Madeira News Blog

(12th July). The front page main photo today shows a crowd of sunbathers watching a lone swimmer in the sea (actually a worker removing rubbish from the water) : ‘Filthy Stain Floods The Beaches – A bad Sunday at Lido and Ponta Gorda: piles of organic debris and waste plastics in the water. The boats of the port authority and of the Frente Mar were out in a regatta. The bathers were cussing’. The ‘slick’ of rubbish and plastic, of about 40 square metres, was dragging along the coast west of Funchal yesterday morning, and came inshore with the currents. The bathers talk about the illegal dumping of sewerage (or polluted water), which has been happening frequently throughout the last week. The absence of means of cleaning was also noted. The director of the company Frente Mar explained that was because of all the boats were in use in the regatta. The Lido bathing complex was flying the yellow flag, so swimming in the sea was not recommended, angering those who had paid €3.10 for a ticket. It also seems there are still jellyfish about, with one report of a girl getting stung.

‘Beaches Of Funchal Popular’. In another slightly connected article, the Diário reports that during June 31,000 tickets were sold for entry to the swimming / bathing complexes managed by Frente Mar. Most of these were for the Lido complex, with nearly 16,000 tickets sold, with Doca do Cavacas selling less than a thousand. Last year less than 24,000 tickets were sold for the same 4 complexes in the same month, partly affected by storm damage left from early April.

‘Notaries With The ‘Rope Around The Neck’ – The complaint is well known : The state pushed them towards privatisation and now takes the responsibilities away from them’. They talk about a fall in revenues in the order of 78%. Pushed into privatisation, the Public Notaries then found that their duties were stripped away day after day, and given to other organisations. They were once the ‘el dorado’ in the private sector. Government initiatives such as ‘Loja da Cidadão’, ‘simplex’ and ‘company in an hour’, and at least 11 other similar initiatives aimed at simplifying peoples lives and reducing bureaucracy, have left the notaries stripped of responsibilities and clients. The public notaries were gradually privatised following new laws in 2004, that allowed this in a 5 year experimental period, except for in Porto Moniz, and for those that switched there is no way back. Anyone feel disturbed by this? So concerned you won’t sleep tonight … no I thought not. Just another obstacle and expense out of the way for most of us. My local notary wanted €1,000 just to put an official stamp on a preprepared document in Portuguese, a two minute job.

Not from the Diário, but whilst Portugal enjoyed a day free of new gripe A (swine flue H1N1) cases yesterday (still 86 cases), there was a 15 year old English girl taken into hospital in Funchal displaying gripe A symptoms, but nothing yet confirmed. Actually I have just found this news in the Diário, and it rather usefully is accompanied by a picture of Big Ben in London. Of the nine suspected case on Madeira so far, none have yet tested positive.

The cherry liquor produced in Curral das Freiras (Valley of the Nuns), known as Ginja, is undergoing a certification process, with government and private support. Once the local brew has it’s own certification, the mark of quality obtained will enable the marketing of the product further afield, including exporting. It should take about a year to complete. The drink is made with the Morello Cherry, and at great effort and expense here is the recipe to make some yourself (10 person recipe):
Put 1kg of cherries, 1/2 kilo of sugar, and 3 litres of aguardente (recommended to use that made from grape sediment), into a suitable container and leave in a dark place, stirring every couple of weeks. It should be ready to drink in 8 months. (I bet Tobi will be having a go at this).

‘Dog Owner Condemned To Pay €11,000 – In 2004 two Pit Bulls attacked a child, the case was judged last week’. The owner of the two dogs that attacked a 7 year old boy, that received severe bodily injuries, has been ordered to pay €11,130 to the victim. More than  €5,000 of this is to cover the post-hospital rehabilitation costs incurred by the family. The boy fell into a pen with the dogs, and was savagely attacked and scarred. The dog owner was found not to have provided sufficient means to have safeguarded the boy. It’s very unusual to hear a story like this, as dogs here are known to be good natured and tolerant, but you never know with Pit Bulls. Cases like this in other countries would probably result in compensation running into six or even seven figures.

A paraglider was rescued by boat yesterday after he missed his landing point at Porto da Cruz, and landed on the beach of Boca do Risco, due to unfavourable wind conditions. He was absolutely fine, but had to be rescued by sea, as the beach has no access by land.

In the first 6 months of this year police have detected 83 overloaded lorries on Madeira’s roads. Police have now stepped up their checks to detect such situations. In the whole of 2008 there were just 36 offences detected. Offenders are fined either €500 or €1,250, depending on how much they are overloaded.

Football is back on the front page, and we are only talking about friendly matches not involving the Madeiran teams. ‘Benfica Start Pre-Season With Draw – A two goal advantage wasn’t sufficient to beat Sion (2-2)’.

A couple more front page stories in different sections, so I will cover those later.

(2nd June). ‘Get Marching – The popular saints animate festivals in various parts of Madeira between 12th and 28th June’. The three popular saints are celebrated with “pomp and circumstance” by the various municipalities of the south west coast of Madeira. The popular marches start on the 12th in Santo António, 13th, in Ponta do Sol (both Santo António), and end on the 28th in Câmara de Lobos (São Pedro). Through in between there are Calheta (São João), on the 20th, and Ribeira Brava on the 27th (São Pedro).

Ponta do Sol on 13th, with Santo António with ‘Silver of the house’ (?), that will take the parade through the lower part of the town early evening on the Saturday. At least 10 local groups , schools, and other institutions are expected to take part, with around 500 participants in all.  (UPDATED 13th June – To say locals don’t think that this is the correct date)

A week later, on Saturday 20th, São João festival in Calheta, again expects strong support in the parades, and two celebrity appearances are planned. Each parish of Calheta (8) will be represented in the parade, with at least 600 participants expected.

São Pedro in Ribeira Brava falls on a weekend, so the eve of the official festa day (27th) is expected to be lively with the party going on throughout the weekend. This is the one where many Madeirans are prepared to travel, and many thousands of visitors are expected. The parades will take place on the Saturday night, but details are as yet not released on who will take part, but this year there are no limits imposed on the number of participants.

Rather wisely perhaps, Câmara de Lobos sticks more rigidly to the official day of São Pedro, the 28th being the main highlight.  They are expecting 12 troupes made up of around 700 participants, who will cover the route from Avenida Nova Cidade down to the car park at the front of the bay.

(2nd June). ‘Pools Reopen This Saturday – The beach season begins 21st June in the city of Funchal‘. The swimming pools at Lido, Ponta Gorda and Barreirinha officially open on Saturday, with entrance fees returning to be chargeable. However, the official beach season will not be inaugurated until 21st June in Funchal, as the council says it does not make sense  to do so before with the children still at school and few people on holiday. With maintenance and repair work still to be done at the swimming pools and bathing complexes, the authorities decided to allow bathers to use the facilities free of charge, as long as they were prepared to put up with the noise and dirt, as everything was being prepared. Life-guards and first aiders will not be present on the beaches though until 21st June.

As for other events in Funchal, in the beginning of July there will be a regatta for canoes, and 8th August will see the competition for building sand constructions of the beaches. On 20th August there will be the beauty contest for ‘Miss Praia Formosa’. September will be the month for the annual dog show. Alongside these there will be several initiatives dedicated to the care of the sea, including rubbish disposal and recycling, and health and safety in the bathing complexes.

Eight beaches in Funchal have the ‘Blue Flag’ awards : Seven of these are public beaches (Lido, Ponta Gorda, Barreirinha, Formosa, Areeiro, Poças do Gomes, Doca do Cavacas). The private one is at the Naval Club. The water will continue to be monitored throughout the Summer, and in cases of water pollution the blue flags will be lowered whilst the situation continues.

The inaugural conference of ExpoEnergia, an initiative of Funchal Council (câmara), dedicated to renewable energy begins today in the Largo da Restauração, and runs until Friday. The delegates also include representatives from hotels and civil engineering. Amongst other things, the conference will discuss the use of photovoltaic (solar) panels, the future of electric cars, and good energy practices in hotels.

This is quite interesting and a has a few great photos. The ‘Madeira Island Ultra Trail 2009′ is a ultra long running competition organized by Clube de Montanha of Funchal and Confraria Trotamontes. lt takes place on 5th September 2009 on Madeira, and comprises two challenges. One is to cover around 105 km in a maximum of 25 hours. The second is around 50 km to be done in less than 15 hours. They are not team events. If I am feeling energetic that day, perhaps I will do both. RUNNERS FORUM

(23rd May). ‘Hospital Sends Records Far Away’.  I am not quite sure what this is doing on the front page, but there you go. A Funchal hospital is to move 80% of it’s archive records from Funchal to Porto Moniz, with the rest going to Campanário. The documents contain medical records and registers, and is all about saving money. Consideration is also being given to microfilming and digitally capturing these records.

This week it was reported that the protective barrier for the beach of Ponta do Sol, which cost €3.2 million, is poorly built and will be removed and rebuilt. But by the look of things, this is not the only infrastructure of this type along the Madeira coastline, which is causing problems. Reis Magos (Santa Cruz), Machico, and Ponta Delgada are now also causing some controversy. Reis Magos is a clear case of poor planning, and often attracts criticism from bathers and environmentalists, as well as from other partisan forces, including the ex-president of the council who opposed the building of the structure from the start. A problem that arises, even before these concrete monstrosities are complete, is the accumulation of mud and debris inside the structures, which cannot escape thereafter. This puts-off bathers from using them, preferring to swim in the open seas instead. The one at Machico seems to be a collection point for oil slicks and fish remains, because of its proximity to a fishing port. The water quality is now considered at several locations to be at risk, and hence the ‘Blue Flag’ status could be unobtainable in the future. The same structures at Calheta and Ribeira Brava are also discussed in the article. In the case of Ribeira Brava, the older barrier has actually made accumulate lots of sand in the bathing area. So much so, there is now a small sandy beach. Every year the water gets shallower and shallower, and I would guess in few years time it will be suitable for paddling only. The other newer barrier is much more of a problem, as incoming waves push the mud from the river (mouth) into the protected zone, and it is quickly filling up with unpleasant muddy sediment. The president of the council of Ribeira Brava says at the moment there is nothing to see (no problem), but I think his head lives where the sun don’t shine, so that would probably explain his comment.

The president of the Institute of Health Management and Social Affairs (IASAÚDE), explains that the current problem with head-lice is recurrent and affects every year, pupils in the public and private schools of Madeira. The problem is not necessarily caused by lack of hygiene, clean hair or not, long hair or short. However, the lice are easily transmitted through close contact (head to head) or by sharing hats, brushes or even pieces of clothing, and it is then that comes the problem of prevention. School kids are the most vulnerable group, and when one get it, the whole family have to be treated. In one school recently, several cases of scabies were also identified, and the health service had to come in to intervene. As a school pupil myself, I am lucky to have an unbeatable and 100% natural protection against head-lice, so my school pals are never at risk with me.

A 45 year old woman was detained at Madeira Airport on Thursday, after being caught with 16,584 heroin doses. The haul had a street value of over €330,00.

Madeira’s contribution to the investigations of Charles Darwin were discussed yesterday, at the Municipal Museum of Funchal, in a conference arranged by the Retired Teachers Association of Madeira. The contribution of the region derives from research connected with two naturalists, who lived on Madeira. "They sent many copies of their work to Darwin, which were essential for the compilation of the book ‘The Origin of Species’ " said the speaker. She also noted that many species from Madeira were sent to the researcher, such as crab parasites, which come only from the region, identifying five new species to science at a worldwide level. However, the contribution overall was immense, also with species of insects and plants. "They were a great help for Darwin in writing his book" she concluded.