The main photo today shows a taxi rank, with the first in the queue out of his cab and looking rather annoyed : ‘Free ‘Eco Line’ Infuriates Taxi Drivers – The taxi drivers on the rank are worried and indignant with Albuquerque and Conceição Estudante : the free transport in ecologically friendly buses threatens to explode the market’. Taxis in "slow death". "In reality, we don’t know what the future will hold for taxi drivers after 1st September". It is with concern that the president of the Taxi Association AITRAM, António Loreto, sees the future of these professionals after Funchal council and the regional secretary for tourism and transport revealed their intentions to make travel free on the ‘Eco Line’ buses. Alongside the illegal competition from some transport companies, Loreto says that this latest news is tormenting his members and "is going to damage yet more  the life of the taxi drivers". He believes that the Eco Line is a experimental initiative, with a duration of six months. "It seems that we just have to pay taxes, whilst others take our business" he adds, referring to the fact that it will be very difficult to attract tourists and residents when there is a free bus every 10 minutes connecting the main points of the city and hotels. There are 450 taxi drivers in Funchal, and over a thousand jobs overall, that depend on the trade. This week AITRAM will hold an emergency meeting with its members to analyse the problem. Not much sympathy from me when it comes to taxi drivers in Funchal, I guess the ones that are that way inclined will be ripping off a few more tourists to try to fill their pockets. Tough on the good ones though, doing my politically correct bit of course. What price a cleaner environment eh? I am hopping mad with jealousy because we (over my way) will continue to have the filthy old polluting buses of Rodoeste, and still have to pay for them. All the good stuff goes to Funchal as usual, sod the poor people out in the country.

‘Only Two Salvage / Rescue Stations Operational – The programme for 6 marine assistance centres is far from the end’. Network of stations in "dry dock". The six centres for costal rescue stations were promised in 2007, but progress is slow. In fact the only one in operation is in Funchal, although the one in Santa Cruz (which will act as the HQ) situated under the airport runway, is used in necessity, but has not yet been inaugurated. Porto Santo should be ready in 2010. With the other three, the situation is uncertain. In Porto Moniz, APRAM awaits authorisation from the civil protection authorities to start work in the port, and in Lugar de Baixo, well we all know the situation there. Porto da Cruz is in no better situation, depending on the decision of the government regarding the harbour location, with nothing expected to happen before 2011. Despite the uncertainties, SANAS went ahead and have already bought the six lifeguards rescue stations. These are now in ‘dry dock’ waiting to be used. There is a story and / or excuse for almost all the delays, and little concrete information on moving forward. The incident at São Vicente a few days ago when a fisherman was swept out to sea, proves the need for a ready nearby response, rather than waiting for aid to come from afar. When installed, each station will have a lifeboat in readiness to be launched when an alert is raised. We already have one tucked away here in Ribeira Brava, which I believe is operated by our firemen, so perhaps the Diário doesn’t have the full picture regarding sea rescue resources.

Yesterday’s search efforts pictured after a 73 / 75 / 76 year old man disappeared on Porto Santo on Sunday. He went out to do some fishing and didn’t return. ‘Missing Fisherman Of Porto Santo Was The Chauffeur Of The Murdered Businessman’. Despite the headline, nothing has been found to suggest that any third party was involved in the disappearance. Involved in the search are the navy patrol  boat ‘Cuanza’, two launches, a Merlin EH-101 helicopter, firemen and 4 forensic divers from Funchal. The search started yesterday continues today.

‘Seven Detained For Driving Under The Effect Of Alcohol – PSP dealt with 21 accidents at the weekend’. Three of the cases were in Ribeira Brava, the other 4 were spread around. One arrest was made for driving without a licence, and another for having a pop at a police officer. The 21 road accidents caused 5 injuries, one serious. Over the previous week on the via rápida hosted 63 broken down vehicles, as well as 8 vehicles stopped without apparent reason. 9 people were caught ‘on foot’, 8 animals rescued, and 35 objects of ‘risky dimensions’ were removed.

In football : "Terrible Atmosphere" Awaiting Nacional – Zenit player praises the promotion in Russia and makes himself available to collaborate in every way’. The Zenit player is Danny, not born here, but considered as a Madeiran. The stadium is likely to be full (21,000+) of baying Russians, giving Nacional a very ‘warm’ noisy welcome on Thursday. He applauds the decision to use the game to promote ‘destination Madeira’, and considers it a good investment of €10,000. He said he has already told footballing colleagues about Madeira, and some have visited, including the owner of his former club Dynamo Moscow.

‘Cavaco Silva vetoes new law on unions ‘de facto’ - The President of the Republic considers "inappropriate" making substantive changes at the end of term’. The President vetoed the new law on unmarried couples, considering it "inappropriate" at the end of a legislative term changing the current law, and pointing out the lack of a "in depth discussion" on the matter. "Without contesting the eventual need to make an improvement of the legal regime of ‘de facto’ unions … it is considered that at this juncture, this change is not only untimely, but it was not subject to discussion with the depth that the importance of this topic necessarily requires", reads a note posted on the website of the Presidency.

‘Rockfall In Albufeira – Prosecutors opened criminal investigation’. The public prosecutor has opened an investigation into the collapse of a cliff on the beach Maria Luísa in Albufeira on Friday, that killed five people and injured several more. The inquiry will be conducted in Portimão and the report referred to the court in Albufeira. The inquiry will "investigate any responsibility for what happened".

UPDATE : 

‘Police Action Results In Complaints – PSP says it was acting in a situation of public disorder in Camacha’. Three men claim to have been the victims of aggression in the area Nogueira, from the Rapid Intervention Brigade (BIR) of the Public Security Police. The situation is worsening the already complicated relationship between the police and residents of the zone. The three young men aged 20, 26 and 27 claim they were the target of a revenge attack, because of personal issues that they had had with an officer of BIR. A police spokesman said the BIR was called in to deal with a situation of public disorder. It all happened at the Festa de São Lourenço at around 12.30 am, and witnesses said that the three men were eating espetada without bothering anyone and doing nothing to annoy the police officers, but when the three moved away to go to the toilet they were followed by the BIR team (made up of 9 officers). The toilet entrance was blocked to stop anyone else entering and the three were given a "drubbing that almost killed us", according to one of the three men, as well as being threatened with death. The police used guns, batons, and pepper spray in the attack he said, and he ended up pretending to pass-out to stop the assault. The police version says the men were found in the public toilet when responding to a call about drunkenness and drugs, and they resisted arrest, but were handcuffed and taken to the police station and later released. The case is now with the public prosecutor in Santa Cruz.

‘Police Charge Bar on Porto Santo For Unlicensed Security’. The popular bar in the docks area was caught using two bouncers, when not licensed to do so. The fine for the offence ranges from €10,000 to €100,000. That should put an end to that bar then!

‘Hotels Are Prepared – Hoteliers commend the meeting to clarify matters about Gripe A’. The hotels are already preparing themselves for a possible outbreak of swine flu cases, with the arrival of cooler September temperatures. They have the materials and disinfectants needed, and also a contingency plan. The Diário contacted the main hotel groups of Pestana, Porto Bay, Savoy and Dorisol, and all assured that they were ready for the expected pandemic, with workers instructed and provided with ‘protective kits’, that include long-sleeved uniforms, ‘duck billed’ protective masks, and gels and disinfectants for cleaning telephones, doorknobs, printers, sanitary facilities etc. They are also trained in being diplomatic as to not upset customers. Can’t deny that being an interesting prospect, some one dressed on like a duck billed Darth Vader approaching a sneezing guest and hosing him down with disinfectant and yet maintaining hotel type diplomacy. I can’t deny being a little intrigued by the ‘kits’ containing materials for cleaning ‘printers’, although everything else makes sense. What make printers a special case I wonder? It’s a while since I went to a hotel I must admit, but in this day and age do they now put printers on dinner tables, or do people sleep with them. What about the computers they are connected to, are they somehow immune to Gripe A, and an even worse risk I would guess is the computer keyboard, as that’s where people have their hands after the previous gripe victim has coughed and sneezed all over it. I would have thought that lift buttons, and indeed coins and notes, would present a higher risk and have a higher priority than printers. I am busy saving up my small change, so when the pandemic hits Rib. Bra. I can always pay for things with the exact money … no risk then with infected change. What worries me is the kissey kissey thing and shaking hands with so many people, as I don’t want to offend anyone by refusal. Perhaps I will paint my face with pink spots, then people will avoid me instead.

Only around 20 articles in today’s Diário news sections (excluding sport and events), so that’s it from there today, but might I drift over to the dark side later to see what’s in the Jornal da Madeira, but no promises.

Just this one : "Mistérios das Ilhas" In The Bookshops Of Madeira’. ”Mysteries of the Islands’, controversies and secrets from the history of Madeira, by the author journalist José Luís Cabrita, is already on sale in all good bookshops. It has a preface by a man called Alberto João Jardim, who also happens be the president of Madeira (and presumably that also means that he is protected from any personal embarrassment). The book questions the discovery of Madeira, and looks at the ‘captains’ of the island, it’s settlement, and its inhabitants. It presents little known information about Madeira, some of it controversial. In the preface, Alberto João Jardim believes that "Mysteries of the Islands" is "a new and different image that brings the history of Madeira to political debate". I want to read it, but at €20 a copy, it might have to wait until Xmas.

(14th August). From the Jornal da Madeira. ‘Jardim says he does not give in to blackmail- Porto Santo – "I’m not putting up with the rogues of Tourism of Portugal". Alberto João Jardim said yesterday that he refuses to play party politics with the serious things, assuring that he will not give in to blackmail, by anyone. He made the statement in the Bar do Henrique on Porto Santo, when confronted on a matter about Nacional’s football match in Russia in the Europa League, and the governments lack of intention to use the match to promote Madeira in Russia, after the Secretary for State for Tourism has already said he was looking into the matter. In response, Jardim, who is on holiday in Porto Santo, was clear: ‘I do not play party politics with the serious things and I don’t put up with the roguish behaviour of national tourism. And with me, nobody does blackmail" he said. I don’t normally use political material from the Jornal, but that one tickled me, and I am glad to hear that Uncle Bertie is at long last taking his politics seriously.

(16th August). ‘Thomas Cook Distinguishes Raga’. The remodelled Raga Hotel in Lido, Funchal has received, for the second consecutive year, the Thomas Cook Mark of Excellence Award. The award is decided on the votes of customers of the tour operator. It was noted for the growth in its quality of service and the dedication of the workers. It’s actually the only hotel I have stayed in here, and that was nearly 6 years ago, well before the ‘restoration’ two years ago. It now has four stars, but I think back then it would have struggled to deserve one star it was so dingy and aged, but it was clean and cheap and cheerful, and the staff even back then were very good.

‘Funchal’ Back in 2010 – It is the ship that has the record number of appearances here : 766′. The cruise ship returns here in April 2010, after an absence of over 5 years. It was last here in October 2004, and by coincidence was also here in Madeira exactly 40 years ago to the day. Its long absence is due to lengthy duty in international waters, particularly around Australia. First launched in 1961, it was a steam ferry ship doing the routes between Portugal, Madeira and the Azores, but the increase in air traffic put paid to that and it was converted into a cruise ship in 1973. The old steam turbines were also removed, and new diesel engines installed.

(15th August). Yesterday’s main news headline : ‘Tourism Lose Revenue – The hotels of Madeira have the best occupation rate in Portugal, but the results get worse’. The tourists from Portugal soften the blow for the loss of foreign visitors, and Madeira as a result has the best room occupation rate in Portugal of 57.9%, as well as the longest average stay at 5.3 nights. The figures for June were supplied by the National Institute of Statistics. The hotels here had 14% more hotel rooms occupied by Portuguese in the first 6 months of 2009, compared with the same period in 2008, with that jumping up in June, with 34% more than in June 2008. The worst of the problems has come from the British market which has fallen 20%, after being the largest market in 2008.

Onto politics :

‘Rui Caetano Concerned With "Hurried Works" – The PS candidate for Funchal Câmara warned about the quality and cost of the work and impact on jobs’. The socialist  candidate warned in particular about the public garden in São Martinho where workers have been working extra hours to get the job finished quickly. The article doesn’t say as much, but it is that time when everything is pushed to completion at all costs so President Jardim can get a pre-election inauguration, and score extra points with the voters.

‘All New, Save Arlindo – In Câmara de Lobos and Santana, the councillors are excluded, only Arlindo Gomes escaped’. Gomes is now the candidate for a third term to serve as president in Câmara de Lobos for the PSD-M social democrats, and that is official, as the final lists for those two regions were submitted to the tribunal that controls such election matters. The rest were excluded or have councillor positions without the right to ‘executive portfolios’ (not sure I quite understand that?). Arlindo Gomes guaranteed that the changes were "peaceful". Rui Moses will replace Carlos Pereira, who since 1984 was the candidate for the PSD-M in Santana.

‘Seven Inaugurations In A Week In Time For The Pre-Election Campaign – He returned to a wave of inaugurations. Then the president goes on holiday’. Yesterday the president of Madeira opened a roundabout and a urban renewal project in Porto Moniz, the first of 7 inaugurations, then he goes to Porto Santo on holiday. For an inauguration near you check  AUGUST PROGRAMME

‘Interest Payments Of The Programme ‘Pay On Time’ Could Be Increased – The Accounting Tribunal (auditors) have alerted that Madeira’s government is not meeting the deadlines on loans totalling €257.7 million’. An audit by the Court of Auditors (CT) warns that the Directorate General of Treasury and Finance may exacerbate the interest rate, by way of a penalty, on the money owed under the State program ‘pay on time’, for failing to meet the dates set by National Government. Money has been borrowed in several loans, and been used to pay off older loans as well as provide finance for expenditure in 2008. The audit recommends that the government here avoids taking on any new forms of debt.

(3rd August). A leftover from yesterday’s front page : ‘Member of Madeira Parliament Changes The Legislative Assembly For The Câmara Of Ribeira Brava’. The social democrat of PSD-M Rui Gouveia ceases to be a deputy in the ALM to become a councillor with Ismael Fernandes (president of the council in Ribeira Brava), and will stand in the October elections.

Finally some national stories :

This story was on the front page of the Diário : ’7 Years For Isaltino Morais – The former PSD minister will serve 7 years in prison, for corruption, abuse of power, and financial fraud. And he loses the mandate of president of the Câmara of Oerias’. Obviously a national story, but bent politicians always catch the headlines, especially around election times when newspapers are looking to influence. Did I mention money laundering as well? The man still protests his innocence, justifying a €400,000 stash in a Swiss bank account as "campaign leftovers", and other funds gained through investments and inheritances (€1.32 million in total). The social democrat was accused also of having "received money in envelopes delivered at the office of the câmara", to license lots, buildings or exchanges of land. I suppose the burning question in court was ‘were the envelopes brown?’, a crucial issue when deciding financial malpractice. Terrible thing … I just hope it never catches on here. Changing the subject slightly … António Lobo (Ponto do Sol, PSD), and Luís Gabriel Rodrigues (Santa Cruz, PSD), both ex-presidents of the câmaras in those areas … never hear much about them these days?

‘CGTP wants to increase minimum wage – Portugal are in the last place in the European Euro Zone’. The CGTP (General Confederation of Portuguese Workers) warned yesterday the "urgent need" to increase the real wages of the Portuguese, especially the minimum wage, being still "very far" from that practiced in most countries of the European Union. "The latest figures published by Eurostat on the value of the minimum wage in the European Union shows that Portugal remains far from the general level of these countries". Just Slovakia is worse. The minimum wage in Portugal will rise to €500 in January 2011, not even enough to cover the cost of living for many. Pensions here are also criticised for not keeping up with the cost of living.

248 passengers were detained before departure of yesterday’s flight between Caracas (Venezuela) and Lisbon when it was discovered there were drug mules on board. 3 passengers were detected with drugs stashed in their stomachs, but none were Portuguese. Another article says that last year 580 kilos of cocaine was seized at Lisbon airport, most of it coming from Venezuela.

‘Armas With Capacity Sold Out In August – The 5 voyages anticipated for next month are already all sold’. The ferry will bring more than 5,000 tourists on the trips from Portimão in Portugal, to Madeira. The ferry owner Naviera Armas has even been considering putting on a second ferry, but no application has yet been made to the port authorities. 3,400 of the passengers will stop at Madeira, and another 2,000 will go on to the Canary Islands. 

In national news :

‘Electric Cars Give €5,000 – Sócrates announces financial incentives for electric cars’. The prime minister of Portugal announced yesterday that anyone who buys an electric car will receive €5,000 in incentives, or €6,500 if the person delivers their old car to be scrapped. Companies will also receive a 50% tax benefit. He also announced that he is preparing legislation that will compel new buildings to have recharging facilities for these cars in the garages.

(20th July). ‘Massages To Combat Aggression In Schools – Programme for children has come to Portugal’. Just 15 minutes of massage in the day to day routine of younger children, aged 4 to 12, but it could produce benefits for the rest of their lives. Massages given and received by children are part of a new international program to combat aggression in schools, that has now been initiated in Portugal. The programme was created by a Swedish woman and a French-Canadian woman, both professional masseurs, as well as mothers and educators. ‘Massage in Schools’ is being developed "with a huge success around the world" in schools and other places that care for children, to stimulate the capacity for learning, facilitate interpersonal relationships, and combat ‘bullying’ behaviour or threat of verbal or psychological aggression that occurs without apparent motivation. The massages are done clothed, and cover the head, back, arms and neck of the recipient. Adults will just teach the techniques but not actually deliver the massages. So have I got this right … some kid is getting a good kicking by another kid in the playground at school, and the victim, spitting blood, offers to give the bully a massage? Or does the victim in fact ask the bully  for a massage? Can anyone clarify?

‘Aguiar Branco Won’t Comment On The Proposed Ban On Communism – The vice president of Ferreira Leite refers the party position for the debate of constitutional revision’. He excused himself from giving the view of the social democrats (PSD national) on the proposal of President Jardim and the social democrats of Madeira, that communism should be constitutionally prohibited. He said "I think this falls under the issue of constitutional revision, and after that discussion, then of course the PSD will have a position on constitutional reform". President Jardim made the proposal after increasing support for communist parties in the recent European elections.

The leader of one of the communist parties on Madeira, PCP-M, rubbishes the proposal to ban communist parties, and says the proposal is destined for the rubbish bin, as was a similar proposal in 2003 / 2004.

On the same subject, the PSD-M have now delivered the proposals for constitutional re-evaluation to the Legislative Assembly of Madeira. The proposal supports a wide re-evaluation around the political system in relation to the autonomous regions of Portugal (Madeira and the Azores). It will be discussed in the parliament here next Wednesday, with the theme 35 years of democracy and 32 years of regional autonomy, now it’s time for a political and constitutional re-evaluation. After the debate next week the proposals will be sent to the Assembly of the Republic.

‘Jardim Says That Having A Representative Of The Republic Is "A Sign Of Minority" For Madeira – The president of the government defends a system "equal to the Spanish". The representative of the Republic to Madeira, Monteiro Diniz, said yesterday that he was "deeply hurt" by the explanation given for removing his post. It’s a part of being an autonomous region of Portugal, to have such a position, but another part of Jardim’s and the PSD-M constitutional revision is to remove this position. Alberto João Jardim, emphasised that" Portugal is a unique case "because" the representative of the Republic does not exist in any region of Europe with a legislative power. He then goes on to say "Portugal is a backward country for having silly originality". Well if the revision doesn’t go through, that’s another important relationship messed up by Uncle Bertie.

‘Spell Against The Sorcerer : Arlindo Drives Away Critics – The counsellors that weren’t with Arlindo Gomes in the hours of uncertainty were knocked off the list’. All in the name of cohesion, to clear out the slackers, and create a better team. Arlindo Gomes of the PSD-M, and president of the Câmara de Lobos Council, has completely revamped his team that will be presented to the voters for the forthcoming elections (October). The headline suggests that his selection criteria was not based entirely on merit, but the article itself does not have much juice along these lines.

‘€45 Million To Buy 3 Million Vaccines – Minister of Health guarantees sufficient to vaccinate free all the at risk groups’. The government approved yesterday a budget to buy the vaccines for Gripe A (H1N1 swine flu), six million doses in all, that should be available in December / January. Children and pregnant women will not receive any until February, as there are tests to be done to ensure that the population react well to the vaccine.

‘Prices in Portugal are positioned at about 13% below the European average’. The price from the lowest can be tripled compared to the highest, between EU countries. That’s according to an analysis for all member states covering 2008. Denmark was worst for pricing, with 141% of the EU average, whilst Bulgaria had a rating of just 51%. Portugal’s rating specifically in catering and hospitality was 80% of the EU average, making it still a good bet for holidays and tourism. OK that’s economics at a macro level, but the same differential principles also exists at a micro level, where in Funchal you can pay nearly €3 for a medium beer, compared to as little as €0.80 in Ribeira Brava … now that’s reality.

’73% Of Portuguese Do Not Trust Government Policies To Combat Corruption – The majority believe that government policies are ineffective in this area’. That’s according to an international agency that specialises in this area, and means in terms of confidence the Portuguese people have the 5th lowest opinion in this area in Europe, just behind Greece and Bulgaria, with Israel leading the corruption belief stakes with 86% of their public vote. The author of the study said "corruption is now a truly global phenomenon". Was it ever any different? I am surprised that only 73% were untrusting, but perhaps the other 27% had nice cars and houses, and worked in government.

‘Permits For Foreigners Limited From Yesterday – Until the end of this year only 3,800 new permits of residents will be issued to foreigners’. I already covered this a few weeks ago, and should mention that this does not include European Union citizens who have a right to live here. The justification for the restriction is of course the economic crisis. That limit itself imposes a maximum number of 89 permits for Madeira for the rest of this year. Last year Portugal allowed 8,600 non-EU foreigners to live and work in Portugal. Associations representing immigrants felt that this was "regrettable", "disturbing", "discriminatory", "protectionist", "immoral" and "incoherent."

The Employers’ Confederation yesterday warned Prime Minister, José Sócrates, that the ‘breath’ of Portuguese companies is coming to an end, and consider that there is an urgent need to strengthen measures to support business and to revive the economy. Also, the President of the Confederation of Tourism of Portugal (CTP), asked the Prime Minister to not reduce the measures to support business in the country, because they think that the crisis is now coming to an end.

‘The Government Will Order Vaccine Against Influenza A – Only 5 to 30% of the population will have access’. That was revealed yesterday by the Health Minister Ana Jorge. "This has to do with the sectors of society that we have to cover" she says, stressing that has not yet been defined the sector of the population that should receive the vaccine. "Today, the Ministry of Health and its team are in discussion to reach a decision within a few days" she said, and was expecting the World Health Organization (WHO) "to give some guidance on who should be vaccinated, with the certainty that there will not be enough vaccine for everyone in the world".  Currently, Portugal has confirmed three cases of patients with influenza A H1N1, or Gripe A as it is known here. Ok, let me try and help start the list off … Health Ministers, families of health ministers, politicians, families of politicians, senior civil servants, families of senior civil servants … that should be the 30% quota reached already.

The Legislative Assembly of Madeira gets back underway next Tuesday, after the break for the European elections. Amongst the first items to be dealt with are: A proposal by the PS-M socialists for an enquiry into why Madeira has lost €500 million in European Funding, travel subsidies for residents travelling to Portugal, and new labour / employment laws.

Prime Minister José Sócrates has called a meeting of his top strategists and advisers for Monday, to ‘analyse the political situation’, following a poor showing in last Sunday’s European election. Sócrates recognises the defeat, but is keen to separate the matter from domestic elections due to take place in September / October. "These elections are for Parliament. It will come the moment when the Government is in question and the future of governance. This is not the time", he said, guaranteeing that his executive "will maintain the current course."

‘Child Labour Badly Monitored’. Inspections to identify cases of child labour are not happening as they should, and the problem has certainly not been eliminated in Portugal. Evidence of child labour still exists in the ‘arts’, and also in agriculture, where children work on family farms, although not at the expense of education as used to be the case.

(11th June). The body responsible for overseeing matters of elections, some sort of ombudsman, has criticised the councils of Câmara de Lobos, Funchal, Santa Cruz and São Vicente, and asked them to change their rules and behaviour regarding party political posters during election campaigns. Two political parties complained after their election campaign posters were removed by council officials, on the grounds that the political parties did not give prior notice of their intentions do put the posters up. The ombudsman has ruled that as unconstitutional behaviour. I have to side with the councils on this one, despite court rulings to the contrary. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me that a political party has to write to a council to advise that they are putting up a poster, otherwise how would the council know where to go to remove it?

I think all the news reporters of Madeira must have taken a well deserved short break, along with everyone else. The Diário tried to make it look otherwise, but nearly all the stories are old news, national news (some one else’s), held-back news. and news that is not time sensitive. I am expecting a busy ‘catch up’ day in the newspaper tomorrow to make up for it. Not much on the RTP website either.

‘MADEIRA – The Madeiran voters clearly bet on the social democrats (PSD) candidates list, helping to confirm the position of Nuno Teixeira. The socialists (PS) fell to half of 2004, and their candidate Emanuel Jardim Fernandes stays here’. PSD here collected 52.5% of the vote.

‘PORTUGAL – In the last 2 months no one believed that the PSD would manage top placing, as achieved yesterday. A crisis and the socialist government are factors in this turnaround, but also there is a triumph called Paulo Rangel’. Nationally, PSD collected 31.7% of the vote, ‘and won it’s first European election in 20 years with significant numbers’.

59.8% of the eligible voters on Madeira opted to spend their Sunday elsewhere, and definitely not in the polling station, as a new record low turnout is recorded. Nationally 64% didn’t vote, compared to a European average of 56.9%.

‘Madeira Loses Deputy (MEP) In The European Parliament – Nuno Teixeira is the only representative for Madeira’. The new member will be the only direct link between Europe and Madeira, after the socialists (PS) didn’t get sufficient support to renew its place in Europe with the Madeiran candidate. Nuno is the 7th Madeiran to take the responsibility, and stated that his commitment is to "defend the interests of Madeira and of the Madeirans with the means available to him, speaking the truth". The losing PS candidate, Emanuel Jardim Fernandes, 10th place on his party list, saw just 14.7% of Madeirans vote for his party, half the amount it had in 2004 when the candidate was elected.

President of Madeira, Alberto João Jardim, said that the PSD can not let itself be "dazzled" with the victory in the European elections, arguing that "early indications at the national level indicate a strong concern about the government of the country (Portugal)". The leader of the PSD-M notes that it is "very serious in a democratic country that the two communist political forces together have exceeded the 20 percent mark at home". Despite the satisfaction for the "goals achieved, mission accomplished again, this is no time for euphoria because it was only the first round of a cycle of three elections," he said.

Voting day yesterday had plenty of coverage, and that was not just about the results. The president of one council was reprimanded for campaigning ‘at the urns’, after that was legally prohibited in any form after Friday. Over 250 complaints were made to CNE (the election monitoring body), with people having problems using the new all-in-one ‘citizens cards’ for voting, and other changes in the voting system meant people were turning up at the wrong polling stations. It was clear by 4pm yesterday that turnout was going to be even lower than the poor showing in the last elections. One voting station in São Martinho, three hours after opening had only had 3 voters come in. Young people were very noticeably absent. I think I have covered about 10 articles in one paragraph here, but it’s all water under the bridge now.

The full story for Madeira is : PSD(+PPD) 52.52% of the vote (1 place in Europe), PS 14.69%, CDS-PP 8.34%, PCP-PEV 6.65%, BE 5.44%. You can see a full breakdown in the Diário supplement today, which you can also see here online. ELECTION NEWS 2009

In the national picture, PSD took the most European seats (8) with 31.7% of the vote, followed by PS (7) with 26.6%. Left Block (BE) took 3 seats, with 10.7% of the vote, CDS-PP took 2 seats, also with 10.7%, and CDU 2 seats with 8.4%. In a geographical picture across Portugal, PSD dominated in 16 regions, PS in just two, and PCP in 3 southerly regions. Whilst the defeat of the PS was expected on Madeira, it came as a bit of a surprise on the Azores, where the PS have a fairly new absolute majority in regional government.

(3rd June). The Portuguese population living in Spain increased 10.4% last year. There are now 140,424 Portuguese living there. Other nationalities moving to Spain only registered a 6.3% increase.

(2nd June). The minister of health in Portugal has admitted that there is a second case of ‘Gripe A’ in Portugal, brought in by a Portuguese citizen that returned from the USA. The 33 year old is under observation in Porto hospital.

(6th June). ‘SB Airlines Returns – Venezuela’s airline resumes direct flights between Caracas and Madeira’. The first flight was yesterday, with the landing at 8am and take off at 11am. Carola Torquemada, the company’s commercial director for Europe, told the Diário that SB Airlines went through a major restructure, both in terms of its shareholder structure, and at an operational level, and now presents itself as the largest airline in Venezuela in the international market. Initially there is just one weekly flight, but if there is sufficient demand then SBA will consider a second weekly round trip.

The Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA) marked the World Day of Biodiversity and the European Maritime Day (May 22) with the launch of a book ‘Áreas Importantes para as Aves Marinhas em Portugal’ (Important areas for sea birds in Portugal), the result of a collaboration effort of four years with some of the main organisation connected to the seas of Portugal. Many unknowns on the distribution of seabirds in Portugal now have scientific answers. For example, where is it that the rare Freira do Bugio goes to feed, before returning to it’s home on the Ilhas Desertas … Madeira of course. You don’t even need to buy the book, because there is a rather nifty website that lets you view / read all 260 pages on-line SEA BIRDS OF PORTUGAL

Sr. Duarte, Duke of Bragança in the Azores, has come up with the great idea that the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores should form part of the political system in Portugal, in the same way that it is structured in the UK, which has Scotland. "The UK gives maximum autonomy to the maximum of national unity" said the wise old duke.  So give me a minute to analyse this ………………………………………………….. OK, I think I now have it. So Portugal would have to become separated like England ………………………………… Then Madeira would have a say on how Portugal is run on national and ‘non-national’ matters, and run itself with autonomy in ‘non national’ matters. Meanwhile Portugal MPs would have no say on the ‘non national’ matters of Madeira … put very simply. I think Uncle Bertie and the cronies, and maybe even the Madeirans, would be very happy with that. Believe me, as a honorary Scotsman, and a honorary Madeiran (christened ‘Zarco’), I can see the argument from all sides. I am also an honorary Egyptian named Akmed, but that story is a little fuzzy.

(24th May). A study shows that more than half of the population of Portugal is overweight, and  14.2% of these cases are defined as obese.

The President of the Assembly of the Republic, Jaime Gama today makes a "study visit" and "mission of sovereignty" to the Selvagens Islands, the little known sub-islands of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, which is the most southerly territory of Portugal. Gama will get there on board the Portuguese Navy frigate "Bartolomeu Dias" accompanied by members of the National Defence Committee of the republic, and will return to Lisbon by plane. The sub-archipelago, located 250 km from Madeira and 165 km from the north of the Canary Islands, consists of two main islands (that translate imaginatively Big, Small, and another called Outside), and several islets, with a total area of 273 hectares. The ‘sovereignty’ mission, is because the Spanish keep violating the airspace, and this has caused several rows between Spain and Portugal. The issue hinges on the interpretation of international law, and whether the Selvagens are islands or islets, the later meaning they do not constitute an Exclusive Economic Zone, which Portugal does not accept, saying they are islands. Silly or what! The last I heard they were normally unoccupied apart from wardens and seabirds, and one needed a special permit to go there. The key questions we want answered are : Do these seabirds trade fish and grubs with each other? How much is that costing to sent a frigate and an entourage of politicians there? And more importantly how will they fly back to Lisbon, as as far as I know there is no airport or land suitable for aircraft movement there? 

(24th May). Apparently one of the worst enemies for the political parties running for places in the European elections (7th June) is the beach. In the 2004 elections, 124 thousand Madeirans did not exercise their right to vote, choosing to stay at home, go to the beach, or take a wander up in the mountains. The abstention rate of 54.3% was however lower than the national average (61.4%). Opinion polls suggest a ‘technical tie’ between the PS socialists and the PSD social democrats, but it all depends on turnout. However the financial squeeze and high unemployment may mean that potential voters will have less alternatives to voting on June 7th, so the turnout might be better, plus there is a new automated voting system which may draw in a few more Xs. The lower the turnout, the less chance Madeira has of having representation in Europe, and it will be very difficult to repeat the ‘double’ of 2004, when two candidates made it. Madeira has had representation every year since 1986. Lots of stories about the European elections in the political section of the Diário at present, a good tonic for sleeping disorders methinks.

(16^th May) Unemployment for Portugal as a whole is hovering around the 8.9% mark, higher than expected. Nearly half a million people are now registered as unemployed, in the worst situation in the last 23 years. I wonder if someone will release the Portuguese equivalent of the 1981 hit by UB40 ‘One In Ten’ … a dire situation indeed.

(15^th May) The government of the republic approved on Thursday a decree limiting the number of residency permits to be issued for the year to 3,800. This applies only to residence visas to be granted to non-EU nationals, wishing to work in Portugal. In 2008 the number issued was 8,600, yet there were only 3,300 jobs offered to non-EU nationals that year.