Madeira News Blog

(30th September). ‘President For Teachers Defends Against Insinuation – In The Jornal da Madeira, Jardim encouraged the president of SPM not to forget who helped in her election. Marília Azevedo reacts’. The president of the Teachers Union of Madeira (SPM) reacted with a certain irony to the suggestion of Alberto João Jardim, who expressed an opinion in an article published yesterday in the ‘JM’, which alludes to some help, not specified, that was supposed to have led Marília Azevedo to victory in the election for the presidency of the union. "Dr. Alberto João is a lawyer, so he did not vote for me for sure", she said, noting that only teachers in the union could vote in that election. Therefore, she says that she has no knowledge "to whom he is referring" in his article.  She added that his statement did not bother her and she will not waste "a lot of time thinking about it, because it is an opinion". Jardim made the insinuation after the union expressed concerns about the fact that teachers career progressions had been stalled since 2005.

‘Manor House Donated To The Region Falls Into Abandonment – The ‘Solar do Aposento’, in Ponta Delgada, is shown in the guide books, but the tourists knock on the door with their noses’. The north coast historic building was given to Madeira 6 years ago, that is also known as the Museum of D. Hilária Freitas, is part of Madeira’s heritage, but it is abandoned and the maintenance neglected, and outside the weeds are taking control. The building is also not secure with old doors and windows, and there are fears for the security of the contents. The Solar was bequeathed to Madeira by the owner, who died in 2003. It is a building of 18th century civil architecture, and contains works of arts, antique furniture, chandeliers, and religious artefacts. It was officially adopted as a "property of public interest and local value" by the government in 2002. Ponta Delgada council are talking about it’s use as an old peoples home, and this could happen by 2011. ‘Knock on the door with their noses’ .. what a wonderful expression. I must remember that one next time the postman says he called (leaving a card) but no one was home, when for sure I was.

In today’s football headline : ‘Marítimo Not Rushed For Manager – SAD maritimista presents €1.4 million of losses’. At the general assembly of the club, attended by 92% of its capital holders, Marítimo declared losses of €1.4 million for the last season. The temporary coach appointed this week for Marítimo’s first team is also staying in charge of the ‘B’ team, and will remain in charge until a new coach with a proven track record can be appointed. Just as well Marítimo didn’t have to pay for it’s stadium then, or the €45 million needed to revamp it, thanks to Madeira’s government and taxpayers, otherwise the end of season accounts would have looked much much different.

‘Culture is the new ‘trump card’ for the promotion of Madeira – Department of Tourism increases its investment in the domestic market. Exhibition, theatre [?] and a new mini-series of TVI were some of the initiatives of the campaign launched on Tuesday in Lisbon’. In order to raise the awareness of the richness and cultural vitality of Madeira, the secretary of tourism, in partnership with the Department of Education and Culture will promote an exhibition of pieces from various museums on Madeira, in the Ajuda Palace, in Lisbon. Madeira has also been confirmed as a venue for a new mini-series on TVI (channel 4). These initiatives are part of the package that the government is banking on to attract tourists from Portugal to our region. In the latter case, the belief that the national TV series made here, Flor do Mar, has already increased tourism and warrants further exploring. As well as a new advertising campaign presented in Lisbon yesterday, the half yearly tourism figures were presented, showing a 15% rise in tourists coming from Portugal, with over 30,000 more coming here. Over the last two years, around 220 to 230 thousand Portuguese have come each year, increasing Madeira’s share of the domestic market. Another article talks about the initiatives outlined costing €680,000.

The new mini-series set on Madeira will run when the existing soap ‘Flor do Mar’ has finished, and filming will start in November. The new series doesn’t yet have a name, but will be the project of TVI, as was Flor do Mar, that received some funding from the Madeira government.

"One Doesn’t Even Make A Cêntimo For A Coffee" – Taxi drivers of Porto Moniz pass through days without having a fare’. The Diário’s featured location this week, covers the taxi drivers plight, where they go days without a customer and have weeks where they earn little more than €5. The crisis has not helped. The two drivers interviewed say they are tired of spending the day sitting on the rank at the Praça do Lyra, and also complain about the transport service provided for the sick, saying that the ambulance charges twice the price per kilometre that they do. The traders of Praça do Lyra are also suffering, with one seller of regional handicrafts saying his sales have dropped by 25%. Limited car parking also affects business.

‘PSP seized 300 doses of cocaine and €1500 resulting from drug trafficking – Officers from the Funchal Police detained a foreign individual and identified two drug drug addicts. The alleged activity was operating in the area of Avenida Arriaga’. Police intercepted on Sunday morning a male of foreign nationality in possession of several packages of cocaine and €1,500 in cash, allegedly resulting from illegal activity. Police had spotted a number of individuals seemingly buying / selling drugs and moved in. Subsequently they identified a house used for transactions, and in the house was found a precision scale, a prohibited weapon, several mobile phones and money. The individual detained is now subject to weekly reporting at a police station until investigations are complete.

12 suspected Gripe A cases were tested on Madeira in the last week, but only one man of 46 years from Venezuela was found to test positive for swine flu. He was taken into intensive care, but his condition is stable. That takes the total from the beginning to just 40 confirmed cases, with just one case in two weeks. Early days I know, but isn’t it reassuring that we are in the lucky position of knowing the age, sex, and nationality of all our Gripe A victims, whilst other countries have lists amounting to hundreds or thousands on a weekly basis. Just doing my bit in case any potential ‘non infected’ tourists come across this posting and fancy paying us a visit.

‘Oral Health Month Also On Madeira – 17 dentists on Madeira and Porto Santo join the initiative running during October’. In order to prevent oral diseases and improve education for proper oral hygiene among the Portuguese population, Colgate and the Portuguese Society of Estomatologia?? and Dental Medicine (SPEMD) are carrying out in October the 10th edition of "Oral Health Month". 15 of the dentists are in Funchal. They will be available next month to do free dental check ups (without treatment or radiographic examination). The annual initiative has allowed so far 95,000 free check ups since it’s first year, and more dentists are joining up. The main conclusion from 2008 was that less than 1% of adults have completely healthy gums and teeth.

Next Tuesday the cruise ship ‘Black Prince’ arrives in Funchal on its 594th and final visit. The ship has been in service nearly 43 years. Several initiatives are being planned to mark the final visit, including a short lecture on the ‘Black Prince’, which will take place tomorrow, 1st October at 18:30 pm, in the auditorium of FNAC in Madeira Shopping. The ship has been sold to a Venezuelan company, and it expected to remain in tourism activities.

(25th September). Today’s main news headline : ‘Metropolitiana Forgets Santa Cruz – It’s been six years since the people of Santa Cruz saw any new project coming to their region’. That was the multi-storey car park asked for by the câmara from the Sociedade Metropolitana de Desenvolvimento (SMD – Metropolitan Development Society). SMD is the responsibility of the vice-presidency of the Madeira government, and has the responsibility of improving the supply of social and economic infrastructures, through the promotion of sustained investment, to enable new local developments. SMD also covers the areas of Porto Santo, Funchal and Câmara de Lobos. The work of the SMD is often obscured by the local council presidents who take the credit for any new and popular developments, but now the local politicians are not so pleased with the lack of recent activity in the area. Asked about the lack of work, the president of Santa Cruz admits that he would like to have more developments in his region, but tried to play-down the situation. “I would have liked to have more projects, we all would, but it was not possible. We must remember that Santa Cruz has already received four works conducted by the Metropolitana in recent years”. The four projects referred to are : Aquaparque, the sea front at Ribeira da Boaventura, the Largo do Caniço, and the beach zone at Reis Magos. 

The main front page photo today shows a traffic jam : ‘War Of Neighbours In Order To Park Occupies Carriageway – The Chaos on the [road] 5 de Outubro has worsened since the start of school. The council gives in to residents and complicates the life of those who come down through Viveiros’. The traffic of Funchal needs routes, as getting in and out remains awkward, and the hope now is on the new Via Expresso at the port. Peak traffic times are particularly difficult, despite the completion of improvement works completed in central Funchal, and now it’s ‘back to school’ the problem has worsened. The Cota 40 and especially at largo da Cruz Vermelha are highlighted problem areas. The article goes on to list and debate just about every problem on every major road in Funchal, but isn’t it the point that traffic problems are the best way to get people to look to alternatives, such as public transport, and park and ride, and even if I might be so bold to suggest ‘on foot’. If the council keeps looking to make improvements in the traffic flow, it is going to counter its attempts to create a ‘green’ city. Bus lanes on every major road would be my solution, with a few well placed ‘park and ride’ schemes.

‘Convict Beats Up Man In Funchal – The accused of the aggression that sent the man to intensive care, had already robbed the house of a police commissioner’. The 20 year old convict was detained, but subsequently managed to escape, after also being taken to hospital. His 44 year old victim is in a serious condition in Funchal Central Hospital with head injuries.

‘PSP Receives New Guns – The regional command is one of the first in the country to be equipped with the ‘glock’. They are the “latest shout” in firearms, and Madeira already has it’s new stock ready to issue to police officers. The 9 mm weapon is “Characterized by its high taking-out power”. I for one intend to be very well behaved over the next few weeks, as no doubt our fine officers will be keen to try out their new toys. I might even have to be nice to Uncle Bertie when he is over this way again, and even shake hands with him, in case he tells the police to sort me out.

In football, a picture of Cristiano Ronaldo, with the headline ‘Spanish Change Their Opinion – Finally they give in. In Spain, the same press that ‘attacked’ CR9 now appears to idolise him’. After 5 goals in 4 league games, and 8 goals for Real Madrid altogether, Ronaldo has turned a doubtful Spanish press into a bunch of slobbering hero worshippers. He is now the top topic in newspapers and sports circles.

In entertainment : ‘Comedy Brings ‘Aces’ From The TV In October’. National comedy arrives on Madeira next month, with stars from Flor do Mar and Malucos do Riso / Morangos Com Açúcar. The theatre comedy is called ‘I Love My Penis’ (and that has not been translated), and has been doing the rounds in theatres throughout Portugal. It’s for over 18’s. 

‘Via Expresso In The North Ready In 2011′. During a visit to the new road construction yesterday, the regional secretary responsible said that the new road between Boaventura and São Vicente would be ready in 2011. The total length of the extension is 7.1 km. The road is being constructed in three phases, with two phases already underway (Boaventura – Ponta Delgada 1.341 km, and Ponta Delgada – Faja da Areia 3.254 km). 4 new tunnels will be needed to complete the route.

‘Child psychiatry unit opens with a lack of professionals – It needs two child psychiatry doctors, but at present there is only one’. The new centre, São Rafael, was inaugurated yesterday, and is the first one on Madeira, and just the third one in Portugal, that specialises in children aged between 10 and 18 with acute mental health problems. The unit can accommodate 10 patients, with an emergency reserve that can be called upon if needed. Amongst other mental problems, the unit will deal with children who suffer psychotic episodes, make suicide attempts, and suffer severe depression and behavioural changes.

Portugal had 2,213 new case of Gripe A swine flu between 14th and 20th September. Around 20 of the victims were hospitalised.

The ongoing strike by customs officers is causing some problems with incoming freight by sea. Two container ships, the ‘Apolo’ and the ‘Portdouro’, suffered significant delays yesterday in the unloading of containers, posing a threat to the restocking of Madeira’s supermarkets. The deliveries included 30 refrigerated containers, which were released thanks to ’shortcuts’ permitted by the Director of Customs, but the other containers will remain in Caniçal Port until the strike is over and the release can go through the normal customs channels.  

‘Easyjet Increases Weekly Flights Between Madeira And The United Kingdom – One more connection on the Stansted route will start operating at the end of October’. The UK airport will now have 5 weekly flights for the start of the Winter season. As a result of the same negotiations with Tourism of Madeira, Easyjet will also operate 4 weekly Gatwick to Madeira flights in the Winter, and 3 in the Summer, which is one extra. Including the Bristol route, that will make 12 Winter and 11 Summer flights to and from the UK.

‘Luxury Italian Ship In Port – The new cruise ship of the Costa fleet makes it’s debut today in Funchal Port’. The €450 million Costa Luminosa brings over 2,700 Italian tourists, before leaving for Malaga at 5.30 pm. It underwent the usual inauguration process early this morning, with a good soaking from a powerful water ‘canon’. It will be back again on the 6th October, with 4 more visits to Madeira scheduled for this year. Among its specialities, the ship is a floating art gallery, with nearly five thousand works of art, of which 288 are original works.

(23rd September). ‘Green Line Inaugurated – Two buses operate the route between the Electricity Museum and Piornais’. In the first phase of the new ‘Linha Verde’ in Funchal, the buses will run every half hour until the end of October. In November eight more eco-friendly vehicles will join the team, and the service will then run every 7 minutes. The buses comply with European rules and it is possible to reduce pollution by 80%. I thought the new buses might be different in appearance, or in colour at least, but the feature on last nights TV news showed what looked like the usual yellow buses with a green window sticker. Great initiative though.

‘Port Doesn’t Have Conditions To Welcome Mega Yachts’. A mega yacht, ‘One More Toy’, coming from Gibraltar on Monday was forced to drop anchor in Funchal bay, after an attempt to moor in the port failed, even though the harbour area itself was almost empty. The attempt to moor was "completely frustrated by a lack of technical conditions", as it is necessary to remove fenders placed in the area, which will damage the hulls of mega yachts. Access to the pier for the crew is also complicated, because much depends on the height of the tide, which can make crew departure / access dangerous. The inadequate effort made for a port of this kind does "absolutely nothing for the image of the region", and many of the skippers choose not to return to Funchal, going to other ports of the Azores or Canary Islands instead. ‘One More Toy’ was eventually able to dock properly yesterday morning. It only stopped here just for refuelling en route to the Caribbean. 

‘ACIF Presents SOLGEST’. The chamber of commerce of Funchal presents tomorrow at 9.30 am, in the Electricity Museum, a programme of optimisation of energy consumption for the hotel industry of Madeira. The initiative is co-sponsored by the European Economic Area through the EEA Grants Fund, and is open to all our hotel owners. The central objective is to implement a concept of continuous local monitoring, with centralised analysis of the data, ultimately identifying areas for intervention and savings opportunities leading to reductions in costs and energy consumption. The initiative involves a team of expert consultants in technology intervention.

(22nd September). ‘Saga Holidays Distinguishes Monte Mar – The Hotel of Ponta Delgada continues in the ‘top ten’ of the units of European brochures’. The Monte Mar Palace, in Ponta Delgada on the north coast, returned this year amongst the ten most desirable hotels by the customers of UK tour operator Saga Holidays, in its brochure for Europe and the Mediterranean. It is a fact that since almost the day of the opening of the hotel in 2003, it has received the best reviews from the British operators, who awarded it its first distinction of ‘Top Stay ‘in 2004, after just a year of operation. Some brits like it so much, they spend 3 months alternating between there and elsewhere. Saga holidays are only available to those aged 50 and over.

‘Funchal Port Is Number 28 In Europe’. In terms of the number of passenger movements, Funchal is the 28th busiest in Europe, but last year dropped 3 places in the world(?) rankings. In what is termed the ‘Iberic’ ports Funchal occupies 6th place. Lisbon, which last year robbed Funchal of first place in national ports, is now 60th in the world ranking, and 27th in Europe. The busiest cruise port in the world is Miami, with 4.13 million passengers. Barcelona is the biggest cruise destination in Europe with 2.06 million passengers. 

‘TAP Secures Half Of The Flights To Madeira On The Days Of The Strike – Pilots of the flagship airline company on strike Thursday and Friday’. The administration of Portugal’s favourite airline have guaranteed that at least four of the eight flights on each of the two days of the strike will take place. A spokesman for TAP advises that any passengers due to fly on those two days check the situation before travelling to the airport. The pilots are striking over a pay demand.

(21st September). ‘Monte Train Returns – The project has a budget of €6.5 million’. The works haven’t started yet, but the Monte train project is a certainty. Once the land is obtained (by expropriation / compulsory purchase) and the works that will take 18 months to complete, it should be open in less than two years time. A spokesman for the various stakeholders said it is a good initiative uniting public and private input that will benefit Madeira. The train will run the same course of the original route, but only between stations at Largo da Fonte in Monte and Terreiro da Luta. The old train will be will be replaced by a modern funicular, similar in appearance, with room for 60 passengers. The expropriation process has already started.

(21st September). ‘Return To School : Quality Is Higher With Less Students’. This is an interview with the regional secretary for education and culture, Francisco Fernandes, who says that with less students this year, the quality of teaching will improve. He also talks about the 37 projects of construction, improvement and expansion (individually listed) in higher education in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. Two challenges being faced are the extension of full time schooling to 100%, as some children still have to ‘work shifts’ due to limited teaching resources, and the extension of compulsory education until the age of 18, something eased by a reduction generally in student numbers. 40,230 children and youngsters return to school today, although 2,941 will in truth be attending for the first time. They will be full time in school, apart from some small deviations in Funchal, Calheta, and Câmara de Lobos. 173 schools will be involved in the education of our children, one more than last year. Teaching staff have increased in number from 6,867 to 7,621, including 1,402 on temporary contracts. Non teaching staff have diminished slightly from 3,231 to 3,226.

Staying on the subject of schools : ‘School Ready In April – Government was counting on having the infrastructure enlarged for a thousand extra students this year’. The new basic and secondary school in São Martinho is not ready in time for this new academic year, as was targeted, due to a series of problems has put the completion target back to April 2010. The main problem arose when large storm drainage pipes were detected in the foundations of the new structure, which needed diverting at an additional cost of nearly €400,000. Funny time to be announcing it on the first day of the new school year?

‘13 Already Died On The Roads This Year – A nasty accident on the via rápida, in the early hours of yesterday, was fatal for a 34 year old man’. The car lost control and hit the central barrier in the area of Magi Reis, close to the Caniço junction. It seems likely that the dead man was not wearing his seat belt. A woman in the car was also hurt, with a suspected fracture, and suffering from shock and bruising. The same night another serious injury was inflicted in Santo da Serra, when a car hit a wall at speed, and the driver had to be freed from the vehicle. It was a black weekend on Madeira’s roads, after a 79 year old man was run over and killed on the Estrada do Aeroporto, in Abegoaria, Caniço. 22 people died on Madeira’s roads in 2008 (but that does not include those who died later in hospital under strange counting rules).

‘Tourism Nationally Distinguishes João Borges’. The state is to officially award João for his services in tourism and promoting Madeira, and Bernardo Trindade, secretary of state for tourism will present him with the gold merit medal. Known around the world as ‘Mr. Madeira’, he assumed the role of public relations for our island, and was a key figure in the consolidation of tourism here as former Regional Director of Tourism. A medal of merit is also to be given to the Museum of Sacred Art for the provision of services relevant to the satisfaction of tourism, and enriching the tourism experience. The Secretary of State for Tourism, feels that the museum exhibits one of the finest collections of Flemish art in Portugal, and even in Europe, and for that is the most visited museum on Madeira. Much of the collection was assembled through past generations producing and exchanging sugar in exchange for Flemish art.

‘Day Without Cars’ On Porto Santo Will Have Free To Use Bicycles – Companies on the island join in with the challenge : "Improve the environment in the city". Tomorrow Porto Santo joins in with the European initiative ‘Day Without Cars’. The main road ER120 will be controlled between 8 am and 4pm to take the pressure off of traffic in the city, and bicycles will be loaned free of charge.

A photo from yesterdays’ football epic, Nacional v Marítimo, has most of today’s front page : ‘Race And Efficiency Make The Difference – Edgar doubled up in the first victory for Nacional in the Portuguese Premier League’. Edgar scored twice to give Nacional the three points, and spoil the 99th birthday part of Marítimo, who failed to take advantage in the second half of a 10 man Nacional side. ‘After the game, Marítimo’s Bruno forced his way into the changing rooms, resulting in the involvement of the police’.

‘African Association wants to know the size of the community’. One hundred members of the African community in Madeira were present yesterday at the taking on of the social body of the Cultural and Recreational Association of Africans in Madeira (ACRAM). After several years of low activity, the association wants to undertake work from scratch. The new president Augusto Mané wants to carry out a survey about the community on Madeira. Mané admits to not knowing the number of African immigrants on the island and their needs, and wants to address this. Regardless of the outcome of the survey, Augusto Mané assures commitment to social and economic issues. "The biggest problem in the community is legalization [in immigration]," notes the president of ACRAM. "In second place we are concerned about housing and employment". The regional secretary for Human Resources, Brazão de Castro, attended the event. The politician stressed the attitude of the Regional Government on immigration as "responsible and serious", stressing the openness to dialogue, especially since 2003, when the it supported the establishment of the headquarters of ACRAM in the neighbourhood of Nazaré.

‘Robbed Three Times In A Month And A Half – A robbery in Gaula, in the early hours of yesterday, yielded over a thousand Euros to the thieves’. The bar of Alexandre Caldeira has been robbed again, with the robbers entering through the toilet window, and breaking into several machines with cashboxes, and causing a lot of damage in the process.

‘Lacked Fruit And Money – Business was poor for the farmers and traders who went to Ponta do Pargo’. The Festa do Pêro ought to be at the beginning of the month when people have more money, suggested one farmer, who was disappointed with the level of trade. "This year is worse. They come, they look and go away. They do not buy hardly anything", she said. In ‘food and drink’ things did not go any better. Manuel Costa gambled in taking "one hundred and something kilos" of meat. "This is worse", he said, still hoping that he might sell half of what he sold last year. Did anyone go? I am curious to know what the fruit is, as what I always thought was the ‘Pear Festival’ is in fact technically sweet apples, as the word for pears is PÊRA.

I expect a few people, like me, saw this ship bombing along the south coast yesterday, and wondered what it was. It is the sail boat ‘Cisne Branco’ (White Swan), that has just finished the ‘Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge’, where it finished first in its class and second overall. It is now travelling between Europe and Brazil. It belongs to the Brazilian Navy, and was built 10 years ago for the purpose of representing Brazil in commemorative events and tall ship races.

From yesterday’s Jornal da Madeira : ‘€300 Million For Improvement In Water – Madeira will have a strong investment in the water sector in the next six years’. The president of IGA, the new water management company, says that there are in hand new investment programmes of renovation and reform of the main water pipes and ducts, public distribution networks, and agricultural watering, that will run through to 2015. The investments will address the problems of water loss through leakage, and provide for the storage of large quantities of surface water from Winter rain, as well as improve the treatment of residual waters and water for recycling. The measures will also provide contingency for reduced rainfall through climate change. The article doesn’t actually say where this €300m is going to come from, but presumably there are grants and European funding up for grabs, although the article does mention that water services are very cheap for the public, which does suggest that one source of expected revenue raising could be from us. €300m works out at €1,200 for every man, woman, and child on Madeira, so maybe it would be cheaper all round to import it and deliver bottled water to our homes.

That’s just about it from everything in the Diário, except ‘politics’, and I will be back with that and today’s main headline later.

(18th September). ‘English Tourist Celebrates 100 Years On Madeira’. I know there are many Brits visiting this website, so this is for you. Mary Luisa Latham celebrates 100 years today, and chose Madeira to celebrate her birthday. She comes from Norfolk in the UK, and has been coming here every year since 2000 for her six week annual holidays, always with her daughter aged just 80, and always in her favourite hotel, the Madeira Regency Palace. She is also a keen Casino customer here, and in Las Vegas, where she goes twice a year. To mark the occasion, the hotel has organised a ceremony for tonight (Friday) to honour her, where guests will be treated to a cocktail, music, and a birthday cake, to be shared amongst the guests. The telegram from the Queen of England, traditionally sent for 100th birthdays, will also be read out. 

‘Madeira Gourmet’ Of ACIF Brings Chefs Of World Renown – The first edition takes place between 3 and 7 November and aims to promote creativity and innovation’. Several world famous chefs have already confirmed attendance for the ‘Festival Madeira Gourmet’, an event organised by the chamber of trade and commerce of Funchal. The dishes to be created will reflect the place from where the chef comes from, and will be prepared in certain luxury hotels on Madeira., and served to visiting tourists, offering them a unique experience of high quality and refinement. A number of the chefs attending have been named, but Delia and Jamie are not amongst them, and I don’t recognise any of the others. I do a wicked cheese and mushroom omelette, but I can never get them out of the pan in one piece, so not much point in me entering.

‘71 litres of beer per year’. Each Portuguese person consumed on average 71 litres of beer, spending €310, in 2008, a year in which the brewing industry generated €1,020 million for the economy, maintaining 72,900 jobs. In a report by consultants Ernst & Young, entitled “The Contribution of Beer to the European Economy”, issued yesterday, it says that Portugal is the sixth largest exporter of beer in Europe. The study, based on 2008 data, also shows that the value received by the Portuguese state from the beers is €973 million, a contribution divided into €448 million in IVA (VAT) tax, €91 million in consumption tax (?) and €426 million in indirect taxes and Social Security. That doesn’t seem to leave much profit for the brewers, but who cares. 71 litres of beer each a year doesn’t seem much. I used to know people who would get through that in a couple of weeks, but I suspect that they may be dead by now.

(16th September). ‘Bank Complaints Rise 27%’. The number of customers complaining about their banks rose 27% in the first 6 months of this year.

The government of Madeira will compensate farmers whose grapes do not reach the minimum standards (grade). The weather conditions have hampered the ripening of the grape crop, worrying farmers that their produce may not reach the ‘minimum degree of alcohol’ needed for Madeira Wine and table wine. The compensation will be between €0.50 and €0.60 a kilo, depending on the destination for use. Another type of grape ‘Arnsburger’ will attract less compensation.

‘Building project thinking about the foreign investor – ‘Monumental Residence’ cost €10.5 million. The 2nd phase was inaugurated yesterday’. It looks like many other buildings in Amparo, Pilar and even Ajuda, but this new building near the Rotunda da Assicom, in Funchal, is built with the aim of selling the 55 apartments to external investors, foreigners, or even emigrants that want a second home on Madeira. Sales are going well according to a spokesman for the building, which also includes 9 commercial units. An average T2 apartment there will be in the price range of €175,000 to €200,000. "In relation to what is normal, these apartments are 25 or 30% more expensive than market prices". Why? And who chose that silly name?

The last of today’s headlines (for today) : ‘Siram Win Tender – End of year illuminations are judged. The lowest price was worth nothing, as proposed by ‘Inductora’. The Siram consortium ‘Luzosfera’, who have had the contract for Christmas and new year lighting and decorations in Funchal for many years, have been reawarded the contract, despite the entrance of an under bidder in the tender contest. The Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport assessed the two proposals using a points system, and awarded the contract once again to Siram, who have been in the chair for 20 years unopposed. The two areas that swung the deal were experience, and creativity in the new proposal. The two year contract, worth €6.5 million, also includes the Carnival and Flower Festival. The Siram consortium is made up of six sub-holdings, being Luzosfera, Art of Sound, ‘Festival Factory’, Stage Madeira, Kevents, and Full Zoom. Original blog article with more detail HERE

Duarte Ferreira, Director at Madeira Airport, said: “The launch of this new scheduled route is extremely positive news for Madeira and will open up this beautiful region to many more visitors. The creation of this brand new link, especially at a time when other operators are looking to cut costs and services, plays such an important role for tourism in the region, benefiting the local economy and people working and living on the island. We hope that this partnership with Jet2.com will result in the opening of several new routes from the UK in the near future”. Talking about the Jet2 announcement that it is to commence a weekly scheduled flight from Manchester to Madeira May next year.

The cruise ship ‘Pacific Dream’ will be making its last visit here on Friday. At least there is no agreement made that signifies that it will be returning.

(15th September). The last of today’s headlines : ‘Gratitude – Several personalities in the tourism sector pay tribute to Bernardo Trindade, in Lisbon’. The recognition from the tourist ‘trade’ is principally from hoteliers, who have made good use of the initiatives from Trindade, the secretary of state for tourism, and also a Madeiran. The tribute dinner, scheduled for tonight in Lisbon, carries some political baggage, involving businessmen from across the political spectrum, and some key players in tourism from Madeira, some of whom are regarded as ‘close’ to Trindade’s political opponent president Jardim. The dinner marks four years of good work and satisfaction, and the end of a 4 year political mandate. One of those interviewed said that Trindade was always "very open to innovation, to new ideas", focusing himself on the initiatives undertaken in the area of aviation [liberalisation of the airways], "which turned out to improve conditions for competition [in the sector], as well as take promotional measures that are very important for tourism nationally". In two years of doing this blog, Trindade has always come across to me as a respected, hardworking, and innovative individual in the media. It seems everyone thinks highly of him, except of course president Jardim and his PSD cronies. He will be re-elected on 27th of September, and assuming he doesn’t get reshuffled, either through the election results or by his boss, he will hopefully be able to continue making an enormous contribution to the economies of Portugal and Madeira. Complementary words from me, as far as politicians are concerned, are like hens teeth, but credit in this case is definitely deserved.

‘Hotel Sector Activity Fell 12.6% In The Month Of July – Madeira registered 76,400 less in nights occupied compared to the same month in 2008′. The number of rooms occupied fell to 529,200, mainly due to a decline in tourism from the UK and Germany, with decreases over the same period of 32.2 and 7.1% respectively from those two countries. The average number of nights stayed remained unaltered at 5.6. The likely loss of income to Madeira and businesses will be around €13.6 million, comparing the two Julys. Nationally, the fall in nights occupied fell 4.8%. It seems up and down with every month, and differing reports I know, but I just tell it as I see it.

‘Promotion in the Nordic market’. The Association of Promotion for Madeira is conducting various promotional activities in the Scandinavian market, an initiative aimed at travel agents and tour operators. Cátia Carvalho, executive director of the APM, said "that these actions are very important to Madeira, as we have been experiencing a decline in demand from tourists from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The Scandinavian market is very important to Madeira and this new investment is aimed at stimulating demand and recovering the market". There are positive signs however, due to the new flights operated by SATA, serving Copenhagen and Stockholm, coming to Madeira, and the future is still brighter, with the recent announcement from Cimber Sterling airline of another flight between Copenhagen and Madeira, starting next month. In the first 8 months of this year, the number of visitors from Sweden dropped (-48%), Denmark (-28.1%), Finland (-14%), whilst those coming from Norway increased 94%.