Madeira News Blog » bad weather

Flood in full flow ; Was Jefferson a Madeira fan? ; & other news headlines (to follow)

admin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 02:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Tobi for sending them in : I don’t actually know who took the second photo … Serra de Água. You will have already seen the ‘after’ photos? But here are the ‘before’, and ‘during’ … taken on 20th February 2010 … staggering.

"Here’s something different. Local Madeira spider, may be someone can tell me what type it is?" Pete.

Many thanks to Becky for these videos :

How to find the British Cemetery in Funchal

Tragedy in Madeira – Before and After (interesting side by side photos accompanied by some truly awful music… has anyone ever written a song about Madeira that was any good?! Come on, Der, I’m expecting ‘Ribeira Brava, Ribeira Brava’ to buck the trend…).

Many thanks to Paul for this :

Cedary, layered 1780 Borges Bual Madeira ($2,450) that could have been drunk by Thomas Jefferson.

Image caption: A bottle of 1843 Bual Madeira

John Pierpont Morgan likes to sip old vintages of Madeira with his fellow industrialists while cruising New York harbor on his steam yacht Corsair.

Why vintage Madeiras have begun to attract more collectors in the past three years

Image caption: Thomas Jefferson, portrait 1791, the 3rd President of the United States.

“The wine is surprisingly delicious, its caramel and candied fruit flavors and lively acidity intact after more than two centuries.

Which is why vintage Madeiras have begun to attract more collectors in the past three years. For several hundred to several thousand dollars, you can sip pieces of history that still taste good and aren’t in enough demand to inspire fakes.” Link to full article

Sheila sent in these photos of the ‘Garajau dog’ abandoned at home by his owner :

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Storm interrupts holidays holidays of the deputies – The Peoples Party pressured and the parliamentary recess will be suspended to approve urgent assistance to those harmed.

Arsenal supportive towards Ribeira Brava – The shirt of footballer Eduardo delivered to the ‘face’ of the tragedy. The photo shows Ismael Fernandes, president of Ribeira Brava, presenting the Arsenal shirt to José Feliz, the lad that lost 7 family members and was badly injured himself on 20th February in a landslide in Pomar da Rocha. The official shirt of the number 9 of Arsenal of London, Brazil born Eduardo da Silva, was given to young José Feliz. All of the Arsenal team signed the shirt, which was first of all auctioned for £600 and then given to Ismael, who was in London for a weekend fund raising event.

Today’s main news headline : Taxman and Social Security facilitate reconstruction – Reduced bureaucracy in response to the storm : based on a legal counsel the Directorate of Finance waives the bank guarantee for traders and businessmen engaged in reconstruction. Social Security will also facilitate.

[Recovery] Works in all the city except in Laranjal – The complaint continues. After the street clean the machines just disappeared. The debris remains there. And there are three bodies to be found. That’s the big picture today, and it’s certainly not the first time the Diário has given front page coverage to the plight of Laranjal in Santo António, that seems to have got left behind in the clean up and rebuilding. There are not even any men or equipment there on clean up work, whilst the rest of Funchal is still busy in that respect. The Diário refers to it as a "scene of death and destruction". Still missing are a young lady and her 9 month old baby, and a 16 year old neighbour. Few of the residents have been able to return home, through damage to their homes and fear of new landslides.

United Nations widens campaign to Madeira – In April, there will be launched here a mineral water for commercialisation to help in humanitarian causes of the ONU. The ‘Earth Water’ brings Fátima Lopez, the boyfriend of Madonna and maybe Luís Figo. As for who that is in the yellow dress in the bottom right hand corner to today’s front page, I have no idea, as it doesn’t appear to be Fátima Lopez (I thought she was older with shorter hair). The launch of the initiative will be at the Vine Hotel in Funchal on 14th April. All seems a bit odd to me … Madeira itself will be targeted to raise money for the ONU and it’s causes, at a time when it needs money raised for itself?

Swan Lake is "an extraordinary challenge" – The Diário watched two scenes of the ballet that joined together the Moscow Tchaikovsky Ballet and the Classical Orchestra of Madeira. It must have been a spectacular two and a half hours with 50 rather fit Russian ladies, probably some blokes too, and that was just the dress rehearsal. But unlike the Diário, Der’s blog doesn’t get free tickets for reviews, especially for the real thing tonight, so no review from me. There are still some tickets left (€50) if you are quick.

The main sport / football headline today : No sport headline … that’s two days running!

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and other material.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings. If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please don’t send in copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Spending cuts to reduce government deficit ; Pingo Doce owner pessimistic on future

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Becky … ‘Cruise ship silhouettes’

From vines to wines … Pete

I think you requested ‘meat on the bone’ more detail of the austerity budget for citizens / residents. Well, this is a good starting point. I am sure more detail, guidance will be on its way from the Government. Paul.

PORTUGAL – STABILITY AND GROWTH PROGRAMME 2010-2013

Memo from the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration – 08 March 2010.

The memo includes:

-Reduction of the General Government deficit and correction of the public debt growth by 2013

-The compensation of employees expenditure will be reduced to 10% of GDP in 2013, through a decrease of at least 100 million Euros per year of the overall amount of this expenditure. This goal will be achieved through:

• the reinforced implementation of the “at least two out for one in” rule;

• a policy of strong wage constraints

Social benefits will be reduced from 21.9% of GDP in 2009 to 21.4% of GDP in 2013.

Intermediate consumption expenditure

• Definition of outsourcing expenditure ceilings;

• Definition of a ceiling for expenditure on military equipment, through

40% reduction in the amount defined in the LPM (Military Funding Programme); not establishing any new commitments for military equipment purchasing.

• Reduction and rationalisation of current operating expenditure based, in particular, on the streamlining of public procurement and shared services processes. Link to full memo

Two from Elaine (East) : Interesting Festa da Flor poster. HERE

Helicopter flight anyone? HERE

From Tom : Expresso newspaper 6 of March Economy section – interview with one of the richest men of Portugal.

Alexandre Soares Dos Santos – owner of Pingo Doce stores all around Globe including Poland which he said is the Motor and tiger of arising Markets in Europe. He is there with 600 stores named Biedronka and he is going to open next 800. 60% of net profit of Grupo Jeronimo Martins, comes from Poland’s business. He said Russia and Ukraine are too corrupted to even think for him to invest.

On the home political front he said : The Prime-minister does not have psychological conditions to govern Portugal. Alexandre Soares fears an aggravation of the crisis with the increase of the unemployment and laments the situation. In a few months here (in Portugal) there will be no government." Very strong statement of the Man who knows.

Thanks a lot Paul, Elaine, Tom and Pete for the above links and articles.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 18/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

CDS want an investigation into the tragedy. Despite challenges by the opposition parties, the PSD has refused to establish a committee of inquiry into the tragedy of February 20th. The CDS-PP have formalized the request which requires 10 signatures from the opposition. The committee would assess responsibilities in the tragedy, especially licensing and building in areas of risk. The CDS think it is now time to take stock of the causes and consequences of the tragedy, especially to prevent the repetition of various situations. The main causes were: lack of planning and land management, improper occupation of land, construction on the banks and over the beds of streams and uncleared streams. The effects of the storms were exacerbated by insufficient afforestation of slopes and the dumping of earth and debris into waterways. The CDS propose immediate support to small businesses and families affected by the storms, cleaning streams and a review of the Municipal Master Plans and the preparation of plans for the coastline.

Taiwan wants to give money to Madeira but does not know whom to send it to. The solidarity has caused a diplomatic embarrassment as there is no representation of Taiwan in Portugal. The Portuguese Government does not want to anger China and does not want to offend Taiwan and refuse aid. If Taiwan gave money directly to Madeira, it would assume that these two regions are of similar status. (China considers Taiwan part of Chinese territory and not an independent state). The solution appears to be for the cheque to be given directly to Madeiran deputies in the Assembly of the Republic and then the funds distributed to the regional institutions.

MADEIRA

Crack could mean collapse. A fissure opened in a wall that supports land near the Business Park in Garachico in the parish of Estreito de Câmara de Lobos. The February rains have deepened the fissure and there could be subsidence of earth, trees and rocks if there are more episodes of intense rain. A landslide caused some damage a few days ago. The situation is being monitored by the council, Madeira Business Park and the Regional Secretariat for Social Infrastructure.

ECONOMY

Port news. The container ship BBC Scotland starts today replacing the Apollo on the Lisbon-Madeira route. The ship was built in China in 2002 and belongs to the shipowner Briese Schiffahrt. The ship is 100.58 metres long, 16.6 metres wide and has a draft of 6.4 metres. It has a gross tonnage of 4,090 tonnes and can carry 390 20-foot containers. Top speed is 15 knots, it requires a 15-strong crew and navigates under the British flag. The Lobo Marinho will sail two extra trips between Funchal and Porto Santo this weekend to increase availability for the ‘XIV Rally Porto Santo Line’. The extra trips are on Friday and Sunday as the rally takes place on the 19 – 20 March. — Is gross tonnage high for a ship with a volume of 10,685 cubic metres? (Diario original – arqueação bruta de 4.090 toneladas).

Madeira is selling well for Easter. Cape Verde and Disney in Paris are popular Easter holiday packages sold to the Portuguese public. There has a been slightly higher demand for Easter holiday tourism than in 2009. Both the Azores and Madeira are selling well. For long-haul, the Caribbean and Brazil remain the most sought after destinations. Tunisia and Egypt are also popular.

Choupana Hills Resort leads the nominations for the World Travel Awards. The WTA are the ‘oscars’ of tourism according to The Wall Street Journal. The Choupana Hills Resort leads the Portuguese nominations as it is a candidate in five categories and The Vine and Tivoli Madeira have three nominations. There are in total about 5,000 entries (airlines, tour operators, car rental firms, destinations and new hotels) from 162 countries. There are several Portuguese nominations. TAP is one of 10 airline candidates. Lisbon is nominated in four categories – Best Destination, Best Destination for City Breaks, Best Cruise Destination and Best Cruise Port. Several luxury hotels in the Algarve and some hotels in Madeira are also candidates.

UPDATE

Martins arrested in Brazil. Líbano Martins is detained in Brazil for the suspected abduction and homicide of the Porto Santo businessman Guilherme Alves. Martins was detained on January 22nd and is in custody awaiting an extradition process. The alleged three co-perpetrators of the crime carried out in July 2009 were arrested a few days after it was committed.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

ECONOMY

Daily flight to Ponta Delgada. The first SATA flight between Funchal and Ponta Delgada using the new Bombardier Q400 aircraft will be on Saturday. There will be initially two flights per week increasing to a daily flight in July and August. These aircraft have half the capacity of the current Airbus A320 but have lower costs, especially in fuel consumption. SATA hope to increase passenger numbers travelling between Madeira and the Canary Islands to the Azores and on the profitable North America routes. They also hope to transport more tourists on the Ponta Delgada / Funchal / Faro / Ponta Delgada link.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Father’s day – Facing the new challenges. The family of today, has a mother and father of equal competencies. Both need to be alert to modern dangers.

Today’s main news headline : Imprisonment of Martins in doubt – The Justice Police, quoting a note from the Minister for External Relations for Brazil, revealed the capture and detention of the alleged leader of the gang that kidnapped and killed Guilherme Alves. But the Federal Police of Baía denied to the Diário the imprisonment of Martins, saying that on the 22nd January he was just allowed extradition request [?]. The judiciary says that it is going to clarify the situation. There are now uncertainties about the arrest of José Martins, alleged gang leader in the kidnap and murder of the elderly Porto Santo businessman last year. The Brazilian Court has postponed the extradition order, and has not even confirmed the arrest. The Portuguese police, via Interpol, had applied for Martins to be extradited, and it seemed that had been accepted. What a mess … makings of an international incident here methinks if Martins end up not being extradited, or was not arrested in the first place!

Unemployment bordering on fifteen thousand – Official data says that 14,984 are looking for work, and that constitutes an increase of 38.9% in a year. Only the Algarve is worse. In the Azores there is a clear downward trend. That’s the official version of events, so now as usual we just await the statement of Uncle Bertie, president of Madeira and the Social Democrat party, with their versions of the numbers of unemployed, predicted by Der this time to be between just 17 and 22 people.

Houses on ‘a knifes edge’ – In the high zone of Fundoa, there are houses in danger of imminent collapse. Residents, who have arranged safer lodgings, only go there during the day. Until now nobody [authority] has appeared to say what will happen in the future. I think this photo is up around Monte, and I saw a similar situation a couple of weeks ago around Boa Morte, many kilometres from Funchal, and it was even a bit scary driving past it. Still many places unvisited by the authorities it seems. This small island, at times, seems a lot bigger than many judge it to be.

The main sports headline today : Regional [Rally] starts today on Porto Santo – There are several candidates for the title. The Diário heard the plans of the 27 contestants. Special rally edition of the Diário.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

Just announced, after the draw for the next round of the Europe League, that Benfica have drawn Liverpool, the first leg being in Lisbon. Liverpool won’t relish that after the last time they played Benfica in the Champions League. I think it was the year after Liverpool won it, that Benfica played pretty badly, but still managed to beat Liverpool home and away. I wait to be corrected …

"I nearly got caught out by a bogus email from Facebook the other day so beware. It is entitled something along the lines of "Facebook password reset confirmation customer support" and can do a lot of damage to your PC and steal your passwords". Jane. Thanks Jane, I got one too today, but luckily I saw your email first. Here the article about it on YAHOO

Thanks to Paul : Madeira and parts of the Continent on YELLOW alert today Friday: strong winds

Institute of Meteorology site: HERE Expresso: HERE

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and other material.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Santa Cruz – after the storm ; Taking advantage of a tragedy ; Drug investigations up 42%

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Pete … Storm damaged swimming pool area behind the Forte de São Tiago.

Cherimoyas. Some consider the cherimoya one of the most delicious fruits available, but its commercial production is limited by a short growing season and shelf life. The cherimoya is native to the valleys of Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia, spreading to Chile and Brazil during ancient times. The United States Department of Agriculture imported cherimoya seeds from the Madeira Islands in 1907. ARTICLE Thanks Elaine, looks like a Anona to me, and if so is one of my favourite fruits and just coming into season now I think, and quite cheap too.

German submarine U-68 near sunk near Madeira Island … Pete ARTICLE Thanks Pete

Jon kindly sent in a write up on progress in the clean up and repairs needed in Santa Cruz. Hover over a photo for a brief description, click on a photo for full size. Many thanks Jon …

23 Days After … "Partly in response to the (removed) query about the Vila Gale Hotel in Santa Cruz the other day but mainly as a small follow on to your report, I attach some photos of our local area, taken over the weekend and today. All our mains services are fully restored but clean up ongoing. All roads passable but some still without "edge" walls and undermined or with tarmac missing in parts and potholes. The landscape and forest area around and above us is deeply scarred with the water run off channels, trees and rock debris etc. – the face of the land changed forever. All local houses O.K. but I don’t know about those in the higher areas of Gaula and Santa Cruz. Ribeira bridges repaired in Santa Cruz and promenade now fully open but walk with care; damaged walkways, loose rocks and unstable cliff face ….. Hotel Gale seems to be operating normally although the public pebble beach that fronts it is not, somewhat bashed. All cafes/bars and restaurants fully up and running in Santa Cruz (town) itself and some tourists out and about spending money….the daily fruit/veg/fish/flower market is also open as normal and is as quaint as ever!"

Marítimo lost their league game last night at Paços de Ferreira 1 – 0, following on from Sunday night when Nacional were defeated at home by Benfica, again by a single goal.

If anyone should see a summary of the government budget cuts and changes, please let me know. So far over the last few days changes to taxes (increases for high earners), I have heard of restraints in public services, including pay restrictions for public service workers, a cut in unemployment benefit (new ceiling imposed), and also reductions in allowable tax expenses (deductions for 2010) have been announced. It would be useful for many to have a summary. Thanks.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 15/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Criminal activity in 2009. Last year, Public Ministry investigations were for: 3,875 crimes against property, 1,264 against inheritance, 301 against the state and 80 unpaid cheques. Highlighted in the figures was the 42.5% increase in drug trafficking (285). There were the highest number of cases of domestic violence ever (1,025). Other prosecutions were: 597 for driving without authorization, under the influence of alcohol or other traffic offences, 46 charges of corruption, 33 cases of coercion and resisting arrest, 71 against sexual freedom and empowerment of children, 31 cases of violence against children and 6 cases of violence against the elderly. In the past 8 years, 11 men and 1 woman have been arrested for rape. Half were in their 20s and the two youngest were 17 years of age. More than half of the victims were aged between 40 and 65, and eight of the crimes were committed in the residence of the victim.

Two families tried to take advantage of the storm. Two families from a social housing complex in Santo Amaro in Santo António attempted to take advantage of the bad weather of February 20th to get a better house from IHM. The eight people involved spent one night at RG3 but were detected immediately as false applicants.

MADEIRA

Stopped work obstructs stream. Residents living in the vicinity of the Ribeiro do Moreno in Santa Cruz are worried by debris from the floods of February 20th blocking the water course. The stream runs beneath the airport and is obstructed between the bridge linking Rua de São Sebastião to the placa do aeroporto (?). Flooding closed the Rua de São Sebastião and Rua de Santa Catarina for three days. The cause of the blockage is a seven year old concrete and iron remnant from when a petrol filling station began to be constructed. The construction was stopped when there was a dispute over inheritance of the land. The injunction has not been lifted and the structure still stands in the stream. The case is under review.

‘Clean Portugal’ (‘Limpar Portugal’) has 121 volunteers in Madeira. The volunteers will try to clean the forests in one day – next Saturday. This is a nationwide campaign based on an initial event in Estonia in 2008. The event coincides with the Day of the Forest. So far, they have no offers of help from residents in São Vicente and Porto Moniz. Instead, the movement has volunteers from Funchal to Ribeira Brava and from Machico to Porto Santo. Posters advertising the ‘L’ day have the slogan: ‘We’ll do it. And you? You’ll stay at home’. To adhere: CLICK HERE

Boy injured in explosion. A nine-year old boy was injured on Saturday afternoon after finding a ‘bottle bomb’ while playing at his home in Lombo dos Aguiares in Santo António. This exploded in his hand and he has had minor surgery for hand injuries and facial burns. He will require plastic surgery later on.

Wettest winter since 1865. December – February 2009 / 10 was the wettest season since records began in 1865. The amount of rainfall was three times the normal rate between 1971 – 2000. During February, Funchal was the wettest area and had seven times the average amount of rain. This was also the most since 1865. Porto Santo had the third wettest winter since records began in 1940.

ECONOMY

Porto Santo Line solidarity with victims. Porto Santo Line will donate 50,000 Euros to two charities. The company’s revenue from ticket sales for last weekend’s six trips between Funchal and Port Santo is to be donated to the victims of the storm of February 20th. Previously, the firm had promised to make the donation up to the sum of 50,000 Euros, so they had to add a few thousand Euros. The ferry transported 673 passengers to Porto Santo and 700 to Funchal.

POLITICS

Region wasting funds for poverty reduction. The leader of the Socialist Party, Jacinto Serrão accused the Regional Government of not utilizing funds made available by the Government of the Republic for social intervention. "The social fragility of the region is deliberately hidden by the Madeiran Government." The government has not divulged the serious situation linked to Social Security, growing debts of businesses. Part of this hidden reality is the low rate of allocation of social benefits, much lower than given by the State, contradictory to the regional reality. One of the political consequences of new information the party has gained from the former president of Social Security, is that the Socialist Party request a parliamentary debate on the state of Social Security.

UPDATES

Swan Lake ballet in Funchal on April 1st. The Moscow Tchaikovsky Ballet, accompanied by the OCM, will perform Swan Lake at 21.00 at the Congress Centre of Madeira. This is the first big event in the program celebrating the centenary of the Clube Desportivo Nacional.

Compensation rises to 133 million Euros. The Portuguese Association of Insurers estimates the amount of compensation claimed after the storm of February 20th will reach 150 million Euros. Already, 1,532 claims have been recorded. Originally, they estimated a loss of 60 million Euros. This is the worst event in the history of Portuguese insurance.

Storms cause 40 million Euros losses in agriculture and forestry. The losses have been sustained by bad weather since December. 2,300 farmers have applied for grants for damage and they can claim for 85% of damage. The extraordinary storm of February 20th has led to the Regional Government to ask the EU to increase the support to 95%.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Council accuses company of filling the river with rubbish – Santa Cruz suppresses contract because of the dumping in Camacha. The company boss concerned denies everything.

‘The law of the stoppers’ with opposing interpretations – Prohibiting internal criticisms within the Social Democrat Part [national level] is ‘fascism’ for Filipe Malheiro, and an ‘act of courage’ for Rafaela Fernandes. This has been a main headline in the national media for several days now, when a resolution was passed in the PSD party conference that enables party leaders to expel members who openly criticise the party. Watch out Uncle Bertie, as it seems to be your favourite pastime! Somehow I don’t think any PSD party leader would have the guts to expel him, as it would just make the situation even worse. UB at the conference was treated as a hero by friends and foes at the conference, as he rides a high tide of public opinion due to the sympathy and the following reaction to the disaster of 20th February.

Today’s main news headline : Government raises [constructs] walls on the sandy areas – Gradually the houses on the beach front of Porto Santo have become holiday homes for the more powerful leaders. The Regional Government turned a blind eye, but prohibited new units. Now the fierceness of the ocean has led the government itself to the beach to protect these homes, starting through one of Jardim’s helpers. The sand dunes suffer. Even the Council of Porto Santo protests.

Storm : Santa Cruz quits from the ‘City Of Culture 2010′. The decision was taken by council president José Alberto Gonçalves, who considered it more important to focus on the need to rehome people and recuperate the area after the storm of 20th February.

More than two hundred put to work in zones affected by the storm. The exercise repeats at the month end. Two hundred and forty-two people will be put to work in local institutions and charities in the areas most affected by the storms of 20th February. The program of recruitment of workers was set up by the Government, and is aimed at the unemployed receiving unemployment benefits. The deadline for applications ended on Monday, but at the end of the month the recruitment drive will be reopened for another wave of applications. The placement program for unemployed does not have any cost to local authorities or to social institutions that provide support to victims of the storm. Workers continue to receive unemployment benefits increased by 25% of the regional minimum wages, in addition to allowances for transportation.

Nacional tourists feel the urge to visit Madeira – President of the Executive Commission of Mundovip is convinced that the national market is going to grow this year in the Region. Those responsible for the major tour operators are on Madeira today.

Boost in the promotion of the Flower festival in the internal market. Trinidade and Estudante [national and regional tourism bosses] discuss campaign for the winning and promotion of air routes.

Storms cause €40 million of damage in Madeiran agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture is available to support proposals in Brussels.

The main sports / football headline today : Bad luck brings defeat and distances Marítimo from the Europa League – Lack of effectiveness and a great goalkeeping performance were the foundation of the defeat (1 – 0) in Paços de Ferreira.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and other material.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

3 weeks on in Ribeira Brava

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:55:00 +0000

I started writing this yesterday, prompted by the ‘Big Sunday Interview’ on Antennae 1, and by a few things I had read and heard this week about the so called ‘return to normal’. You will just have to make your own minds up, as there is so much conflicting information about the state of recovery of the island, all probably true to some extent, and at the same time too generalised to be representative of the complete truth. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, there has not been much written by blog readers about what has happened in the last 3 weeks in the areas where they live or know, so what you read in the media is what you are tempted to accept, and obviously the media has to operate within certain constraints that stop a complete and accurate coverage of the situation.

The aforementioned interview was with Ismael Fernandes, president of the conselho (region) of Ribeira Brava, who has been totally tied up with the response to the storm and floods of 20th February. In a space of about 40 minutes yesterday, he was grilled on every aspect possible of the impact, damage, clean up and recovery, and longer term issues arising from that horrible day. It has been well documented about the problems within and outside the town, being one of the worst hit regions of Madeira. I have to admit the response from Ismael and his team has been absolutely remarkable, as well as from the public at large, especially given the restrictions in resources and finances, and having to work within priorities and restraints coming from higher powers. Thank you Ismael and everyone.

I donned my headphones and wandered into Ribeira Brava town to see how Sunday morning looks these days, and listened to the interview during my wander.

The beach area at Ribeira Brava has grown enormously since the 20th February. The whole area that was water on the East side of the sea front is now natural beach, having been created in two phases during bad weather, the later ‘completion’ stage followed on from the torrents of 20th February. The sea now laps just over the short line that separates the two concrete sea barriers, with a now much calmer river weaving a new course to the sea from one day to the next. The Eastern end of that East beach is now piled high with inerts … sand, mud and stone, that came down with the torrents and has been dredged from the river beds and elsewhere, and ‘stored’ there whilst decisions are made. The volume is just incredible, and on Saturday, at times the movement and noise of heavy machinery was more noticeable than the normal flow of traffic in the town.

Ismael was explaining about the situation with water in certain zones of his responsibility. There are still many homes without water at all and without drinking water. That situation will continue, as the repairs to the infrastructure look to a more permanent solution for those living on the West side of the conselho, after a Winter of problems with the supply of water that comes from Ponta do Sol.

A bit further along the beach, at the mouth of the river at the promenade bridge, there is the gathered remains of a rusted and twisted tanker lorry, in bits and pieces. Presumably finally providing the evidence of what actually caused the major structural damage to the ‘centennial’ bridge, now being demolished.

Asked about support for traders in the town, Ismael was honest in his response that in the town itself, no businesses were actually destroyed and those who had suffered would have their insurance policies to claim their losses. The reality is that some of the more public-facing businesses may have lost some days of trading from being directly in the path of the flood water, others suffered through cuts in the water supply, but the levels of trade now seem lower than ever, despite a very thorough clean up. What the financial crisis started, the floods seem to have finished off. Being a Sunday lunchtime, normally the busiest time of the week, plenty of people milling around, but the chinking of money was nowhere to be heard. Quite a few tourists were stopping and looking, and stopping and looking …

A bit further along at the supervised beach area and swimming pool, there is so much debris it is incredible. It is not an accumulation of debris either, as the clean up from previous storms was well in hand when 20th February arrived. Whole trees and masses of plastic debris and other rubbish actually prevent a clear view of the lapping waves, and partially obscured the numerous fishermen out to catch their Sunday lunch. They were doing very well, with considerable quantities of small to medium sized fish being caught during the five minutes I sat and watched. From a distance they looked like Dourado, so I suspect the nets of the offshore fish farm at Campanário got damaged yet again. The number of active fishermen has been increasing during the Winter, for financial reasons I guess, so this must have been Christmas come early for some.

Ismael was asked about José Feliz, the young man that has been left homeless, and cêntimoless, after his whole family perished in Pomar da Rocha. He confirmed that he was now living with an aunt (not close family), he now had clothes, a laptop computer, and has actually been offered a job that he can fit in with his education. No mention of his new Nikes, kindly funded by generous blog readers. He is receiving psychological help, and Ismael said that the town is rallying around to support the lad.

The river bed of the Ribeira Brava has been a hive of activity over recent days. Tipper trucks and diggers have been digging out an incredible amount of inert material deposited there on and after 20th February, that have raised the river bed to potentially dangerous levels in the event of another heavy storm arriving. Looking day to day the work doesn’t seem to be making much progress, but the pile on the beach is getting so much bigger, that the river bed level must be dropping. Most of the old bridge has now been demolished, with just the West arch left standing. Water still pours from the damaged pipework that was affixed to the side. (top photo).

To glean some idea of the extent of the rubbish brought down by the torrents, one also needs to wander along the old coast road leading to Tabua, that has been closed for some years. The concrete barrier has been removed at the end of the parking zone, and from then on the road is piled high with driftwood and other rubbish, waiting to be sifted and sorted, some materials destined for recycling or reuse.

The church square, in the worst affected area, has long been cleaned after being submerged in mud, as has the church itself. The decorative handmade courtyard surface is damaged in several places, and obviously the floral aspects were also washed away. The furniture shop at the side that took the brunt of the flood was emptied, with talk of €150,000 worth of damage.

Much of Ismael’s interview covered other areas north of the town, particularly Serra de Água, but my knowledge of that area is very limited so I could not really say exactly what was happening there and exactly where, but it is no secret that the worst of the problems hit back there, and any talk of normality is just not an option at this stage.

We know what happened to many homes, some lost, some badly damaged. Large areas of land have been lost, and crops and peoples livelihoods along with them. And as for the homeless, well they’re still wandering around town in slowly reducing numbers, but at least they have a roof over their heads and food, until better options are found. Missing people … yes of course, and they comprise two of Feliz’s family, including his mother, and that is a sad but certain outcome. Back to normal, no, getting back to normal … at a stretch possibly.

Thanks to Sheila for the photo of the house in Serra de Água.

Funchal – before & after ; Who wants the debris at what cost ; Doubts about biomass

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:50:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Tom … Via rápida bridge over Funchal

"Thought you may find this of interest. Madeira’s isolated areas with Internet may be solved, with this new technology … Pete".

"Life the other side of the Island" … Pete VIDEO HERE

"Close to nature" … Pete ROOTS OF A PEOPLE

"This may be more interesting about a slooper that got involved with Madeira fort in 1825. You can delete old story if you like, if it been used before" … Pete HERE

FUNCHAL

BEFORE AND AFTER

Thanks Pete, and Tom for the extra photos, 4 snippets from Elaine (East), many thanks …

Island Escape is the cruise ship based in Funchal that cruises the Canary Islands. Cruise passengers to sue over norovirus outbreaks. Hundreds of British holidaymakers are planning legal action against Thomson Holidays and Fred Olsen Cruise Lines after several outbreaks of gastric illness on the cruise ships Island Escape and Boudicca. HERE

Highlighting the new golf course complex at Ponto do Pargo as a good investment. Is it time to invest in golf property in Madeira? HERE

Interview with a wine writer. But life continues and so does our stay in Madeira. Half of the trip’s 36 days are now spent and what we’ve experienced so far are almost hard to understand. Treated like kings I am overwhelmed by the Madeiran’s generosity and the wine’s they produce! I thought I had tasted some great wines on the noble grapes but so far I’ve been tasting wines that now are new reference points for me – especially exceptional Boal’s from 1903, 1920 & 1922 from Pereira d’Oliveira and Blandy’s. HERE

Above website led me to his other blog Mad about Madeira. A salute to a classic wine HERE

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 14/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

‘War of the stones’ divides government and mayors. It is a scene of war that is causing eruptions within the government. Companies had been ordered to transport stones and other materials deposited by the floods to the Marina do Lugar de Baixo, but the Regional Secretary for Social Infrastructure thought this decision was dubious. In the Ribeira Brava Council and different departments of the Regional Government, there are suspicions that the deposits at the marina were just to solve the significant cost of building a protecting breakwater. The Mayor of Ribeira Brava is reluctant to withdraw the inert materials from the mouth of the streams as he wants them for later use in the county. For a long time the mayor has wanted an extension to the promenade between Ribeira Brava and Tabua. Using the deposited material for this construction would end the landslides onto the coastal road, provide landfill and a wall, and create a new promenade that links the two areas. The initial order to transport all the material to the marina will not be met as Santos Costa has made it clear that the material should be used for constructing retaining walls around streams and for roads, then any remaining deposits sent to the marina. In Serra de Água, Ribeira Brava, Tabua and Madalena do Mar, small contractors have been withdrawing stones from the streams for one or two large companies, at the request of the government. This has led to a complaint from the Mayor of Ponta do Sol, who opposes the policy of Santos Costa. It is doubtful it the government will pay for the large construction companies removal of this material which has great commercial value. The Mayor of Funchal, Miguel Albuquerque, has to find finances for losses of 200 million Euros. Miguel Albuquerque fell out with the government when Funchal Council would not join the new firm Água e Resíduos da Madeira. The council will now have to independently finance the repair of the sanitation and water supplies. Miguel Albuquerque’s challenging independent stance, and the public praise for the decision to store the deposits on Praia Formosa and Carreiras, might cause shock waves in the future (Jardim’s replacement).

Segadães said that "cheap becomes expensive". Problem: Some bridges collapsed and others were flooded. Solution: Build bridges above street level and pedestrian-only bridges in urban areas. Structural engineers have a role in the reconstruction of Madeira in the post-storm of February 20th. An alternative route is needed over the Ribeira de João Gomes (between Alto da Pena and Rochinha). One proposal is a flyover at Campo da Barca linking Rua Santiago Menor and cota 40. What is agreed is that bridges will not have to be affected by any future flooding from the streams in lower Funchal or Ribeira Brava. Arched bridges with support pillars in the streams are now known to be unsuitable. Funchal needs more pedestrian bridges to allow better traffic flow and roundabouts should not be built over streams. Antonio Segadães Tavares designed the award winning extension to the airport runway. He said he does not share the idea that the flood was a new event to the region but was a bit more than others. We need to learn from the flood and that "cheap becomes expensive". The vice-president of Funchal Council said it is now essential to have the Viaduto da Cota 120 – a second crossing over the Ribeira de João Gomes. The president of the regional section of the Ordem of Engineers said there is a difficult cost-benefit equation. Bridges above street level are ten times more expensive than those at street level. The visual impact is also important.

MADEIRA

Court recognizes owners of Urbanization VIP. In the litigation case, the court recognizes that the owners of these houses are entitled to take part in the proceedings. The nine town houses that constitute Urbanization VIP were licensed in 2002 by Funchal Council. They were then the target of a class action, having been built on an ‘urban green area’ as outlined in the PDM. In 2006, their construction and licensing were ruled illegal although some houses were already inhabited. The council then included them in the new Urban Plans for the area and the promoter ‘Conselheiro -Actividade Imobiliária, Lda.’ appealed to the court to revoke the interim decision. The judge dismissed the claim. In 2008, the council tried to resolve the dispute by issuing a licence but again this was ruled illegal. The home owners produced legal documents to prove they had acted in good faith but the court rejected their claim to be interested parties. This latter decision has now been overturned.

30 families waiting for a new home. More than 30 families are living in precarious conditions in Rua do Poço Barral, São Martinho. The rooms were already in a poor state before the bad weather this winter. They know there are others in worse conditions, such as those made homeless, but ask the authorities not to forget them. The houses were built illegally over thirty years ago. There are leaks, crumbling ceilings, cracked walls and constant damp. Their clothes and the house contents smell mouldy. The owners have delivered documented evidence to Funchal Council who said they would relocate the residents to solve the problem. The authorities insist they will rehouse the most needy first, although they do recognize that the situation is problematic.

ECONOMY

Biomass will not solve forest fires. The Regional Director of Forestry is not convinced the region will benefit from the installation of a new biomass plant in Santo da Serra. He has doubts about the operation of the plant and its impact on the Madeiran forests. Nutroton Energias want to build this plant. They have invested in renewable energy in Porto Santo and obtained a licence for the installation of large solar panels at Caniçal. A biomass plant is only profitable if the material for burning has a diameter more than 8 centimetres, whereas most of the undergrowth causing forest fires is of a smaller diameter. Thus, the Regional Director thinks the plant will not solve the problem of forest fires. The Department of Forestry is there to protect and promote the forests, so needs to know beforehand if any timber is to be felled. To cause deforestation in order to produce energy is not reasonable. 60% of forests are on private land and the owner’s permission is needed for logging. Raw material for biomass combustion is cheaper if it is imported, as it is difficult to access land in Madeira because of the topography of the island as opposed to the Continent. Imported wood needs to be free from pests. If the process leads to better forests, it is welcomed. An expert said that a biomass plant is only useful if revenue is taken from both heat generated (70%) and electricity produced, as if only electricity is provided the income drops to 22%.

Data on forests in Madeira.

59,000 hectares of forests, half of which is natural forest.

16,000 hectares could be used for biomass, or 153 tons of trees.

Calheta has the largest area of forests in the region.

Bush and herbaceous plants occupy 24,000 hectares of the forests.

POLITICS

Court detect illegalities in the accounts of MPT. After the accusations, Ismael Fernandes now produces his evidence at the Constitutional Court. He alleges that irregularities in the accounts of the electoral campaign for the last regional elections were committed by the Earth Party and its financial agencies. He was the former president of the MPT and justifies his actions: he did not notice the dates when he sent the bills to the accountant; lacked experience and did not act in bad faith. The MPT failed to submit to the Constitutional Court a statement of campaign revenue and expenses. The audit identified expenses amounting to 16,923.90 Euros, supported by invoices issued after the election, which cannot be considered campaigning expenses.

More later maybe … especially if someone would be kind enough to contribute something …

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and other material.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Flood clean-up video ; Euro interest rate held ; Whale watching ; SS Funchal liner

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Roslyn … "The sun is rising again over Madeira – Sunrise over Funchal from the Casino Park Hotel September 2009".

Many thanks to Elaine (East) for these two web snippets :

Watching whales in Madeira. Madeira is a great place to visit! It has long been a popular destination among those seeking respite from the northern European winter, but while its gentle climate has long been celebrated, it is less widely known for its rich marine-life HERE

Anyone heard of the Madeira Liberation Army? Police blitzed by odd Maddie claims. ….The wacky reports include: An email from the Madeira Liberation Army who claimed to be holding Madeleine and had a video showing her in good health, but couldn’t vouch for her safety unless the city of Funchal was granted independence. UK DAILY STAR

More on that story HERE … many thanks to Don

Many thanks to Pete, why said this fine ship used to do the Lisbon-Azores-Madeira service … "SS Funchal is one of a few Classic Liners still operating today as a cruise ship. This delightful 10,000–ton Portuguese cruise ship has become a favourite for many around the world as passengers return again and again to cruise on her. Although 46 year old, she has received a number of refits and has been meticulously maintained". FULL STORY

Pete also found this link … a biography of one of my personal local heroes ALBERTO JOÃO JARDIM

And many thanks to Becky for this update video … 10 days after the floods in Funchal.

And you thought, or maybe even hoped, that I had forgotten this weekends football? Today at 4 pm Marítimo host Académica, and tomorrow Nacional visit V. Guimarães … SportTV1 8.15 pm. I believe it is free entrance for the Marítimo game today for both lots of supporters, but I can’t guarantee that.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has kept the eurozone interest rate at its record low of 1% for the 10th month in a row, as expected. The ECB also signalled it would scale back the special lending measures introduced during the financial crisis. ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet said that economic recovery in the euro area was "on track but will remain uneven". (Source : BBC).

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 06/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Tragedy caused a loss of 1.6 million Euros in tourism revenue. Madeira had 15,000 fewer tourists the week after the disaster of February 20th. This is the conclusion drawn from the movements through the port and airport and data provided by the main hotels on the island. Six cruise ships cancelled with a loss of 13,000 visiting passengers. 20% of these ships were going to stay overnight. At least 2,000 hotel guests cancelled or returned early. There were 6,000 fewer plane passengers arriving of which 70% would have been tourists or 27,000 overnight stays. The average stay is 5.4 nights and the largest losses were international flights (- 49.8%). The impact on tourism was a loss of 1.1 million Euros from hotels and half a million Euros from cruise ships. This is based on an estimated 40 Euros spent per day by each cruise ship passenger, and the official statistics from last year in relation to the revenue from hotel guests (249.28) or the cost of overnight stays (41.90). The average bed occupancy rate for February was 40%, a 6.7% drop from last year and from the 57.1% achieved in February 2008. Hotel receptionists said that many tourists returned early after seeing distressing images in the newspaper reports. They gave donations and the majority said they would still like to return to Madeira. The decrease in hotel reservations for March is worst for the five-star hotels (31% bed occupancy rate compared to 37.2% last year) and three-star hotels (64.5% as opposed to 72.6%). The average occupancy for March is predicted at 52% which has been decreasing gradually from 53.1% last year, 64.45% in 2008 and 60.7% in 2007.

MADEIRA

It rained seven times more than normal. In February, there were 458.7 millimetres of precipitation in Funchal, which is almost seven times the average for this month. This corresponds to the highest figure in February since records began in 1865. The amount of rain that fell on February 20th, 144.3 mm, is the highest since 1920. In one hour, more than 50 mm fell. 2nd February was the second wettest day this February, with a recorded 129 mm. On the Continent, February was the wettest for 24 years and there was above average rainfall in the Azores. Wind speed registered gusts of 57 km/h on the 4th February in Funchal and 108 km/h at the weather station at Areeiro. Alberto Jardim calls for an end to alarmist news about bad weather. "The worst thing that can happen to society is living under alarmism. We need serenity, very calm and gradually diminish the psychological effects that the tragedy has caused."

Progress after the storm. In the county of Ribeira Brava, there are two people still missing and 211 people remain homeless. 90% of the roads are cleared of debris and the demolition of the century-old bridge has begun. The bridge was partially damaged by the flood and it will be replaced by a suspension bridge which, unlike the old one, does not depend on two supports in the stream. There are no more isolated areas in the county now the new military bridge connects Fajã da Ribeira to the rest of the island. The population in Curral das Freiras are returning to normal life but still become alarmed at the instability of some slopes with landslides occurring. They feel trapped in the isolated area and one person is still missing. There are 34 families homeless in Câmara de Lobos municipality. Roads in Jardim de Serra have all been cleaned and repaired. Santa Cruz Council rehoused only 6 of 83 families last week. They do not know when the remaining 77 families will be permanently settled as they want to return to the areas they used to live in. 48 homes suffered significant damage and repair work should begin next week on some of them, but another 19 homes cannot be recovered (one shown in photo). There are a total of 237 homeless in the county and 184 of these are staying with relatives or neighbours. The machines are still slowly working along the ribeira da Luso-Brasileira, next to the Estrada do Livramento, to remove the large amounts of sludge and debris. They have to work slowly as there are still people missing in the area.

POLITICS

Ismael Fernandes leaves the MPT. Ismael Fernandes held a senior position in the Earth Party and gave the motive for his resignation as dishonest financial management by the party leader Isidoro Gonçalves. He will not give details of the amount of debt but said, "I am not responsible for any debt the party has undertaken while I was part of the directorate." "I also resign for the reckless and dishonest way that João Isidoro manages the finances of the party." Isidoro wants Ismael to clarify any complaints about his financial management or be guilty of defamation. Ismael thinks the future of the party is very black (dark/gloomy) under Isidoro’s leadership and he has not received any reactions from other members of the administration. Isidoro denies any illegality in the accounts, noting that they are available to party members and the Constitutional Court. The party has a debt of 100,000 Euros, of which 40,000 Euros are from the MPT’s festa and will be paid by the end of the mandate. He said Ismael resigned the day after the party approved cuts in remunerations and the management model has not changed over the past two years. Both Ismael Fernandes and João Isidoro were members of the Socialist Party, then left and set up the independent MPT (Movimento Partido da Terra).

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Today’s main news headline : Equipment [infrastructure] situated in risk zones – Of concern, schools, fire stations, pavilions, and commercial centres. Locations : river banks, unstable cliff faces, close to the sea. Taking into account the work of reconstruction. MAP OF ‘AT RISK’ CONSTRUCTIONS HERE This is a Diário assessment of over 30 strategic structures on Madeira and Porto Santo island that they consider at risk from nature and natural events.

European support in the hands of [prime minister] Sócrates – Commissioner Johannes Hahn was moved by the evidence left by the water torrents and considers the situation inside the parameters that permit European support. But almost everything depends on Lisbon. What Hahn said was that he only takes responsibility for the support coming from the European Solidarity Fund, and the rest is down to central government renegotiating the support ‘package’ destined for Portugal. That needs Prime Minister José Sócrates to take on board a different strategy. It’s a tricky issue, because it will mean that the government may need to agree to divert money originally intended for structural and cohesion funding, but there are also other possibilities, said Hahn, indicating the the EU would be a flexible as possible given the right approach from the Portuguese Government.

Thieves steal articles intended for those made homeless – The warehouse of the charity Caritas in Nazaré was raided.

Number of dead from the big storm rises to 43.

Business remains closed in some parts of the city of Funchal – Recovery works prolonged in the rua da Alfândega and Tanoeiros.

Fado solidarity concert sold out. That’s the the big photo on the left, taken at the fund raising event last night at the Casino.

The main sports headline today : Bernardo Sousa wins Torrié Rally – The Madeiran makes a great start in the Rally Championship of Portugal 2010. Vítor Sá was obliged to pull out. It was Bernardo’s first title at national level, as he and co-driver Nuno Rodrigues da Silva drove their Ford Fiesta S2000 to victory. At one stage they lost control of the car and could have been killed, and that cost them over 50 seconds off their advantage, making the achievement even more remarkable. They won by a 6.6 second margin in the end. Next stop for Bernardo is in April, in Jordan.

A right old mixture of extremes of good and bad news on today’s front page. Two showing support for Madeira from the population, and from Europe, and then those thieving gits in Nazaré spoiling the show. How low can people get! The article about infrastructures in danger may be technically factual, but most certainly over the top, and will do nothing to help the tourism or economic situation here. Wherever one builds a property in this world there are some some risks, and building by a mountain that has existed from long before mankind indicates that it is likely to still be there in a good many years from now. And yes rocks will fall, rivers will flood, and the power of the sea will take its toll now and again, but what are we supposed to do, go back to living in caves? I, like many others who have homes here, looked up at a towering rockface when contemplating my new home, and thought about the possibility of a serious rock fall, but that was a risk far too small to deter me.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Teaming up with the French and Spanish ; Santa Cruz update ; Shopping by army truck

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Rita … "Lovely place for a honeymoon, taken from the plateau".

(I vaguely remember those days … sunshine and wispy clouds. Der)

Many thanks to Elaine (West) for this from yesterday’s Jornal da Madeira :

Emigrants from England help Victor. Five Madeiran emigrants who live in Walsall, England, returned to Madeira to see what is happening in their homeland after the storm and also to give aid to Vítor, the boy from Serra d’Agua who told the Jornal da Madeira that in the flood he had lost money which he had saved to help his father. When they saw the story written in the Jornal da Madeira by Judith Sousa of RTP International, and Victor’s photo, the brothers Vieira and Silva called on the Church of St. Jude’s in Chamberlin Hill to help Madeira, and in particular the nine-year old boy.

The appeal touched many people, resulting in donations totalling 130 Euros to give to Vítor, in compensation for the amount that he had lost. The rest of the money collected from the population of Walsall was delivered by the emigrants to a Madeiran association concerned with the recovery of the island and assistance to evacuees.

The brothers João and Diogo Vieira, João Xavier, José Antonio and Duarte Silva leave today for England, after a week visiting their families in Boa Nova and, insofar as they could, helping Madeira.

And thanks also to Paul for this :

Braemar Cruise Liner will head south for the sub-tropical delights of Madeira from October 2010.

Fred Olsen’s European Cruises for 2010 include Funchal. Every cruise offers the friendly and attentive service typical of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

‘The Canaries Collection’ will start from the 5th October 2010. The ship will leave from Dover, then go to Funchal (Madeira), Santa Cruz (La Palma), Santa Cruz (Tenerife), Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), Arrecife (Lanzarote), Lisbon (Portugal), Dover. SOURCE

Jon & Deb dropped me a line yesterday, and I am sure they won’t mind me reproducing it here and filling up some empty blog space with an interesting report :

All well at this end although it’s going to take "forever" to get our roads / bridges and walls back "up". Massive devastation in the forests / hills above us – mostly washed down (and away) our way, taking the "easy" route either side of our house (some down our road) but mainly down the valley and ending up across the rapida. Has undermined the foundations of the greenhouses below us – ribeira went underground! The promenade bridge in Santa Cruz (adjacent to the Hotel Vila Gale) is damaged badly and was nearly washed away and the promenade is closed – currently being "worked on" – noisy for Hotel guests (but not according to the tourist board)! The President of Santa Cruz has been strangely quiet … but we do have diggers and lorries clearing up locally. Our nearest access roads are now passable with care – two are severely undermined for half their width and with no walls, just some fluttering plastic tape if you are lucky! The main road leading into Santa Cruz has had half it’s tarmac stripped bare and is effectively down to one (zig zag) lane with many arterial roads still partially blocked by landslides, some "ongoing". Water supply fully restored but with many vulnerable bare surface pipes and holes in roads at water "distribution" points, it is in danger of failing again – not to mention the "leaning electric poles of Gaula" that are in danger of falling over unless fixed! The infrastructure is not good BUT people are going about their daily business as well as they can and working hard and looking forwards – the spirit of the Madeira people is amazing, friendly, helpful and determined.

Cloudy, windy and showers here today but … the sun has just broken through!

Glad that you are safe, sound etc – thoughts go to your local peoples and their personal tragedy.

Jon and Deb p.s. Good news – From Sheila, Sally the dog has been adopted!

This came in from Pete, and I have not had time to look at it yet, but I am sure if must be good!

"This could be interesting how UK troops got involved with Funchal in 1931". TIME MAGAZINE MADEIRA HISTORY : Please read 20th century 1931 … as well … Pete

Many thanks to Elaine once again for some odds and ends and yesterday’s top news stories :

Apparently, the tourist attractions are a near-death experience in Fungchal, Madeira. …Yesterday we started out by walking along the shorefront in Fungchal, Madeira and it is a beautiful spot. We only had a couple of hours before we had to be back on the boat to catch an excursion so we stayed close by but the water is gorgeous as is the town, even with the mud that lined the streets. Apparently there had been a lot of rain and flooding and they were at the end of cleaning it up. There were beautiful gardens and we got some great pictures … MORE

The plane spotters have PHOTOS of the Portuguese Air Force planes bringing in equipment.

DIÁRIO 04/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Almost a thousand people apply for psychological support. In the early days after the storm of 20th February, the Department of Mental Health assisted over five hundred people of all ages. In the temporary morgue near the airport and at the Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça, the department supported more than 300 people. In recent days, after the first three or four days, it has settled back to the normal demand on the services. Some people will need constant monitoring. There is a healthy expression of grief but some people might show signs of post traumatic stress disorder later on.

Urban arrangement in place of the landfill. The provisional ‘pebble beach’ at the Avenida do Mar may be the basis of an urban intervention that benefits Funchal. This mound of earth and stones was removed from the streams over the past two weeks. They can either be removed and used in the reconstruction work or can remain there and be the basis of an urban arrangement. The authorities have not yet made a decision. According to the Jornal da Madeira, on this makeshift platform at the sea front, there has been deposited over 100,000 cubic metres of stone. This is equivalent to 5,500 lorry trips.

Urban slopes require engineering solutions. There were four deaths and three people went missing from the Rua Prof. Eleutério de Aguiar in the area of Laranjal, on the 20th February. There is still a threat of landslides in this area so Funchal Council has sent teams from specialist companies to identify possible engineering solutions. Until their surveys are completed, people in this area are warned not to return home. Some houses in high-risk areas might have to be abandoned. The residents return during the day to clean their houses but do not feel secure enough to sleep there.

MADEIRA

Taken to the supermarket by army truck. 500 residents have been isolated for the past 15 days in Lombo do Moleiro in Serra, as the road has not been usable. The army has laid on transport to allow residents to collect essential supplies, for example food and medicines. The link between São Vicente and Ribeira Brava was open for civilian vehicles only between 1 and 2 pm before being reopened yesterday afternoon. There is provisional access between Meia-Légua and Serra de Água. Care needs to be taken, especially in the Túnel da Encumeada.

Storm took 196 to hospital. Between Saturday 20th February and 9 am Sunday 21st February, 120 people were assisted by the Emergency Service of the Hospital ‘Nélio Mendonça’. In the following few days, another 76 attended. It is unknown how many victims of the storm were assisted in the rural Health Centres. Seven patients required Orthopaedic Surgery beds and all possible beds were made vacant. The main injuries were fractured legs and arms, light wounds, multiple trauma and hypothermia.

Four families isolated for 12 days. 11 people in the Ribeira do Serrado were isolated in the interior of the ribeira de Santa Cruz for 12 days. The bridge that links them to Serrado was destroyed in the storm. The bridge has now been rebuilt but priority was given to Construtora do Tâmega for their machines to clean the roads. The six landslides in this area did not endanger any homes but affected the roads. The residents complain that a landslide from an illegal dump probably destroyed the bridge but the council have no knowledge of this dump.

Three hours to exit the North. Interruptions in the Encumeada / Via Expresso has had serious implications on the North coast. Users of the popular túnel da Encumeada have had long detours to get to work. Commercial establishments, especially restaurants, have complained about a lack of tourists and residents from Funchal visiting Porto Moniz and São Vicente. This should improve now the link from Ribeira Brava to São Vicente opened yesterday.

From the Jornal da Madeira. In Serra de Água, President Jardim visiting the reopened road between Meia Légua and Serra de Água and chose to speak to journalists in the bar called “Poncha de Cima”.

ECONOMY

Luxury returns. With the end of the summer season in the Caribbean, mega-yachts are returning to Continental Europe. This is why during the next two months, the region will benefit from the necessary refuelling stops they need to make during the transatlantic voyages. The Elandess arrives at Funchal at 2.30 today and stays until the end of tomorrow. The Elandess comes from St. Martin and is going to the Mediterranean for the spring / summer season. This private yacht was built last year in Germany. It is 60 m long, 10.7 m wide and has a 3.50 m draft. Top speed is 16 knots, cruising speed 14 knots and a range of about 4,000 nautical miles. The yacht can hold 112,000 litres of fuel, 28,000 litres of portable water and accommodate 12 passengers in a master suit and 4 double cabins, serviced by a crew of 14.

POLITICS

Madeira will share the resolution with France and Spain. The Portuguese MEPs have formed a resolution calling for a series of actions by the European Commission to urgently aid the Region after the February 20th disaster. However, France and Spain were also severely affected by storms. The French and Spanish MEPs want the resolution to include their countries. This was agreed by the two major European parties, the PPE (includes the PSD and CDS) and PSE. The Liberais party wanted France included but not Spain. The PCP, part of the European United Left, wanted a resolution only for Madeira but yesterday morning, all leaders voted for the proposal of the two parties. Nuno Teixeira (PSD MEP for Madeira) thinks the inclusion of France and Spain will make the resolution stronger as it will attract more support, and will not affect the funds for any of the countries. This resolution is likely to be approved by all MEPs, urging the European Commission to adopt a set of initiatives that may prove very important for the region. The European Parliament wants the Commission to allow more flexible access to programs. The amount of funds does not change nor rules for access. Only the percentage of funding changes, for example a project might have funding for 80 – 90% rather than 70% of the cost. This means less money in other areas.

Governments agreed on measures to safeguard 3,000 – 5,000 jobs. Five measures announced after a joint meeting between the Government of the Republic and the Regional Government to safeguard jobs of companies whose business was affected or suspended because of the storm of February 20th. This is to prevent permanent closure of these firms. Neither governments have decided who will pay the loan of 185 million Euros from the European Investment Bank for rebuilding public infrastructure. João Cunha e Silva, the vice-president of the Madeiran Executive, hopes the State will pay because the Region has exhausted its borrowing capacity. This has to be decided by the Joint Committee.

Continuity of Jardim is consensual in the PSD-M. The decision of Jardim to delay leaving the leadership of the PSD and the Regional Government is thought to have the unanimous approval of the PSD, according to the Regional Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources, Manuel Correia. He said that Jardim is the best person to lead the special task of rebuilding Madeira. The BE leader believes the decision was already made long ago and the disaster is just a reason to confirm this decision. Alberto Jardim became President of the Regional Government in 1978 and 1984 was supposed to be the limit of his leadership. This date was quickly forgotten and the next discussion about his stay was in 1996 when the limit was set at 2000. Arguments have been made for his continuity of power and the new goal was set at 2011. He is now considering staying for a few more years.

CULTURE

Madeira evoked in Paris. A tribute to Madeira marked the fashion show by Fátima Lopes in Paris. This Madeiran designer showed a strong patriotism for her native homeland and was determined to enhance the natural beauty of Madeira. She wanted to present a positive optimistic image of Madeira to the world press, after the devastation of the island. Incidentally, this Autumn / Winter 2010 / 2011 collection has for its theme, the dire consequences of global warming. Among the many accessories, including boots and shoes with 14 cm heels and very tiny bags, was the carapuça – a small hat worn by Madeiran folklore women.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

European commissioner from Hélio comes in order to see damage – The Austrian Hahn comes at the weekend to assess the damage, talk with those who have lost their homes, and visit the hard-hit West. He will see some of the worst hit areas by helicopter.

Today’s main news headline : Public health in the hands of the citizens – Up until now, there is no evidence of problems, but the health authorities recommend attention because the risk exists. The Diário puts forward suggestions for prevention for each case. The headlined suggestions put forward include boiling tap water, even for cleaning ones teeth, and tetanus vaccinations. Wellington boots, gloves and face masks to be used in clean-up operations. Any sign of anxiety, sleeplessness, nightmares, lack of appetite, seek psychological help. Funchal Council is doing everything possible to re-establish the sewerage systems, but the Institute of Health Administration and Social Affairs (IASAÚDE) is warning people to take precautions, even though there is not yet any evidence of outbreaks of disease. Those in affected areas should even take precautions with tap water, which may have become contaminated. The sewerage systems in some areas of Funchal disappeared during the floods on 20th February 2010.

Intense rain yesterday cut the day short – The fleeing in numbers from Funchal at the same time clogged traffic. News of the forecast of heavy rain yesterday afternoon / evening panicked thousands in Funchal into leaving earlier than normal, and as a result traffic and even pedestrian movements were limited in downtown Funchal. Many left work early and headed off to schools, to collect children. The rivers of João Gomes, Santa Luzia and São João were very high with muddy water, and one could hear the sounds of rocks moving in the river beds. However, at the time of going to print last night the Diário assessed that there had been no cause for alarm. The road between Meia Légua and Serra de Água, badly damaged last month, was closed again yesterday as a precaution. Since the exceptional rain on the 20th February, I have noticed that any weather forecasts for heavy rain have been clarified with the words "but not with the intensity of 20th February", to avoid panicking people, and that was the case yesterday … and it clearly didn’t convince an understandably jumpy population.

Reconstruction exempts budget rectification – Funds from Lisbon and the European Union make sense.

In politics : Ismael resigns in the MPT [Earth party] – Ex-deputy on a collision course with Isidoro.

Jardim challenges all of the candidates to stand down in favour of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. "It would be the icing on the cake", said the leader of the Social democrats of Madeira. This refers to the election of a new national leader for the PSD.

The main sports / football headline today : Madeirans attack ‘National’ of the rallies – Bernardo Sousa and Vítor Sá make their debuts today in the Rally Torrié. The first test on the Portugal rally championship starts today, with a ‘superspecial’.

Some pretty tricky translations on today’s front page, so don’t take anything too literally.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

Many thanks to Paul for a further episode about the mysterious ‘nail’ :

Crucifixion nail: a hoax? ARTICLE LINK

“A man buys an old building, pronounces it a nation, secedes from his country, proclaims himself Prince, conducts archaeological digs and claims to have found three Templar skeletons and a nail that may have been a venerated relic of a crucifixion. And if it was a crucifixion nail it was one of thousands available. Sounds a little sketchy.

The timeline is problematic for proving Templars were ever on Madeira. History tells us that the islands of Madeira and nearby Porto Santo were "discovered" by João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, two captains in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, when they took refuge from a storm on Poto Santo around 1418.

But this date is about 100 years after the Templars were largely wiped out by King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V – 1307-1315.

So if the island was discovered 100 years after the Templars disbanded then the skeletons can’t be Templars, right?

Probably. But strangely, if you were going to look for Templar relics, Madeira might be the place to do it.

There is evidence for Templar survival In Portugal. Portugal’s King Denis defied the Pope’s order to disband the Templars and simply changed the name of his knights to The Order of Christ and by 1323 had even reclaimed Templar property for the group. Denis also sheltered persecuted knights from France. By 1417, the order was run by a powerful Grand Master – you guessed it – Prince Henry the Navigator, the same man whose sailors discovered the island.

If the skeletons are real – and I haven’t seen any proof of that – it is possible they were members of the Order of Christ buried with an old Templar sword.

But there might be Templar burials there – if the Templars knew about Madeira before its supposed discovery and used it to hide out after their persecution.

The islands were known to the ancients. Pliny the Elder mentioned sailors travelling to islands that match the description of Madeira and Porto Santo in 75 AD and they appear on maps as early as 1339. This information could conceivably have been known to the the Templars.

A lonely island in the Atlantic is a pretty good place to hide. Even an imaginary one.

One of the videos from Portuguese television about the Prince and his very small country.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Prince of the Pontinha ; Railway relics ; 2 months to wait for state aid ; Climate changes

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Tom … "One of the last remaining objects from the railway closed during the II WW, I believe 1941. Train station with ticket kiosk on the right hand side.

"Wanted dead or alive. The one in the back is a dictator that imposes all his incompetence and immorality in the Island of Madeira, a Portugal Region …" MORE Thanks to Elaine from the East for this link. She thought I might like it, but it’s certainly a bit odd! Quite how José Sócrates can be classed as a dictator when he leads a government without an overall majority I don’t know.

Thanks to Pete for sending in this link to Don’s blog : Principality of the Pontinha While I was aware of this slightly bizarre situation, I didn’t know the prince was actively seeking to enforce his rights. Can you imagine the consequences for Madeira, Portugal, and even Europe, if he is successful?

I got my CaboTV / Zon monthly bill through this week for internet, phone, and TV, and they had knocked about 20-25% off the normal amount through a number of credits. No mention in the 3 pages of why, but I guess it is for the amount of time the services were down after the storm and flood of 20th February. I was a little surprised, as one normally has to complain and fight a little to get such things put right, so the fact that it was done voluntarily I suppose is a good sign. Some, like me, will be aware more than others that one serious loss of services during that terrible week was with mobile phones. Whilst Vodafone and Optimus managed to keep their service going, the major operator here, TMN, and its subsidiaries, failed miserably. In my case I was without a signal for the first 36 hours or so of the panic and confusion, but fortunately I and my neighbours were all safe and away from the danger areas, but tens of thousands of others all over Madeira had no way of making calls at a time in their lives when it couldn’t have been more needed. OK, it was an exceptional weather situation, but for TMN to lose grip and then take so long to recover the network, was just not acceptable, and I am still waiting for that text message from them saying "Dear Customer, sorry, but we really blew it this time". Fat chance of that. No doubt over the coming weeks there will be some stories about "if only my mobile phone was working at that time … something or somebody could have been saved". There was one story in downtown Tabua along those lines, when someone upstream managed to call downstream and warn some people in a building altogether, otherwise there could have been yet more tragedies. And maybe that was only possible because that local hero decided at some time in the past to go for a Vodafone rather than a TMN operator … will we ever know?

Luckily even without TV, it was possible to get plenty of pretty accurate and up-to-date information from the radio, Antennae One in particular. Aside from the Saturday, the actual ‘deluge day’, they really did Madeira proud and helped an enormous amount with essential information. On the Saturday itself it was a little weird, as you would be hearing some horror story, and then they would go off an play a couple of records, and come back again a while later. I suppose the shock of the situation can numb the brain a little, but they got control of the matter fairly soon.

Tobi, bless him, realised that I (as well as many others of course) had no TV for several days during and after the flooding, and we had no visual idea of the actual scale of the problems around Madeira. When the TV was restored, the news had moved to the aftermath and the clean up. Many thanks Tobi for this link to an extensive filmed news report with some staggering scenes … including the now famous Ribeira Brava duck! RTP NEWS 20 FEBRUARY 2010

EU’s new foreign policy chief, Lady Ashton appoints Portuguese diplomat Joao Vale de Almeida as EU ambassador to Washington.

The new EU ambassador to Washington Lady Ashton

“The move was criticised by France and Sweden, irked that the right-hand-man of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso – himself Portuguese – had got the much-coveted job.”

“Lady Ashton admitted that "two or three member states" would like to have been more involved.”

‘The FT’ comments: “Mr Vale de Almeida lacks the international profile of Mr Bruton, the former Irish prime minister. But he is said to have good US contacts as a result of his experience serving as Mr Barroso’s personal representative to the G8 and G20 summits.”

From November 2004 Mr Vale de Almeida, a 52-year-old Portuguese, born in Lisbon was the head of President of the EU Commission’s José Manuel Barroso’s cabinet. Also, he was President Barroso’s permanent personal representative (or "sherpa") to the G8 and to the G20. The sources of Paul’s article: BBC article website: HERE FT article on the appointment: HERE Many thanks Paul.

Many thanks to Elaine (East) for this extra web snippet :

Dear Agony Aunt, I am 13 … Living in Portugal, send me back to England!?

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO DE NOTÍCIAS : FRONT PAGE NEWS

Ribeira Brava sustained 90 million Euros of damage. The damage to municipal property in the county of Ribeira Brava amounts to 90 million Euros. This is an initial estimate of the devastation caused by the storm on the 20th February. This does not include damage to equipment and infrastructure under the direct responsibility of the Regional Government, for example regional roads, particularly the flooded express road in Serra de Água. Two parishes in Ribeira Brava, Serra de Água and Tabua, were badly affected by overflowing rivers, mudslides and landslides, resulting in damaged buildings and roads. In Serra de Água, the destruction ran throughout the length of the parish, from the Encumeada tunnel to the area called Meia Légua. In both locations, several settlements were isolated due to collapsed bridges and sections of roads. Their water supplies, sewerage and telecommunications networks were destroyed. There were also losses in the towns of Ribeira Brava and Campanário. The damage in Ribeira Brava was mainly due to flooding when the stream burst its banks and the most visible evidence is the collapsed bridge connecting Fajã da Ribeira and the partially collapsed old bridge near the church.

Instability persists. Madeira is loosing its ‘shield’ against the depressions. Yesterday afternoon, the mountains and roadsides in Pico do Areeiro were white with snow. The onlookers who went to make the traditional snowman (photo) found the exit roads difficult to negotiate as the snow was mixed with rain and sleet. The Meteorological Observatory in Funchal predicts that the unstable weather will continue. This Winter, Madeira seems to have lost ‘the shield’ that protected against atmospheric depressions. Presently, the island is undergoing a cycle of two days: "It rains two days then improves," according to the Meteorologist Mafalda Morais. The depressions existed in previous years but went further north, Madeira had a ‘shield’. This year, the bad weather has hit the south of the island. The surprising hail in Funchal yesterday was due to the recorded fall in temperature, caused by a depression north of Madeira.

Help to Madeira from Portugal will not arrive within two months. Jardim and Sócrates agreed on Monday a Special Law to define the special relationship between the State and the Region. This legislation will not come into force until two months time, at the earliest. In April, the Prime Minister will present the bill to Parliament. There are then a number of procedures that must be completed until the law can be published and comes in force. The only money Madeira can receive before April is the amount normally transferred from the State Budget and the Regional Law of Finances. The amount transferred from the State Budget is 204 million Euros, divided into twelfths, but a larger amount can be transferred initially then deducted later. However, the priority of both governments is to access the European Funds and international funds first, to minimize the impact of the reconstruction costs on the State Budget. The Joint Committee will have to meet and determine the cost of reconstruction, a co-responsibility to prevent the risk of accusations of inflated prices. This committee should have assessed the damage and drawn up a list of work needed by Easter. This weekend, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy will visit the island and Barroso comes on 12 – 14 April.

MADEIRA

"We want a tunnel." This is one of the points in the petition from the inhabitants of Paul do Mar and Jardim do Mar to the Regional Government. The 900 residents of these two villages in Calheta are not satisfied with the reply of Santos Costa that nothing has been decided on the issue. Local politicians are on the side of the people, the president of the Parish Council of Paul do Mar saying, "It’s now or never," with the arrival of new reconstruction money. A more secure road link has been wanted for years but a lack of funds has always been the reason cited, despite more cars and people travelling to these areas. The residents are worried about continuing landslides from the slopes above the main access road.

Traders complain about absence of tourists. The town of Ribeira Brava is now operating normally after recovering from the flood of 20th February. The majority of commercial establishments in the ‘downtown’ area reopened by the end of last week, minimum conditions of accessibility around the centre of the town have been established and most of the mud and debris surrounding the church has been removed. But local traders complain of a lack of tourists. Traditionally in the mornings, tourist buses brought excursions into the lower area of town. Last week, few tourists braved the sea front. The São Bento building, located next to the churchyard, was the worst affected by the mudslide in the ‘downtown’ area. One and a half metres of water damaged a furniture shop in the lower floor of this building. Despite 150,000 Euros of damage, the owner of ‘Móveis Estrelícia’ hopes to reopen next week. The Post Office was able to open again last Friday despite having been flooded. Many bars and restaurants were able to open last week, some remaining closed due to the absence of water. Stock has also been damaged, the bookstore / stationary shop in the Centro Comercial S. Bento lost 50,000 Euros in flooded items. So normality has returned within ten days apart from the missing morning sea front tourists.

Palheiro Estate opens an account for Madeira. Palheiro Estate has opened an account with BES bank to support victims of the storm. Account Name: "Palheiro Estate Pela Madeira", Account Number: 000836892624, NIB: 0007 0000 0083 6892 62423 or IBAN: PT50 0007 0000 0083 6892 6242 3. This Saturday, Palheiro Estate is organizing a fundraising golf tournament at Palheiro Golf, a lunch in the Restaurante Clubhouse do Palheiro Golfe, with a tombola and auction. Funds go to the Delegação da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa da Madeira, (Red Cross). All golfers in the region are invited to take part in the tournament.

POLITICS

Venezuela is still waiting to help Madeira. Hugo Chávez, the President of Venezuela, might find out this week if Madeira will accept his offer of help. This offer was approved by the Venezuelan Government and a formal letter delivered to the Ambassador of Portugal in Venezuela, asking if help is needed. This offer was publicly announced on February 23rd. The Socialist Party of Venezuela now expects the two governments (Madeira and Portugal) to say what help they require.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Today’s main news headline : Trauma of the tempest send a thousand to the psychologist. The requests for support comes from residents of affected areas and the rescuers. The demand has stabilized but the Department of Mental Health admits to a new ‘peak’. Signs such as insomnia, nightmares, lack of appetite and anxiety justify care and consultations.

Bad weather returns and will worsen today and tomorrow. Rain and winds return. Although the severity doesn’t come close to what has been registered recently, Madeira is back on orange alert, and this evening between 6 and 9 pm heavy rain is expected. After Friday, an improvement in weather conditions is expected, which should last until at least next Tuesday, according to Funchal weatherman Vítor Prior. In the meantime we will see 70 km/h winds with gusts of up to 100 km/h in the high zones, and people are advised not to go to the mountains or exposed places on foot or by car.

IHM [Madeira Housing Institute] already has a solution for the [remaining] 350 homeless.

[Prime Minister] Sócrates takes the spirit of solidarity to Mozambique – After the help given to Madeira, the support to Maputo. The Diário found there a missionary from Camacha.

Escórcio retakes parliamentary leadership – Vice [president] of the leadership of the Socialist Party of Madeira, the deputy now takes on also the load that he abandoned around a year ago.

The main picture today : Embankment could provide an urban arrangement – The Equipamento Social [government department for infrastructure] admits to extending the city with the deposits caused by the storm that are now being put on the rocky coastline.

Unstable slopes concern Laranjal, where the Council of Funchal ponders removing the houses in danger.

Companies affected by the storm exempted from the contribution payments to Social Security. This is one of 5 measures implemented by the Government of Portugal to safeguard jobs.

The main sports / football headlines today : Portugal wins, but it couldn’t save itself from the boos. A 2 – 0 victory over China.

Tiago Pires donates 4,600 Euros to help Madeira. The rest of this article and photo was kindly provided by Paul. Top Portuguese surfer donates prize money to Madeira. Tiago Pires (PRT), 29, current ASP World No. 24 and Portugal’s first-ever competitor at the elite level, has pledged to donate his prize money from the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast to help those in Madeira suffering from the tragedy. "I am donating my prize money to the Madeira island," Pires said. "There was a natural tragedy over there a few weeks ago, and it is still really bad. Madeira is an island off of Portugal and I go there a lot and I feel like it is part of me. I feel like it is part of my obligation to help. It is really far from me right now and I could not go there so this is the way I am helping. I am donating my prize money."

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

"Thought the video of Principality of Pontinha may interest you how it changed over the years" … Pete THE SMALLEST PRINCIPALITY IN THE WORLD – IN PICTURES thanks Pete, very interesting, and the guy at the end is ‘The Prince’ perhaps?

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Flood recovery progress update ; Mixed reaction in Jersey ; Funchal at night on video

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Tom … Family Blandy quinta high above Funchal surrounded by a very beautiful garden

February blog visitors : I normally do a quick run down after the end of each month of the blog visitors, and February is normally a low viewing month, partly due to only having 28 days. But something happened a week or so ago that made it the highest month ever for visitor numbers, and on Sunday 21st it peaked at nearly 5,000 visits. Then for 7 consecutive days the number decreased, as the flood and tragedy stories came off the ‘front pages’ and the initial interest wore off, and also as the search engines gave priority to large media organisations on the search engine listings. For the month as a whole there were over 32 thousand visits from 124 countries.

My apologies for the delay in posting some items, it was a really busy ‘full up’ type of week, but I should catch up by Wednesday.

Many thanks to Elaine (East) for these web snippets :

Update from the Jersey press. Comments to this post are interesting. HERE Indeed they are Becky, some quite hostile. For sure if there was a disaster in Jersey, it would be reported. I guess there would be some support from Madeira, but whether it would be the spending sort I don’t know, especially after what happened over East Timor. Der

On a happier note, from an American finance site. Just Launched The Magic of Madeira Lifestyle & property magazine. …..According to the Portuguese National Tourist Office and the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the UK, health and wellbeing tourism is on the rise across Europe and is predicted to increase by 5-10% by 2015. This is significant as at a major conference on the topic held at the beginning of November, Madeira has been highlighted for its potential in this increasing market … MORE

Now for something different. Politics of the Crypt. Facing the Future with the Habsburg Dead …..What should be done, for example, with the monstrous copper coffin standing around uselessly at Vienna’s Central Cemetery? It was originally meant for Emperor Charles I, but he was buried in Madeira, where he was forced into exile. Since his beatification in 2004, the emperor’s resting place on the island has drawn more tourists than ever before. The autonomous Portuguese archipelago declines to transfer the tomb to the Imperial Crypt in Vienna … MORE

Many thanks to Becky for these videos :

A guided view around the city of Funchal at night, by a man with a very nice voice (para mim, a good enough reason to learn Portuguese right there!) and good to hear the familiar sound of some dogs barking.

Lovely compilation of footage and stills from Santa Cruz.

Government communication policy on the floods after the 28th February :

Piece adapted by Paul from this page to improve the translation: SOURCE … Many thanks Paul.

On the 28th February, after 8 days of reports the last official Report was published. The aim of the Reports was to inform everyone in Madeira and the National and International press.

From the 28th February, each Regional Secretary will report, individually on the progress of their department’s responsibilities after the floods

SOLIDARITY: Madeira has received from all over the world pledges of solidarity. The Regional Government is deeply grateful for them.

PROGRESS: the main concern and priority of the regional authorities is to support Madeira’s people and the replacement of all land communications safely, especially those to the most remote locations. The cleaning and restoration works have been taking place at an accelerated pace, with two of the three rivers that overflowed in Funchal already back running down their normal routes.

From the beginning, the Regional Civil Protection Services, local authorities, Fire Departments, Health Services, Social Services coordinated their tasks in order to get closer to the population and help meet their needs.

Funchal’s main Hospital received 120 wounded people. 70 were hospitalized. Now there are only 16 still receiving treatment.

Madeirans that were reallocated temporarily are being supported by the Regional Government and they will return to their homes when it is possible, or the Government will build new houses for them.

RETURNING TO NORMAL:

On the 1st of March, most accesses to Funchal were back open.

Schools will be open and operating normally.

TOURISM:

The hotel industry of Madeira was not affected by the floods and maintains all operating conditions safely. Hotel establishments are operational with all their facilities. Both Madeira’s International Airport and The Harbour of Funchal have been operational since the floods too.

Sorry to repeat this from yesterday’s blog comments, but I am hoping some international media company will pick up on this if it is actually posted on the blog itself.

I guess most blog readers now know the story about the family of 8 living in Pomar da Rocha, that was almost totally wiped out in a landslide here on 20th February.

The one survivor is a young man (some conflicting reports about his exact age, but around 19), who lost the other 7 members of his family, and is currently still in hospital, having had some digits amputated (again some conflicting reports on how many). He is due out of hospital this week, to face a stark reality of making a new start with no family, no home, and no possessions, and whether he will be able to continue to work as a result of his injuries I don’t know (he was juggling education whilst working at the petrol station by the via rápida in Ribeira Brava).

Feliz Abreu’s school in Ribeira Brava is trying to raise some money to get him started, and help him find a new home, and to buy him clothes, as he has absolutely nothing. There is another fund raising effort in Ribeira Brava where friends and locals are also putting what they can spare towards a fund to help Feliz.

I am posting this as a blog contributor, not in any other capacity, so this has nothing to do with the blog itself. But if anyone is able to help / contribute then the PayPal button on the right of this page can be used, and if you can mark in the comments box FELIZ, then I will ensure any money is passed on. I can also provide my bank account details [€ / £]. If PayPal is not an option for anyone. You can email me if you need that information. I will send acknowledgement of any donation, by email, on request.

I can’t even begin to imagine how Feliz will cope once back in reality. I can’t even imagine how someone can possibly ever return to a normal life after what he has been through. At least if he has a home and some money and personal possessions he will have a chance to try. Thanks for reading this.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 01/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Eight shops and restaurants of the marina will be demolished. The refurbishment of the marina will start immediately. It was due to start in 2011 but the decision by the Harbour Administrators (APRAM) has been brought forward. The safety of restaurants and shops and their users determined the urgency of the intervention. The water that infiltrated the original wall of the Avenida do Mar created sheets that ran through the walls and ceilings of these buildings. Postponed several times, the redevelopment of the marina should be in conjunction with the redevelopment of the Avenida do Mar and the remodelling of the dry area of the Marina of Funchal, including the transfer of fuel tanks. The total cost to APRAM will be 5 million Euros. About 100 employees of these enterprises will be made redundant. The loss of revenue when access to the marina is banned is estimated at 15,000 – 20,000 Euros per day. None of the businesses have insurance for operating losses. The Beer House has had enormous losses in the kitchen, office and stocks and looses a few thousand Euros each day it cannot open.

Fall in revenue can reach 20 million Euros. The devastating effects of the disaster. In addition to losses arising from damage to property, equipment and goods, which meant that more than 900 businesses had to close, the effects of loss of revenue will cause the unemployment of hundreds of Madeirans. Traders point out that lack of sales / revenue is responsible for 20% of the cost of the damage caused by the storm. If the business associations say that private businesses take a loss of 100 million Euros, commerce will loose 20 million Euros of revenue in the coming months. Some shops are about to reopen but others in different parts of the island will be affected for several months, with particular emphasis on the municipalities of Ribeira Brava and São Vicente, which might be taken off major tour itineraries. There are dozens of companies that will not reopen in the short term as they are not insured for the losses. The two supermarkets of Pingo Doce loose 60,000 – 70,000 Euros per day. The destruction to Pingo Doce shops in Anadia and Dolce Vita costs 20 million Euros with 4 million Euros lost in expected sales revenue. Two hundred people are employed in these two stores. The Government of the Republic has a 50 million Euros line of support with grants of 50% for small firms to replace their property and equipment, with a million Euros to help the unemployed.

MADEIRA

Group of London solidarity. The folklore group of the Portuguese Cultural and Sports Centre in London left yesterday for Oman in the Middle East to entertain a group of businessmen. The organization Dansakat will hold a gala dinner today for directors of a company and hope to have traditional music from all of the countries where the directors are based, including Portugal. The chairman of the Sports Centre told the newspaper reporter that they are trying to raise funds in Oman for Madeira, to help the victims of the tragedy. On 7th March, there will be a solidarity dinner to raise funds in London, at a cost of 15 pounds per person. The space for the dinner in Brixton is given free by Lambeth Council and food and drink will be donated by several Portuguese companies. The area can accommodate 400 – 600 so the organizers hope to attract hundreds of Portuguese immigrants.

Initial estimates. The local authorities are beginning to estimate the cost of Saturday’s storm. The Regional Government estimate 1.4 billion Euros. In Funchal, Miguel Albuquerque said the storm caused damage of more than 198 million Euros. Ribeira Brava, the mayor talks of about 90 million Euros of damage to roads and bridges, water supply, sanitation and housing. In Santana, the mayor estimates a loss of 3.5 million Euros and in Machico, 2.5 million Euros of damage. 25 million Euros in Santa Cruz but only 70,000 Euros in Porto Moniz. In Calheta, 4 million Euros of damage to municipal infrastructure alone and 3 million Euros worth in Ponta do Sol.

POLITICS

Jardim will rethink leaving the Regional Government in 2011. The disaster that befell the region might make Alberto Jardim reconsider his intention to relinquish power in 2011, but he would prefer a middle way. If things were running normally, he would leave in 2011 but what has befallen Madeira is very complicated. He admits a new solution: leave the government but continue to be politically active.

Left Bloc leader praises the prompt response of the Regional Government. The national leader of the Left Bloc visited Madeira, where in an unprecedented manner, he made in public his praise for the prompt response of the Regional Government to the effects of the storm of 20th February. He said this disaster should serve as a lesson to impose strict rules on urban planning to maintain the security of the inhabitants. In the process, the views of urban planners, environmentalists and scientific authorities who know the difficulties of the region need to be heard. "What happened on Saturday was a disaster of calamitous proportions, a deluge. The damages were unavoidable but they were exacerbated by urban issues."

CDS propose post-storm measures. The regional leader of the CDS-PP said it is a time for convergence rather than divergence and for unity instead of division. He said, "The main cause of the disaster, the torrential rains, are historically known." In Madeira there was a "lack of rigorous planning and land management, improper occupation of land, construction on the banks and beds of streams, lack of clearing of many streams throughout the region, dumping of debris on land and in water courses, insufficient reforestation of serras, lack of clearing of trees and woods destroyed by fires and lack of consolidation of many escarpments, these are causes that amplify the natural disaster." After learning from these mistakes, it is necessary to make decisions and courageous interventions in the field of spatial (territorial) planning.

UPDATE

"This is a superior people." Jardim was not surprised at the speed of cleaning, saying, "This is a superior people." He was speaking at the end of Sunday Mass celebrated in memory of the victims of the storm of February 20th. At the end of Mass, the Mayor of Funchal highlighted the fibre of people accustomed to overcome many adversities. Also present, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he was impressed with the progress of work and the solidarity of the country, which he has not seen since Timor, for eleven years. In celebration of the Eucharist, the Bishop of Funchal called the faithful to keep hope alive. He pointed to the recovery of the crucifix and statue of the Imaculada Conceição da Capela das Babosas, the chapel destroyed by the flood of February 20th, "as real signs of consolation and hope for our people."

Sócrates says this is not the time for recriminations and disputes. The Prime Minister argued on Sunday that the priority is to ensure a framework for cooperation and financial links with the Regional Government to allow the rapid reconstruction of Madeira, saying this is a moment of solutions instead of recriminations and disputes. José Sócrates said about the situation in Madeira, that currently the primary duty is the cooperation between the Government of the Republic and the Regional Government of Madeira. He declined to make any controversial comments on the Regional Finance Law, which was passed in Parliament by opposition parties, stating it is not connected to the State Budget – voting scheduled for mid-March - and both executives will provide solutions to resolve all political issues that may hamper cooperation. It is urgent to rebuild the region for the rapid return of life and the economy back to normal. Asked if this is a positive signal to Alberto Jardim, he said, "Yes, of course." He said it is important for Madeirans to know there is national solidarity. The whole nation needs the recovery of Madeira’s economy and for it to contribute to the national economy.

Special Law for Madeira. Early report from today’s meeting between the President of the Regional Government and the Prime Minister, José Sócrates. The Regional Government and the Government of the Republic agreed the creation of an Extraordinary Law that will be approved by the Assembly of the Republic, for the situation in Madeira. There will be three priorities for action: help the homeless, boost the economy and rebuild the affected infrastructure.

This story / link was sent in by both Paul and Tom … many thanks. Recovering Madeira Tries to Restart Tourism Industry. "The local government did a very good job of cleaning up," Mr. Becker said. "We’ll be back next year, for sure." “A week after torrential rains and mudslides killed 42 people and left 17 missing on Madeira, government officials are trying to restart the tourism business that is vital to the Atlantic island’s economy.

Tourism marketing after a natural disaster. It won’t be easy. Tourism marketing after a natural disaster is problematic because officials need to be careful not to appear insensitive toward the victims while also letting potential visitors know that it is safe to come.

Cleanup crews and local utilities have made rapid progress in removing mud and debris from the streets of Funchal, the capital, and restoring water, power and telecommunications services. Work continues in the worst-affected areas of Funchal, where some underground parking lots that had been flooded are still being drained. Other parts of the island that were hit harder, such as the town of Ribeira Brava, will require more extensive cleanup and reconstruction efforts.

Tourism represents 20% of the economy of this Portuguese autonomous region, located more than 600 miles west of the European mainland. It employs 7,000 people in the hotel sector alone, out of a total population of 245,000. Most of the tourists come from Britain, Germany and Portugal, according to official figures.

"People have seen so much on television about this disaster that it might discourage them from going," says Angelo Rossini, a research analyst for London-based Euromonitor. At the same time, he says, "respect for the dead can also be an issue. It might be a problem to get people to go for sun and vacation so soon after the tragedy."

Conceição Estudante, the regional government’s secretary-general for tourism and transport, said last week that the government had started reconstruction efforts. Local hotel operators, travel agents and tour operators are contacting tourists who had reservations, as well as potential new visitors.

The images of destruction have led to hundreds of cancellations at island hotels, said Ricardo Rodrigues, manager of the Funchal Design hotel, in the centre of the capital, and of another hotel in the hills behind the city.

"There should be a time of mourning, but everyone realizes that life has to go on," he said.

Tourists who were in Madeira during the storm have applauded the government’s response to the disaster.

Joachim Becker, a 60-year-old environmental-health and medicine worker from Essen, Germany, said he and his wife rode out the storm in a small villa outside the capital.”

“There was mud everywhere, including in the pool, but they say the storm won’t stop them from returning.”

"The local government did a very good job of cleaning up," Mr. Becker said. "We’ll be back next year, for sure." FULL ARTICLE FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Also this one from Paul … 9,845 Euros (13,290 U.S. dollars) for Madeira! The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Portugal raised at a night gala a total of 9,845 Euros (13,290 U.S. dollars) for Madeira : SOURCE

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Chaos clogs a restricted Funchal – The citizens weren’t very cooperative and the city was swamped in the morning and early afternoon. It was as expected apparently, with appeals from the authorities to use other means of transport for getting to ones destination being ignored by many.

Facilities provided for those who lost their car.

The hundred+ year old bridge in Ribeira Brava at risk of collapse. I have found a stunning video of the pounding of this bridge on 20th February, and will include it on tomorrows blog.

Culture with a schedule out of step with the reconstruction.

Today’s main news headline : Commitment assumed and it just remains to be fulfilled – Meeting of the new buddies [prime minister] Sócrates and [president] Jardim went well. Joint committee will define support for homes, damage and businesses. A sight for sore eyes indeed. I can only hope that this forced ‘solidarity’ between these two powerful men who run Portugal and Madeira will last long beyond the current crisis. Great photo, and the words spoken are most certainly along the lines of "vai primeiro senhor", … "não, não, vai você, se faz favour", but who spoke first I have no idea.

Exceptional law for Madeira – Agreement between Sócrates and Jardim. The President of the Regional Government met with the prime minister for more than two hours.

SRRH reinforces placement of unemployed in the market – Workers keep unemployment benefit increased by 25% from SMN, and food and transport subsidies.

Numbers of missing persons don’t add up – The official website of the regional government maintains that there are still seven people yet to be found. But an unofficial list maintains that there are 14 names of missing people that the families and the authorities are still trying to trace.

Continentals are the target of a campaign for holidays on Madeira – Tourism of Portugal offers publicity for the Flower Festival.

The main sport / football headline today : The Nacional [v Belenenses] game was put back until this afternoon. Thick fog made the game scheduled in the Choupana last night impossible to play.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

PLEASE NOTE : There is a blog software upgrade being done tomorrow morning, so it will be ‘out of service’ and inaccessible for a short while.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Return of the first cruise ship ; British tourists tell of ordeal ; Why the floods happened

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to … Pete : "Funchal first cruse liner waiting to dock since disaster. Thought you may like it not docked yet". The AIDAluna of course, and a nice way to start the week in a positive way, with some signs of normality returning. Der

From Tobi by email : "I haven’t put this on the blog as i think Madeira has had enough bad news over the last week, But if you think people should know then I’m happy for you to post.

My best friend from Caniço went to Funchal for a drink around 10.30 pm Thursday night, as he travelled through São Martinho a large rock hit the underneath of his car, he stopped to have a look, he was approached by a man who held a knife to his throat and told him to get in the car and drive up the road, up the road 4 other men were waiting , they robbed him of money, jewellery and mobile phone. He was not hurt but of course very shaken, he drove straight back home to contact police.

I’m quite shocked about this, and i would guess the rock was left in the road or thrown underneath the car on purpose so these people can select who they rob, as he has a nice car. I guess he was lucky he is on a small island, ’cause if it had happened on mainland the car would have gone too. I remember back home Gipsy’s used to leave things in quiet roads, so people would have to stop to remove the obstruction and then they would rob them, I just hope this is not a new crime starting here. Thanks Tobi … and I think people should be aware, so you have been advised! Der

Many thanks to Elaine (East) for these web snippets :

A geological explanation of why the floods happened. …The city centre sits on slightly sloped ground, while outer suburbs perch on the mountain slopes around the city. On February 19-20, 2010, when heavy rain poured down on the island, the high suburbs suffered mudslides and floods. As this map illustrates, the slopes around Funchal surround the city in a semicircle, so water flowing down the mountains was concentrated in the bowl where the city is located. The devastating floods killed at least 42 with 18 still missing as of February 23, according to the government of Madeira … MORE

The great Madeira cleanup. Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organization Taleb Rifai comments on the hotel and Tourism industry after the recent natural events in Madeira… "The quick response action undertaken by the competent authorities at local and national levels, together with the support of the EU, have been instrumental in this catastrophe. The city centre sits on slightly sloped ground, while outer suburbs perch on the mountain slopes around the city. On February 19-20, 2010, when heavy rain poured down on the island, the high suburbs suffered mudslides and floods. As this map illustrates, the slopes around Funchal surround the city in a semicircle, so water flowing down the mountains was concentrated in the bowl where the city is located. The devastating floods killed at least 42 with 18 still missing as of February 23, according to the government of Madeira … MORE

A one minute Euronews video. The cleanup operation has begun on Madeira after the floods and landslides that ravaged the Portuguese island last week. VIDEO

Many thanks to Becky for these videos / web snippets :

When looking at the Costa Serena gliding into Funchal, you don’t imagine that it could leak. Another reason I don’t go on cruises.

Only 9 seconds, but something good to watch when stuck anywhere other than Madeira.

Many thanks to Paul for this useful information x 3 :

Roads back open on the 28^th Feb (Funchal) :

· Campo da Barca Bridge.

· Rua do Carmo to Rua do Oudinot

· Jaime Moniz High School to Carmo Bridge

Bridge closed temporarily

·The bridge near Lavradores Market will be closed for cleaning

Source: Official Report from Regional Government of Madeira – 28/02/2010

It was a one off event, a catastrophe that isn’t likely to happen again, and one that the island will soon recover from says British victim

Roger and Gillian Wilson, British holidaymakers, have spoken for the first time of the ordeal they endured when the taxi in which they were travelling between hotels with another British couple was hit by a mudslide.

He praised the emergency services on Madeira and hoped that tourists would not be put off coming to the island because of the recent tragedy.

"It is a wonderful place and the people of Madeira have been truly fantastic. It was a one off event, a catastrophe that isn’t likely to happen again, and one that the island will soon recover from," insisted Mr Wilson.

"Tourism is the life-blood of Madeira and I really hope people will be sensible enough to realise that it is still worth coming here – we will definitely be back for another holiday," he said. Source: Telegraph Newspaper

Paul do Mar collects for flood victims

Paul do Mar’s inhabitants have been collecting food items for flood victims all week. The initiative has been led by a young soldier in the village and supported by the Paul do Mar Casa do Povo. The leaders are hoping to get an army truck here today on Sunday to transport it to Funchal for distribution. If an army truck is not available it will go to Funchal in private trucks soon.

Another email from Tobi : "I have a new set of photos on Flickr. The big clean up has been going on for a week now round the island , and I’m totally amazed at how fast it has happened. See the clean up pics here

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 28/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Diário honours the victims and the heroes. A photographic record of those who died and those involved in the rescue. Today’s magazine also has a 26 page photographic record of the disaster. Both available on-line. THE VICTIMS THE PHOTOS

Men and machines go to Serra de Água. By the end of today, the dredging of the streams in Funchal should be completed. The Regional Government has asked the construction companies to transfer their workforce and machinery to start an immediate large-scale intervention in Serra de Água. Only the mouth of the ribeira de São João still requires intervention. This was the most complex job as almost 300 metres were totally clogged with stones and other inert materials, forcing the water to divert into the tunnel and causing serious problems in the area of São Lázaro. The staff of Tâmega have worked 24 hours a day since last Sunday to ensure the safety of the city. The ribeiras of Santa Luzia and João Gomes have been cleared and just areas of walls need to be reconstructed. When this phase has been concluded, the excavators and lorries, more than 100 of each, will start constructing the tunnel between Meia Légua and Serra d’Água in Ribeira Brava. This tunnel will cost around 40 million Euros. They will also need to attend to the main stream in the area, channelling it where necessary. Over the past seven days, 200,000 cubic metres of stones and other debris have been removed from the three streams in Funchal. The inert material (gravel) is worth more than half a million Euros in the commercial market. The Regional Government has made no decision about the fate of the recovered material – inerts and mud. At present, builders do not require inert material and transportation costs are high – 13,000 trips would be needed to move the entire stock. The fate of the roundabout at Dolce Vita has not been decided. The machinery started clearing the streams on the Saturday afternoon (20th February) despite the intense rainfall then the company increased the number of men and machinery when the gravity of the situation was realized, under the command of Santos Costa. At the end of yesterday, both Santos Costa and Alberto Jardim went to each of the streams to personally thank the employees and directors of the companies responsible for the cleaning.

Navy maintains search in Santo António. This search began last week with divers, doctors and special surveillance equipment sent to the stream and police closed the road between Rampa and Caminho do Laranjal and sealed off the area. The Navy teams are slowly working their way up stream to the bridge at the cemetery of Santo António. They are searching for the body of Manuel Nunes, a former sacristão (Sexton) of the Sé. There are also suspicions that two women have been swept away after flooding in Laranjal which lies above the stream. Bags belonging to them have been found in the reeds. Their house has been destroyed and it is thought they were trying to flee during the storm last Saturday. This is an area where there has been much destruction and many deaths, the firefighters rescued many from their houses but it is also the area where the crane used in the construction of the new cota 500 (expressway) fell. The residents fear that the other cranes are unstable, especially during the recent winds. A week is not enough time for the neighbours to mourn the losses in this area. The storm destroyed 80% of the sewerage in the high areas of this parish. The old sewerage tanks are being reactivated until the pipes can be repaired. The water supply is not affected by the sewerage problem but residents are still advised to boil it first. One of the photos is of a 14 year old who helped rescue neighbours.

MADEIRA

Since October, bad weather has been front-page news. The previous bad weather cannot parallel the tragedy of Saturday 20th February, but the weather has often made front-page news since October 2009. October 3rd, it was reported that three houses had collapsed in Funchal after heavy rainfall. October 5th, several landslides and accidents were due to rain. On October 6th, it was reported that the rainfall was abnormal compared to the past 30 years and a 300% increase over Summer. December 16th, floods and landslides and December 19th, waves, rain and wind caused damage throughout the region. 23rd December, streams overflowed at São Vicente and Madalena do Mar, and São João was without water. 24th December, houses at risk in São Vicente and four parishes of Santana without water. The promenades at Faial and Madalena were destroyed, homes and cars damaged by falling trees in Santa Cruz and flooding and landslides in Funchal and Curral das Freiras. 27th December, the bad weather had left Ponta do Sol without water. December 29th, families displaced in Monte and isolated in Serra d’Água. In 2010, 3rd February, a day and night of bad weather caused chaos throughout Madeira, particularly in Santana and Porto da Cruz and areas of Machico were left unrecognizable. February 16th, the sea caused damage and on February 18th, it was reported that the sea had engulfed many coastal infrastructures.

RG3 still needs help. Donations needed of: deodorant, toilet paper, flour, corn, coffee, chocolate, gel and / or shaving cream, rice, cereals, salt, cream, pasta, after-shave, nappies and adult incontinence pads, colónias para bebés (?), bath gel for infants and adults, and hair conditioner.

Lions Club of Funchal opens an account. To raise funds to help resettle victims of the flood. NIB of bank account for donations, account in CGD is: 0035 0336 0011 7092 9305 0.

ECONOMY

AidaAluna brings tourists. After six cancellations of cruise ships, the Port of Funchal returns to normal today. 2,250 German tourists arrived and were greeted with a warm welcome and presented with flowers. This charm offensive was by the Port Administrators who also laid on a bus to transport tourists to downtown Funchal. A symbolic day for the region. The Costa Europa, a frequent visitor, suffered a serious accident the day before yesterday while mooring at Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt. The strong wind pushed the ship against the wall of the port, killing three crew members and two passengers were injured. The hull was damaged and the cruise had to be ended. In April, the ship will operate under charter to Thomson Cruises with the name Thomson Dream.

APAVT and TAP to see reconstruction. Tomorrow, a delegation form the Portuguese Association of Travel Agents and Tourism is expected in Madeira to see the progress of the recuperation of the regional infrastructure following the recent floods. The president and vice-president will meet the Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport to hear an account of initiatives taken to support the resumption of tourism. Journalists from the major Portuguese tourism publications will also be flown in by TAP, accompanied by the airline’s general manager.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

REGIONAL

All displaced to be rehoused by the end of March. The chairman of the IHM said that all housing situations caused by the storm of 20th February should be resolved by the end of March. In Funchal, Santa Cruz and Câmara de Lobos, people would either be temporarily or permanently rehoused. The same for Ribeira Brava, but the IHM has no vacant accommodation so they are looking for leasing or purchasing housing, (which is scarce), or asking emigrants with empty property to temporarily lease it. In other counties, there are fewer people to be accommodated. The various authorities will see if those temporarily rehoused can go back to their own homes or if the houses cannot be recuperated.

Bridge mounted on Tuesday. The Mayor of Ribeira Brava announced that a military bridge would allow access to Fajã da Ribeira, replacing the one that was destroyed. Another bridge allowing access to Tabua should be constructed either that day or the next day. There is still no road access to north Tabua but road access to south Tabua is now opened. Still restricted access to Serra d’Água but trucks taking donated goods to the area are allowed and 40 military personnel are offering support to the isolated population.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Damages in commerce hit by the floods – The loss of rent in certain establishments is on the way to hitting 20 million Euros.

Today’s main news headline : Restaurants in the marina are going to ground – The storms and their destruction oblige the Ports to prepare for works : 8 units in Funchal Marina, amongst them restaurants and shops, are going now to be demolished. The new structures will cost €5 million, and 100 workers will lose their jobs.

Anxiety surrounds the summit in Lisbon – [president] Jardim says he trusts in [prime minister] Sócrates regarding the promised support. Parties expect money for the Region and responsibility.

Sócrates says that the priority is cooperation – The prime minister says that now is not the moment for "recriminations and disputes".

"If everything were to run normally, I will get to 2011 and say ‘cheerio, until next time’". Jardim admits to reconsidering his decision to quit the Regional Government in 2011.

Cleaning operations underway in Luso-Brasileira – Public Security Police asks residents to stay at home.

Citizens with an important role in the ‘return’ of Funchal - Life goes back to normal today in the capital, but with many constraints. The council requests understanding : the ideal action is to leave the car at home. The Diário shows the closed streets and authorised parking spaces. MAP SHOWING ROADS CLOSED / RESTRICTED & CAR PARKS OPEN

Rumours continue to disrupt the reconstruction and the searches.

"This is a superior people" – Jardim says he was not surprised by the speed of the clean up.

Schools reopen on Monday – The exception is the Language Academy of Madeira that "for reasons of safety" will resume classes on Tuesday.

Traffic returns to almost all of the streets of Funchal – Six car parks are open starting Monday.

The storm in Madeira was only a "sign" of a global trend – The Director of the North American Centre for Science and Technology for Coastal Margin Observation, warns : Portugal "is going to live in the midst of climate change".

The main sport / football headline today : Alvalade returns to live a night of triumph – Gala exhibition of Sporting results in thrashing (3 – 0) of FC Porto. The ‘classic’ match raised around 30 thousand Euros for Madeira. Today Nacional v Belenenses – 8.15 pm SportTV1.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

Many thanks to Paul for sending in these two links to articles :

1. What Atlantic Holidays, part of the Pestana Group, is advising its clients who booked or are considering holidays in Madeira. “The situation in Madeira has improved immensely in the last few days and the island is gradually returning to normal.” Atlantic Holidays part of the Pestana Group informs its customers on its website that: ”None of the tourist resorts nor the hotels have been affected and, therefore, we continue to operate our holidays as planned.” Link to their site with up to date images of the island

2. BBC Interview with Joao Camacho in Gloucester who runs Atlantic Holidays. “A storm of this magnitude has never happened before in Madeira so everybody is upset”, says João Camacho in Gloucester who runs Atlantic Holidays, interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire. INTERVIEW

And here’s another one just in this morning … Island Escape, but no escape this week … thanks for the photo Pete.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Dog owner needed ; Jersey & Guernsey chip in ; Road closures, & other news headlines

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo from Tom

"Der, please post that nice dog on your board. I have found him on Monte today. It is lost dog little bit skinny but well behaving and very nice, very small and cute. I cannot keep him longer than 3 days. I am not staying here permanently, otherwise I’ll keep him. Thanks. (Free of charge of course)". Tom. If anyone can help pleeeease … email me and I will pass it on. Der

Many thanks to Becky for these videos :

A guided walk from Monte to Terreiro da Luta – seemingly all uphill and accompanied by the strange choice of some terrifying Holst, which certainly makes you wonder what’s around each corner! If that doesn’t put you off, here’s exactly what to do, and at least it must be all downhill on the way back…

Another walk, this time into the peace and quiet of a Banana Farm in Arco da Calheta, ending with a beautiful view of the sea. No music, just footsteps… and bananas.

Samantha Cox sent me this link for her full interview on the situation on Madeira, saying that the "the show was very positive about coming to Madeira and I think will help allay any fears people may have, especially as the clincher was the chap at the beginning complaining, he came here, and ended the show with a thumbs up report!". BBC RADIO 4 You will need to have / download REALPLAYER to listen.

Many thanks to Paul for sending in this information (2 articles) :

Roads closed temporarily as at 27 February 2010 (list and pdf map)

The Regional Civil Protection Service, IP-RAM, in statement issued on February 27, 2010, reports that are temporarily closed the following regional roads:
Regional roads

E.R. 101 – Caminho dos Pretos
E.R. 101 – Ponta Delgada – Boaventura
E.R. 101-10 Madalena do Mar – Ponta do Sol
E.R. 103 – Ribeiro Frio – Poiso
E.R. 103 – Zona do Cabouco
E.R. 104 – Serra D’ Água – Meia Légua
E.R. 105 – Boca da Encumeada – Estanquinhos
E.R.107-1 – Acesso à Eira do Serrado
E.R. 213 – São Roque do Faial
E.R. 222 – Sítio da Santinha – Ponte
E.R. 223 – Jardim do Mar – Estreito da Calheta
E.R. 227 – Ribeira da Tabua
E.R. 229 – Lugar da Ribeira (Bridge) – Campanário

ViaExpresso:
Exit Ribeira Brava Motor way- Cruzamento do Rosário
Serra d’Água old road – Tunnel Sacramento
Estreito da Calheta – Jardim do Mar

ViaLitoral:
Luso-Brasileira -Pestana Júnior
Motor way acess to Encumeada
The Regional Civil Protection Service, IP-RAM, reports that the following regional roads are partially closed:
E.R. 102 – Camacha – Santo da Serra
E.R. 103 – Monte – Poiso
E.R. 107 – Romeiras-Curral das Freiras MAP OF ROAD CLOSURES INFORMATION SOURCE

Viva Madeira, Viva Jersey! One primary school in Jersey raises nearly 800 euros for Madeira!

Source of Jersey map

PUPILS at Springfield Primary School in the capital of Jersey, St.Helier, my homeland, have raised more than £700 for the Jersey ‘Side by Side’ appeal for Madeira yesterday – the most the school has ever raised at a fundraising event.

The school, which has many students of Madeiran descent, organised a ‘Madeira Day’ during which the students paid £1 to wear yellow and blue, the colours of the Madeiran flag.

There was also a cake sale, face painting and blue and yellow friendship bracelets on sale. One girl even donated £50 of her birthday money to the fundraising total. Teacher Jackie Meneses, who herself has family in Madeira, said that the day had been an emotional one.

‘It was amazing,’ she said. ‘We made the most amount of money we have ever made in fundraising and we have also been given a £100 voucher for La Capannina restaurant, the most famous Italian restaurant on the island for which we hope to organise a competition of some sort. I was quite emotional and we were just overawed by the generosity of people.’

Many people from the Madeiran community came up to us and said thank you for doing this.’ LINK

‘Viva Madeira! Viva Guernsey! An aid lorry is leaving Guernsey this weekend to help those affected by the flash flood in Madeira.

Elvio Pires, president of the Guernsey Portuguese Association, said there had been a great response to their appeal.

He said the lorry had been packed with clothing, hygienic products and other items to help those who lost everything in the flood earlier this week.

Mr Pires paid tribute to those from the island who helped to fill the lorry "in just two days".

He said: "Thank you to everyone who brought stuff to send over, locals, people from the Latvian community, from the Polish community and of course from the Madeiran community."

Mr Pires, along with a majority of the island’s Portuguese community, has family in Madeira. Map of Bailiwick of Guernsey labelled in the Guernsey language SOURCE BBC

It’s great what is going on to try and help, and these are just two more cases, and the East Timor story of Friday, and I heard on the radio that Naval Football Club were donating their match receipts to help Madeira, from their game yesterday (Naval won 2 – 1). But only one person (thank you) has answered the question yesterday from Roslyn. Does that mean that no blog reader has donated anything yet … can’t be? Can it? I can admit that I haven’t as yet, but I want to, and I need to know as much as Roslyn, and sooner rather than later.

Tom put a comment on yesterday’s blog comments: "Just returned from Monte. Babosas is destroyed totally. Church standing there Friday a week ago is a pile of rumble. Two huge rocks like 2m high rolled over the church like a bomb. Only the steps of the church and back washrooms survived. Clean up in progress".

Click either photo to view full size

He then sent me in these photos, adding "Here you have Monte / Babosas? and the gone small antic church. You can see two bombs — huge rocks. They went from the hill behind the church and destroyed it totally and completely. This is unbelievable. Today I went to the heart / mouth of the beginning of the flash flood high above Monte inside eucalyptus forest (I do not advice going there). Two streams (one is already gone today, the second is miniscule today). They join together at the end of the forest and run down with tremendous force carving a huge valley on its way. Just 300-400 meters below, the first obstacle was the small church. As you see there is not much left. Only the church washrooms survive just because they were hidden aside. Moonlike picture".

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

It was a very short press conference yesterday evening, as the government spokesperson briefed those interested on what has happened since the last one. The main point was that ALL schools will be open as usual tomorrow. Conceição Estudante added that the roads that serve the schools may still have restrictions, and the parking, and of course public transport will not be fully back to normal, but a little extra effort if needed wouldn’t do any harm. She spoke briefly about a couple of works that were now underway, including the access problem at Paul do Mar.

Conceição Estudante, as many will know, is the Regional Secretary for Transport and Tourism. So why has she been the spokeswoman for the Madeira Government over the last week, and throughout this catastrophe? Not the ideal person as far as jobs go. Maybe because the most important aspect of all this is minimising the impact on present and future tourism? Definitely not! Conceição Estudante is a brilliant performer in public relations, and not that she needed to prove the point, but she has done a tremendous job in presenting the bad news, and some good recovery news as well, and also in representing her somewhat less credible lords and masters.

She came a bit unstuck on the controversy of ‘counting the dead’, but I would guess that she was doing exactly what she was asked to do, and when the ‘game was up’, she came back with a response that almost seemed to satisfy the journalists. That’s not to say that the talk of the island is no longer about how the numbers of deceased are still being suppressed, although personally I am one of the few that don’t believe that.

Can you imagine Uncle Bertie or one of his political cronies trying to front that responsibility? I tried, and chortled a little. A return visit to Tabua perhaps (remember Summer 2009) and UB telling the journalists to F*** O** because one asked a difficult question. Or perhaps one of the more senior PSD-M politicians, perhaps the one with a rather large share in the Madeira cement industry here, telling journalists that Serra d’Água would be rebuilt in concrete, without the € signs showing in the rapidly rotating eyeballs in front of an audience that knows the history of the greedy git. And I don’t mean to be disrespectful in this ‘imaginary scenario’, as I should have no doubt that all these fine men would be looking after Madeira and Madeirans, first and foremost. Although the news this week, about turning down the services of a specialised search and rescue team from the Azores, does cast a little shadow over my perception of what might be the true priorities.

The appointment of Conceição Estudante, as the interface between the regional government and the media in these troubled times, was an absolute masterstroke. I take my hat off to the top men that thought that one up, and to the lady herself. Conceição Estudante is not an elected politician, she is appointed to her post by the Regional Government (as far as I have been able to work out so far), and so although obviously she has to tow the party political line of Uncle Bertie, she can actually demonstrate some degree of impartiality and separate herself from some of the nonsense of the politicians that surround her. She does so more often than not, but not always, so outside of this week’s performance she doesn’t quite score full marks on my blackboard.

So what she has done is managed communications about a natural disaster and its consequences, and as a result (I really so hope at least) and is averting a potentially really deep economic crisis, through her credibility, dominating personality, and natural abilities in the complex matters of PR. I am referring of course to Madeira through the eyes of the rest of the world … firstly how we can attract help and financial aid, and secondly without making Madeira look like a crumbling wreck and therefore unattractive to tourism.

I should finish up by saying that only an idiot could actually make Madeira sound like a crumbling wreck, but Madeira is of course the home to the king of that genre. Madeira is of course as beautiful as ever, and following the advice issued by the authorities one will ensure that a holiday or even a lifetime here is as safe as it has ever been.

There is a part two to this ramble which I may publish tomorrow, but I am not sure if publishing it now would be insensitive in the circumstances … logo se vê.

Many thanks to Elaine for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 27/02/2010

MADEIRA

Storm devastates Aviceiros. Montado dos Aviceiros is a property located at 1,200 metres above sea level in the zone of Campanário in Ribeira Brava. It was destroyed last Saturday during the storm. Access is only through the Boca da Corrida in Jardim da Serra and it is situated two kilometres from the Forest Rangers post. The aim of the Montado dos Aviceiros project is to restore the original vegetation of the valleys and the construction of a self-sufficient ecovillage to enable a healthy lifestyle. Over several years, the flora found at this altitude has been restored with the infrastructure to support mountain tourism, agriculture and livestock farming. There have been training courses organized on various topics and group workshops. At the site, two houses have been used by nature lovers, up to 15 at a time, who have enjoyed the various footpaths. The excessive rain during 2009 / 2010 destroyed the natural cohesion of the shallow soils of these slopes, so the soil could not support the heavy rainfall on February 20th. The slopes gave way, carrying earth and stones to the lower area which serves as a flat surface for houses, agricultural store rooms and car parks. There were no casualties, only material damage and all planned activities have been cancelled. As well as flora found at this altitude, there are chestnut and walnut trees and the area is ideal for both nesting and visiting birds, the most evident is the ever present Manta.

Caritas is now asking for donations of furniture and household equipment. Caritas is working in conjunction with the Army and Social Security and people are beginning to be rehoused. They are distributing donated food and hygiene products throughout the counties and now also need furniture, electrical domestic appliances, equipment and utensils for those rehoused. The priority is to distribute goods to people who have lost everything, but they do not need any more clothing at present. Goods can be delivered to RG3 and the two community centres of the Associação de Desenvolvimento Comunitário do Funchal, in Vargem (Nazaré) and Murteiras. Large items are being collected at a warehouse in Ribeira João Gomes.

Câmara de Lobos has a loss of 35 million euros. This is a conservative estimate and will increase. Curral das Freiras and Jardim da Serra were the parishes most affected by landslides. The storm caused one death, one person missing and 50 – 60 homeless families, 15 still housed in community centres. Debris has been removed form the mouth of the ribeira da Alforra and up to yesterday, 7,500 cubic metres of debris have been removed and dumped. The council had wanted a new road access to Curral das Freiras but this decision was overturned by the PSD in the last Municipal Assembly, and President Jardim said it was absurd to speak of a new access. The mayor has always expressed his concern that the parish should always be safely accessible and the problems of isolation of this area need to be solved.

Hundreds of people are helping in the collection and separation of food. At the Mercado Abastecedor de São Martinho, over 200 volunteers have been separating food and other usable items donated by Jerónimo Martins. These have been rescued from the group’s flooded Pingo Doce shops in Anadia and Doce Vita. The products will be delivered to families affected by the storm. The estimate is that 30% of the stock at the supermarket in Anadia and 80% of the stock in Dolce Vita have arrived and would be worth about one million euros in the food market. Everything that was salvageable from the mud has been delivered to this centre and the rice that had become moist went to SPAD for animal feed. The more perishable products like fruit and vegetables have been delivered to support centres in the most affected parishes and to charities. The cleaned and separated products are now being packaged for delivery to relocated families. Even children have helped, especially as there has been no school and they have nothing to do, alongside students and teachers.

Youngsters apprehended robbing a devastated house. Two people were arrested early on Tuesday at Seara Velha in Curral das Freiras after attempting to steal from a house that had collapsed during last Saturday’s storm. The two, aged 17 and 21, live in Curral das Freiras, were armed with a shotgun and fired at arriving police. They eventually surrendered without the police having to shoot back. There have been other attempts in Funchal, including an assault on a bank and a shop during the chaotic first hours of the flood. Both of these individuals were arrested.

ECONOMY

Mundovip launches campaign ‘Celebrate Recovery’. A promotional package for the domestic market, ‘Come to the Flower Festival to celebrate the recovery of Madeira’. Mundovip is the largest tourism operator in Portugal and is offering from 15 – 17 April, flights on TAP and SATA from Lisbon and bed and breakfast accommodation at the five star CS Madeira Hotel. Rates are between 209 and 462 euros, and 133 euros for children. They also have a promotion with accommodation at the Quinta da Bela Vista. However, the Spanish tour operator ‘Portugal Tour’ has had cancellations for Easter. They consider this to be normal considering that Spanish television has focused every day on the disaster. The tour operators might find more tourists prefer the island of Porto Santo.

CULTURE

‘Hope for Madeira’ is tomorrow (Sunday). The solidarity gala at the Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon starts at 21.45 tomorrow (Sunday). It hosts several top Portuguese musicians and will be broadcasted live on SIC television.

‘Voices of the Songs of Fado’ unite for Madeira. This show will be held on Saturday March 6 at 21.00 at the Centro de Congressos da Madeira. Tickets on sale at the Congress Centre (and possibly FNAC) cost 15 euros.

Mural de Berardo destroyed at Monte. A mural dating from 1991, by the Argentinian artist Alberto Cedrón, was destroyed at the Quinta do Monte. A landslide fell onto the wall comprising of multiple panels in ceramics. This mural was titled, Adventure of the Portuguese in Japan, and measured 20 x 2 metres. Only one third of the panel is in a good condition and the rest has been partially or totally destroyed. It is not known what can be restored.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Today’s main news headline : Excavators head for Serra de Água – Completed the clearances of the river beds in Funchal, the constructors now have a new large scale objective.

Tempest leaves €500 thousand [worth] of inert materials piled up.

Navy continues searches in Santo António.

The large photo, bottom right, shows a devastating scene on a major road : Earthquake in Chile causes 214 deaths.

Diário to pay tribute to the victims and heroes of the catastrophe.

Government prepares restart of lessons on Monday. The Regional Secretary for Education calls for "common sense in analysing" the issues of lateness and absences.

Waves lash the pool at the Lido [Funchal] – Part of the edge is destroyed.

The night was calm, despite the Weather Office warnings.

The main sport / football headline today : They got away with 35 thousand Euros for Madeira – Marítimo lost the game of solidarity.

Madaíl asks for support from UEFA to restore the Madeiran sports park.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Funchal flooding by night ; Road closures around Madeira ; Best way to make donations?

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to … Bird : "I guess each of these has its point. My own preference is for no. 3, which has some drama but is technically imperfect (one does not run around with a tripod in disaster areas). For those that prefer poetry, there is no. 4 ("The Avenida do Mar, well named"). But it’s all up to you" … Bird. Many thanks Bird, I think they are all shocking but impressive, and I presume were taken last weekend before dawn … your first name isn’t ‘Early’ by any chance?

I hope we can all wake up this morning and find that all the worry of yesterday has passed, or is passing at least. People were really concerned about the forecast for heavy rain last night, I even saw shops closing early and using primitive means to protect their premises from further flooding. Der.

Many thanks to Becky for these two cheerier videos :

Bailhinho da Madeira.

Impressions of Madeira. Footage taken in February 2010, which I expected to be completely rain-soaked, but it finally ends in sunshine looking down on Curral das Freiras from Eira do Serrado.

Tobi kindly sent this in : "I have recorded the BBC Radio 4 interview" HERE Brave man Tobi, I just hope that Sam doesn’t mind, and no one else ends up in the water.

I was sent this by email : "My husband and I have been visiting Madeira two or three times each year since 1990. We have Madeiran Godchildren and a Madeiran family. This beautiful island is our second home. We are devastated by this tragedy but know Madeira will rebuild and survive and become beautiful again.

Our first visit to Madeira in August 1990 was because I had undergone emergency eye surgery in May of that year and, once recovered, I made the decision to only look at beautiful things because I had almost lost my sight. Madeira was my choice of "viewing" and it has never, ever, disappointed me. We had our silver wedding anniversary celebration in the English Church in 1998 and have attended the baptism and confirmation of our Godchildren in Câmara de Lobos.

I only wish I knew how to help the Madeiran people who have lost their homes and livelihoods and relatives. I shall ask the Side-by-Side people in Jersey if I can help through them". Roslyn (full name supplied) England.

Thank you Roslyn … if you want to make a financial donation, there are several routes, covered on this blog during this week, and more. I cannot tell you which is the best route, but maybe some people who have already given could post comments today on their opinions, particularly regarding currency, ease of use, and what are the more official, fast, and direct channels of giving.

This weekends football : Somehow it doesn’t seem right to be talking about football, but life must go on, and maybe a little distraction will do some good in such a distressing week. Anyway, as I have no news to the contrary, I assume that the planned fixtures are being played. First up are Marítimo at 4 pm this afternoon, with an away game at Naval, just 4 points behind our lads. Nacional host bottom club Belenenses on Monday night. 8.15 pm on SportTV1. Belenenses have won just one game in the 20 played so far this season. Top game this weekend is tomorrow night, when Sporting, buoyant after giving Everton a bit of a whipping in the Europa League this week, host Porto. It’s on SportTV1 at 8.15 pm.

Many thanks to Elaine (out West) for this piece from the Diário :

Roads closed around the island. The most complicated situations are those in Meia Légua, Serra da Agua and also Tabua. Several roads remain closed after the storm last Saturday. The west is the most affected, but there is also prohibited or conditional access elsewhere in the region. According to information provided by the Regional Secretariat for Social Affairs Bureau, the following roads in the west are closed: ER 101 (10), between Madalena do Mar and Ponta do Sol, ER 104 between Serra d’Agua and Meia Légua, ER 105 from Boca da Encumeada to Estanquinhos, ER 222, which connects Sítio da Santinha to Ponte, ER 223 at the descent from Jardim do Mar to Estreito da Calheta, ER 227 in Ribeira da Tabua, and ER 229 which connects Lugar da Ribeira (Ponte) to Campanário.

Also still closed are the ER 101 at Caminho dos Pretos (Funchal) and between Ponta Delgada and Boaventura. In addition there are some roads where traffic is restricted. These are the ER 102 between Camacha and Santo da Serra, the RE 103 from Monte to Poiso, and the ER 107, which connects Romeiras to the Nuns’ Valley. The Bureau also draws the attention of motorists to the fact that, while open, the roads should be used with great caution because some have not yet been thoroughly cleaned.

Elaine (out East) is back after a long loss of internet … hurrah … many thanks for these news stories.

DIÁRIO 26/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Jardim spoke with Barroso – 1.3 billion Euros in damages. Funding will be made at three levels: Europe, State and the Region. The balance is not finalised and losses are guaranteed to be more than 1.3 billion Euros. This figure will be explained to the European Commission at two different levels. First, the banks and the mouths of the most dangerous streams have been destroyed, and the added water transported thousands of cubic metres of gravel and mud, weakened the beds and leaves a threat in the air in case of new rainfall. With more than 100 km of regional roads, which join all of the municipal roads, partially or totally damaged, reconstruction also involves the consolidation of slopes to prevent new landslides. At least three bridges have fallen, their reconstruction involves a large investment or alternative newer safer trajectories constructed. The inventory of damage is still being produced, involving the municipal councils, the Estradas da Madeira and departments of the Regional Government. Jardim will then send this to Brussels along with two Regional ministers. The Council of Funchal has advanced a loss of 140 million Euros for trade and more than 100 million Euros for municipal roads and other structures. This does not include money for intervention in the streams and help required for reconstruction of habitation for those who have lost their houses. Some areas need to construct new infrastructures, for example a new tunnel at Santa de Água will cost 60 million Euros. At the second level, Madeira will have to rebuild newer and safer accessibility and residential areas. There has been major destruction in Serra de Água, Tabua, Funchal, Santa Cruz as well as other counties. The funding will come through grants and lines of credit. The decisive factor may be changing the rules applied by the European Parliament by Portuguese deputies, suggesting a reprogramming of funds from the European Cohesion Fund, European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund on a basis of rapid and simplified procedures making advance payments wherever possible.

MADEIRA

Quercus challenge people to speak. The environmental association Quercus published today on the Internet portal a document listing 22 failures in the organization and planning of the territory, ‘Aluvião no Funchal, 20 de Fevereiro de 2010, o que ajudou que tudo corresse mal?’ Over the past 14 years, the association has pointed out errors and recommendations for risk prevention. In 2003, their Study on the Streams traced the history of landslides and mudslides and recommended measures to prevent them. It is now time for the community to speak about what they saw, whether this is down to extreme nature, climate change or other factors. Using a map of Funchal, they have outlined the three clogged and flooded watercourses and want this to be a starting point of a document for the Public Ministry.

Two more dead in the rubble at Ribeira Brava. Five dead, two missing and 102 homeless in this county. The two missing bodies that were found yesterday are thought to belong to a family of seven from Pomar de Rocha and the only survivor has had at least one limb amputated. The elderly woman was found in the interior of the residence and the child lying in the bottom of the valley, near the Meia Légua tunnel, just inside the perimeter of the Centro Desportivo da Madeira. The mayor admits there may be more victims in the county, especially along the expressway of Serra de Água which was engulfed by flood waters. The quality of the water supply is poor in the West of Ribeira Brava, especially in Tabua and Banda d`Além. The most troublesome area for the water supply is Serra de Água and Ribeira da Tabua as the only supply to this isolated area has been broken. There are noticeable differences day to day in the county despite setbacks like craters appearing in roads. About 100 homes were inundated, 30 badly damaged and eight levadas flooded in Serra D´Água last Saturday. The population in the areas most affected, Travessa, Quebrada, Romeira and other areas, are returning to normal life but still express fears.

57 landslides in one day. On Saturday, in the peak of the rainfall, between nine and eleven o’clock in the morning, there were 57 landslides in the county of Funchal. São Martinho was the parish least affected whereas Santo António, a highly populated area, was one of the parishes with the most number of victims. The map also shows the number of trees that have been planted in an attempt to prevent flooding. But the process of reforestation was severely affected by years of drought between 2002 and 2005. There is no deadline for completion of the clean up work in Funchal, the machines still clearing the three streams. From Ribeira de São João, three to four tons of stones have been removed, The clearance work is difficult by Marina Shopping and Minas Gerais. It would have been easier to demolish the roundabout – Rotunda do Infante – but the council decided to make a hole in the concrete in this area and this has delayed the work by a day. In the area of Ribeira de João Gomes, the critical points are the Campo da Barca and the Oudinet building. The petrol station has been demolished and will not be rebuilt. At Praia Formosa, there have been 2,250 truck loads dumped, retrieved from the streams and lower Funchal. Link to the map.

Carreiros resume activity in Monte. The wicker basket rides down from Monte to Funchal will resume today. The problems in the final area of Livramento should be resolved today. There are 130 men involved in this type of work and they are wanting to resume as it is their life. Confident of help from Nossa Senhora do Monte because this could have been worse. One of the men, a 39 year old, has lost his house and is residing with his unemployed wife and two children at accommodation of the Scouts in Monte. One of the things he saved from the house was his costume for the work – white dress and straw hat – a tourist symbol for more than 200 years.

ECONOMY

Supermarkets keeping prices the same. Food prices will not increase following the disaster. Prices are the same throughout the country at Pingo Doce. The company, Grupo Jerónimo Martins, has contracts that ensure fixed prices throughout the year. Modelo will keep the prices the same to help Madeirans in their hour of greatest difficulty. Grupo Sá will not alter prices to ensure the security and peace of Madeirans. Only 15% of their products are local so they will not have to increase prices with agricultural produce affected by the rain.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

REGION

Santa Cruz notes extensive damage. Contrary to what may seem by the near silence of the media, the county of Santa Cruz has been hit hard by the storm. 19 houses need total reconstruction, 33 are in need of work and 12 need stabilization work. Some households had to be evacuated as the area was dangerous and there are 184 homeless people (67 households). The mayor asks the population in Gaula and Camacha not to over consume water now the supply has been re-established after a break in the tunnel at Porto Novo. Camacha was the area most damaged by the storm as there has been a high level of rainfall since the beginning of the year, resulting in landslides.

Machico estimate three million Euros loss. Several shops and houses were flooded with water and mud. In the zone of Caramanchão, a dozen hoses were affected by flooding. Many walls and public areas have to be replaced and traffic routes cleaned.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Solidarity with artists and sportsmen – After the support announced by Benfica and Porto, Sporting keeps it [gate?] receipts for Madeira. Marco Polo and Maria da Fé on the list for a concert / show in Funchal on 6th March.

Survivor from Pomar [da Rocha] doesn’t want to return home – The two sisters succumb to the storm, in Arco da Calheta, and José Guarnel is traumatised. Dramas throughout the island.

Today’s main news headline : State and European Union guarantee €500 million. The EU guarantees just €44 million from the ‘lost fund’. Well short of the €1.4 billion needed to rebuild Madeira according to yesterdays news, and that figure is creeping up by the day.

Barroso visits Madeira on the 12th of March. The (Portuguese) European Commissioner is going to pay us a visit. An interesting question as to whether his roots will ensure he cuts Madeira the best possible aid deal, or will he aim to be seen as impartial and hence rather cold to a tragedy at home.

Lisbon will take on a loan of €240 million and the transfer of another €200 million.

The Madeira Government announced €20 million grant for affected traders.

Councils exempt citizens and businesses from IMI.

The main photo today is accompanied by the headline : Rumours make nervous and empty Funchal. The rumours were back on the attack during the day yesterday, consisting of false orders for the evacuation of the capital up until 18.00 hours. Later, the Civil Protection came forward to correct the ‘alarm’ situation, such as Meteorology did with a ‘hurricane’ [rumour ?]. But in the meantime there were citizens fleeing, and shops and services rushing to close early. Much the same over my way in Ribeira Brava, with shops and businesses closing early, and hasty attempts at waterproofing premises against further water damage. By 9.30 pm last night, before even a gust of wind or a droplet of precipitation, the place was a ghost town. All (so far) unwarranted, as after a night of on and off winds and rain, a nice sunny day has appeared. River levels are low, although there was a very small flash flood not long before midnight. There are reports on the radio this morning about damage caused by the very strong winds.

The latest information given yesterday was that the depression did not put the island at risk, however calling for caution in the early morning.

20 families evacuated as a precaution.

Meeting between Sócrates and Jardim is already scheduled for Monday – There will be a summit between central and regional government in order to work out the support from the state for Madeira, in the succession of the storms. [Prime Minister] Sócrates and [Finance Minister] Teixeira dos Santos are available. Jardim (who yesterday was checked out in hospital following an ailment) says he is confident.

In Funchal, [Miguel] Alburquerque continues summarising the effects of the storm, despite of the ‘insinuations’.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

BY EMAIL : News from Prazeres to Riviera Brava : Update on conditions from Prazeres to Ribeira Brava this morning (Saturday). The roads are OK but care is needed as there are large rocks at the side of the roads. Madalena do Mar has appeared to have lost the bridge at the end of the river, so the walk way down the front has collapsed. Diggers are at present removing a large amount of debris from this area.

At the roundabout at Tabua there are diggers removing very large boulders that cover the road up to Tabua, some as large as 5ft in diameter.

Some more of the wall at Lugar de Baixo has given way with huge waves crashing over the other parts, the area around the pool is unrecognisable, it is littered with debris. The road down has had another rock fall.

The roads from Paul da Serra to Canhas, Prazeres and Arco da Calheta are passable with care, as the rock falls and trees have yet to be cleared from the side of the roads.

Regards. Selina. Many thanks Selina, lots more news on damage overnight coming through on the news.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira flood – photo special – February 2010

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:05:00 +0000

With more photos than I can ever use, this was the best way to use some up. Many thanks to Tom, Pete, Sue, and another for sending them in.

Click on any photo for a full size view.

From Tom : "Funchal downtown is going full swing today. Many tourists and locals are basking in the sunshine and enjoying fresh coffee. The only black spot on west side is lower part of Dolce Vita (Dolce Vita garage is still under water) the river there still flows on the pavement and through the tunnel to the sea, as per my picture".

From Tom : "Here you have police searching for bodies of the driver and passenger, also under the mud deep below are at least 2-3 cars. They have a special instrument / device to see through the mud or measure the magnetic field. They have found cars and pointed to diggers were to look for them. It happened in Levada da Corujeira stream".

From Pete : "The location is Ribeira de São João at Avenida Calouste Gulbenkian [Funchal], 11.15 on Saturday morning. The drains over flowing. Cars stopped, one car in photo was white. The sound was like roaring aircraft, also you can taste soil in the air. Police and fire crew tuned cars round up the street with hills to avoid water".

These were taken by Elize :

And finally, for now, these were sent in by Sue (West) :

I have loads of photos from Funchal (and Ribeira Brava of course) of the flood and the resulting damage, more than I can possibly show on the blog, so please don’t send any more in from those locations unless they are exceptional, or quite different (a rescue attempt, act of heroism, perhaps). Outside of these locations hardly anything has been sent in ??? What’s going on out West? Der.

Tourism worries ; Ronaldo to play in fund raiser ; Euro support fund ; More weather concerns

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Dramatic photo from Tom … well you know what I mean : "East river going to mercados … all from that photo point has been destroyed".

Many thanks to Paul for sending these in :

Viva Madeira 2! – Tourists urged not to cancel holidays.

The impact will be quick to pass and Madeira will soon recover and return to normal hopefully within days.

Source of photograph

…says Michael Blandy, chairman of the Blandy group, which has five hotels on the island and caters for the majority of British visitors to Madeira.

The Daily Telegraph article continues:

Michael Blandy said many people had been put off coming to Madeira but predicted that the impact would be quick to pass and that Madeira would soon recover and return to normal "hopefully within days.

"In reality it is a very small area that has been affected and the authorities are working incredibly hard to restore the infrastructure and ensure a return to normality."

"Tourism chiefs have urged holidaymakers not to abandon Madeira as a tourist destination following flash floods and mudslides at the weekend that left at 42 dead and hundreds homeless" Link to The Daily Telegraph article

(CNN) – Cristiano Ronaldo is to play in a special benefit match for the victims of the Madeira floods and mudslides which have claimed the lives of at least 42 people. The world’s most expensive player has made himself available for a game between Portuguese champions Porto and a joint team from Madeira-based clubs Nacional and Marítimo.

No date has yet been set for the match, but Ronaldo has said he will help in "whatever possible way" after the tragic events of the weekend. Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira added: "Porto want to express their condolences for all that has happened and, as a club, do everything necessary to help Madeira."

Real Madrid forward Ronaldo was born and grew up in Madeira and has a special football center named after him, which is next to the Nacional stadium. The 24-year-old paid his own tribute after scoring the first goal in Real’s 6-2 rout of Villarreal on Sunday, lifting his shirt to reveal a t-shirt bearing the name "Madeira" on the chest

"Nobody can be indifferent to such a tragedy, especially me," Ronaldo told the official Real Madrid Web site, www.realmadrid.com. "I was born and raised on the island. It’s given me so much. This is why I want to make myself available to help in whatever possible way.

"I would like to help official bodies and organizations to minimize the effects of this great tragedy and to get over them as soon as possible." Former World Player of the Year Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid from Manchester United in the summer for a record $120 million fee. CNN LINK

Don’t forget that there are heavy rains forecasted for today. The intensity is not comparable to that of Saturday, but with just 6 days between the two precipitations, there could be effects beyond the normal because everything is still so wet. There is also a separate warning for strong winds in Funchal and the high zones. This is from the BBC … many thanks to Pete for the link.

More heavy rain is forecast for Madeira later in the week, following the devastating floods on Saturday.

The island lies directly in the path of more storms developing in the topical Atlantic. The first of the storms is forecast to hit on Wednesday with a further more intense storm on Friday. With the clean up operation underway, the new storms are unwelcome news, raising the possibility of further destruction. As the funerals are held for the victims of the floods it is feared the death toll could reach 70. The winter months are normally the wettest part of the year in Madeira, but this winter has seen a succession of low pressures pass over the island. After hitting Madeira, the storms will then head northeast bringing disruptive weather to the Portuguese mainland and Spain. Nina Ridge explains why Madeira is seeing a series of storms.

And finally, another link from Paul …

European Parliament emergency debate on Madeira’s floods: 24 February 2010

European Commissioner Günther Oettinger confirmed that money from the EU’s solidarity fund was already being directed to the Portuguese island. Link to video of the whole or most of the debate:

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Today’s main news headline : Total damage amounting to €1.3 billion – Early calculations show astronomical budgetary needs that the Regional Government takes to Brussels today.

Insurers already paid the downtown traders.

Via rápidas and expressos are safe.

Some accesses reopen today – the road network of Funchal, weakened, recovers a little. See everything on the map. Traffic returns to within a few blocks from the centre of Funchal on Friday. Funchal Council president Miguel Albuquerque urges caution in relation to the weather. Movement is restored Friday in five streets around the city centre. In the daily update issued by Funchal Council on Thursday, Miguel Alburquerque announced that the traffic is returning this afternoon to various parts of the city. Parque do Campo da Barca also reopens Friday. With the forecasts of wind and rain for Friday and Saturday, Alburquerque once again reaffirmed that the authorities are prepared for any event, and stressed that there is no reason for panic or fear, but caution is necessary. The president warned people to be careful with their cars alongside water courses, in areas where there are land slides, and areas where there are trees at risk of falling. SEE MAP

Timor gives thousands to Madeira – Díli ignores the discourtesy and repays the friendship shown by the Madeiran people to the East Timorese cause in 1999. When East Timor was the stage of destruction and desperate for help, Madeira didn’t send a single cêntimo. The response has come regardless, with a donation of $750,000 (€556,000), from the government of the country, to help the victims of the catastrophe. The donation has been made as an act of ‘solidarity and support towards the people and authorities’ of Madeira, after the president of East Timor had sent a message of condolences to his Portuguese counterpart. In 1999, whilst on holiday in Porto Santo, Madeira’s President Alberto João Jardim guaranteed that he would not give "a cêntimo" for East Timor, causing harsh reactions throughout the country. "The popular philosophy taught me that each one should govern itself", said the president of the Regional Government on 29 August 1999. Later, after much controversy, in the Region and on the Continent, the statement was softened, albeit symbolically. Jardim then said he was never against helping the Timorese people, but only that Madeira could not spare the money to give any support. So Uncle Bertie’s blunders go back many years, crossing international boundaries, and upsetting innocent people in very difficult positions through no fault of their own. At least East Timor had the common sense to recognise that the words of one absolute idiot were not the words of a decent and generous people, and thank goodness for that, as that is a sizable and much needed donation to help the recovery of our island … and it comes from one of the poorest countries in the world.

List of the 18 missing people – The number of people going missing in the storm reduced. The number of dead remains at 42.

Government rejects assistance offered by the Azores – They had 9 firemen and equipment ready to load on board to send over here. Santo Costa dismissed the offer, despite of having zones in need of help. The article itself then refers to 12 firemen and a coordinator-inspector, coming from the brigades in Ponta Delgada, Ribeira Grande, and São Miguel, of rescue specialists in areas of difficult access. There is an agreement between the two archipelagos and the Canary Islands to send mutual support in the event of catastrophes. The Azores team was assembled, equipped, and ready to go last Saturday, but on Sunday it was disbanded after those responsible for civil protection on Madeira (Santos Costa and Francisco Ramos Jardim) did not consider the help necessary. Politics over people is seems. Recent friction over the Regional Finance Law, and political differences in government colours are no doubt the underlying factors in my opinion. It is absolutely incredible that when some outlying areas have still not received much needed help, that a couple of idiot politicians could turn their backs on such an offer that had been prepared especially for this purpose, and set up through funding by the European Union.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

‘Positive news’ after the flood from Paul, including statistics from The Regional Government of Madeira. Many thanks Paul. Der

Visit of European Commissioner Mr. Johannes Hahn

The European Commissioner Mr. Johannes Hahn will visit the Autonomous Region of Madeira on the 6th and 7th of March to get acquainted with the finance needs to restore Madeira Island.

Show called “A flower to Madeira”

On the 28th of February a show will be organised called “A flower for Madeira”, organized by SIC (private Portuguese television channel) and “Coliseu dos Recreios”, with the patronage of His Excellency the President of Portuguese Republic and the participation of various Portuguese artists, in order to raise funds for Madeira victims.

Museums are reopened.

Next Sunday. Madeira will have the 1st Cruise Ship calling at the harbour of Funchal with 4.500 tourists.

Alternative excursions for tourists: local tourists operators are launching alternative excursions in Madeira Island.

Schools will be reopened Saturday ? and next Monday.

Public services are operating with reduced services and will be normalized soon.

Public transportation, in Funchal, is available with 32 routes.

Statistics:

Deaths estimated: 40

Wounded: 18 people are still in the Hospital.

Missing People: 18

Dislodgments: 563 people, 170 families are reallocated in temporary shelters.

Water Supply : In Ponta do Sol and Ribeira Brava, especially in Serra D’Água and Meia Légua the situation will be restored as soon as possible.

Electricity : Electricity is being established all over the Island, with the exception in small areas.

Communications : Mobile phone connections and fixed communications network are operating in the entire Island.

Solidarity : We inform that there is an official fund which is BANIF – International Bank of Funchal with the IBAN PT 50003800011986711677151 and SWIFT CODE BNLFPTPL.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Do consider only the information given by the Regional Government.

Official information can be followed on : TWITTER MADEIRA ISLANDS TRAVEL

New updates are available on the Government’s official tourism website HERE

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Funchal after the floods ; Charity appeal ; and other news headlines from Madeira

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Elize … Funchal, after the flood had gone. I have received loads of photos, many thanks.

Please bear in mind that I am on ‘catch up’ at the moment, 4 days behind, so if anything is posted that no longer seems so relevant, I probably didn’t know … I apologise.

Tess did a piece on her blog about Funchal – ‘An Island in Shock’. "I’m sure you’ll be inundated with pictures – but this is just a written piece". And another : ‘Indomitable spirit’

Paul asked me to post this :

MADEIRA DISASTER COLLECTION : Dioceses Cáritas of Funchal is collecting clothing and other goods to help those most affected by floods in Madeira. They will also inform the local population where the donations can be delivered. However, monetary donations can now be made.

Cáritas Funchal : Address: Calçada do Pico,59 9000-206 – Funchal
Phone:(+351) 291743331
Fax: (+351) 291745714 By sending a fax to this number a receipt will be sent out to you
E-mail: caritasfunchal@netmadeira.com WEBSITE

Needs: Clothes, Diapers and baby food needed, Appliances, School Material, Furniture

Donations: Financial Institution: Banif A/c no 1626371377 or NIB no. 003800011626371377113

This from Don re Madeira disaster donations : Attention here is some extra information that is important :
- (BANIF) IBAN PT 50003800011986711677151 and SWIFT CODE (BIC) BNLFPTPL
- If you use this BANIF bank account, then it gives tax benefits to taxpayers, in accordance with Articles 61 and 62 of the Statute of Tax Benefits.
- There are NO officials of the Regional Administration or City Council that are collecting funds for solidarity among the population. Official source SRTT. Thanks a lot Don

This contribution also from Paul :

VIVA MADEIRA! Coverage of Madeira’s unceasing clean-up

The clean-up operation is being documented & filmed by a BBC team led by the reporter Robert Hall on the BBC news website: HERE

Photos of key Funchal city streets that have already been cleaned in 72 hours! HERE

Videos of key Funchal city streets that have already been cleaned in 72 hours! HERE

Outside the famous ‘Apolo Restaurant’ 72 hours after the flooding: Source: FLICKR

As a benchmark for all visitor accommodation in Madeira: “the hotel industry of Madeira was not affected and maintains all operating conditions safely.”

Statement on the floods from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation: HERE

As for the tourism sector, according to the information provided by the regional government, the hotel industry of Madeira was not affected and maintains all operating conditions safely. Hotel establishments, in general, are operational and there were not reported any difficulties or problems. The Madeira International Airport is also operational. "I am confident that Madeira will continue to count on its solid tourism infrastructure and services, which have made it the destination of excellence it is today." Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the United Nations World Tourism Organization

Viva Madeira! (long live Madeira)

[Just to change the mood a little] Pete though these links might be of interest :
DINAS DESERTS AZORES FOOD "I have been there a few times. I think they make the best food I have come across, if I was a condemned man my final wish would be one last meal there then you can do what you like ha ha". Thanks Pete.

Tom emailed and said : "Today [last Friday], the brand new dealership of Toyota was officially open in Funchal. I’ve been there. So was Mr. President uncle Bertie. He is a very good talker. His Speech was good and lasted around 15 min. without any prompter or note. During Toyota President speech the lights went off. all was kaput and dark. Fuses could not keep so much power taken from the electrical system. There were two TV stations and maybe four Radios. After we have a very nice reception, including lots of booze and finger food. During radio interview the President was visibly upset about the lack of funds from Lisbon and City staying behind with payments to subcontractors".

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Difficult situations in the high zones of Funchal. There are suspicions of people buried in the Luso-Brasileira, as a consequence of a movement of an illegal dump in Babosas.

In the road Travessa dos Poços (Monte) residents are evacuated. Many thanks to Ellen for this : Wall at risk of collapse forces evacuation at Monte – Residents of the Travessa dos Poços relocated to homes of relatives. About two dozen people had to leave their homes, on Wednesday, in Travessa dos Poços, parish of Monte. Due to the forecast of rain and a wall at risk of collapse the area was evacuated and the residents relocated to homes of relatives. Speaking to TSF, Duarte Pereira, president of the Parish of Monte hopes that next week a study will be done on the support of the wall to allow the return of residents of Travessa dos Poços to their homes.

Forecasts now admit that the water discharge from Saturday may pass to the side of Madeira.

‘Calamity’ would prevent construction in affected areas.

Today’s main news headline : Solidarity in force – The determination of the Madeirans in the recovery after the storm is having a notable benefit : in the solidarity [fund raising] accounts alone there are €2 million. But groups such as ‘Pingo Doce’ are making their own contributions. The Madeira Beer Company is also restocking outlets in the worst affected areas in Funchal and Ribeira Brava ‘on the house’.

"There is only one Madeira" The president of the Republic thought highly of the recovery effort in Funchal and visited problem areas such as Tabua. He needed to tread in the mud and wander around in the rain, but Cavaco Silva didn’t avoid the problems. "Shoes are plentiful, but there is only one Madeira" he declared. The main picture shows Cavaco in Ribeira Brava, inspecting the remains of the old bridge. The popular view is that the bridge was damaged, probably beyond repair, purely by the force of the water, but that isn’t the full story. One of many stories yet to be told when the dust settles, unless someone can enlighten us beforehand?

500 vehicles damaged – The damage calculations in the ‘car park Madeira’ suggests as much as €7.5 million.

The main sport / football headline today : Solidarity [fund raising] match may be in Madrid – The Spanish football federation forgives the ‘highlighting’ of "Madeira" by CR9 [Cristiano Ronaldo]. Referring to the t-shirt incident of the Madeiran footballer during a Real Madrid match, as mentioned yesterday. It would be shame, but given the low level of support for football matches on Madeira, the potential for fund raising would probably be much greater in Spain, bizarre as it seems.

Ellen has kindly covered some of these stories in the ‘blog comments’ … many thanks.

On the TV news (RTP) this morning, the cost of repairing the flood damage in Funchal has been estimated at €200 million. I guess that is just for public property, and the city businesses will have to claim through their insurance policies.

There has also been a warning on the radio about the quality of water, where supplies were affected by the floods. The advice is to boil water, or add bleach, depending what the water is to be used for.

Just announced at 12.20 pm today by the Regional Government the reinstatement, some with alterations, of many of the bus routes cancelled since Saturday. It was a lot of information, probably best obtained from the website(s) of Horários and Rodoeste.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

Many thanks to Paul for sending this in :

Friendship and support from Jersey – My homeland has launched an urgent appeal for the victims of the Madeiran floods. The overseas aid charity Jersey Side By Side is urging Islanders to co-ordinate any fundraising efforts into one larger appeal which Side By Side will run and endorse.

It is hoped that as much money as possible can be raised, but also that the appeal will act as a symbol of friendship and support to the Madeiran community both in Jersey and Madeira. Jersey Side By Side chairman Mike Wavell said that Jersey’s close relationship to Madeira meant it was important for Islanders to show their support.

A concert in aid of the appeal is already being organised by a group of young Jersey musicians currently in Madeira. It is hoped the event will take place on Saturday 6 March at St Thomas’ Church. LINK

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira flood news, updates, other information ; The Diario de Noticias front pages

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – from Der … Another of the Ribeira Brava, and this was some hours after the flood subsided. I have had other photos sent in, many thanks, but with so many emails to get through, it will take me a while to get settled again. Especially if my internet connection continues to have problems.

Thanks folks for the enquiries about my welfare, I am fine. No internet or phone connections put me out of action, with just a half hour access on Sunday, but I am safe and dry. I am just seeing this afternoon for the first time TV coverage of the catastrophe, so while I have seen so much locally, I guess I am the least well informed visually as far as Madeira as a whole goes.

I have nearly 600 emails to get through, I will have to delete most of it unread, so sorry about that if you have contacted me, but I can’t see any other option. I will post something more as soon as I can, sometime tomorrow hopefully, but please continue to use the blog comments to communicate and leave news for now. Many thanks to those who have provided such information over the last few days.

The only news I have had the last 4+ days has come from the radio and locals, and I have a head crammed with information, far too much to post here, and most of it now out of date. Here are a few of the more important points :

This is from news through to this morning, some of it is for sure a bit old now. Check before you act on anything please.

1. Charities / helping : CARITAS started a new relief charity helpline. Contact details and bank account are :

Bank – Banif – Account – 1626371377
IBAN – 003800011626371377113

Telephone: +351 291743331
E-mail: caritasfunchal@netmadeira.com
Website: http://www.caritas.pt/funchal/

2. 42 were confirmed dead, but that was reduced again to 39 in a report today after an actual body count, but there is talk of another body found in Funchal today. There were over 70 hospitalised yesterday, and around 600 people made homeless, and talk of a new neighbourhood being built to rehome them. There are still people categorised as "missing", or unaccounted for, but the lack of communications prevents any firm confirmation of the situation although the original estimates have been reducing dramatically and today’s Diário says it is now just 18.

3. Only Vodafone and Optimus mobile networks were working. TMN started coming back Sunday night, but not for everyone in one go. Landlines were / are also down. CaboTV / Zon has also been out of service, but is coming back gradually. There may be more disruptions in communications.

4. People are repeatedly being asked not to go into the affected areas ‘sightseeing’ … they are hindering clean up operations and endangering themselves and others. Also we are asked not to park cars in areas which need to be cleaned up.

5. Most schools have now reopened outside of Funchal and Ribeira Brava, some others with no water also remain closed.

6. Funchal has a few limited bus services up and running. Details may be on the Horários website. Just a few buses from Rodoeste are running, and they seem to be all on the Funchal route.

7. Several thousand families had / have no electricity, and around 30,000 have no water (no recent update on numbers unfortunately). The assessment of the water situation was still being undertaken, but the original opinion of the man responsible for water was that we are looking at a few days to return to normal supplies. Some water provided after reconnection may not be drinkable initially.

8. A survey is being carried out in Funchal harbour etc. to evaluate the amount of material deposited in the sea, carried by the flood water, to ensure that the water is still deep enough for shipping.

Sunday’s Diário de Notícias front page looked like this. You don’t need me to translate.

Monday’s front page : "Recovery and fear"

Tuesday’s front page : "Rumours concern".

I suppose it is inevitable that the nervousness of a population will start rumours, even dangerous rumours. In Ribeira Brava town on Monday, there was a bit of normality returning at around 11 am, with plenty of people milling around and the clean up operation in full swing. Half an hour later the town was pretty much emptied, and just about all the shops and bars had closed again, and the exit road on the Campanário road was blocked with a mass of traffic and people trying to evacuate. The rumour was that a mountainside was about to collapse at the back of town. People were panicking, some were crying, and nearly everyone was phoning a relative and spreading the rumour. I had the radio on at the time and the president of Ribeira Brava was clear in the message that that was no danger in the town, and that people should stay at home, but people were unaware or continued to evacuate anyway.

There was also, according to the radio, a rumour about evacuating Funchal. Again rubbish. There should be information on the official tourism website in various languages, and there is also a Twitter page updated with government communications (it was read out too quickly on the radio for me to write down, but if someone can find it and it has English translations, please post it in the comments).

Today’s front page : "2 years to rebuild".

Without TV or internet access I really had no real idea, in a visual sense, what was going on elsewhere on the island. Sunday night I managed to borrow a Diário de Notícias, and a Jornal da Madeira, and I was horrified at some of the pictures I saw of the floods in full flow and the damage caused in Funchal. Of course that was pretty much it at that stage … Funchal. I have heard stories about other parts of the South coast of Madeira, and they sound equally horrific, but the communication breakdown is preventing a full picture, and what I have been hearing may be vastly distorted by the rumour mill.

The President of the Republic, Cavaco Silva, is visiting Madeira this afternoon.

UPDATE :

Depression may bring heavy rain on Friday – One should keep a look out for the weather forecast over the next few hours. "More intense rainfall will occur in the sea northwest of Madeira," said meteorologist Paula Leitão. Strong winds and precipitation are likely as the depression passes, but nothing like that experienced on Saturday.

More later maybe … especially if someone would be kind enough to contribute something … FOR NOW PLEASE PUT ANY IMPORTANT NEWS IN THE BLOG COMMENTS, AND IF AND WHEN I GET INTERNET ACCESS I WILL MOVE IT. PLEASE DON’T EMAIL ME ANYTHING IMPORTANT FOR NOW IN CASE I DON’T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Water, water everywhere … & lots of mud too. Ribeira Brava flood special 20 February 2010

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:30:00 +0000

Mud ankle deep, and water knee deep met many of those who left their front doors this Saturday morning. Torrential rain throughout the night fulfilled the weather forecasters dire prediction all over Madeira. As I type this, I count myself lucky to have electricity, but no home telephone, no internet, no mobile phone, no TV, but luckily a radio station was still operating, telling similar stories all over Madeira. There was no traffic in downtown Ribeira Brava, even several hours after the worst had passed, with roads impassable with logs, mud, water, and all sorts of other debris littering the cobbles and tarmac.

The force and volume of the water was so great and so high that it took out both walls on the second bridge back from the sea front. Add to that torrents of mud coming down both sides of the valley, along the roads, and through the numerous new waterfalls created. The combination of these events led to water laden with thick brown mud invading the front end of the town. The deepest water I saw remaining was in the São Bento church square, where it was level with the wall that separates it from the children’s play area.

Later in the day, the same bridge collapsed on one side, and was closed off. A large fissure also developed in one of the arches. For sure Ribeira Brava has lost one of it’s oldest and most famous landmarks, as the damage seems just too major for repairs. Also later in the day a pavement alongside the river (outside the police station) also collapsed, leaving the top of a planted tree sticking out of the huge cavity.

When the wind dropped and the rain eased off, I ventured into town and took these pictures. Ordinary people were helping out in the street, alongside a full contingent of emergency services vehicles and crew, and it looks like the council had it’s complete workforce out in the streets trying to ease the situation. People were collecting logs and constructing dams to stop the water entering their streets to protect their homes. The most popular tool seemed to be the common dustpan, use to scoop up the thick mud to put in-between the logs used to construct the mini dams.

The sea was pretty rough, but I have seen worse. Thick with mud, and the debris was so thick that the waves were breaking over the debris rather than the beach, which was probably a blessing.

I wandered around for an hour taking pictures, stunned by the sight each time I turned a corner. Not a shop or café was open. Lots of people milling around, many looking equally stunned, but the cameras were out in force nether-the-less. A town already well down on it’s luck for economic reasons will be hit hard by this mini-disaster, that will take weeks to clear up, and months and even years to effect all the repairs.

You probably already realise that I wrote this for yesterday, but of course losing the internet connection prevented me posting, and I didn’t get the internet back until after 5 pm today (Sunday). Today in town, there are still some shocking sights, but the clean up operation is going really well.

Madeira Classical Orchestra plays tonight ; New Toyota dealership ; Cost of living hurting

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Tom … "strange light on the sea during sun rise".

Many thanks to Becky for these web snippets :

"Madeira has a long and venerable tradition of cocktail-making, based partly in the island’s colonial past and partly in local drinking habits. The colonial side is best exemplified at Reid’s Palace Hotel, the most famous and exclusive on the island, where they serve Martinis, Manhattans and all the other classics. The demotic side is exemplified by the cheap, explosively fiery rum (here called aguardente) which forms the alcoholic basis of poncha." BOOZY WEEKEND?

Lizards eating sugar, bananas and fingers. Do not watch if you’re at all lizard-phobic!

Vanessa Swesnik very kindly sent in this complete article translation ORIGINAL HERE

União Comercial opens facilities. União Comercial, the company that markets automobiles for the Japanese brand, Toyota, in Madeira spent over two million Euros to construct a building from scratch in São Martinho parish, which will hold all of its administrative and commercial services.

The grand opening will be next Friday, on the 19^th of this month. The new building has a total area of 2,400 square meters and meets the need to offer even better service and attention to the client, said Francisco Tavares, manager of the company, to the DIÁRIO.

Toyota automobile sales will now be centralized at 40 Caminho do Poço Barral; garage and post-sales assistance will still be provided in Cancela at the Mendes, Gomes, Lda. facility, an affiliate and Volvo dealer in the Autonomous Region.

Toyota automobiles have enjoyed immense popularity with the people of Madeira for many years. For the past three years, the brand was among Top 3 sales for Madeira. Last year, the brand sold 360 new vehicles on the archipelago and was in first place until the month of November. Christmas sales dropped them to third place. Either way, it is evidence of the prestige and level of satisfaction the brand has earned among Madeirans, acknowledges Francisco Tavares.

With another exterior stand on the roundabout that divides traffic between Pica dos Barcelos and MadeiraShopping, União Comerical now has a team of 20 employers. With the Mendes, Gomes, Lda. workers, the group has close to 90 employees.

An extra article from Elaine, repeated from yesterday, as I didn’t post it until after 7 pm :

Emanuel Salvador plays with the CMO and Ferreira Lobo
Directed by maestro Ferreira Lobo, violinist Emanuel Salvador will play on Saturday. The young Portuguese violinist Emanuel Salvador will play on Saturday February 20 at 21.00 with the Madeira Classical Orchestra, a concert led by José Ferreira Lobo, conductor of the Orquestra do Norte and artistic director of Festival Opera Portimão. Born in 1981, Emanuel Salvador is concertmaster of the Orquestra do Norte.

The program consists of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major Opus 61, by Beethoven, Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the ‘Unfinished’, by Schubert, and the Hungarian Dances nos. 1, 3 and 5 by Brahms. Tickets are available Monday to Friday between 13.00 and 17.00 hours in the Tourist Office, Avenida Arriaga, and at the venue (the Congress Centre of Madeira Casino) between 19.00 and 21.00 hours.

Emanuel Salvador has performed in prestigious concert halls in England (St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Southwark Cathedral) in Kazakhstan (Philharmonic Hall), Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal (Centro Cultural de Belém, Gulbenkian Museum) Germany (Palatin, Wiesloch), Spain (Centre for Performing Arts, Salamanca), Italy and Malta (Manoel Theatre). He has won prizes at national and international competition level: 1st prize in the contest ‘Isolde Menges’ (RCM) and Beckenham Festival, Barbirolli Memorial and Wolfson Foundation Award, 2nd prize at the Young Musicians, Honorable Mention at the Julio Cardona International Competition, among others. He won a scholarship to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation from 2000 to 2003, and in 2008 and 2009 to the Instituto Camões. He graduated Bachelor of Music in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and gained a Master’s Degree in Musical Performance from the Royal College of Music.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for a couple of web snippets and yesterday’s top news stories :

Portugal outperforms Eurozone Portugal is slowly forcing the spotlight off its national economy by this week, once again showing the state of its finances to be far better than the image being portrayed by some analysts beyond its borders. Support for Lisbon’s view that its economy is firmly set on the path to full recovery has been backed up by figures released by Eurostat, the European Union’s official research agency, indicating Portugal outperformed its Eurozone partners during the final quarter of last year …

Madeira suits me to tee. AN EARLY alarm call signals the start of our first day on the island of eternal spring. It’s pitch black outside as we take a bleary-eyed breakfast in the ornate dining room at the Quinta Serra Golfe, our hotel set in woodland on the edge of the pretty village of Santo da Serra. However, by the time we reach the Santo da Serra Golf Club, less than a mile away, the sky is brightening rapidly. The ocean spreads out below us and the mist drifting down from the mountains disperses as the sun bathes Madeira’s premier course …

DIÁRIO 19/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Santa Cruz and Ponta do Sol ask for help with coastal protection. The Council of Santa Cruz asked the Regional Secretariat for Social Equipment to place concrete breakwaters, ‘pés de galinha’, in the sea in front of the swimming pools of Praia das Palmeiras, to protect the area from the strong waves that often occur. Every year, the council has to repair the damage to the pools and they want to be ready for when the weather improves and people use the beach. The council has asked informally for help and soon will send a formal letter. The actual impact of the flooding is not yet known as they are waiting for the weather to improve before they attempt any repairs. There has been no major damage but the engine room for the pools has been flooded and railings destroyed. Unlike the beach at Calheta, the beach at Machico has not lost sand or had many stones dragged onto it. It lies sheltered in a cove and the main impact of the bad weather has been debris from a stream that flows alongside the beach. The pool at Porto da Cruz has suffered major damage that occurs every year. Without the capacity or authority to take action to protect the sea front, the Mayor of Ponta do Sol has promised to raise awareness with the authorities responsible for the public maritime domain. The beach at Ponta do Sol was damaged last December and there was some erosion and damage to properties at Lugar de Baixo. The mayor had previously wanted the seawall relocated further away from the beach at Ponta do Sol.

MADEIRA

Earth is the theme for the Flower Festival. This year, the Flower Festival will take place between the 15th and 18th April. There will be the usual initiatives: flower carpet; Flower Exhibition; folk groups performing in the streets and classical music concerts. The Wall of Hope ceremony in the Town Square in Funchal, involving thousands of children, will take place on the morning of April 17th. The Flower Parade will be held on the afternoon of Sunday April 18th.

ECONOMY

Living in Madeira is more expensive. Madeirans are paying more for services and products. This is the conclusion that can be drawn from the fact that in January, the Index of Consumer Prices was higher than the previous month by 0.2 percentage points. The Index measures changes in prices of a basket of goods and services considered representative of consumption by the population in that area. The only class of items that decreased in average price was Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages. The largest increases were recorded for Clothing and Footwear, followed by Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, then Transport. Although it is difficult to directly compare regions, the most expensive area to live in last year was the Azores, then the Algarve and thirdly, Madeira. At a national level, the Index of Consumer Prices fell 0.3% compared to last December. The cost of living will be influenced by the 3.6% increase in labour costs in the last quarter of last year. The index of labour costs reflects the average cost of labour for each hour actually worked, including pay and costs to the employer. The highest increases in labour costs were for farmers and qualified workers in agriculture and fishing, then officials and senior company staff followed by professional and scientific specialists.

Stocklet offers low prices in Dolce Vita in Funchal. The Dolce Vita commercial mall in Funchal is going to host from 19 – 28 February, Stocklet, an activity that offers shoppers the opportunity to make purchases at lower prices and benefit from special promotions. The campaign involves stores from all sectors, including clothing, telecommunications, bookshops, food, utilities and accessories, among others. Stocklet is an initiative of Dolce Vita which aims to sell the end of season stock at reduced prices as well as have exclusive promotions for customers.

POLITICS

Nunes wants to protect the vale dos Salgados. A deputy of CDU-Madeira, Leonel Nunes, argued in Camacha for the designation ‘protected landscape’ for the Núcleo Habitacional dos Salgados. In this parish, the community is concerned about the ‘appetite’ for housing and think this status will prevent environmental destruction in one of the most beautiful valleys of Madeira. The Núcleo Habitacional (core housing / traditional housing) has been ‘abandoned’ and he asks for the support of the Council of Santa Cruz in the allocation of the status of protected landscape.

Accounts of CMF in Belém. Miguel Albuquerque, the Mayor of Funchal, is back in Lisbon to try to keep, as stipulated in the 2010 State Budget, the transfer of 5% of IRS to the councils in Madeira. He is only negotiating for 2010 although in 2009, Funchal Council lost 5 million Euros, a case that is to be heard in the Administrative Court. In 2010, the amount that should be transferred from Portugal to Funchal is 500,000 Euros per month. He will meet parliamentary groups and Cavaco Silva (President of Portugal) next week. After last February, the funds were continued to be transferred to the councils on the Continent but not to those in Madeira and the Azores, despite negotiations.

CULTURE

Folklore and Ethnography Group of Boa Nova to go to Canada. A trip to Canada, from the 4 – 19 August, for the VII European Week of Folklore. There will also be Russian, Italian and possibly Spanish and Indian groups taking part. Grupo de Folclore e Etnográfico da Boa Nova will participate in the Festas de Nossa Senhora do Monte in August for the Madeiran community in Toronto and Montreal.

Over a thousand students visit the Centro das Artes in 2009. To motivate the younger generation to cultural knowledge is a challenge increasingly important given the competition of various means of entertainment. This Arts Centre in Calheta opened its doors to schoolchildren last year with good results. Last year, there were 40 visits involving more than 1,000 students. The children are exposed to various different types of art, for example dance, music, plays, sculpture and visual arts.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Woman who threatened to camp had rejected help. Update of report on 12 February. The woman who last week threatened to camp in front of the Town Hall if her housing situation was not resolved, had lived outside Funchal and refused to comply with the stipulations of the Homeless Shelter. She had refused to take part in an integration project, a necessity as the Night Shelter is only for people in transition. This 42 year old woman rejected everything that was proposed by the Housing Department of Funchal. She refused a room to rent, wanting a house and also rejected computer courses and others. Social Security provided medication which she would not take. Since Tuesday, she has left the shelter after spending the weekend with friends.

EVENTS

Scottish tourists lost in the levada das Babosas. A Scottish couple, aged 72 and 74, ignored the Civil Protection warnings to avoid walks in the serras in the bad weather. They ventured on the vereda between Babosas and Curral dos Romeiros, became lost and requested aid. They made a small fire to help the Fire Department locate them and they were accompanied to the exit at Bom Sucesso then taken to their hotel. This operation took nearly four hours.

Strong gusts felt in São Jorge and Areeiro had the most rain. Between 9 am on February 17th to 17.00 yesterday, the Meteorology Observatory of Funchal recorded a gust of wind of 159.1 km/h in São Jorge. In Caniçal, another record of 155.1 km/h and 100.8 km/h in Aeeiro. The stations at Areeiro and Calheta/Ponta do Pargo registered the most rain falling in 10 minutes. The highest amount was 6.2 mm at 08.50 yesterday. For total rainfall, the station at Areeiro registered 128.2 mm. Temperature ranged from a minimum of 1.5 degrees Celsius at Areeiro at 09.40 to a maximum of 18.7 degrees in Funchal at 15.30.

More later maybe … especially if someone would be kind enough to contribute something …

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Hotel plans in Garajau ; Coastal erosion dangers ; €21 million in agricultural support

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Pete … Norwegian Jade ship 10 February 2010

Many thanks to Becky for these hiking web snippets :

"The things I read about Madeira on the Net sounded like it was a nice place to be in March. So I packed a flashlight, extra batteries, rainproof jacket and trousers, and a rain flap for my rucksack, and went off to the island of perpetual spring." WITH A SPRING IN HIS STEP

8 of the most unique walking paths in the world … and Madeira and Pico Island, Azores are among them. HERE

This link from Tobi … thanks a lot "Some nice Carnival pics at last" Wow, they are great Tobi, but even so after 30 or so (of 424), I had to call it a day. Then I read Tobi’s next email … it’s only the first 12. Great pics Hugo. Der

Thanks to Pete for sending in this web-link for a report about MADEIRA AIRPORT. There is a great photo of the airport extension under construction.

It’s the big match tonight … the local derby between Marítimo and Nacional. It’s on SportTV1 at 8.15 pm. With both teams level with 25 points, this will could launch one or the other into a European placing, albeit for less than 24 hours.

Many thanks to Vanessa Swesnik for this complete translation :

Awareness Raising for Internet Security – Young people were target audience as privileged users of the Internet.

As part of the celebration of European Safer Internet Day, Câmara de Lobos Public Library and the Judicial Police held an awareness raising event for the allusive subject.

The audience consisted of, above all, young people- standard users of the Internet; however, the event was also open to the public, namely parents, teachers, and educators among others.

European Safer Internet Day’s objective is to promote the informed, critical, and safe use of the Internet, whether it is by children and young people or by families, workers or citizens in general.

Although children and young people enjoy opportunities provided by the Internet, especially through social networking sites, many give personal information without realizing who can see it. ORIGINAL ARTICLE IN PORTUGUESE

Many thanks to Sue for this contribution :

‘Cristo Rei’ with hotel.

There is a proposal that provides a complete renovation in the area of Cristo Rei, more specifically the pool and tennis courts that are there continuing down to the beach at Garajau. The Inter-Marina ANLAGEN company owns the entire area and has developed many of the lots already built in this area. They obtained the necessary authorization from the City of Santa Cruz last Tuesday for 16 building lots and a hotel beside Cristo Rei, however, the company’s proposal was even more ambitious in that it proposed the construction of 21 lots, two for tourism and nineteen for housing.

At the meeting the mayor explained the project. We approved the installation of 14 lots on the site where today there are two tennis courts and a swimming pool, two lots on the hillside next to the coffee shop and there is also for the construction of a hotel built in 2 buildings, going down towards the beach at Garajau, which will not degrade the environment. The Mayor went on to point out that it was an investment that would be good fun with sea sports and the enjoyment of nature. The project has now moved on to the architectural side of the project. José Alberto Gonçalves, ensured that the area of implementation is not within the area of nature reserve of Garajau, established in 1986. Where the allotment is, we will be careful to preserve everything that is in the public maritime domain, however a certain number of concessions were agreed to offer greater convenience to the site. Including the recovery of the site of the Chapel of the Mother of God – asked a couple of locals – blank faces – i.e. did not know of one that had existed to be recovered?

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 18/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Sea consumes the coast. Raising the level of sea water, reducing the amount of sediment reaching the coast, anthropogenic degradation (by human activities) of natural structures and coastal works have led to a phenomenon that environmentalists describe as transgressive. These are the main factors for coastal erosion and the retreat of the coastline, in other words the coastline migrates towards the land. Some factors are natural but most are either directly or indirectly caused by human intervention. In September 2003, national and international environmental groups attended a summit in the region and predicted that the transgression phenomenon would occur. The opposite action is called regression, when the coastline migrates towards the ocean. Areas by the mouths of rivers like Ribeira Brava, Ponta do Sol and Machico have a medium-term risk of being engulfed by the sea. This is demonstrated by the destruction of breakwaters and coastal walls.

MADEIRA

Secular tradition in the parish of Santa Cecilia. In 1910, when the Convent of São Bernardino was abandoned, families living in Câmara de Lobos rescued nine images of saints. Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the traditional day for the Procissão das Cinzas (Procession of the Ashes) in this parish, marking the beginning of Lent. Despite the heavy rain that fell minutes before the departure, hundreds of parishioners attended this historical event. The Convent was abandoned (like many church buildings) when there was separation of the Church and the State. At the time, câmara-lobenses collected the images of the saints (São Francisco de Assis, Santa Margarida de Cortona, São Roque, Santa Rosa Viterbo, São Benedito, Santo Ivo, Santa Isabel de Portugal, São Salvador and Santo António de Motte), an act that allowed the preservation of this significant collection. After a century, the images are still with the families, passed down several generations, with some restoration in places. One family said, "It’s an honour and a delight to have the saint under the care of the family." The image is stored in an oratory in one of the houses of the family.

Twinning of Santa Cruz with Carrizal. This is a way to strengthen ties between the region and emigrants in Venezuela. The twinning arrangement will be formalized by the end of this year. In 2007, the county of Santa Cruz twinned with El Hatillo. The twinning with Carizzal was announced by the mayor who is presently in Venezuela on behalf of the county to attend the first anniversary of the Association of Descendants of Santa Cruz. At Altos Mirandinos, a town in the county of Carrizal, a replica of the Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Fátima is being built, the only one in South America. If authorization from the Ministry of Internal Affairs can be granted in time, the vice-president of Santa Cruz wants the twinning between the two counties to be signed on the 25th June, the Day of the Municipality of Santa Cruz. Twinning has advantages to both parties, culturally and financially in terms of tourism and trade. The immigrants in Venezuela are apprehensive and live in uncertainty with parliamentary elections later this year but have no interest in returning. Thus, they want the document signed before the elections. Counties in the Region of Madeira are involved in a total of 36 twinnings.

ECONOMY

Francisco Sá Carneiro is the third best airport in Europe. This airport in Porto was voted third by the ACI, Airports Council International. João Paulo II Airport in Ponta Delgada (Açores) was also distinguished. The Airport of Madeira registered ninth place. The award was for the greatest rise in indicators of quality of service between 2008 and 2009.

‘Cristo Rei’ with hotel. The proposal will completely revolutionize the area of Cristo Rei in Garajau, specifically the areas around the old swimming pool and tennis courts and the road descending to the praia do Garajau. The company that owns the entire area, Inter-Marina ANLAGEN, has authorization from Santa Cruz Council to build on 16 lots and build a hotel near to Cristo Rei. They had originally proposed to develop 21 lots, two for tourism and nineteen for housing but the council reduced the number. This company owns most of the area of Cristo Rei, including where the image of Cristo Rei stands. The plan was originally approved in 2005 with the condition that a geological survey was carried out. Some nonconformities with the PDM led the company to review the plan in terms of the gross area of construction, number of floors and number of parking spaces. The Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport has approved the plans. The construction work cannot be in the area of the Reserva Natural Parcial do Garajau and will need to preserve everything in the Public Maritime Domain. Santa Cruz Council say this area of urban expansion is of low density. The approval on Tuesday was for 14 lots on the site where the two tennis courts and swimming pool are, two lots next to the cafe, a hotel constructed of 2 buildings in the area by the road descending to the beach (photo). There will be created over a hundred parking spaces, garden areas, a children’s playground and the firm will renovate the Capela da Mãe de Deus.

POLITICS

One Azorean is equivalent to 50 Madeirans. The PSD-M have looked at the amount of money in the State Budget for investment in the two autonomous regions. From 2009 to 2010, there will be a 92% reduction in the amount of money for Madeira, from 5.5 million Euros to 427,000 Euros. The Azores will have 21.4 million Euros for investments. This is equivalent to 87 Euros for each Azorean and 1.65 Euros for each Madeiran. The Government of the Republic wants to invest more abroad than in Madeira, for example 300,000 Euros for haemodialysis in Cape Verde and 400,000 Euros for the televisions of PALOP. 0.02% of the PIDDAC (State investments) is for this Region which will not resolve the problems at the law courts of Ponta do Sol and Santa Cruz and the police stations at Porto Santo, Santa Cruz and Ponta do Sol. The PSD conclude that the Prime Minister of Portugal does not consider the Madeirans as Portuguese, but also are not considered as foreigners, taking into account that 43 million Euros are for investment outside national territory.

UPDATE

Madeira has GDP lower than the European average. The Lisbon region is the only one with a GDP per inhabitant (104.7%) above the EU average (100%). In Madeira, the GDP per capita reaches 96.3% of the EU average. Madeira has the second highest value in the country. The mean for Portugal is 75.6% while the Continental territory has a GDP per capita of 75.3%.

Financial assistance to farmers amounts to 21.3 million Euros. This large income support to farmers benefits almost all of the agricultural population in Madeira. The funds are made available by the Regional Government and the EU to support the production of grapes, wine, cane sugar, milk, meat and bananas, among others. It helps the region to be more competitive in the production of flowers and fruit and encourages the export of fresh and processed produce. It is the first time there is aid for the export of cane sugar products which is justified by an increase in production.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

In the Azores [president] César gives in a year what Jardim spends in two months – In the Azores, the support for all social communication costs €600,000 a year. On Madeira, the Jornal da Madeira newspaper alone takes €4 million. It looks like the Diário newspaper chiefs have got fed up of waiting and nothing happening. Last year they took some bold steps at country and international level to highlight the unfairness of the situation between the two main daily newspapers on Madeira, but it doesn’t seem that anything has changed. The politically biased, government controlled, and technically bankrupt Jornal da Madeira continues to get €4 million of taxpayers money each year, and an unfair amount of government ‘advertising’ on top of that, and is available free to the public. The Diário gets nothing. The World Press Association even wrote a LETTER to the president of Portugal about it, but nothing seems to have changed. It’s a disgrace!

Today’s main news headline : Unpaid debt to the pharmacies paid in five years – The Government promises to pay €80 million in 60 instalments. The National Association of Pharmacies demands guarantees.

Today’s main front page photo shows a snowy landscape with a car blocking a road, traffic stopped, and a few well wrapped spectators. Attraction by the snow creates despair – The bad weather is back to wreak havoc and surprise the adventurous. Madeira is deaf to the warnings of the Civil Protection Agency, and some drivers jumped in their cars and sped off in freezing temperatures to see the snowfall in the high zones of Madeira, where tree falls, high winds, and accidents were some of the problems experienced by drivers on the climb to Pico Arieiro and on other routes. A gust of wind in Caniçal yesterday registered at 150 km / h. The bad weather will continue into the weekend, with heavy rain forecast for Funchal tomorrow, thunderstorm, and high winds, especially in exposed places. If you want weather stories turn on the local TV news for floods, rock fall, landslides … it’s all there. Somebody told me yesterday that a Rodoeste bus was hit by a rockfall, but I don’t think there were any serious consequences.

Santa Cruz and Ponta do Sol ask the Regional Government for help for coastal protection.

New drawbacks in the Regional Finance Law – The voting on the final draft is delayed. [Prime Minister] Sócrates promises to resist.

Passos Coelho seeks support on Madeira. This is the guy who seriously upset President Jardim over his stance on the amendments to the Regional Finance Law. He is a candidate I think for the national leadership of Uncle Bertie’s Social Democrat Party, but UB will do everything he can to finish Coelho’s political career.

Porto Santo without air connections for over 24 hours – The SATA ‘shuttle’ suffered a breakdown, but trips will recommence at 10.20 am. The president of Porto Santo Council, Roberto Silva, has asked for a second aircraft to come into service to ensure the service is guaranteed. Not having much luck with the ferry these last few days I notice too, with several crossings being cancelled, but somehow I can’t see SATA taking much notice of Sr. Silva’s somewhat silly plea. In fact he would probably have more success asking his boss Uncle Bertie to build a road and rail bridge, or a tunnel perhaps, between the two islands.

The main sport / football headline today : Derby match has the makings of a tie-breaker in Barreiros. The big game tonight between Marítimo, with home advantage, and Nacional.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

An extra article from Elaine, many thanks :

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

117 thousand tourists lost in 2009 ; Sao Vicente to prepare risk plans ; Other news headlines

admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Rita … "Pride of Madeira taken at Pico Alto"

Many thanks to Elaine (East) for these web snippets :

Vimeo site. Daniell77 has uploaded two videos of the natural areas of Madeira. Narration in Portuguese. HERE

Origin of the ukulele in Hawaii. The SS Ravenscrag was a British barque, historically most famous for bringing Portuguese immigrants Joao Fernandes, Augusto Dias, Jose do Espirito Santo and Manuel Nunes to the islands, as these men are considered to have introduced the ukulele to Hawaii. This ship sailed from Madeira and reached Honolulu on the 23rd of August in 1879. This date is now honoured as the birth of the ukulele. MUST HAVE BEEN PAINFUL GIVING BIRTH TO A UKULELE

Don kindly send me in this playlist of Carnival 2010 Videos, so you can while away an hour or two … Thanks Don. YOUTUBE

From Tess : A short write up on Caniço’s carnival. What better way to laugh away the rain than to bring in the clowns?

Many thanks to Elaine once again for some snippets and yesterday’s top news stories :

Some odd links today.

Slideshow of the cortejo Trapalhão

An extensive personal blog about his love of wine, including Madeira Wine and his satisfaction with tasting different (expensive) ones. An Ounce of Madeira, A Step Back in Time. ….However, while I admit to approaching wine with the erudition and delicacy of Fred Flintstone, I do have a confession to make. I have acquired a grape-based guilty pleasure that has, somehow, managed to make me into a full-on, hardcore, lover of wine; a connoisseur, aficionado, and unabashed lover of a particular kind of wine you may have never heard of. It’s called Madeira, and it changed my life…..

Is this how us punters are conned? Selling sweet wines. …If clients are hesitating when recommended a wine, give them a drop to taste. It costs almost nothing to offer 1 or 2 cl but it works well. Especially if there is a couple and you give the lady to try the sweet wine (women usually can’t resist sweet wine ;o)). After seeing her face begging for more of that, the gentlemen on the other side of the table has no changes to back off from ordering it … MORE

A factual account of Madeira. Perpetual Traveller. Funchal. The island of Madeira belongs to Portugal, but thanks to the special statute it was given, since 1976 it has been autonomous from an administrative point of view. It is a beautiful island, with a constant spring climate that attracts tourists all year round. It has wild and harmonious vegetation, jagged coastlines and enthralling, breathtaking panoramas. MORE

DIÁRIO 17/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Ferry delayed by a 4 hour wait for the berth to be free. The Administration of Harbours decided to keep the 138 passengers who had sailed for 24 hours from Portimão on board the ferry "Volcan de Tijarafe waiting. The ferry was to berth only after the AIDAluna left at 17.00 to leave a vacant space for the Lobo Marinho. The captain of the ferry had reported a delay in the arrival to Madeira which was originally scheduled for 13.00 but now expected at 17.00. Despite the forecasted delay, the ferry passed the Ponta de São Lourenço at 13.00, so the captain decided to slow down and take four hours over a journey normally taking 45 minutes. The sailing of the AIDAluna was delayed by an hour as there was a problem in removing the portaló (gangplank to the entrance?). Then the pilot had problems climbing aboard the Volcan de Tijarafe due to high waves. The ferry docked at 17.45 and sailed again at 20.20 with 64 passengers, a further delay due to a damaged machine. The Porto Santo Line had originally cancelled yesterday’s trip but improvements in sea conditions and the reduction in wind speed allowed the ferry to sail at 12.00 and leave Porto Santo at 19.00 with 450 passengers.

Madeira lost 117,000 tourists in 2009. The region lost 117,000 tourists and 693,000 overnight stays resulting in a reduction in revenue of 42 million Euros. There were 9.1% fewer tourists than the previous year and a 11.2% reduction in the number of nights stayed. The average stay lasted 5.2 nights, the worst figure since the record of 6.7 nights in 2000. There was a sharp increase, 18.1%, in the number of overnight stays by Portuguese last year but they are less profitable visitors as the average stay lasted 2.8 nights. The Portuguese secured 16.3% of all overnight stays, an increase from 13.3% in 2000. The loss in revenue to Madeira, amounting to more than 115,000 Euros per day, shows the region is loosing competitiveness. December was the worst month with only 34% occupancy and the annual occupancy rate was 52.1%. The worst months are the first four in the year and November and December. Last year, the average decrease in international tourism was 4% and the only region to increase tourism was Africa (5.1%). The decrease in values for different areas were: Europe 5.6%, Asia and the Pacific 1.9%, Americas 5.1% and 5.6% in the Middle East.

MADEIRA

Câmara de Lobos joins the Wine Association. This is the third county in the region to join the Associação de Municípios Portugueses do Vinho (AMPV). The other two counties are Porto Moniz and São Vicente. Since the AMPV was formally established, it has more than six dozen associated municipalities. Câmara de Lobos has been traditionally associated with viticulture and is responsible for more than half the annual production of Madeira Wine.

President of the Taxi Association assaulted. The President of AITRAM was attacked by a former head of the association. He was sworn at whilst in the Dolce Vita mall then punched in the face. He left but was pursued and took refuge in the interior of a company in Rua dos Aranhas, where he was assaulted. People came to his rescue and he went to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. When the police arrived at the scene, the alleged aggressor had disappeared.

São Vicente will have a carta de risco (risk charter). The physician-mayor of this municipality will have a risk document drawn up even if it is "politically expensive". There will be restrictions on constructions, especially in areas close to streams. The initiative comes from a history of disasters occurring in winter, particularly in 1979 when people died after being buried in landslides.The council will enlist experts in the areas of civil engineering, geology and hydraulics and the recommendations will be incorporated into the revised Municipal Plan, PDM. A ‘carta de risco’ outlines natural hazards that can occur, the prevention and repair of damage, civil protection plans and implementation of systems for monitoring events and alerting people. Planning, land use and conservation of the environment are a prime target for study.

Infiltrations in the Bairro da Nazaré. For over 20 years, residents in the social housing complex in the neighbourhood of Nazaré in Funchal have complained of rain entering the apartments. A resident complained he had spent 500 Euros in an attempt to fix the problem and had to replace a water damaged washing machine and refrigerator. On the top floor, a middle-aged couple no longer bother to have the damage repaired because the same problem recurs. Residents have notified the IHM, responsible for the building, but they visit then say they have too many repairs to do.

CULTURE

Benjamin Marques in focus in Madeira International Art Biennial. The Biennial will open on June 15th and the works of art will be displayed over several areas. This year it will pay homage to the Portuguese artist Benjamin Marques with a display of eight of his works. This is the third edition of this arts exhibition and the inauguration will be held at the Casa da Luz (Electricity Museum) on June 15th. The event ends on July 31st. The works and artists will also be represented in other areas of Madeira: from June 18th at the Casa de Cultura de Santana; from 24th June at the Casa da Cultura de Santa Cruz and at the Library of Estreito and Civic Centre of Ponta do Pargo, at dates to be announced. The photo is one of the works of Benjamin Marques in the collection titled, Géologie.

UPDATE

CDS-PP and PS want to know when the new hospital is to be built. A previous request by the CDS-PP for a meeting of the parliamentary Committee on Health and Social Affairs with the Regional Secretary for Social Affairs was rejected by the PSD. The CDS-PP now request a meeting with the Secretary for Social Affairs, the Director of the Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça, the Director of SESARAM, Trade Unions and the Order of Doctors to clarify the date of commencement of construction of the new hospital in Funchal and other issues. A socialist councillor stated that the health of patients in Madeira is not a priority for the government of the PSD-M. Otherwise they would have already built a new central hospital instead of spending money on a golf course at Calheta (17 million Euros, only the first phase), tennis courts and more roads and tunnels. The centrists are concerned about the climate of persecution that lives in the Regional Health Service, with constant conflicts between doctors and nurses, the Clinical Director of the Hospital, SESARAM and the Trade Unions of the Health Professionals. The two opposition parties express concern over the debt of the service, the budget of 323 million Euros and debts in payments to suppliers and banks as well as more than 80 million Euros owed to the National Association of Pharmacies. Marmeleiros Hospital and the Health Centre of Bom Jesus are obsolete and there have been complaints from doctors about lack of medicines and hospital beds.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Medical records online. The medical records of users of the health service will be online by the end of this year. Thus, doctors may have access to them at any hospital or health centre in the region. The emergency department of the hospital and the health centres have computerized records but they are presently not all connected on the same system. This will save both time and cost as the doctor can see the medical history, latest information and tests carried out.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Today’s main news headline : War of the posters without solution – The agreement in Funchal failed. The BE and PCP only take down their [political] posters when the council stops using their electronic displays. This story has been kicking around since last year at least, and I really can’t be bothered to read it again. The communists / other parties, who entered into an agreement last year to restrict their political propaganda posters in Funchal, particularly in the tourist areas (below Cota 40), noticed that the ruling Social Democrats in the council were using the electronic street display boards (public property) to spread their political propaganda instead, wherever and whenever they wanted. End of agreement of course, and the BE and PCP still have posters up and have no intention of removing them.

The sea swallows the coast – The transgressive phenomenon is a reality for Madeira and Porto Santo.

Madeira left in the dark – Thunderstorm caused the black-out. Rui Rebelo, president of the Electricity Company of Madeira said that the bad weather that caused the power cut was felt especially on the north coast, and had caused "an atmospheric discharge that focused on the 60 Kw lines" leading to the automatic shutdown of electrical systems for safety reasons. Rui says that in these circumstances the reactivation of the electricity takes some time because it is necessary to restore the electricity in a phased manner. Well actually it was just after day-break, which was quite handy. I was without ‘luz’ for around half an hour I think, but as the mains-powered digital clock stopped, it is difficult to be absolutely sure. The article says it was out nearly an hour, but the entity upstairs keeps an eye out for me, and must have realised that my early morning cup of tea was lacking.

Low visibility at Madeira Airport – Flights have been cancelled and planes have been obliged to divert. The Porto Santo ferry, Lobo Marinho, cancelled its voyage. Wind and rain, but mostly poor visibility caused the problems at the airport, and 3 flights were cancelled up to the time of the Diário report, and another 7 diverted, two of which, coming from Stanstead and Amsterdam went to Faro.

More than 14 thousand unemployed – Madeira records the biggest increase in the country compared to the same period in 2009. The latest figures have been released by the Institute of Employment on Madeira, and show a horrifying increase of 45.3% January to January, when there were 14,432 registered unemployed. The Algarve came a close second with 43.7%, and the Azores third with 38.2%. In terms of annual average statistics, there were increases registered in all the regions of Portugal. The highest was in the north of Portugal (11%), and Madeira with 7.6% was one of the lower statistics. That latter figure I find hard to believe, as a quick calculation implies that there must be 176,000 people working here in a population of around 260,000. Perhaps it is my maths that needs closer scrutiny?

Ribeira Brava will try out ‘Census 2011′ in March. The Pilot Survey will be held all over the country from March 1 to May 31. We are now entering the final stage of preparing for the 2011 Census. According to the website of the Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DRE), the "dress rehearsal" for the actual operation of the census will take place from the 1st of March, in the municipality of Ribeira Brava. 30 interviewers will be recruited by the DRE and NSI and then will be sent to the towns of Ribeira Brava (16 interviewers), Serra d’Água (3), Tabua (3), and Campanário (8), so that within three months they can collect "thorough data on the Buildings, Accommodation, Families and Individuals." The collection of information for statistical purposes should be made face to face with the population.

Madeiran wins slot in television series – Joana Ponte is a vampire in the series ‘Lua Vermelha’ [Red Moon]. I haven’t watched this series on SIC, but a few days ago I saw a bit when channel hopping, and it looked quite interesting. But if SIC wanted to recruit for monster / weirdo roles in the series, surely Uncle Bertie would have been the first choice. He has nothing else constructive to do, and he wouldn’t even need any make-up. If that doesn’t get me deported, then I reckon I am safe here for the rest of my days!

The main sport / football headline today : Intelligence of Rúben decisive in the victory – The Madeiran made the difference again, even weakened. In the end he shone. And what an unusual winning goal it was he set up, as Porto beat Arsenal 2 – 1 in the Champions League knock-out game. The visitors manager Arsenal Whinger was moaning about it on the news this morning, saying that the referee should have given a penalty to Porto, not an indirect free kick. What planet is that bloke from? Benfica play tonight in Germany. It’s on SIC at 8 pm.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’