gripe A, and other factors. Lido entrants have increased by 17%, and in Ponta Gorda by 12%. The other two at Barreirinha and Poças do Gomes have also increased entrants by 7 or 8%. In numbers, comparing July 2008 with July 2009 in all 4 locations, the number of visitors rose from 59,725 to 91,294. In August last year there were nearly 101,000 visitors, and that number has probably already been passed this month.

(23rd August). ‘Bombardier Dash Q200 Substitutes Broken Down Aircraft – SATA Air Azores brings forward the maiden voyage for Madeira for the aircraft intended to arrive in 2010′. The Q200 ‘Graciosa’ started the inter island connections on Saturday. The plane was being used for inter island connections in the Azores, but was called in to replace the British Aerospace ATP ‘Açores’ after the engine fire that caused an emergency landing on Porto Santo on Friday morning. Also the replacement Pratt & Whitney engine for the ATP has arrived along with engineers to make the swop, with the job expected to be complete on Tuesday. After satisfactory test results, the Q200 will return to the Azores, returning again in January as a permanent replacement for the ATP.

‘Luxury Brands In Crisis Due To Sales – The crisis keeps away the customers of shops of luxury goods, and the companies confront problems caused by the fall in sales, motivated by the search for cheaper products’. Many companies manufacturing or retailing luxury goods have seen their financial performance fall in the first few months of this year, but the opinions and the circumstances vary. 

‘Growth in Line With Germany And France Is Mere Coincidence – Chief economist of BPI Bank says that the reasons for the growth are very different’. The growth in GDP announced a week ago for the second quarter of 2009 is a coincidental statistic she assured. Although Portugal did have a rise in consumption and a slowing of the fall in exports, she said.

(19th August). Only a tiny little front page mention : ‘Sócrates Comes To The Festival Of PS-M – The prime minister of Portugal returns to Madeira on Sunday, this time as national leader of the socialist party, and he goes to Fonte do Bispo’. He enjoyed his visit and warm welcome on his last visit in May, and is back this weekend for the PS-M socialist party annual rally at Fonte do Bispo. He left it very late to decide, and I bet João Carlos Gouveia, the leader of the socialists here, is over the moon. His popularity amongst his party here probably doesn’t even register on a scale of one to ten, but with JS in attendance you can bet that will bring in the activists on Sunday. I was thinking about going myself, but my toenails need trimming again.

‘New website of the voter presented Thursday – The ‘Site’ will "provide all necessary information about polling and the various elections". The new facility developed by the Ministry of Internal Administration will tell us what we need to know about the elections and polling on September 27th and 11th October. One of the aims is to disseminate information and encourage people to vote.

12 political parties will run in the national (legislative) elections in September, but sorry I can’t translate them all as they become meaningless, so I opted for none. So the ballot paper here will look something like that shown, including 5 parties that are pretty meaningless for Madeirans. Bloco de Esquerda (BE), Centro Democrático Social (CDS), Partido Popular Monárquico (PPM), Movimento Mérito e Sociedade (MMS), Partido Nacional Renovador (PNR), Partido Social Democrata (PSD), Movimento Esperança Portugal (MEP), Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses (PCTP/MRPP), Partido da Nova Democracia (PND), Movimento Partido da Terra (MPT), Partido Socialista (PS), Coligação Democrática Unitária (CDU). I don’t why I bothered really as I can’t vote anyway.

‘PSD, PS And CDU Run In All The Local Elections – PP Runs in all except Santa Cruz where it supports the citizens movement ‘Juntos Pelo Povo’. In fact BE (Left Block) and CDS/PP (Christian Democrats / Peoples Party) have all put their weight behind ‘Juntos Pelo Povo’, who will be at the top of the polling paper in the Cruz. The socialists, social democrats, and CDU (communists), have candidates for all the locally contested seats. The CDU communists are amongst the first to start putting up propaganda posters around me I noticed. One that they put up very near the PPD / PSD (Madeira) souvenir shop in Ribeira Brava was torn down the same night, but has now made a full recovery, presumably with the aid of extra strong glue. Silly season has officially arrived!

"A good indicator". The regional secretary for Human Resources believes that the INE data on unemployment in Madeira in July, is "a good indicator." Statistics show that the registered unemployment fell last month, which in practice is least 94 less people registered this month compared to June. However, compared with July last year, Madeira also notes a significant rise. The communiqué issued yesterday by secretary Brazão de Castro notes that at a national level the trend continues to increase in the number of unemployed. He also stressed that the figures for July, for Madeira, present other "positive symptoms", including increased ‘offers of employment’ (16.5% more than in the previous month).

(18th August). "It’s Not The End Of The Crisis – Sócrates admits that it is not over, but defends the investment of the state’. Prime Minister José Sócrates said on Monday that the public investments were responsible for taking Portugal ‘technically’ out of recession. "What is demanded of the state is the combat of the crisis and we did something already for that. It was that reason that took the country technically out of recession in the second quarter". But "it’s not the end of the crisis" he clarified, "no, we are far from that, it is certain, but it was the first sign, as one of the countries that came out of technical recession conditions that we have been immersed in for the last 9 months".