Madeira News Blog

Today’s Photo : Thanks to Vic … a Caniço sunset

"Funchal on the Portuguese Island of Madeira is the site for Vitor Sa vs Kiatchai Singwancha January 14 with the TWBA super middleweight title at stake. This could be the first ever professional boxing match there". BOXING NEWS You heard it here first! Funny name that, Vitor Sa, as that is the same name as the Madeira rally driver and son of Jorge Sã, owner of the Hiper Sã supermarket chain here.

Don’s website has a new video showing Funchal at Christmas. It’s about 10 minutes long. XMAS ON MADEIRA Lets hope it gets us a few extra tourists for the festive season, as  I think we need them.

Tour operator Holiday Options has shut down after entering administration. The company, which specialised in holidays to destinations such as Croatia, Corsica, Sicily, Cape Verde, Madeira and the Azores, shut down on Tuesday after 16 years in operation. A spokesman for the company said no passengers had been left stranded and all forward bookings, thought to been around 1,100, would be taken over by Cambridge-based Light Blue Travel.

Many thanks to Elaine for this huge contribution from yesterday’s news :

Return of Marcelino Andrade shakes HCF. More turmoil at the hospital between the staff and the managers of the health service (SESARAM). This time it is related to the return of Marcelino Andrade to the hospital. For five years he was the president of Santo António, after a friendly invitation by president Jardim. In the recent elections, the PSD selected another president and he is free to return to the health service. The turmoil is due to the rumour among staff that he is to be employed on the Board of Directors of SESARAM. Some Directors of Services would resign if that happened and there was to be a protest mass resignation which was cancelled by SMS last night. The opposition is based on credibility and technical issues. Andrade explained that he wishes to return to working in the orthopaedic services. SESARAM said they will keep the present Board of Directors and such rumours are designed to destabilize the services.

Bio Madeira week in the Largo da Restauração. In the region, 5% of agricultural land is devoted to organic farming and is increasing. The week is to "sensitize the community to the economic, social and environmental aspects of organic farming." Bio Week runs from the 23 – 29 November. Initiatives will also occur around the island. In 2008, there were 240 tons produced and an additional 130 tons of bananas. The theme of the week this year is ‘Growing Sustainably’. There have already been training initiatives held in people’s homes, schools, town halls and hotels involving about 9,000 people spread between farmers, students, teachers, parents and the general public. The activities next week will include an organic food fair, culinary demonstrations by hotel chefs, presentation of books for children and adults about the various perspectives of organic agriculture, and theatrical and musical competitions for children, promoted by the schools. On the 29th at Jardim da Serra, endemic species will be planted to offset carbon dioxide emissions. Full program on the website: www.sra.pt

Presidency rejects blame for the transfer requests by the police officers. The Government rejected accusations that Jardim’s comments are the cause of the requests for transfers out of the region. The statement clarifies that the people responsible for what happened are the current command and not the officers and agents. The statement also refers to the Madeiran police officers on the continent who have been unsuccessful with transfer requests to the region.

Exercise in Rabaçal involves more than one hundred people and various media. Exercise ‘Missing 09′ begins early tomorrow morning. The training exercise in Rabaçal will be coordinated by the Regional Service for Civil Protection and involve the armed forces. Two different scenarios; the disappearance of a group of 15 tourists in the area and an accident involving a passenger bus in the section towards the Casa do Rabaçal. There will be observers from the National Authority for Civil Protection, National Institute of Emergency Medicine and observers from the Azores and the Canary Islands.

Waiting 13 years for an asphalt road in Santa Cruz. ‘Impassable’ is the adjective used to describe Caminho da Fonte which is used every day by 30 people. This road is about a kilometre long and is in the rural ‘zonas altas’ of Santa Cruz. The area is believed by many to belong to the ‘Madeira Velha’, even though it is a five minute road journey into the centre of Santa Cruz. The road was originally only a short path then 13 years ago, it was widened to facilitate access to houses and agricultural land. For the past 13 years, every mayor has promised to asphalt it. There is a beautiful view over the bay and city of Santa Cruz. As the road is not asphalted, the land is purchased at a price lower than the normal market value, so in recent years there have been several new houses built there. They are licensed and have water and electricity services connected. A petition was delivered to the council in 2005 and another with 300 signatures three years later. The poor state of the road causes damage to vehicles and prevents access to agricultural land, as lamented by a 73 year old man who cultivates sweet potato, onions, beans and some fruit trees such as papaya and tangerine. The municipality said they would make it "passable in the meantime" while searching for an inexpensive solution.

Câmara de Lobos unable to close cow farm. The farm in Vereda da Ribeira da Caixa remains active as sanitary rules have been met, despite previous pollution into a stream and the Praia do Vigário. There are now a few dozen cows and bulls in poor living conditions in a shed with a corrugated iron roof. The people living locally complain about the smell and noise at night. There have been disputes with the farmer and staff which involved the police at one stage. The local mayor admits that the situation is not pleasing to the neighbourhood but he has no power to license or cease operations.

Court annuls trial. The Court of Appeal in Lisbon annulled the judgement of the Court in Funchal which sentenced a 31 year old mother to 16 years in prison for murdering her daughter with poisoned biscuits and juice when institutionalized at the Cecilia Zino Foundation. It was alleged to be ‘an act of selfishness’, ‘cold and ruthless’ and not ‘true love’ although the defence argued it was due to mental incapacity. The original trial was in November 2007, and in response to new evidence about the defendant’s liability, the Court of Appeal in November 2008 requested a new trial. The woman was interned at the Casa da Saúde Câmara Pestana but failed to abide by the rules so was sent to prison, where she is at present. The two psychiatrists are arguing that she suffers from a mental illness caused by previous relationship problems, preventing her from discerning good from evil and that you cannot fake a mental illness when you only try to kill your children when mentally disturbed. Their evidence is "strong and credible enough to raise serious doubts about the liability of the defendant."

Banana growers versus GESBA. Another allegation and counter-allegation saga, this time the banana producers versus the management board GESBA. The growers have a petition challenging the action of the management, but GESBA give an assurance that the sector is "calm". The management said that in October there occurred an exceptional situation due to climatic conditions, when the production levels were equivalent to those in August, when the production is higher. This, coupled with the fact that it rained some days, meant that there was some delay in cutting the banana. When it was dry enough to use the machinery, they normalized the situation. The management explained that of the 2,800 producers, only a relatively few had complaints. They say their essential role is to manage the collection and distribution of the larger quantity of fruit produced in the summer and the lower amounts during winter months.

Tivoli Madeira celebrates 10 years. Jardim highlighted the good quality Tivoli hotels, the excellence of service, particularly with regard to the five-star hotel in Funchal which yesterday marked 10 years of activity. There was a cocktail event for travel agents, tour operators and local hotel managers. —-Thought you’d enjoy the photo, has Jardim any liver left?

Praia Formosa without sand and Toco waits. Both projects suspended. The document first presented to the public in 2004, for the period 2007/2011 stated, ‘Improvement of the entire seafront of Praia Formosa and leisure areas, contracting a study for the installation of an artificial beach and its construction, if technically and financially possible.’ Another project in the ‘banho-maria’ is Toco. The Government and the CMF are considering pursuing a public-private partnership to overcome legal impediments encountered. If this is legally possible, then interested private parties will have to be found.

‘Caso da mala’. ‘Case of the suitcase’. The defendants in this trial in Lisbon are António Preto, Jorge Silverio and Sobral de Sousa. António Preto is a PSD member suspended from the Assembly of the Republic, accused of tax evasion. Silverio and Sobral de Sousa were on the Board of the property firm Serbro. Sebro attempted to avoid paying 347,000 Euros IRC claiming wrong address. Instead of ‘Rua do Castanheiro nos 1 a 3, 8 – Funchal ‘ the tax offices used the address ‘Rua do Castanheiro nos 1 a 38′ and the claim is that the postman attempted to deliver a registered letter to the wrong address. The Court of Funchal have not yet decided on this case but if they decide to cancel the debt, it will weaken the prosecution’s ‘caso da mala’. António Preto was a lawyer to companies of Virgilio Sobral de Sousa. Sobral de Sousa was a PS councillor in Amadora. He was a partner of a firm accused of fraud in the issue of driving licences, selling ‘packages’ to candidates in Madeira who went to the continent, with accommodation, for a guaranteed licence, for 4,000 Euros. During the investigation, telephone conversations were recorded between Preto and the leader of the PSD-Lisbon, detailing delivery of 39,956 Euros packed in suitcases to pay for his campaign. During this investigation in 2002, Preto was caught receiving a suitcase containing 25,000 Euros. This opened a second criminal proceedings and in 2005, Preto was accused of tax fraud and document forgery with suspicions of corruption. During a famous eavesdropping phone call, Preto was heard to say to Sobral de Sousa, "I’m here to receive money, pal, as I have never seen in my life." Corrupt lawyers … whatever next … you’ll be telling me next Elaine that there are corrupt politicians as well … well I’ll be darned Preto is both … why bother with a trial! Der

Air disaster occurred 32 years ago on the 19 November 1977. The Diário has a video interview with one of the survivors of the disaster when the flight TP425, a Boeing 727-200, plunged into the sea at Santa Catarina Airport with 164 people on board. The biggest disaster in the history of TAP caused 131 deaths. There were 33 survivors.

Madeira classified as a destination of excellence. The World Tourism Organization has an institute, the CED, which has distinguished Madeira in 13 of the 15 parameters under evaluation for classification as a tourism destination of excellence. In all 15 parameters, the performance was above average. Six had a level of excellence, 6 a level of high performance and 3 had reached average.

Police rescued a Madeiran trader kidnapped in Caracas for a week.  The 41 year old was riding a motorcycle in Caracas when he was forced into a vehicle by armed men and kept in captivity for a ransom of about 160,000 Euros. The ransom demand was made to his wife. On rescuing him, three men were killed who the police claimed were the kidnappers but in a radio program, a woman claimed one of them was her son. The suspects are thought to have been involved in 28 kidnapping cases.

Man attempts to rob a man leaving a pharmacy. In Nazaré yesterday morning, a man was leaving a pharmacy after collecting prescribed medications. A thief attempted to grab the bag of drugs but because he was ill, he just went away with the handles of the bag in his hand. There is a climate of insecurity in the area.

From today’s Diário newspaper front page :

Members of the Madeira government put relatives at the top of the vaccine waiting list – In the Health Centre of Santo António they say that the orders come from above. It was through this that at least vice president Cunha e Silva and his family were there for their vaccinations. Also there are doctors putting their children and friends at the front of the queue before they set off for holidays abroad. That’s today’s main news headline, but why? Did anyone really expect any different in the race for a limited supply of Gripe A swine flu medication. And this story is just the cases that have been discovered. The story already has 7 readers comments, and nothing very complementary I can assure you. Clear guidelines have been issued as to who the ‘at risk’ groups are and the priorities for administering the vaccine, but who would ever stop to think that by jumping the queue because you know somebody important, that a real ‘at risk’ person will be leapfrogged and maybe have to go without. Just human nature I suppose. No doubt Uncle Bertie has issued secret order for foreigners like me to be left until last, which of course would be totally expected, and I am certainly not complaining, as I still have adequate supplies of © Toranja Poncha ©.

Portugal may be top-of-the list – FIFA updates it’s rankings today and  decides the ‘pots’ on day 2. So having scraped through with a string of close but favourable results, the desire is now that Portuguese football team gets seeded and avoids any particularly difficult games in the group stages of the actual 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.

Santos Costa had a construction company when he was already regional secretary – The leader was a partner, with relatives, of a company of construction consultancy. But he says he has already left the company. The company offered services in the areas that Costa himself works, particularly in construction, promotion and marketing of real estate, tourism, hotel hospitality, and consultancy. Costa himself and his wife both held 40% of the shares, and the two children 10% each. The firm was created in April 2007, with a starting capital of just €5,000. In December 2008, company assets were stated as being around €300,000. Politicians in construction consultancy … stinks of a conflict of interest, especially for one that holds the very senior post of Regional Secretary responsible for ‘social assets’. But it is not illegal! It seems that now the company belongs just to the wife and two sons, which makes me feel so much better. It’s only just after midday as I write this, and the article already has 13 readers responses on the Diário website., and I have read them all and found nothing but scorn and contempt for Costa. 

Why is it I feel guilty hogging all the top stories of the day? … I will leave these other two in case someone else wants a go …

Traffic continues in chaos around the schools – One of the reasons is the fact that only one quarter of the children take the bus to school. The winner is pollution.

Theatre celebrates 20 years of inclusive art.

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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. 

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

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

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The old abandoned mansion overlooking Funchal harbour

Received by email : "Hello, I’m flying out to Funchal on November 18th for my 4th visit and can’t wait! I’m doing some self-catering this time and am looking forward to going down to the fish market and buying some lovely espada. Yum, got to be the best fish in the whole world, cooked properly "Madeiran style". I fell in love with this old mansion house – vertically up from the Lido near the old fortress (the lido being the outdoor Art Deco pool next to the Fortaleza de São Tiago, at the base of the cliff). I always thought if I won the lottery I’d refurbish it and restore it to its former splendour. But does anyone know the history of this place and why it was abandoned? There’s also a picture of it on Google earth. I’m attaching a photo (above) I took a little while ago. MORE PHOTOS & GOOGLE EARTH LOCATION Christopher

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Anyone looking to book holidays on Madeira next year might find this summary of events and dates useful. It is probably all on the official tourism website, but as it is all simple and well laid out here I thought it may be of interest. 2010 EVENTS & FESTAS

I must admit I was a little irritated by the attitude of the Machico traders over the issue of the Chinese megastore being opened there, as had it been a Madeiran shop selling Chinese goods, as many do in part, then I guess most traders would have scowled and got on with life. There was a special report on the case on RTP-M last week, after the 9 pm news, and one of the people featured was a local lady who had a Chinese shop in Funchal, and she wasn’t getting any hassle as far as I could see. So it seems to me the fuss is not about what is being sold, it is about who is selling it. RTP news at the time had also dug up a bit of old footage (from around 5 years ago) of president Jardim having a pop at Indian and Chinese traders for competing against Madeiran businesses, and saying that they weren’t welcome here, so perhaps the attitude of the Machico traders can be in part be blamed elsewhere.  A similar thing happened on Porto Santo earlier this year when local traders raised a petition, and the Chinese business ended up going out of business, maybe not directly as a result of the opposition, but not nice to see all the same.

Anyway, slightly intrigued by the situation, and not fully convinced that the Chinese shops were that much cheaper as to be a threat to Madeiran businesses, I decided to pay a visit to my local Chinese shop, quite a small operation, and compare some prices and choices with other local businesses.

I needed sunglasses and T-shirts, so I wandered around the local traders first, and the sunglasses on sale ranged from around €7 to €8, and all appeared to be from the same manufacturer. In the Chinese shop, in again what appeared to be the same range as the other shops, they were priced at €6.50. So a close 1 – 0 to the Chinese.

As for T-shirts, that was a different story altogether, with the lowest price I found in a local shop (and there are loads in Ribeira Brava) being €13.95, with others costing up to around €25 in some places. In the €13.95 shop I was asked why I wouldn’t buy the ones I was shown, and I said I was unemployed at the moment and it was more than I was able to pay. The shop owner threw her hands up in horror, and said to her colleague "these are cheap, don’t you think so?", and her colleague agreed, and they were in fact the cheapest I was able to find, but to me that is not cheap for a T-shirt.

So the next day I wandered back into the Chinese shop and had a look through their stock, and found quite a few decent brand name* ones in ‘robust size’ for €7.50 each. I brought 3 and even managed to negotiate a deal with the shop owner, although she looked like she had swallowed a nest of fire-ants when I asked for a discount. She reluctantly knocked €0.50 off the total! So a very comfortable 2 – 0 to the Chinese. And … for both T-shirts and sunglasses, the Chinese shop had by far the most to choose from. So Machico traders beware!

* The brand name is that world famous Chinese company ‘Wel Hong – the symbol of outstanding quality’. Well they do hang well I must admit, and as for any other interpretation, I plead the fifth amendment.

(Source : Tribal Football): Blackburn eyeing Nacional Madeira’s Micael - Blackburn Rovers, an English premier league football club are eyeing a move for Nacional Madeira midfielder Ruben Micael. Rovers boss Sam Allardyce is attempting to set up a cut-price £4 million deal for the 23-year old who was recently called up to the Portugal national team. Allardyce is keen to beat off competition from bigger clubs who are also believed to be interested in Micael, whose contract expires in 2011. Portuguese giants Benfica are said to be interested but Blackburn are trying to get in there first, either in January or next summer to lure him to Ewood Park. €4 million eh! He’s good for sure, but I didn’t expect talk of so much money.

News that Leonel de Freitas, director of RTP Madeira, has resigned may or may not be good news. Not that I have any problem with the content and format of our local TV station, it’s simply because I don’t have a clue what is on and when. RTP-M actually has quite a good mix of programmes, but my attempts to watch the 9 pm news are generally thwarted by schedule variations and changes, and generally I haven’t a clue what is on and when. The teletext schedules for RTP-M, on the main RTP channel, are nothing like the reality. The Zon internet TV guide doesn’t include RTP-M, and my monthly TV magazine, TeleCabo, has the programme schedules, but why they bother I don’t know. So my appeal to whoever takes over as director of RTP-M … PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT’S ON AND WHEN (and then try and stick to it).

A huge news contribution from yesterday from Elaine … many thanks :

Congestion caused by tourist coaches at Almirante Reis.  Another ‘full house’ at the port yesterday with three cruise ships berthed. The tourist buses stopping near the cable car entrance where the Avenida do Mar redevelopment is occurring, led to traffic congestion, confusion and protests from other drivers. The usual parking area is closed to tourist buses, interurban buses and Caniço buses, so they are having to use a normal traffic lane. This will intensify as November is a busy month for cruise ships and will continue until the works are finished.

Porto da Cruz Health Centre postponed. Construction of the Health Centre postponed until next year, so the old centre will still be used for longer than anticipated. The contract was signed before the last elections for a new Health Centre, Social Security Centre and an Elderly Residential Home. They will cost 4.7 million Euros, and an initial 118,000 Euros was allocated for 2009 and the rest payable in 2010 and 2011. But after the elections, the original money allocated for 2009 has been transferred to the 2010 budget.

Too many people want allotments. The CMF has suspended the application for urban allotments due to over-subscription. There are 350 on the waiting list so Funchal Council is trying to find more areas before they re-open the application process. They should be able to prepare 50 lots in the area adjacent to the new Avenida do Amparo for February next year, and an additional 15 lots in Santo Antonio for residents in Ribeira Grande. Since the project begun in 2005, there have been 159 lots.

Lorry driver killed. A 34 year old driver of a water tanker died from abdominal injuries sustained in an accident in Rosário, São Vicente. He was negotiating a curve, left the road and went down a 50 metre escarpment and hit a wall. Rescue services had difficulties working in the area and he was imprisoned in the cab with his abdomen, chest and legs compressed against the wheel. Despite advanced resuscitation efforts, he died at the scene. The cause of the accident is not yet known. It had been raining but the vehicle could have malfunctioned or there could have been a sudden health problem.

Manuel Saldanha expelled from PSP. This 41 year old Commissioner of the Regional Command of the PSP was one of the ‘strong men’ in the police force and had a promising career. He published a paper about the British police system called ‘Police in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’. The trouble started in 2002 when there was a complaint in Porto Santo of him assaulting a man after an exchange of words in a bar/nightclub. An inspection in 2005/6 then found irregularities and delays in proceedings, and he was suspended for 169 days, and  a disciplinary penalty of compulsory transfer to Portugal, the first time this has happened. There he was convicted of drug trafficking and subsequently has been permanently dismissed.

Rui Moses changes the locks at Santana Council’s offices. After reports that people stay in the council offices, often late at night, in activities that are not work-related. He said that locks were changed because new people are now responsible for the management of the council facilities and not due to lack of confidence in employees. The opposition Socialist Party councillor Adelino Silvo was not convinced, saying that locks are usually changed due to a lack of trust and if there had been robberies, he expected details about such situations to be given.

Urgent debate on banana production. The PCP (Communist Party) want urgent talks with the Government about the nationalised company, GESBA, which is failing to collect the bananas and leading to producers having to bury them. The three problems are the company’s inability to collect all the production, failure to respond to market demand and failure in payments. This is deepening the economic and social situation in the region. GESBA and the The Secretariat for the Environment and Natural Resources deny there are these problems in collection and payment. They explain that winter production is lower and preference given to traders who buy in the summer. GESBA has already increased the price of bananas by 1 Euro in summer and 3 Euros in winter.

The Circus is returning to Machico this Christmas.  Same place as last year, at the football field in Machico. The first performance will be on December 11th. The main attraction will be an illusionist/magician named Harry Potter and a Luso-Spanish acrobat who is an expert ‘Olympic’ ring juggler. They already have some reservations for special performances for groups. Prices similar to last year.

Bartenders Association participate in Wine & Spirits Festival starting on Friday 6th November. Starts Friday 6th until Sunday 8th at the Congress Centre at the Pestana Casino Park Hotel, from 15.00 to 21.00 hours. To promote wines and help visitors appreciate and enjoy wine more. There will be about 50 producers and 300 wines, with workshops (17.00 to 19.00), cooking demonstrations by 14 chefs (16.00 to 21.00)  and a Wine Shop. On the last day, a cocktail competition will run from 15.00 to 19.00 for the Grand Marnier Trophy with about 30 barmen. Four winners will represent Madeira in the Algarve in December and the winner will represent Portugal at the World Cup next September in France. A gourmet dinner with  four participating chefs at the Hotel Four Views Baia on November 6th at 21.30, priced 30 Euros inclusive, bookable online. Website for the festival: www.sensusvini.com —- Anyone know about entrance fees?

British Ambassador visiting Madeira on the 6th to 8th November. Private family visit with some public engagements. Saturday 7th a Cocktail Party for the British community resident here at the English Church, and on Sunday, a Remembrance Day Service at 10.50 am.

Police catch two burglars in the act, and a ‘Good Samaritan’ has her handbag stolen . There have been a spate of robberies in Funchal. Acting on a complaint, the police on patrol in Rochinha caught two men when they were preparing to leave a house with 600 Euros of stolen goods. In Nazaré, an elderly woman tripped and fell and when a woman left a table she was sitting at to go to her aid, a 28 year old man stole the rescuer’s handbag. By the description of the thief, the local police quickly apprehended him and he confessed to the theft. He agreed to return the bag, documents and keys to the owner but 280 Euros in cash were missing.

Shock Store at Madeira Shopping – reduced fashion goods. Third time this event has been held. Started yesterday and until the 8th. November, from 12.00 to 22.00 hours. Discounts, some more than 50%, on big brands such as Dolce & Gabanna, Gucci, Rosa Cha, Armani and Miss Sixty. Some discounts in shops that participated in the Fashion Week, e.g.. Sun Planet, Bata, Quebramar and Springfield. Until the 18th, if you spend 20 Euros, you can enter a draw for 8 gift vouchers of 500 to 2,000 Euros. The Christmas decorations will be installed next week and Santa Claus will arrive at the end of the month.

Herdade dos Coelheiros wants to increase wine sales in Madeira. Two days ago, in the restaurant ‘Abrigo do Pastor’, the wines from the Herdade dos Coelheiros were offered to potential customers. The wine producers have changed their business strategy to work directly with regional distributors. The wine comes from the Alentejo region and they introduced the Chardonnay grape variety to the region. They try to produce a quality product rather than quantity, around 230,000 litres (200,000 bottles) of 8 different wines. The classic is ‘Tapada de Coelheiros’ white and red. Other notable ones are ‘Tapada de Coelheiros Garrafeira’. and ‘Tapada de Coelheiros Chardonnay’. They also produce a more rare and exclusive ‘Branca de Almeida – Tinto’. The more accessible wines are ‘Roda dos Coelhos’ and ‘Vinha da Tapada dos Coelheiros’. 60 – 70% of the sales are to the domestic market and Madeira accounts for about 5%, which they aim to increase to 10%. They are producing a new wine called ‘Ciranda’ white and red soon.

Another wine topic, the producer and exporter of Madeira Wine, ‘Justino’s Madeira Wine’ has a new logo. They are rebranding to try to strengthen their national and international market. The new image will be shown for the first time at the Wine & Spirits Festival on the 6 November.

Five-star hotel room prices fallen 25.20%. In Portugal, hotel revenue has fallen an average 15 and 20% and in some cases, as much as 40% and next year’s outlook is poor. Room prices have fallen to an average 52.9 Euros for five-star hotels and 30.14 Euros for a three-star hotel room. The largest fall in room rates was Lisbon to an average of 46.64 Euros. Five-star hotel room rates in Lisbon fell most (27.28%) and Madeiran hotels had the second largest decrease in rates (25.2%).

Government facilitates access to business support. It will be easier to apply for business incentive programs. Financial aid now available for projects that maintain jobs as well as those that create jobs. For small enterprises and individual entrepreneurs who are having difficulty accessing credit. Between 2007 and 2009, the Government granted 103 million Euros in aid.

In addition, the European Regional Development Fund can now be used by countries like Portugal to support housing in disadvantaged areas. Countries joining the EU before 2004 have previously been excluded.

But that "program" !…. Long rant by Jardim in his newspaper against the Portuguese Socialist Government program and its provocative financial revenge against the people of Madeira.  It threatens to intervene in matters which come under the jurisdiction of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira. —— Constitutional arguments are brewing. I do not think life is going to get easier between Jardim and Sócrates.

The Court of Auditors concluded that the contract of purchase and sale of future credit for the amount of 150 million Euros by the Government in 2007 led to an increase in debt in the region, resulting in an increase of approximately €64 million. This was a complex transaction by the Government to try to hide it from the debt allowed for that year. In the future, they must  submit annual cost projections to the Court and ensure the transactions have the consent of parliament.

Training sailing ship in Porto Santo and the Swedish students visit the UMa. The STS Alva is a training ship and harboured at Porto Santo due to Funchal port being full yesterday. The crew are 40 Swedish students, and they visited the University of Madeira on an exchange visit. It sails on Saturday for Tenerife.

From the front page of today’s Diário de Notícias :

Antibiotic Spending Excessive. Madeirans take too many antibiotics. Only between January and September this year nearly €2 million was spent on Madeira, to buy over 200,000 packages of antibiotics.

Crisis takes Madeirans out of the dentist’s chair – Since January, the consultations visibly diminish. Increases … only the cancellations. Of course, with the cost of dentistry here, and being outside of the health service, it’s probably one of the most unpopular items of expenditure on the island. You only have to look around to see the impacts of dental costs with so many gappy smiles. I have only been to the dentist here once in 6 years, and that was in an emergency, but since discovering © Toranja Poncha © I have never had to go since.

End in sight for the series ‘Flor do Mar’. Verified information is not available, but the ex-popular TVI series (or soap), filmed on Madeira, may finish up this weekend, and the channel TVI refuses to confirm or deny. The series has run the equivalent of 280 episodes, nearly every night since last November, and for a long time led the national viewing ratings … that was until TVI changed the starting time. It was partly funded through a grant of €500,000 from the Madeira government. In my opinion money well spent for improving domestic tourism. It was becoming more and more obvious that the series was coming to an end, as more and more of the Flor do Mar characters started roles in other dramas and soaps on TVI. Morangos Com Açúcar alone has 4 that I have spotted so far.

The main headline today : Government debt catches Via Litoral – ‘Insolvent’ Treasury tied-up €58 million, leaving the concessionary company to fail on its commitments to the bank. The Madeira government blames the situation, which affects many companies that have contracts with or provide services to Madeira, on the failure of central government to transfer money. A debate that has been going on far a long time. The contract mentioned is for our roads, but we could see the impacts of this arising in other sectors soon too.

Alvinegro dream stays at half way – The fatality repeated itself and the draw against Athletico Bilbao has brought Nacional again almost to the end. Now it just remains to challenge in the two games left to honour the shirt and try and bank some Euros. Qualification now is almost impossible. Nacional 1 – Bilbao 1 in the Liga Europa. They came close to winning, but let in an equalising goal towards the end of the game

I had better call it a day there, as with over 3,600 words, this is probably the longest blog ever.

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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. 

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

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

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(2nd September). Today’s main news headline  : ‘Hospital Cause Of Incurable Illness – A young person aged 24 went into Funchal Central Hospital Emergency Department six months ago with abdominal pains and left with a hospital infection. She lives today "a hell", without good health and scarred by the "inconclusive" surgical interventions. Her mother tells the drama and asks for help. "Hospital also kills" is the title of her letter of desperation’. About 8% of those admitted to hospital suffer ‘hospital infections’. Cutting a long story short the girl went to hospital in February suffering with abdominal pains and vomiting, and underwent various tests, including for pregnancy, but was diagnosed with a hemorrhagic cyst and a gall bladder problem, and was operated on and her appendix removed. According to the mother the diagnosis was not even certain. Anyway she contracted the infection, and since then the lives of patient and mother has been "hell".  The trips back and forth to hospital, including in Portugal, and the effects of the infection have been numerous. The Diário contacted the clinical director of the Regional Health Service (SESARAM), Miguel Ferreira, who said he is aware of the case, but said that with regard to such infections – (infections caught in hospital facilities) – "there is nothing to do". Infections are frequent, and are caused by bacteria which cannot be killed, he said.

The main photo today shows a couple of ladies cleaning and cutting bananas : ‘Madeira Government Takes Possession Of The Banana Factory – A conflict between partners initiates the ‘nationalisation’. The solution conflicts with community rules. Although it might finish with the dumping of tons of bananas in Meia Serra waste processing plant’. Madif, the company of the banana processing plant in Ponta do Sol, was hit by internal disputes, that should oblige the regional government to nationalise the company and take on the management. The plant has had problems since it was opened in 2004, with breaks in production and low productivity, the collapse of the banana cooperative, and the presence of a Spanish partner who wanted to change the terms of operation. Obligations arising from the aid given by the European Union further complicate the matter.

Today’s sports headline : "Television Rights Are A Scandal" – The president of the General Assembly of Nacional tackles the moment of the "4th best" in Portugal’. An interview with Miguel de Sousa, president of AG Nacional, who considers the football club to be the best in Portugal, outside the ‘big three’ on the continent. He says that Nacional and FC Porto are the fastest growing clubs in terms of fans, because of their successes. As regards TV coverage, he says the obligations placed on the clubs are a scandal when the media concentrates so much on the ‘big three’, and the revenue from TV coverage is not distributed fairly.

‘Eco’ Freebie Attracts New Customers- Around 50 people regularly use the ‘Eco Line’ buses, the trips that used to cost 50 cêntimos are now free’. One of the Eco bus drivers said that yesterday that "many strange faces" boarded his bus. The Funchal buses run Monday to Friday between 8 am and 8 pm, and Saturday until 2 pm. The 4 buses can carry 8 seated passengers, 11 standing, and also has space for a wheelchair.

Any table tennis fans? The Funchal Junior Open begins today. Everyone a Winner in Funchal (in English).

‘Madeiran On The Up On The TV In Latin America’. Gavo Figueira is an actor in a soap called ‘Oye Bonita’ in Columbia, that is also being shown in Venezuela, where he also had roles in several soaps. He is also a model and writes books. Born on Madeira, but raised abroad, he has been in acting since he was aged 12.

An unnamed ‘electrical shop’ in Fórum Madeira was under fire for what was showing on a large LCD TV screen. Dad said that his three year old son turned to him and said "what are those people doing", and he looked around to see a hard-core pornography film being shown on a huge screen in the shop. The man complained and the film was switched off. The Diário said that the manager was not available to explain the situation.

UPDATES : 

‘Three New Cases Of Gripe A Confirmed On Madeira’. 24 suspected cases of swine flu H1N1 were investigated in the last week, with just 3 with positive tests, taking the total to 33 since the first case. All three came from abroad.  Two cases admitted to hospital prior to the latest count are doing well, although one is stable in intensive care.

‘Council ‘Without Hands’ For Leakage Repair Work – On average there are 12 ruptures daily in the drinking water system in Funchal’. One case was reported a month ago, but still has water running off down the road, getting the locals wet as traffic passes by. The council is aware of the leak, but works have not yet started, and the repair teams have not been able to attend all the leaks reported in recent weeks. Funchal council says it has had to raise a tender contract to deal with the most urgent cases, almost all in the east of the city. A major contract will be awarded for pipework renewals, but that won’t happen until January. A counsellor explained that the new leaks are coming quicker because works in the west of Funchal raised the pressure in the water network.

‘Passenger Airlifted From The Armas’. A passenger was airlifted off the ferry on its way to the Canary Islands, and taken to Funchal Central Hospital. The navy rescue was undertaken Monday night by the Merlin helicopter, 112 km south of Madeira, to deal with a man who lost a finger on board the ferry.

The 24 year old man caught twice with stolen cars in just a few days, and without a driving licence, has been released again by a judge ‘awaiting trial’.

‘President On The Way Out Helps PS’. The PSD president of Santana, on his way out from the job which he has held since 1984, voted with the socialists on a proposal to lower property taxes (IMI) in Santana from 0.7% (of valuation?) to 0.6%. A rare event indeed for a social democrat to side with socialists on matters of public finance. The meeting had 2 counsellors from PS-M and 2 from PSD-M, but chairman Carlos Pereira had the casting vote to block the proposal had he needed it. The reason given by the socialists for the cut in IMI taxes is that Santana has high levels of population leaving the area, and those left are in an ageing population. The lower taxes might be an incentive for families to stay in the area.