"Dear Der, Would it be at all possible to include this on Madeira4u, please? I attach some pics., albeit unfortunately not very good ones:"

"The rescued dogs and puppies from Paúl da Serra and Choupana are now at the premises of "Vetmedis", desperately looking for a good home. Is there anyone out there who could help? Please get in touch with "Vetmedis", Tel. 291 744552 or "PATA"  (e-mail pata@pata.pt). If anyone has any doubts as to why help animals, which certainly does not preclude supporting other good causes, please watch this little clip": Doris

Nice one Doris, I watched the video, and it did and didn’t have a happy ending, not that I needed convincing. Der

UPDATED MONDAY 14th AUGUST – CONTINUE READING BY CLICKING THE LINK BELOW, AND GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

Unprompted by me, Alan (aka Flowerman) started a campaign to keep the blog going, by raising pledges, and although in the end they only amounted to about €10 a day I agreed to continue and hoped that more could be raised in the future, so I could do the blog instead of working at the supermarket, or at least do both things part time. In the end 15 pledges were received, but only 11 of those were actually paid (one is pending). And I would like to say that I am extremely grateful to those who pledged and paid. Only 3 new pledges have come along in the 5 months since then, so that side of things didn’t quite go as planned. Other initiatives to raise funding to make this blog a permanent facility also failed due to matters out of my hands. With 2 exceptions the pledges I received have all run their course, and I am pretty much back to square one at the end of this month.

Since March the new much improved blog, sponsored and hosted by Madeira Island Direct has come along, and I have gone from producing around 1,000 – 1,500 words a day, to around 2,500 currently (bit short the last few days, but you can blame the newspapers). The complexity of the new software and new features have also added a considerable amount of time to the daily workload, and the 3 to 4 hours I used to spend, has now turned into six or more hours a day, 7 days a week, more than a full time job. This month will see the 1,000th blog published. Also, previously the news was always reported the day after the newspapers, now it is nearly always published here the same day.

I have produced the blogs every single day for the last year, I missed one day when unexpectedly I had to go to hospital, but even then I backtracked on what I had missed. I now know that I cannot work in the supermarket and do this as well, even on a part time basis if something is to be published every day, with the amount of time and effort I currently put in.

So I am at a crossroads. I pack in the blog and move onto a new job, or I continue as I have been for over two years now. That decision is out of my hands.

I am not asking anyone for money, but I know that it will disappoint a lot of people if the blog stops. If anyone wants me to continue, please don’t donate any money at this stage, just drop me a line at blog@madeira4u.com with a pledge. Please don’t pledge if you don’t intend to pay, thanks. Of course I would prefer the blog to continue, and I enjoy doing it, but the alternative does not worry me, so please don’t pledge thinking it is to help me out. Also if the 11 people who did pledge back in March (and paid) also want to continue their backing, please email me also please.

If you want to see this facility continue for another 6 months (and hopefully much longer), please email me with a pledge, and also say how and when you will pay (€/£ bank transfer or cheque, or by standing order, or less preferably by PayPal), as if 20% fail to honour their pledges as last time, then it is not likely to work out. I will work on 6 months initially, and then do a similar exercise in 6 months time.

Please also bear in mind that although I will try and produce something every day, sometimes I might miss out or do something smaller, depending on circumstances, so perhaps base any pledge on 6 days a week (and maybe allow for a few days off squeezed in somewhere for me too).

The other and better option is that someone else takes this blog over, or even better several people, but as I tried that approach earlier this year, I don’t think that is likely to happen, but who knows!

Any other suggestions welcome, and you can post them here in the ‘comments’ facility which will be open for at least the next 10 days.

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SATURDAY 5/8 – Thanks for all the input and suggestions, and pledges so far. I will wait until Tuesday until making a response so I can consider all the ideas up until then.

But a few points that might help with some of the questions.

1. I believe advertising is out of the question, but it is up to the sponsor, it is his website, and I am just the writer. I originally hoped advertising would make up the shortfall last March, but it didn’t work out.

2. In terms of fund raising, I would just be looking to replace the minimum wage I would get at the supermarket (€503 a month), nothing more. In fact as I would have no travelling expenses I would do it for less.

3. The sponsor would understandably not want the blog accessible to subscribers only, as of course he wants the maximum exposure for his investment. Also it would restrict the number of people finding the blog, and hence the number of potential future subscribers. There may be however the possibility of a ‘middle’ solution. For example, the front page headlines on free access, and then the other material for subscribers only (which is probably more valuable as it contains things which affect our daily lives, like changes in the law, financial info and deadlines, etc. and things we need to know).

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MONDAY 7/8 – Many thanks for the pledges so far, including the offer of free site hosting and journalistic skills. Thanks also to those have been very kind with their words, and taken the trouble to write in with opinions and suggestions, both by email and on the blog comments.

I have read every word and suggestion made, several times in fact, but I can’t reply to every point. But regarding information people have asked about, I can tell you more.

To date, I have received firm financial pledges of €945 (including two I had from earlier this year). That would get close to paying for the first two months (out of a period of six months) i.e. nearly a third of what would be needed to continue, but I will do a tot up again next weekend if any more pledges come in. There are others unspecified pledges mentioned in the blog comments, but as yet I don’t know what they would amount to. I think they are all sincere pledges, but obviously I wouldn’t know until later. As already mentioned last time there was a 20% default on payments.

Sheila asked about site visitor statistics. The survey suggested was also a good idea. Any takers? I have loads of information (not at a personal level obviously), and I know just about everything I need to know. I am happy to share visitor information, but I will have to check with the sponsor first if anyone wants to see it. Here are a few key elements for a month’s worth of analysis:
8,300 visits from 2,700 different visitors.
23,000 pages viewed (by clicking on a link to move to another page).
Average visit time 3 minutes 20 seconds.
40% of visitors come through search engines, 37% ‘direct’ (i.e. shortcut on desktop / favourites), and 23% from links on other websites.
Visitors came from 79 countries in the last month, with 46% from the UK, 33% Portugal / Madeira, 4% from the USA and between 1 and 2% each for Germany, Channel Islands, Canada, South Africa, Ireland and Holland.

A subscription service suggestion has been batted around a bit, and the site sponsor has indicated that this could be considered, on a split free / subscription site basis. The issue with subscriptions for me (being purely selfish I know) is that beyond the first month I have no security, and I just cannot make an important decision about not taking another job based on that. It would have to be one off pledges, paid up front, for the blog to continue for 6 months. If people didn’t feel comfortable with that, perhaps a treasurer could be found to collect the pledges, and feed me through some each month for 6 months. Standing orders might also work. Ideally it could do with somebody separately to manage the money side. As for the amount, the popular range seems to be from €5 to €10 a month. That creates another issue, because several people currently pay the lions share, with several paying in the last 6 months up to €1 a day. Would they continue, I don’t know? Would the subscription have to be a suggested minimum? MQTA

As for advertising, I have had a problem with this up until now, and so not having had any I have no experience of what the returns could be, because they would probably have to be commission based or pay-per-click (like Google ads). If advertisers can be found (and I already have three) then I wouldn’t be able to evaluate the financial contribution until they have been up and running for a good few months. Therefore I cannot factor this in to the decision initially, but I would be happy to do so later with more experience. My needs are simple, and a minimum wage is all I need. In the unlikely event that I earned more than that, it would be a surplus that I would be happy to leave in the pot, donate to charity, or whatever. I would have to talk to the sponsor about advertising anyway, as aside from writing the blog material, I don’t have much access to anything else regarding the blog format.

One topic no one has mentioned yet, that without reliable news, we go back to the days of the ‘rumour mill’, something which was pretty rife up to a couple of years ago, but for me I don’t hear so much these days. It usually starts ‘I read in today’s newspaper … ‘, or ‘I heard from so and so …’, and is usually the result of someone misunderstanding something they have read or heard in Portuguese. The airport at Calheta was one example I remember.

I didn’t know there was a version of the Diário available through a translation service as Emily said, I haven’t found it yet, but that might fill the gap if it’s any good. Can anyone recommend it? News problem solved?

MONDAY 14/8 – Thanks Sam and Sue for trying to give it a push. A week has gone by, and two more pledges take the total just past the € thousand mark, all of which, as far as I know, are unconditional pledges (i.e. not dependant on subscriptions for all). Summing up, there are responses from those who are happy to pledge based on what they can afford or think the blog is worth, or are just very generous, there are those who would pay a set amount on a subscription basis, those who want the blog to continue but can’t afford to pay, and those who think the blog should be free and wouldn’t pay anything on principle (and presumably won’t be that bothered if it finished).

It’s pretty clear now that a subscription basis wouldn’t work. Just judging from the number of replies and enquiries, it would be too much shared by too few people. It would also be unfair on those who have made large pledges, and without them the rest is an impossible struggle. Clearly the last two categories won’t work unless someone else takes it over, or it becomes a community / shared project.

Not much more I can say really. I am not going to ask people to pay. I don’t want to have to go through this every 6 months either, and the blog is only here today because of the action Alan took, the sponsor, and the 12 people who responded, 6 months ago. I wouldn’t have had the nerve to have done what Alan did then, and I still don’t now. That is just not me. If there isn’t enough support or people what can I or anyone else do?

PLEASE DON’T SEND ANY PLEDGES NOW IN CASE I HAVE TO REFUND THEM – THANK YOU

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PLEASE KEEP ALL COMMENTS ON THIS SUBJECT JUST ON THIS ONE POST, JUST SO IT IS EASIER FOR US ALL TO KEEP TRACK. I WILL ENSURE THIS POST STAYS AT THE TOP OF THE BLOG FRONT PAGE UNTIL WE ARE ALL DONE.

(21st May). "It doesn’t do enough to sell a kilo of dough" states Gabriel Goveia, referring to his shop window display. Food and other items are just not selling in his old grocery shop in Ponta do Pargo (The featured Madeira village in this week’s Diário). "Trade is very bad in Ponta do Pargo" he adds. The oldest shop in the parish is stacked with food products, from the counter to the shelves, with lots of cereals and milk. In the window near the door are religious and decorative items. It’s 9.20am, and only a packet of cigarettes sold so far today. "I don’t want to talk about these things, but they ought to pay me a grant for keeping these doors open" says Gabriel. Nearby, next to the church, around 10 people gather at a small local café, where the young unemployed mix with the retired folk. Agriculture is abandoned in the area, one of the reasons why there is such a lack of work for people.

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Our correspondent in Santa Cruz sent in a report of what’s going on in that area. With a fear of reprisals, he just wants to be known as CP of Gaula :

Just a link to good ole Santa Cruz Câmara Municipal …… and Bertie’s mate ….: SANTA CRUZ COUNCIL

Note first (top) article is some political infighting / bitching between CDU / Madeira and the Câmara re "Edificio Quinta do Garajau" = of course our Câmara are whiter than white…….

Also note fourth item re "Oferta Publica" – the last open green space at the back of the town – not the "green party" then …..

Also, the photo of Santa Cruz bay (as web page header) shows a lovely "low rise" Santa Cruz minus the new Hotel now standing on the old town football pitch!?!? A picture is worth a thousand words ….

Just for info – if you do put anything on the blog, please can I be "CP" of Gaula? …. having fought a successful action against Câmara / RAM for illegal apartment buildings nearby and now awaiting updated "European standard" licence for B&B, don’t want to upset anyone – see, it IS a dictatorship ….. maybe the president doesn’t realize that it was me who subpoenaed him to court – !?!?!?

Jolly Days . . . . did you know that if you hang a dirty great big red fire extinguisher on the wall (and you HAVE TO) then you have to have a sign saying "dirty great big red fire extinguisher" just in case nobody notices it?!?!?!? AND a first aid kit can no longer have a RED cross, as that is now a "danger" colour – it must be a GREEN cross – but there is NO legislation as to the contents, it could be empty! ……plus you must now display a list of all emergency ‘phone numbers in languages various…..how many "’phone answer people" here speak German/French/Danish/Swiss/Polish etc. etc. …..ah, the power of the European union! Just how many sub/steering/focus groups and committees earning vast sums of taxpayers monies, printing reams of paper from dead trees, consuming electricity and fossil fuels and all adding to the carbon imprint AND claiming expenses can the Earth sustain?!? Still as long as we’ve got a plastic sign then that’s all right then ……..

Editor’s comment : Not the most exiting website on earth either CP, but it is pleasing to see that the câmara don’t waste public money on keeping it up to date!

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Finally, a report from our correspondent in Ribeira Brava, who wishes to be known as Red, again for fear of reprisals:

The rain is just chucking down … can’t even get out to the gym yet this morning!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Sarah … from the gardens at Quinta Splendida, Caniço.

An interesting article here on Winston Churchill’s visits to Madeira many years ago: WINSTON CHURCHILL

Marítimo play Caniçal in the final of the Madeira Cup tonight. I can’t imagine who could possibly win that.

We have 21 registered users already, but room for many many more.

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

How’s life treating you today? How’s the weather over your way? Please use the comments here for general chit chat, or feel free to ask any questions.

Please send any topical photos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this website, they may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted photos.

A 36 year old man died in Funchal central Hospital, after being hit by a Eucalyptus tree. He was out cutting trees with 3 colleagues in São Jorge, when a falling tree hit him, injuring him so badly that he later lost his life.

‘Twenty Cultural Institutions Left Without Support’. Twenty two applicants for funding support were considered by the regional government, but only one was approved in full, with another suffering a 70% cut in funding. Porta 33 and the Experimental Theatre of Funchal (both who make the news now and again) did get funding. Those turned down included a choir, an ethnographic and folklore group, a theatre association, and an archeology study centre. Tight finances are blamed. It’s a shame that Uncle Bertie blew that half million € on his secret trips, because that would have funded most of these applications.

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 5/5/2009

Yesterday’s main story : ‘Illegal Financing’. The accounting court, which monitors government spending and performs audits, has blocked government attempts to licence 4 ‘favoured’ companies to undertake 16 major contracts and projects worth €69 million of public funding. The plans involved the injection of capital into these companies, for the renewable contracts that run for between 4 and 15 years. One of the companies was technically bankrupt. In reality, the government created the companies, to invest the capital, and appealed to the banks to invest. The plans were originally rejected in 2008, but were put forward again only to be blocked again a few weeks ago in Lisbon. The projects  / contracts were mainly for sea front works around the main town of Madeira and Porto Santo, pools and lakes, and parks and gardens. These financial articles are real swines to translate, so take it with a little pinch of salt, but looking at the list of projects provided, I think many of them have been completed. No mention who the owners / shareholders are for these 4 companies, but there is usually a PSD politician or two with a vested interested.

“Obey the speed limit and don’t drink and drive”. That was the message of a new project to prevent road accidents, that involves children and the police. Students of the School of Mercês were an active partner in an road awareness exercise held yesterday morning by the Police of Public Security on Avenida do Mar (Funchal), as part of the World Day of Traffic, and a project for the prevention of accidents of the Regional Secretary for Education and  Culture. The children called for the enforcement of speed limits, not to consumption alcoholic beverages, and the use of safety belts and seats suitable for transporting children. Furthermore not to forget to respect traffic signs and pedestrians. On the 15th of this month, students from various schools in the region have the opportunity to show their acquired highway code knowledge, particularly for pedestrian movements and traffic regulations, at an event to be held at the premises of the bus company, Horários do Funchal.

Three criminals who stole a number of items from Cristiano Ronaldo’s shop (CR7) in Funchal, have been identified by police. All the stolen items have been recovered and returned to the shop, said a police spokesman. The items recovered included items of “great value”, such as baseball caps, belts, shirts, and underwear. The three men from Porto will be allowed to return home after police enquires are completed. The police spokesman added that the weekend policing during the visit of Porto and Benfica to Madeira had been a success, and aside from the incident at CR7, no other problems occurred. I think the spokesman really meant ‘great price’, rather than ‘great value’, as CR7 branded underwear is worth about as much as mine, unless the maestro himself has worn them of course, then they would sell on e-bay for big €€€€€’s. Talking of CR, he is back on top form now, having scored twice for Manchester United last night, and created the third goal in the 1 – 3 champions league semi final against Arsenal. That puts him in his second consecutive final.

‘Family negligence Increased 47% In 2008′. Of the 1,867 cases flagged for attention (1,475 in 2007) to the Regional Commission for the Protection of Children and Youths, 833 cases (566 in 2007) related to neglect. The president of the association responsible for such matters said that the situation is in part a reflection of the economic and social crisis, “Children and the elderly are always the first to feel the consequences of this situation we are experiencing, with the level of households with unemployment and other problems”. In many situations this manifests itself in school absenteeism.

UMa, the University of Madeira, is already looking to help it’s final year students to find employment after graduation, and has agreements with several major companies, such as Banif, PT, and Pestana, to take on graduates. Add to this that there are currently 242 unemployed graduates from UMa on Madeira. The suggestions mentioned here are : Try a military career, seek a master’s degree at a university, emigrate to Spain or England, or even start a business …  “The final year students of the University of Madeira are ready for everything, ready to seize every opportunity”. As part of its remit, UMa promotes the mobility of its students.

The 2009 Festival of School Sports started yesterday evening, with the opening ceremony at Barreiros (Marítimo’s stadium), and runs through until Saturday. Around 6,000 children of all schools and ages will attend, and many participate, in athletics, gymnastics, judo, and swimming, to name a few, as well as team sports in 5 disciplines.

There was one more article about the plans for the Festival of Music of Madeira, which takes place between the 4th and 26th June, but time is short and it’s a long article. That is a month away and I am sure it will crop up again.

Other News :

‘Nacional look to secure Manuel Machado – Coach to be rewarded for brilliant season. The board of Nacional da Madeira are in negotiations with coach Manuel Machado to keep the Portuguese manager at the Choupana next season. The President and Machado himself have indicated they are ready to extend their relationship, and try to at least match what they have achieved this season. Machado has steadily built himself a reputation as one of Portugal’s finest coaches, having achieved the notable feat of taking tiny club Moreirense to two promotions to reach the first division, before guiding both Nacional (in a previous spell) and Guimaraes into Europe. After a disappointing stint at Academica, Machado returned to Nacional this season, and under his leadership the team have enjoyed a splendid season. The team narrowly missed out on a place in the Portuguese Cup final, losing to Pacos de Ferreira, with the hindrance of two penalties.

The Swedish lady who was allegedly raped and dumped in São Martinho (see yesterday) is not likely to make an official complaint against her attacker, who offered her a lift home. In cases like this where the victim is adult, the police cannot act unless an official complaint is made. There is nothing yet to support the Diário headline yesterday, that said 4 men were involved.

I saw a story on the TV yesterday morning, about a car fire in Funchal. Nothing special in that, and I forgot all about it until I saw the same story in the newspaper. What was so striking was the chief fireman who tackled and extinguished the blaze before giving an interview. He had this most enormous moustache, that at first sight seemed to be a clump of brushwood that had attacked his top lip. The TV cameraman was obviously distracted with the same phenomenon, and zoomed in really close for a good look, and I am sure I saw a couple of rabbits leaping around. Honestly, the hairs were so thick and straight, that  he was in danger of poking someones eye out, and the car fire would have been just a minor distraction had a burning ember entered that human forest. If you don’t believe me, drive to Rua do Lazareto and set your car on fire. 

Just to give you some idea of the rubbish I have to trawl through sometimes to find real news, here is an example from yesterday : “A man lost his wallet with important documents (driving license, ID, among others) on Wednesday last, and  in his eagerness to find them called the Diário”. There is much more, including a list of the places where the man thought he might have lost it.

Yet another Madeiran businessman was murdered in Venezuela. The 47 year old from Santo António was shot in the head, whilst par
king his car at home, by a man on a motorbike.

‘Social and economic tsunami on the way to Madeira – Unemployment will increase and GDP growth is threatened -  “We can not avoid it”. With the European Commission forecasting a contraction of the Portuguese economy in the order of 3.7% in 2009, and a recession of 4% for the European Union and the Euro Zone, Madeira is not going to avoid the worse effects of the crisis. Given this scenario, the picture is even more black at a social level, because the unemployment rate in Portugal this year could reach 9.1%, and in 2010 rise to 9.8%. An economist says Madeira is particularly exposed because of the high ratio of imports to exports, and because of difficulty in obtaining external financing to improve the employment prospects, with predictions as high as 15,000 unemployed by the end of this year. Unfortunately, that extremely bleak prediction makes sense … the only source of redemption I can see is through clever politics and exceptional marketing in tourism.

Another Husky dog was sent to Germany yesterday to be re-homed, the fifth one so far. In an arrangement between Madeira’s SPAD and a German organisation, it was arranged for 7 Husky dogs to go to Germany, with all expenses paid from Germany. The dogs are said to suffer with Madeira’s climate, and not fit well into family life, and consequently there is quite a high rate of abandonment.

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The answer to the question about the fifteen different flags in Câmara de Lobos, from yesterday’s blog: They are all countries where naturals from C de L have emigrated to and now live. What an odd thing to do!

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Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 4/5/2009

Football of course played a big part on the front page, with a picture of Porto players congratulating themselves, whilst the dejected Marítimo players were leaving the pitch after losing 0 – 3 at home, giving Nacional a definite place in the next EUFA Cup competition. ‘Nacional Celebrate Going To The European League’. In Sunday’s Diário, the reporter was even looking further ahead to the possibility of Nacional beating Benfica to the third slot, which gives a play-off place for the Champions League. It couldn’t happen … could it!

‘Fans Of The Old Wooden Go-Karts Want to Bring Back The Old Sport – An association wants to arrange events all over Madeira’. Hoards of old enthusiasts met on Sunday in an event promoted by an association called ‘Friends of the Stick Carts’, with around 10 wooden go-karts also in attendance, in São Roque do Faial. Well that was where they started, because they ended up at Ribeiro Frio. The Diário reporter got to experience the ride first hand in the ‘Whacky Races’, reaching speeds of 40 to 50 kph. The next meeting is on 17th May in Gaula. Brilliant! I made one as a kid, and I hadn’t thought about that for many years. I think I had to pack it in when my sister was born and my mum wanted her pram wheels back. Some do gooder will probably get it all stopped because it’s too dangerous, but I think it’s a great idea for men who never really grew up (aside from in body size of course). Now where could we find a suitable steep hill?

‘Police Demand Payment For Overtime – ‘ASPP Assembles Juridical Office To Help 150 Policemen’. After a weekend when almost the whole of the police force was on duty in Funchal, the call has been made by the police union ASPP for 150 officers to be paid overtime. A position supported by Portugal’s Minister of Finance, but as yet with no action. The union has set up a help-centre to deal with the legal aspects of the claim and assist police officers in requesting payment. The police were needed in force to cover the 1st May public holiday, and the visits of Benfica and Porto to Madeira. Police were also brought in from Portugal to accompany the fans from the two football teams.

‘Four Sexually Abuse A Swedish Citizen – The offenders tried to rape the 32 year old foreigner’. The woman, on here on holiday, was admitted to hospital on Sunday, after leaving a discotheque. She was offered a lift by a man in a car on the Avenida Sá Carneiro, who then sexually assaulted her and then dumped her on some wasteland. The man is known to have been in the same night club as the victim. The police wouldn’t confirm that there was more than one man involved, so it is not clear on how the Diário came up with four. That’s all we need is bad publicity of this sort, as for sure it will be in the Swedish press. 

‘On Porto Santo A Tractor Killed A 12 Year Old Boy’. The youngster was playing with a friend on the tractor, when one of them accidentally knocked the handbrake off, and it started to move. The victim jumped off in panic, but ended up being run over by the vehicle, after he rolled into it’s path.

‘Nuno Teixeira Books A Month For The Campaign’. The PSD social democrats are to unveil their list of candidates for the European elections on 7th June, in Lisbon on Wednesday, which will mark the official start of the national election campaign. Nuno Teixeira’s name was already known, after the controversy about the placing of Madeira’s PSD candidate in 8th place on the MEP selection list. That has now been changed to 5th place. He is 36 years old, has a degree in law, and was a deputy vice-chairman in the government, with responsibility for European issues. What a downer … a whole month of PSD-M propaganda and the accompanying racket and intrusion … beam me up Bertie!

Yesterday’s main headline : ‘€7 Million Lost In Just 90 Days – Fiscal receipts for Madeira fell 4% in the first quarter, the equivalent of €83 thousand less per day. In Portugal, the fall was 12.3%. The regional economy resists the crisis better than Portugal as the value of IVA (VAT) receipts decreased 5%, compared to a 20% fall nationally’. Madeira’s economy is holding up well against the downturn in consumption and increased unemployment. Or at least that is the conclusion to be drawn from the tax revenue performance,  for the first three months of this year, which shows the tax revenue reduction as being a third of that suffered on the continent. The reason given is that economic activity has not been so badly hit. Individual products that contribute to these figures show that; motor vehicle tax income fell 21.3% here (-25.1% Portugal); Alcohol tax revenue down here 14.6% (-11.2% Portugal); Tobacco tax revenue UP +0.7% here (-2.1% for Portugal). Taxes on business profits here also fell 9.9% in the 1st quarter (€8.7 million). The budget for Madeira was based on tax revenues amounting to €799 million, and the overall amount of receipts in 3 months so far is €175.8 million.

Other News :

This is a bit odd! Fifteen countries are represented from the 1st of May, through their national flags, in the Largo da Autonomia (Independence Square), in front of the council offices in Câmara de Lobos. South Africa, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Canada, USA, Greece, Holland, Luxembourg, Panama, UK, Sao Tome and Principe, Switzerland and Venezuela are the countries represented. Can anyone tell me why? Answer tomorrow.

The company Vasconcelos & Abreu has announced a 50% discount on the purchase of solar panels. The company provides alerts about programs and incentives to encourage the use of renewable energy equipment, and provides information to customers, such as on the benefits of solar panels, and on the reduction of energy consumption.

‘Bluebirds arrange pre-season trip to Madeira’. Cardiff City

Football Club in Wales have confirmed they are going to Madeira for their pre-season trip in July. The Bluebirds, who will hope to have secured their place in the English Premiership, are to play in a four-team tournament against local teams Maritimo and Nacional. A fourth team is yet to be announced, but it could well be Premier League side Blackburn Rovers. They have been invited and have confirmed that manager Sam Allardyce could take up the offer. Cardiff City are due to go to Madeira around July 13 and return on July 20. Last summer, Cardiff City won the Algarve Cup pre-season tournament in Portugal and defeated Celtic in the final.

‘Portugal Telecom has started selling DTT boxes’. Portugal Telecom (PT) has started selling digital terrestrial TV (DTT) receivers in its shops on Madeira. The cheapest digital boxes cost €99, and more sophisticated models (including a hard disk) cost €240.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s shop in Funchal, CR7, got robbed yesterday. It was bulk shoplifting really, as you could see it all on the security camera footage. The thieves, thought to be Porto supporters over for the match against Marítimo, were shoving stuff into bags and pockets in the shop with no staff in sight. The haul was baseball caps, shirts, and other sporting goods. I expect CR will take about a minute to recoup his losses with what Manchester United pay him.

A nice peaceful read from the weekend, from a travel reporter from the UK’s Daily Mail, including taking tea at Reids :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1176860/Sea-views-fine-fish-pots-te…

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I changed banks about four years
ago as BES were stinging me with unacceptable monthly charges. I was recommended BPI, and I went with them, and I have in turn recommended them to several people. I enjoyed 4 years of virtually free banking, just being charged annually for credit and debit cards. However, in March they deducted €21.80 in bank charges. It turns out that this was explained in a letter they sent me in December, which I took to my local BPI branch because I didn’t understand it, to be told ignore it as it didn’t affect me. I did. They eventually got back to me yesterday after I complained, to say that these were new charges, that would be applied every three months, if the total account balance was less than €5,000. Can anyone recommend an alternative account with decent customer service, internet banking, and no or very low charges please? thanks.

I upgraded to Internet Explorer version 8 at the weekend, and it was giving me all sorts of problems viewing several websites, including those I use to upload the blog and of the Diário de Notícias. There is a facility to revert to the old view of websites that aren’t compatible with v.8, so if you do upgrade and have problems, there is a solution. I use Windows Portuguese, so I am not exactly sure what the English version would say, but it will be something like ‘Compatible View’ on the tools menu. You select that, then if there is a website that is not displaying properly, you just click on the little new button, next to the refresh button, at the top of the screen.

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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!

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 3/5/2009

Yesterday’s main headline : ‘World Day Of Freedom Of The Press – Unemployment, Insecurity, Pressures, Blogs, Threats And Unfair Competition. These And Other Things Limit The Freedom Of The Press On Madeira’. 5 pages of articles link to the main story in support of their ‘plight’. Blogs and job insecurity are the main concern, affecting freedom of the press on Madeira. The ‘blogosphere’ is a more recent phenomenon, where in this space of total freedom anyone can use press information to write, as long as they don’t admit to copying. They review and comment on the work of journalists, creating suspicions about the journalist’s dignity and honour, without allowing any opportunity to respond, as the reactions are censored by whoever writes and administers the blog. Mario Gouveia, a journalist with TVI Madeira, shares this view, the blogs are a new form of pressure, a threat – sometimes faceless – against the work of journalists. “It’s hellish, they criticize, they comment and make accounts of our work and we can not respond. It’s not the same thing as to go in the street and hear a comment where you can react, this is hell, the comment is and can be read by millions of people, even if it is a defamation”. It is also mentioned that journalists have to censor their own work, for fear of upsetting someone and losing their jobs. I didn’t realise I was carrying some of the blame for the pressures felt by the Diário team. I don’t very often criticise the journalists (not in earnest anyway), and if they want to come back and reply, they are more than welcome, as long as they keep it clean like the rest of us. Anyway, they always have the option of writing anonymously, so they can either do that or take the credit by name, so I can’t see what they are whinging about.

‘Looking Towards The Podium – Victory over Benfica leaves Nacional 3 points behind 3rd place. Marítimo play today with their last hopes of a European place’. Who would believe it that with just 3 games to go, Nacional were just 3 points behind the mighty Benfica, and needing just one more to qualify for Europe. Nenê scored again in the game to take his tally for Nacional up to 19 league goals this season, 6 more than anyone else. For sure he won’t be here next season. I thought this would dominate the front page yesterday, but obviously the Diário thought it’s own struggles warranted the lion’s share of the headlines. Anyway, moving on, the only two teams who still had a chance of catching Nacional, both lost last night, one being Marítimo who lost 0 – 3 at home to Porto, so Nacional have now actually qualified for Europe already!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finalists ‘Burn Ribbons’ At Sé Cathedral. Around 300 ex-students, who have just finished their courses in higher education establishments, burned their ceremonial ribbons (I am sure they must have a proper name, but I can’t remember it). At the traditional service for the occasion, the bishop of Funchal called for courage from the youngsters in the face of difficulties in finding work, which will probably be outside of their expectations, adding “all jobs are important when done with honesty, love and responsibility”. “It is a very special day for all the finalists because this really marks the end of an academic life full of thrills and adventures” said one student, admitting that he will probably have to work abroad to follow his chosen career. Good luck to the lot of them. I think it’s very sad that they will probably have to leave Madeira and their families, to get work, but it seems to be an accepted way of life here, and people are very brave and full of initiative to do so. I don’t think they actually burn their ribbons, it may be just an expression.

‘Sun Wasted – Madeira has almost three thousand hours of sunshine a year, but there are only two possibilities for solar power parks’. Yesterday was the International Day Of The sun, and even though Portugal has one of the best sunshine hours records in Europe, there is little evidence that that is being used much in solar powered generation. At the end of last year, Portugal had capacity to generate 56.5MW of electricity, somewhat better than the 2.6MW capacity that existed 4 years before. 46MW of that capacity improvement is due to one solar panel park, the biggest in the world. Madeira has well over the European average for sunshine, Germany for example has a range between 1,200 and 1,700 hours of sun per year. The two candidates for solar parks here are in Caniçal (6MW) and Porto Santo (2MW), both which should be licenced for construction this year. Add to that the 30 or so private consumers who generate solar power and put electricity into the Madeira grid, and it doesn’t all add up to very much, though it will be 14% of Portugal’s total solar production, and enough to provide for the equivalent of 6,000 families. However, Portugal is a low consumer of electricity in European terms, being 21st on the list of 26 countries. Each square metre given to solar panels would generate sufficient electricity to run 14 one hundred watt light bulbs.

‘Cardoso Pays €5,000 to Serrão – Two ex-presidents of the socialist party came to the court. Cardoso lost, but he is going to appeal’. The case was over defamation, regarding accusations over use of party funds in 2005, and in addition to the award, Cardoso has to pay a €3,000 fine. Another example of the PS-M shooting itself in the foot, leg, and everywhere else, in an important election year.

‘Gaula Without Work – The population want a parish free of pollution from the crushers, and a new health centre’. This is the latest featured town in the Diário’s weekly series. Again agriculture is important to put food on the tables, as it’s not worth growing to sell, and again the youngsters are not interested following in their parents footsteps. Gaula is a parish of contrasts, with a rural background in the north, whilst going towards the sea will bring you into an area of fish and meat industries, renewal, and the controversial crushers at Porto Novo. I reckon in another 20 years there will be almost no farmers left, and all that agricultural land will then go to waste, and look a right mess. Imagine how cheap it will be to buy then. There will be plenty of Summer jobs for firemen I would imagine too.

Other News :

A very large fishing boat, ‘Pesca Atum’, suffered substantial damage after hitting a rock near the lighthouse at Ponta de São Lourenço at 4am on Saturday morning. Two of the fishermen were injured and taken to hospital after the boat made it back to Caniçal. Despite attempts to find out what had happened, the owner of the vessel was unwilling to clarify the reason for the accident, stating that only the captain of the boat could say what had happened, after having hidden the damage from the public eye with tarpaulins. I would think the captain would be highly embarrassed, and probably unemployed by now … after all what are lighthouses for exactly? It is a huge boat too, from the photo I would guess over 12 metres in height from top to bottom.

This month will see President Jardim perform the inauguration of new works costing upwards of €32 million. It started yesterday with the new pubic library in Câmara de Lobos, costing €4.2 million, in Avenida da Autonomia in the town centre (yes, I know it is officially a city, but I just can’t bring myself to admit it). Then to come are a community square, a football pitch, a road, three stretchers for the fire brigade, a creche, and a commercial centre, all covering both public and private sector investments. Aside from Câmara de Lobos … Machico, Ribeira Brav
a, Santa Cruz, São Vicente, Santana and Funchal, will all soon be receiving visits from Uncle Bertie. Inaugurating stretchers for the fire brigade, is stretching ones official duties a bit far I think. I saw the coverage of the library inauguration on the local news last night, funny thing was I didn’t see any books though.We have a new massage room opening at our local gym today, so I am in dread that Uncle Bertie might turn up in the middle of my inaugural body massage to do his inauguration this morning, flicking burning hot cigar ash all over my exposed torso.

The National Authority for Civil Protection (ANPC) has organized for Tuesday and Wednesday the first international simulation exercise, featuring an earthquake in Portugal. It will involve teams in search and rescue, and in emergency medical treatment. It will run with assistance from Spain, France, and Greece, in addition to the participation of the Azores and Madeira. The exercise, called “PTQUAKE09″, will involve 24 agencies, some 1,600 operational elements and will run without interruption in the city of Lisbon, Benavente, Vila Franca de Xira and Seixal. The National Director for Emergency Planning says that the participation of civil protection teams from other countries is extremely important in order to “test the compatibility” between the organisations.

Madeira’s pensioners on income below the minimum salary are to be given generic medicines free of charge. The new ruling will bring Madeira into line with Portugal, but the measure may take a while to implement because the scheme will be managed from Lisbon.

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I saw someone get out of a car and tuck a hand gun in the back of their trousers, covering it with their shirt, early last Wednesday morning. It was close to a local school, and probably a toy gun, but who knows. I got someone to ring the police … and waited … and waited … and waited. I gave up and went home over an hour later, when nobody turned up. Luckily I didn’t hear any gunshots.

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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!

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 2/5/2009

Yesterday’s main headline : ’65 Drivers With Drugs – On Madeira the police have already tested 1,671 drivers with the drivers drugs test’. The saliva test carried out by the police can only be analysed by laboratory tests, so arrests are not made at the time. Of 1,671 drivers submitted to the test, 65 have so far tested positive, an average of 3 per month since the law was changed to allow drug testing in August 2007. Statistics show that the number of positive tests had reduced since the early months, but that has now leveled off. The testing kit used, named ‘Oratec’, tests for the presence of cannabinoids, cocaine, opiates and amphetamines in the body. The ratio of positive tests, just under 4%, are significantly better than on the continent at 6%. The tests, which are comparably expensive compared to alcohol testing, are not applied to everyone stopped, just those displaying ‘appropriate’ behavior or symptoms (particularly if they are clear on the alcohol test), those with known previous drug use, and in accordance with the law where a traffic accident involves serious injury or death. Refusal to take the test can result in arrest.

A large photo of protesting unemployed people titled : ‘Sad 1st May – Funchal against unemployment, business was weak in Montado do Pereiro; Vital Moreia insulted and assaulted in the demonstration of CGTP; bomb threat stops the parade of UGT; crisis generates revolts in several countries’. Only joy, music and tradition lightened the atmosphere in the government organised event for Labour Day in Montado do Pereiro. Fog dominated the event, and the turnout was low giving low returns for the traders. One ‘espetada’ seller said it was the worst event during the 7 years he had attended, with few people able to pay the price tag of €15 per kilo for the chunks of beef. Vânia Fernandes made a guest appearance to sing on stage. That’s it  … after a huge long headline I was expecting to spend half a day on this story, but the other connected stories littered around related to events in Portugal.

‘Paulo Gonzo Opens Night Of The Parties – The entertainment in Ribeira Brava and in the discotheques of Funchal’. Paulo Gonzo in concert on the Saturday of parties. By the time you read this story, it will all be over, so my personal assessment of the main event follows later. I am not sure why there were so many parties last night, but the Diário previewed events in Vespas, Jam, Marginal, Kool, Copacabana, Café do Teatro, and Bar 121.

‘The Parrot And The Parasite End Up In Court – The presidents of Marítimo and the Players Trade Union exchange insults’. After being called a ‘parrot’ the union man said “The President of Marítimo chose the wrong target. I am not a coward, unlike him, who hides behind the subsidies of the Government. He is a true parasite. He is the man of parallel contracts, off-shore dealing, and he defrauds the Portuguese State”. He couldn’t possibly be referring to back-handers from Uncle Bertie could he, Marítimo’s most famous supporter.

‘Carlos Pereira Retires From The Municipal Council – the president of Santana Câmara since 1987 is not going to stand for reelection. The decision was made by the social democrats’. The longest serving câmara president on Madeira is no longer in favour with his party, the PSD-M, who are looking to “renew the team” and “new ideas”.

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I see that the Uncle Bertie’s story about his ‘business trips’ has now made national headlines. On TVI (channel 4) yesterday morning they gave it the headline ‘The missing half a million Euros that Alberto João Jardim spent on secret trips’.

Other News :

Fifteen to twenty thousand Madeiran’s are expected to turn up in Kennington Park in London today to mark the ‘Dia da Região’. The day will include all the traditional festivities associated with a Madeiran festa, and the regional secretary of Human Resources and Communities, Brazão de Castro, is on a jolly there representing the government of Madeira, and there is a musical program with Vânia Fernandes in the top slot. The UK is the third most popular location for emigrant Madeirans, but some go there for the state benefits rather than the work, according to an adviser to the Madeiran communities … “the United Kingdom is not the ‘El Dorado’ of old” he said, referring to the work and wealth situations. It said ‘Day of The Region’, but is that not Madeira day on 1st July?

The house of an elderly lady living in Santo António was robbed, whilst she was sleeping. They stole her telephone, food mixer, and WASHING MACHINE!

The Secretary General of the Association of Commerce says that Madeira already has sufficient shopping malls to serve a population of one million consumers. He made the comment in a row involving trade unions and employers, about whether small shops and businesses should open on Sundays and public holidays, in order to compete with the mall units that open 7 days a week.

Nacional 3 Benfica 1. Fantastic game, fantastic result. Just 4 more points needed by our boys to achieve a place in Europe, maybe less if Leixões lose today.

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Last night was our big concert in Ribeira Brava, with the big name Portuguese singer Paulo Gonzo. Absolutely packed, and as I turned up half an hour late because of the football, there was no chance of getting within 300 metres of the stage. There was a warm up concert from a local band on Friday night, and only about 50 people attended, all saving themselves for the big night I presume. Highlighted in the Diário as one of Madeira’s top concerts of the year, out in the open air, and luckily, despite some threatening clouds earlier, the night was dry if not a bit nippy. Paulo took to the stage at 10pm, performing music which some describe as ‘light’, others as ‘romantic’, but he was very good, and a real charmer with the enormous crowd. A bit like Joe Cocker with no hair I thought, but a real smoothy to go with it. I reckon there were loads more people there than there were for the festa of São Pedro last year. I didn’t know most of the music, but what I heard I liked, with some of his own compositions, and some well known songs in English.

After the concert, there was an open air disco along the disused coast road to Tabua. The location was chosen to minimise the noise to residents (great idea!, but it didn’t work very well). The guys who normally provide the weekend entertainment in Calheta, relocated for the night, namely DJ Luis Gonçalves and Charles B, with the services of VJ (Video Jockey?) Zen. A few ‘barraquinhas’ along the way for those with thirst and hunger, with all the usual party delicacies, and poncha too. Laser lighting scanned the valley and rock features, all very impressive. Must have cost our câmara a small fortune I reckon, especially to pay the band and erect the huge very modern impressive stage. 

I managed to stay out until around 2am, when the disco was still going loud and strong, and most of the bars and restaurants were still open. Probably the best night out I have ever had in town, but that was taking the football into account too.

I can’t concentrate any more after that late night, so I must go … my mind is still boggling picturing that burglary where they stole that poor old ladies washing machine. I might be a bit late posting tomorrow, as a new massage centre in town is opening, and I am the first
ever customer tomorrow morning (only because they doing them free for the first day or two).

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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!

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 1/5/2009

Yesterday´s main headline : ‘Drugs In Broad Daylight Alarm Caniçal – The population of the area in the east is hitting its limits of desperation. The consumption of heroin happens at any hour in any place. The traffickers even use commercial vehicles of known companies to carry on business. Those who Who live there are beginning to believe that drugs are legalised in Caniçal’. The photo of one zone of Palmeira de Baixo is captioned ‘men and women dependent on drugs, takes their fixes day and night in alleys and empty houses. Everyone knows’. Residents think that the police have no powers, or don’t even know how to deal with the problem. The Diário reported followed a gang of young people (aged 20 to 30) one afternoon, to see that they got up to. They started off asking people for money, even children. On to a neighbourhood supermarket to steal some stuff, where they got water, lemon, and candles, the ‘tools’ of a heroin addict. Then it was a question of buying a ‘half dose’ of heroin for €5 from one of the dealers that cruise around the area, all the time looking out for the cops. Then it’s off to the nearest alleyway to inject.

‘Unemployment Clouds Labour Day – the unemployed have little reason to celebrate 1st May’. ‘Mr. G’ has been living on unemployment benefit for 6 months, with a monthly allowance of €387, after work on the 5* hotel extension he was involved in stopped through lack of money. He has no prospects for work, and admits that Labour Day is a downer for him, with such little income and a lot of bills to pay. His rent alone comes to €250 a month, and if wasn’t for the money he had saved whilst working, which is almost exhausted, he would be out be out looking for charity. His nerves are shot. He goes regularly to the employment centre, always embarrassed to go there, but arriving early to find an increasing number of claimants there each time. The job centre staff tell him not to sit and wait for the employment contract to come, but to get out there and look for himself. They suggest he looks for part-time work, but for the €200 he stands to earn, he will lose his unemployment benefit. He was earning €1,200 a month before he was dismissed, and he continues to carry his anger about his boss who “ruined everything”. That was ‘case study’ number one, of several interviews the Diário carried in that article. Another, an unemployed immigrant from Venezuela, says it is impossible to return home as it is not safe and worth the risk.

The president of Funchal council is not concerned about a violation of the municipal plans, in the national sporting complex in Choupana, where Nacional da Madeira play football. He has promised a review of the situation though, after the public prosecutor highlighted a potential breach through works of construction and expansion. I haven’t got a clue what that is really about, as that is all the detail given.

‘Flags Of Flama Have The Mark Of Senior Dignitaries On Madeira’. This goes back to last weekend with the marking of the revolution that ended dictatorship for Portugal. The flags of FLAMA (Madeira Liberation Front) were brought out and used last Saturday, and there has been some controversy about that act going on ever since. Ex FLAMA members believe that someone is trying to resurrect or promote the movement which ended in 1978. Two of the old members have taken the unusual step of giving a press conference, stressing that the movement is extinct, and should be left that way to respect its former members. No names were named, but the two ex-members believe that people in high places were involved in the appearance of the flags last weekend, adding that the movement is still mentioned at times in the legislative assembly, almost as a threat. President Jardim was never a member it seems, but is well aware of its past actions, and at one time declined an invitation to become the leader of FLAMA. It was disarmed and disbanded when Jardim became president of Madeira, with no one having died as a result of the actions of the movement. “The rockets they had were used more to make a bang than anything else”, said one of the ex-members. Spooky or what!

Continuing the story of ‘Jardim’s Jollies’, the Diário checked out the position of President César, Jardim’s equivalent in the Azores, to establish that he has only left his kingdom once so far this year, and that was to go to a meeting where Jardim failed to appear (and to prove a point there is a photo of the event). Meanwhile the opposition here is shocked with the ‘Lavish Europe’ episode(s). Carlos César pretty much belongs to all the same bodies and committees that Jardim does, but goes away far less frequently, and when needed and appropriate will send a representative to take his place, normally the regional director for European Affairs (a position which Madeira also has). A spokesman for Jardim make 4 points in defence of his boss :

1. The Diário shoots first and asks question after, in it’s campaign against the president.

2. Where it was stated that the president was away for a week to attend a 4 hour meeting, that is not correct (some explanation given). 

3. The audit which provides the figures is not just about the presidents own expenses.

4. The President continues to make the trips he has to make, and which the law allows.

To which the Diário responds “We report according to the facts from the auditors report”.

I think the Diário has really got it’s teeth into this one, as it realises this must be a real sticky issue for many PSD-M social democrat voters. And so it should be, as the ‘man of the people’ soils his reputation by his extravagance and disappearing acts, whilst many struggle to put food on the table after a hard day’s work.

‘Madeira In The Fashion With Stars Of Television’ … I don’t fancy that one as most people have never heard of the TV stars anyway.

‘Journalist Of The Diário Describes The Nightmare Of Latin America. With borders now closing with Mexico because of the swine flu, and flights being suspended out of Mexico. There are probably hundreds of stories published along the same lines as this one, so I will give it a miss if nobody minds.

Funny there is no sports story with such a massive footballing weekend ahead. What a gloomy old front page though, the worst I can remember for a while, but nice to get a bit of a break from true politics.

Other News :

A new law which came into force yesterday will allow either of any new parents to stay with their child, until it is one year old, focusing on the sharing of responsibilities between the mother and father. That should delight employers then, tweaking out new ways of asking the elusive question at interviews … ‘do you have have a partner of childbearing age / ability / urge ?’.

It’s no surprise to read that following the discovery of drugs carried by a Spanish passenger on the Madeira – Portugal ferry recently, checks are to be stepped up. The action had already been discussed, as a general measure in stopping drugs being smuggled onto Madeira. 

Another silly day in Funchal bay yesterday, with 5 cruise ships in, but only room for three. Around 2,800 tourists, out of the 8,500 arriving, had to be content with looking at Madeira from the sea or taking a small boat to shore.

I am so glad to get this blog finished, as I think someone is actually building a cruise ship in the adjacent apartment, with eve
ry power tool known to man involved in the construction. I should have guessed, it being a public holiday and all. Take my advice, don’t buy an apartment unless you are stone deaf. The worst thing is nobody ever warns you that your home is likely to shake for the next, hour, day, week, month, or in one case a few years ago two months.

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I was sent this but I have no idea whether it is true or not, but if it is I know it will affect quite a few people here. Do you have Sky TV? Sky are currently changing their cards across the whole of the UK. ALL CARDS WILL BE REPLACED. If you do not have access to the UK address to which your card was registered, you may not receive a replacement.

I could do with some opinions on the new blog format. Any regular readers who can help, please email me. It will just take a few minutes of your time … and you get a sneak preview.

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!

Front Page News : main source : Diário de Notícias 30/4/2009

Yesterday’s main headline : ‘Three Months Here, One Month Abroad – The auditors report about President Jardim’s secret journeys in 2008 awakens a reality much commented on and that continues this year : In the first four months of this year, the president was already absent for one month, costing the taxpayers over €40,000. Amongst the exorbitant expenses, is €9,000 spent on a hire car and driver for a week. The auditors have also picked-up on a weeks stay in Europe, to attend a meeting that only lasted 4 hours’. Some budding artist has done a sketch of Jardim, setting off with his wheeled suitcase. The Diário estimate is that Uncle Bertie, based on what has happened so far, will be off of Madeira for 4 months this year, including holidays. I am not surprised this story, that originated on Tuesday, has now reached the front page. It is littered with examples of what Jardim has spent, and where he has been. It has been reported several time during the last year or so that President Jardim (and some of his cronies) have disappeared without explanation. The president of Madeira is obliged to declare such movements to the regional assembly, but like everything else, he makes up his own rules to please himself. You’re taking the p**s Uncle Bertie, while many of your loyal subjects can’t even afford to put food on their tables!

‘State Gives Out €10 Million In Incentives To Agriculture’. That’s what the headline says, but when you click to go to the article itself, it says that the money is for tourism, rural tourism. The money has been obtained by the secretary of state for tourism, and will be announced officially on Tuesday. Although no details are known yet about this system of incentives, the Tourism Association has already made public that it is “an important instrument to support the recovery of tourism businesses”.

Back to Serra da Água, the featured village this week. ‘Footpaths Shown On Maps Are Disappearing Due To Lack Of Maintenance – Hotel worker tells some stories heard from tourists in Serra de Água’. Lying in a deep valley, it is essential for tourists to pass through Serra de Água in order to get to Encumeada and Paul da Serra. A table waiter in the Pousada dos Vinháticos recounts tales of tourists who visit Pico Redondo, only to find that the path on their map no longer exists. Lack of maintenance is to blame, as the thriving undergrowth just swallows the path up, leaving visitors lost, stranded, and embarrassed. The situation is almost as bad with the footpath from Lombo do Muro towards Fajã das Éguas. One of the reasons for the paths getting overgrown was following the order for the removal of livestock from the mountains, which until that time helped to keep the paths clear. I vaguely remember that from at least 5 years ago, when sheep were taken from their open mountainside pastures because they were causing to much damage. I believe that’s the reason why lamb meat is rarely found in the shops, but not certain.

A Madeiran from Boaventura was murdered in Venezuela, in front of his wife. The shopkeeper was outside his premises when the shooting occurred.

‘Beach Lifeguards Scarce – Lack of candidates lead to predictions of shortages during the Summer, and failure to meet the minimum numbers required by law’. The law, which applies from this year, obliges the presence of two lifeguards per stretch of 100 metres of beach, with one more for each 50 metres. With the latest training course cancelled due to lack of candidates, the article says that youngsters are losing interest in becoming lifeguards, a situation not aided by the fact that the costs of the training course have increased by 70% this year. An estimated half the usual number of lifeguards available is expected to be missing this year. Funchal alone usually requires 34 lifeguards during the four month Summer season. It’s old recycled news, and as normal it will all be left to the last minute before panic sets in when the kids take to the water for the Summer Holidays. Can you imagine the situation on Porto Santo!

In yesterday’s sport story. ‘Success In The Centenary Year To Erase The Frustration Of This Year – Carlos Pereira takes over (today) as the longest ever serving presidency at Marítimo. A frustrating season, but the commitment is to celebrate 100 years with a new stadium and Europe’. Enough said?

Other News :

*** This link is purely to keep a record for future reference of the location of the letter to the President of the Republic, from the World Association of Newspapers. The letter has already been published in full on the blog comments :  WAN Letter ***

The sex education program in our schools is to be revised, after it was noticed that the students, between 5th and 9th grades, were not always feeling too comfortable. The girls being quite shy on the matter, and the boys were having difficulties in sharing opinions, despite being more at ease on the subject. The program covers what one would expect, and includes teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and also how to tackle sexual abuse.

At a press conference on the swine flu, the state minister for health was able to say that there are no confirmed cases yet in Portugal, although the girl in Porto Hospital is still undergoing diagnosis. She also informed the media that Portugal has sufficient protective masks for the whole population, should there be a pandemic situation declared.

In São Roque last month a flock of 3 rabbits was born in captivity. One has the usual two ears, another has just one ear, and the third has no ears at all. Is this natures way of helping mothers identify their different offspring, or were they just born with ‘earing defects? The rather surreal looking picture is here :  Rabbit Ears

An EU survey has found that 74% of Brazilians and 60% of sub-saharan Africans believe they are discriminated against in Portugal, due to their ethnic status or country of birth. There is no more to the story than that. That’s life, and that applies to anyone living in a foreign country. I can’t get an identity card, and you would think the government would want me to have one, as by law I have to carry ID with me at all times. I can carry my Residency Permit with me, but as it is a paper document that has to last 10 years, I don’t think that is going to survive for very long (and having it ‘plasticised’ is now forbidden).

This weekends football … what a thriller!

Saturday Nacional host Benfica, 8.45pm on RTP1. On Sunday Marítimo host Porto, SportTV1 at 8.15pm.

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Our traditionally rainy month didn’t come yet here in Rib. Bra. a few spots here and there, but nothing like last year. Anyone else have a pretty dry month?

ENJOY YOUR PUBLIC HOLIDAY TODAY – MY NEW SPONSOR SAYS I HAVE TO WORK EVERYDAY, SO THINK OF ME WHEN YOU HAVE AN ICE CREAM IN ONE HAND AND AN ICE COLD CORAL IN THE OTHER.

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Part 2 – Going to hospital outside of Madeira (continued from Sunday).

Wednesday morning arrived, and I hadn’t slept more than about an hour, partly due to nerves. The taxi arrived to take me to the airport and I felt like a zombie (at least I would imagine
it would feel something like that). All went fine at the airport, and the reservation was found for me, and the flight was on time. I flew with TAP (there are no other options for Porto), with the flight taking about a hour and 40 minutes. I was very impressed with the plane and flight, but there again I had no luggage to lose. Newspapers, breakfast, drinks, leg room, comfortable seats … just like the old days before budget airways arrived. But there again, I had looked at the price of the tickets on the internet, just out of curiosity, and the total was nearly €400! Porto airport was very nice, clean, spacious, underused, and easy to find ones way around. I was expecting to catch a taxi, but I saw a sign for the metro and thought why not! That was quite easy too, though the ticket machine needed plenty of coaxing to spit out a day-rider ticket (€5.60). The metro was very nice and easy to use, and although I didn’t have much Idea where I was going, it was easy to hop on and off with a day-rider ticket. It was on the first metro that I noticed that the end of the line destination was ‘Estadio do Dragão’, way out of the city, but what the hell! So I went … that was my treat for the day, to see the stadium of Portugal’s greatest football team. I was out of luck as I couldn’t get in the inner stadium to touch the sacred turf, just my luck as Wednesday was the only day one couldn’t get to do so, but you could walk freely around the massive outer stadium at an elevated level and look inside. I even treated myself to a Porto boné, a bargain at just €4!

That done, it was back on the metro to find my destination, and two or three unnecessary journeys later, I was at the correct station to set off on foot. I found the the street I was looking for, and the first house number I saw was around 2500 … I was looking for number 668 … a bit of a long walk ahead I thought. An hour later, I found the consultants office after a good long walk, all uphill, in sweltering conditions. On the way up, I received a phone call from a lady from a patients support group based in Porto. I had been given her number in case I had any problems, and also to ring to make my return flight reservation, as I had no idea if I was staying for a day or a week at that stage. She was absolutely brilliant, and she rang me 4 or 5 times during the day to make sure I was OK, and did I need anything. She even rang the consultant when I was there to check everything was OK. She told me that my appointment was at 3pm, so I had about 4 nerve-racking hours to kill. Thank you Mariana, without your support and reassurance it might have been a horrible day.

I took lunch (3 courses, a fruit juice and coffee, for just €5), which barely dented my daily allowance, and then wandered up and down streets until my appointment time arrived. All went well in the consultants, and in fact better still, he decided that the treatment I went there to have was not in fact necessary, so I was well chuffed. I think the paperwork involved took twice as long as the consultation itself, and one notices that the controls around medical care and the health service are very strict, with every step of anything costing money being double checked, stamped, and verified. I was done soon after 4pm, and Mariana was on the phone again to see if she could book my return flight, which she did, departing at 10.25pm as there was nothing earlier. I had about 5 hours to kill before going back to the airport, so then it was all down to sightseeing. I didn’t like Porto much, but I don’t like any big cities, so don’t take my word for it whether it is good or bad. Plenty of nice architecture, and things to do but I won’t bore you with the details. The evening meal, paid for by the state, went down very well too. I was on a meal allowance of €18 per day, which was more than adequate. From there the travel arrangements all went to plan, and I arrived back on Madeira just after midnight, and my prearranged taxi was waiting for me (not surprising as he was charging the health service over €115 for the return journey to Rib. Bra.). I think the only problem I had all day, but only thanks to Mariana’s help, was finding metro stations, as they were hidden away with little or no signage. But that gave me the excuse to stop and ask directions, probably at least 20 times during the day … and I concluded that it’s is so much easier to understand Portuguese on the continent than it is on Madeira.

So at the end of it all, it was a good result in more ways than one. No treatment needed, and a nice day out, (nearly *) all paid for by the state. The people involved in arranging it all and taking care of me were fantastic, and did much more than I ever expected. It was only the doctor in Funchal Hospital, who initially refused me treatment, that threw a shadow over what was otherwise quite a good experience. I do feel a little guilty however about having spent so much state money, in what turned out to be an unnecessary trip.

* When I went to Funchal on Monday to sort out the paperwork and expenses, it turned out that they only reimburse 75% of the taxi fares to get to the airport. As I hadn’t yet paid the taxi driver the €115 I owed, I popped out to see him to see what he thought, and we came to a satisfactory payment arrangement without any problem.

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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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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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!

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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!

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.

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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!

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!

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!