Madeira News Blog

(24th July). Today’s main news headline : ’296 More In The Army Of Unemployed – Madeira was the region of Portugal that registered the highest (%) leap in unemployment in June. One year ago we had 8,244 without work and today we have 12,483. They are the worst numbers in 40 years’. Unemployment Increased 2.4% In The Month Of June, with 12,483 people signing-on in the Regional Institute of Employment. Or to make it sound even worse, the increase is 47.4% up on the same month in 2008. The 2.4% is the increase from May to June this year. Madeira is in 2nd place for the worst unemployment deterioration in Portugal over a year, with the Algarve registering an increase of 91.5% since June last year, whilst the Azores are in 3rd place (40.3%). What a nightmare, and whilst it doesn’t say what the current rate is against people who work / want to work, it is about 5% of the whole population. 1st quarter figures from the National Institute of Statistics showed official unemployment here at 6.8%. The Government of Madeira, through the Regional Secretary of Human Resources, gave the usual comment on the registered unemployment with the statement: "We continue to notice some slowdown, because the increase in the month of May is less than the case for April" (or something along those lines). I reckon that makes employment here around 7.4%, still lower than the national level of around 9%.

‘Portuguese Point Out Communication Failures In Banks – 75% of those asked consider that nothing has improved in the ability to talk to the account managers’. Nothing has changed due to the crisis a study reveals that was published yesterday, and 48% of respondents expressed concern about the security of their savings.

‘Tourism Lost €309 Million In The First 5 Months Of This Year – The secretary responsible for tourism promises a pro-active attitude from the government’. The €309 million (12%) lost is for all of Portugal, and the prime reason is a 25% drop in receipts from English tourism. Despite the headline, no mention of what this pro-active attitude here is? Doesn’t pro-active mean doing something before it goes pear-shaped?

‘Air Nostrum Starts Charter Operation From Bilbao And Valencia To Madeira – Four weekly connections will run until the end of September’. The charter company of Iberia starts the service today, with flights on Fridays and Sundays, and if all goes to plan should bring over 3,000 Spanish tourists here. The Spanish market for tourism on Madeira dropped 32.6% last year compared to 2007, in terms of tourist numbers, and 24.3% in hotel night reservations.

This from the Journal : ‘Increased Metrological Stations – Two new units installed in Santa in Porto Moniz and São Lourenço in Caniçal’. The Institute of Meteorology has just installed two new weather monitoring stations, that are now activated. The new facilities will provide better weather vigilance and hence forecasting, and reflect in the safety of people and property, as well as air and sea transport, says a spokesman. The operation and collection of data is completely automated, and the two new additions bring the total number of weather stations on Madeira to seven, the others being in Funchal, São Jorge, Ponta do Pargo, Ponta do Sol, and Areeiro.

And another from the Journal : ‘Promenade Of Porto da Cruz Will Proceed in 2011′. The Madeira government has approved a project to construct the promenade, that will serve as an access to Maiata beach, with 2011 being the most likely date for construction to start. The article lists quite a few projects that were approved, including public gardens, a music hall, and car parks in various locations, but as the headline was Porto da Cruz I will leave it there.

I noticed today that the Diário has put the letter of complaint, submitted to the competition authorities, back on the front page of the website. I didn’t remember that it was as long ago as April last year, well that is the date of the letter at least. The complaint is about the anti-competitive practices of the technically bankrupt government owned newspaper ‘Journal da Madeira’, as well as inappropriate use of taxpayers money to keep it going. The whole situation seems to have died a death since the complaint was made. The letter in English is here if anyone needs a refresher DIARIO COMPETITION COMPLAINT

President Jardim has gone quiet, reluctant to talk to the press, but I don’t think it will last. He is cheesed of at the press boycott of coverage of his plans for constitutional review and the debate in the regional assembly on Wednesday. "The debate wasn’t transmitted, just some small reports,  and even the radio went to Curral das Freiras as if it were more important", he said. Poor Bertie, no doubt the management of your newspaper the ‘Journal’ will be punished for their lack of effort.

As you know most of the opposition parties boycotted the debate on Wednesday, organising their own session to discuss the ‘real issues’. They returned to assembly yesterday to find that the PSD were continuing the debate in an attempt to revive interest. The PS, PCP, BE and PND were all back in force, but sat through the session in silence. The discussion will continue on Tuesday, the final meeting of this legislative session.

Politics

(11th July). ‘GR Wants To Silence Opinion’. The National Commission for Elections, and the Media Regulatory Authority, yesterday received a complaint from the government of Madeira. The complaint is aimed at the broadcasting media, expressing concern that programs of opinions about political parties are against the organs of power in Madeira, the responsibility of the social democrat ruling party, and there is an absence of counter opinion. The complaint reminds that we are now in a pre-election period, and that programs that were suspended before the European elections, are now intentionally being shown to the detriment of the PSD-M.

(10th July). ‘Gama Denies 10 Minutes To A Deputy Of PS-M – Júlia Caré wanted to say goodbye to São Bento with a piece about Madeira. She asked in April to speak on 1st July. Jaime Gama wouldn’t allow it’. The president of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, and of the same political party as Caré, representative for Madeira at the end of her mandate, suggested she should turn to the newspapers to say what she wanted … she did. He told her he had read her interview in Madeira’s newspaper, and should return to the Diário to say whatever it was she wanted, leaving her somewhat perplexed. It seems in the interview she did in the Diário, she expressed her discontent with the procedures and bureaucracy in the Assembly of the Republic.

‘Election Posters Of PS-M Only In São Vicente’. However from Monday the socialist party aims to start posting it’s propaganda in Funchal, the second district on Madeira to suffer. The independent candidate in Calheta says she will not put up her posters until the first half of August. It seems each party has its own timetable and priority locations.

(9th July). ‘War Against The Microchip Reminds Of Seat Belts – PSD-M has produced a proposal to exclude Madeira from ‘micro chipped’ registration plates’. 16 years after President Jardim and his sidekick Jaime Ramos fought a battle to reject legislation in Madeira about the compulsory wearing of seatbelts. history is about to repeat itself. This time it is against a national programme to  fit all cars with electronic tagging devices, which will become mandatory for all vehicle owners in Portugal. On Wednesday the social democrats of Madeira produced a draft decree in the assembly, which will exclude Madeira from that legislation. They justify this stance by saying that the ‘chip’ is to some extent to control tolls on ‘pay roads’, and there are none here. They also say that the initiative is an invasion of the privacy of citizens, making reference to a ‘big brother’ surveillance system. The chips will also be used to trace stolen cars, to ensure that car insurance is up to date, and trace owners of outstanding fines. Another piece of Jardim stupidity, though not quite to the standard of fighting the compulsory wearing of seatbelts. I for one would be very very happy to know that all the cars that are on our roads all have valid insurance, and that there is another deterrent to car theft. I would think that only criminals would be anti such legislation … enough said!

Economy

(11th July). Today’s main news headline : ‘Insolvencies Triple – The number of companies and entities going through processes of insolvency increased in the first 6 months of this year, compared to the same period of 2008, from 17 to 50′. During the same period the creation of new companies fell by a third, from 553 to 369, the worst performance in Portugal. Lots of statistics comparing Madeira with Portugal, and it certainly seems that in both these factors that Madeira is suffering these aspects of the recession worse than most.

‘Inflation Fell 1.6% in June – Compared to the same month in 2008, much due to the influence of transport’. The National Statistics Institute (INE) released the data yesterday, showing inflation to be -1.6%, still lower than the -1.2% in declared in May. The main areas of falling prices were in transportation, food, and non-alcoholic beverages.

(10th July). ‘Banif And Banco Mais In Negotiations – The get together could result in a merger’. The two banks are in an advanced phase of negotiations that could result in a fusion in various financial activities. Meanwhile the insolvent Banco Privado Português (BPP) was sold to the Sociedade Comercial Orey Antunes for €1.

Banks, Banking & Finance

Madeira is well blessed with banking organisations, with at least 7 banks well represented on the island. Outside of Funchal, which hosts the Bank Of Portugal and other international banking institutions, much smaller towns on Madeira will have branches of some if not most of these banks. Hence the customer is king and can pick and choose who they do business with for the best terms and conditions available.

The Main Banks are:
Bank of Portugal (Funchal)
Barclays Bank (only in Funchal)
Banco BPI
Banco Espirito Santo (BES)
Banco Santander Totta
Banif (Banco Internacional do Funchal)
BPN (Banco Português de Negócios)
BPI
Millennium BCP
Montepio Geral
Caixa Geral de Depositos

As well as multiple branches across Madeira, internet banking is also available to manage accounts, bills and services, but not all have English language versions of their websites (BES & BPI definitely do).

All the usual services are available, such as personal current and savings accounts, cheques, cash withdrawals from ‘multibanco’ machines, direct debits for bill paying, credit cards, loans, mortgages, insurance and investment products, and a similar range of products and services for business customers.

The ATM machines, or cashpoints, are called ‘Multibanco’ machines. They are widepread in larger towns, and have numerous functions. As well as cash withdrawals, one can use them to pay bills, set up direct debits, transfer money to other bank accounts, to name just a few facilities. The instructions come up in Portuguese if using a Portuguese bank card to access, but with bank cards from other countries the language presented should be English.

Some key aspects of the banking system on Madeira are the almost instantaneous interbank money transfers, a speedy cheque clearance system, and the ability to manage accounts in different ways by branch, internet, and multibanco machines to the extent of setting up your own direct debit mandates.

Some Madeiran banks charge a monthly fee, others charge certain transaction fees, and some operate on practically no fees whatsoever for normal daily transactions. Banks don’t normally pay interest on current account balances.

To open a bank account you need to choose your ‘supplier’ and go along with your ‘numero de contribuinte’ (taxpayer reference) issued by your local Finance office. Take along also your passport, residência card (if you have one), and proof of address (utility bills). If you don’t have a Madeira address, you can still open an account, but check what documents you need.

If you don’t speak portuguese, you might be well advised to find a bank branch in Funchal or another major town, as explaining your needs and problems can be a little tricky.

If you have savings or wish to put some money away to earn interest, ask to link a savings account to your current account. You might not get the highest interest rate, but the convenience of an easy transfer between the two accounts may make it worthwhile until you find something better.

Normal banking hours are 8.30 am until 3.00 pm weekdays, though some larger branches stay open later for appointments and other services. Visitors to Madeira may be surprised to find that most bank staff sit or stand behind counters with virtually no security arrangements … long may it continue!

Currency Exchange

Banks on Madeira offer currency exchange, as do banks elsewhere, and also in some Funchal hotels. If you are just taking a holiday, then you can use those facilities, but take note that the exchange rate may be poor, and there may be commission charges.

To move large amounts of foreign currency to a Portuguese bank account may also incur conversion charges and a poor exchange rate. There are specialist currency exchange companies that operate low cost exchange deals on high value transactions, and its worth checking some of these out in order to convert your currency at the best rate before sending it to your bank.

There are other currency exchange offices, mainly in Funchal. The usual opening hours are 9.00 am until 1.00 pm, and 2.00 pm until 7.00 pm, Monday to Friday. Saturday hours differ. Portugal and Madeira use the Euro (€) monetary system, which has been in place since 1999.

The notes used are €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, €5, the coins are in denominations of €2, €1, 50 cents, & 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1 cents.

The Euro monetary system bank notes are standard across the Euro using countries (15 in 2008), but each value of note is different in size and colour to assist with easy identification.

The coins are designed by the individual members to a European specification, with their own images one side, but are otherwise identical across the user countries.

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