Madeira News Blog

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Vic … I believe that is the ‘Cisne Branco’ tall ship from Brazil here last month … that right Vic?

 
… and whilst at sea, another video from Tobi, this one shows the yachts getting ready for departure from Funchal in the TRANSAT :

"my camera was on full zoom as they were quite a way out, so its a bit shakey" said Tobi.

Tobi also has some great photos of the boats and movements FLICKR

And to finish the Transat theme today …

"At 14:02 exactly, the 83 competitors still registered in The Charente-Maritime / Bahia Transat 6.50 set off this Saturday, October the 3rd, in front of the city of Funchal (Madeira – Portugal) for the second and longest stage (3100 miles) heading for Salvador de Bahia (Brazil)". THE FULL STORY

Then another one of the ‘World’s Most Dangerous Airports’ web-pages, much like the others, with Madeira number 6 in this particular assessment. I recommend DONT BOTHER

I have had change the blog comments facility due to a huge spam attack yesterday, so it will not be possible to post any comments once an original post is more than 5 days old (it was previously 10 days). Shouldn’t affect anyone too much, but I had hundreds of spam postings yesterday, so it should help me a lot. Once the spammer has gone away I will reset the comments closing time back to 10 days. If this doesn’t work the blog may have to return to postings from registered users for a temporary period.

Nacional 2 – 0 Guimarães yesterday evening. 2 wins on the trot for our lads after an excellent referee gifted us with two penalties, and the photo of the goal scorer has the lions share of today’s Diário front page.

Today’s main news headline : ’7 Councils Defaulters – The ‘Black List’ of local authorities with payment time to suppliers averaging over 90 days includes Machico, Funchal, Santa Cruz, Porto Moniz, Câmara de Lobos, São Vicente and Ponta do Sol’. On average they were taking 5 months to pay their bills from suppliers during the second quarter of 2009. Machico takes 256 days to pay it’s suppliers, which is actually a vast improvement from the previous quarter (335 days). Next is Funchal at 213 days to pay its bills. Perhaps that’s one reason why suppliers, or more specifically contractors, charge the councils so much for repair and maintenance work, as we were talking about a couple of days ago. You can imagine that any contractor reading this will be working out how much to ‘uplift’ prices based on the council involved and the poor payment record they have, and to some extent you can hardly blame them.

The political story today : ‘PSD Strengthens Majority In Santa Cruz – Survey reveals that the PS runs the risk of losing a seat’. The entry of the independent JPP (Juntos Pelo Povo) into the local elections on Sunday, is looking to cost the PS socialists a place. The PSD social democrats are forecast to get 43.9% of the vote ( 4 – 5 seats), the PS socialists 24.2% (2 – 3 seats), and JPP 8.7% (0 – 1 seats). The JPP is led by an ex-socialist, so I suppose the shift is logical.

‘Rains Increase 300% In The Summer – The precipitation was abnormal when compared with the last 30 years. Also, because of this there were less forest fires’. The Summer was hotter and wetter, with rain "well above the normal levels", according to the Institute of Meteorology, who estimate an increase in the order of 300% compared to the averages from record of the years 1971 – 2000. June was the really different month this year. Temperatures over the comparison period mentioned, in Funchal, were also higher. The average maximum temperature was up 2ºC, and the average minimum temperature was up 1ºC.

More of today’s news stories : Many thanks to Elaine in Garajau :

Lack of musicians threatens Fado in the region. Today is the  tenth anniversary of the death of the Fado singer Amália Rodrigues. There is a lack of musicians learning the Portuguese Guitar, which is made out of camphor wood, and the ten or more who can still play it are getting older, so Fado is at risk of  dying out. There is a Saturday afternoon course to learn the instrument, with several students but still vacancies. The main venues for hearing Fado singing are ‘Arsenio’s’ and ‘Marcelino, Pão e Vinho’.

Porto Santo has kennels again. The new veterinary area has been opened where there are 37 kennels and a cattery with 16 spaces. The poor state of the old one gave Porto Santo a bad image. Jardim used the opening ceremony to praise the mayor for the opening coinciding with World Animal Day, and gave his usual sermon on modern-day disrespect for life and that pets are important as more people become isolated and live alone.

Already arrests for illegal hunting on Porto Santo. The season has just started and already several arrests, one for a Madeiran businessman with 14 rabbits, more than twice the legal number (6). The police seized their guns and their permits.

Rockfall closes the Vereda do Ladeira. A rockfall Monday morning has temporarily closed this way to pedestrians, but it should be cleared soon. Between Paul do Mar and Prazeres.

"I do not understand the Portuguese of the Continent…." Jardim had another full house when speaking, (according to the Jornal da Madeira). He says he cannot understand how the Portuguese have criticized prime minister Sócrates over the past few years then re-elect him. Jardim says Sócrates has a "financial stranglehold" on the region, the Socialists have done harm to Madeira, and the opposition in Portugal are insufficient.

2000 will fly green flags tomorrow in Câmara de Lobos. Of the 88 Eco-schools, 22 are in this municipality. The students will meet in the Town Square at 10 am to receive awards for environmental education. It is an international project in 45 countries and most of the Portuguese schools involved are primary level.

Homage to fishermen. The Government will erect a monument in homage to the fishermen of Machico but no details yet. There will also be a new health centre, social security centre and residential home for the elderly at Porto da Cruz.

Mandolins reunion in Câmara de Lobos. For the 2009 City of Culture – Câmara de Lobos, a free-entrance meeting on the 24 and 25 October at the Casa da Cultura.  The XXIV Regional Meeting of the Tunas and Madeira Mandolin Orchestras.

Farewell to the ‘Black Prince’. Today is the last day the ‘Black Prince’ visits Funchal. She has been coming since 1967 and is under the Fred Olsen cruise lines. There will be a farewell ceremony from the Ports Authority, The Ships Enthusiast’s Club and usual water jets. She is to be a cruise ship under the Venezuelan ‘Hello Cruises’ line, starting in November and renamed ‘Hello Esmeralda’. There are two other Costa cruisers in port today.

Just imagine yourself doing gymnastics in your workplace? Need to burn calories, prevent repetitive strain injuries, relax, and increase productivity? Professor Brown says that gymnastics at work produces benefits and the craze has spread from Japan, USA, through Europe and now to Madeira. 10 minutes at least once a week, preferably twice, especially beneficial to prevent headaches, backache and RSI. He teaches 2.5 minutes of individual stretching, then in pairs, then a few minutes of ballroom dancing and aerobics. He also teaches how to give 10 min. massages to work colleagues.

Santa Cruz City Park. Finally decided, the venue will be Pedra Mole, on a riverbank. The model design will be exhibited in Caniço Shopping Centre for any comments. It will be partially ready in 2 years time but not fully functional for 3-4 years, and is a part public-private investment. In talks with the bus companies about putting it on the tourist route.

In another article, complaints that Santa Cruz council has only fulfilled 44% of planned projects in the last election program, most at the end of their mandate. 29 of the delayed projects are essential.

Cycleway to be extended. The mayor of Funchal, Miguel Albuqueque, says if re-elected, the cycleway on the Estrada Monumental will be extended by 1850 metres between the north of the Lido and Forum. Total investment 4 million Euros.

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(30th September). ‘President For Teachers Defends Against Insinuation – In The Jornal da Madeira, Jardim encouraged the president of SPM not to forget who helped in her election. Marília Azevedo reacts’. The president of the Teachers Union of Madeira (SPM) reacted with a certain irony to the suggestion of Alberto João Jardim, who expressed an opinion in an article published yesterday in the ‘JM’, which alludes to some help, not specified, that was supposed to have led Marília Azevedo to victory in the election for the presidency of the union. "Dr. Alberto João is a lawyer, so he did not vote for me for sure", she said, noting that only teachers in the union could vote in that election. Therefore, she says that she has no knowledge "to whom he is referring" in his article.  She added that his statement did not bother her and she will not waste "a lot of time thinking about it, because it is an opinion". Jardim made the insinuation after the union expressed concerns about the fact that teachers career progressions had been stalled since 2005.

‘Manor House Donated To The Region Falls Into Abandonment – The ‘Solar do Aposento’, in Ponta Delgada, is shown in the guide books, but the tourists knock on the door with their noses’. The north coast historic building was given to Madeira 6 years ago, that is also known as the Museum of D. Hilária Freitas, is part of Madeira’s heritage, but it is abandoned and the maintenance neglected, and outside the weeds are taking control. The building is also not secure with old doors and windows, and there are fears for the security of the contents. The Solar was bequeathed to Madeira by the owner, who died in 2003. It is a building of 18th century civil architecture, and contains works of arts, antique furniture, chandeliers, and religious artefacts. It was officially adopted as a "property of public interest and local value" by the government in 2002. Ponta Delgada council are talking about it’s use as an old peoples home, and this could happen by 2011. ‘Knock on the door with their noses’ .. what a wonderful expression. I must remember that one next time the postman says he called (leaving a card) but no one was home, when for sure I was.

In today’s football headline : ‘Marítimo Not Rushed For Manager – SAD maritimista presents €1.4 million of losses’. At the general assembly of the club, attended by 92% of its capital holders, Marítimo declared losses of €1.4 million for the last season. The temporary coach appointed this week for Marítimo’s first team is also staying in charge of the ‘B’ team, and will remain in charge until a new coach with a proven track record can be appointed. Just as well Marítimo didn’t have to pay for it’s stadium then, or the €45 million needed to revamp it, thanks to Madeira’s government and taxpayers, otherwise the end of season accounts would have looked much much different.

‘Culture is the new ‘trump card’ for the promotion of Madeira – Department of Tourism increases its investment in the domestic market. Exhibition, theatre [?] and a new mini-series of TVI were some of the initiatives of the campaign launched on Tuesday in Lisbon’. In order to raise the awareness of the richness and cultural vitality of Madeira, the secretary of tourism, in partnership with the Department of Education and Culture will promote an exhibition of pieces from various museums on Madeira, in the Ajuda Palace, in Lisbon. Madeira has also been confirmed as a venue for a new mini-series on TVI (channel 4). These initiatives are part of the package that the government is banking on to attract tourists from Portugal to our region. In the latter case, the belief that the national TV series made here, Flor do Mar, has already increased tourism and warrants further exploring. As well as a new advertising campaign presented in Lisbon yesterday, the half yearly tourism figures were presented, showing a 15% rise in tourists coming from Portugal, with over 30,000 more coming here. Over the last two years, around 220 to 230 thousand Portuguese have come each year, increasing Madeira’s share of the domestic market. Another article talks about the initiatives outlined costing €680,000.

The new mini-series set on Madeira will run when the existing soap ‘Flor do Mar’ has finished, and filming will start in November. The new series doesn’t yet have a name, but will be the project of TVI, as was Flor do Mar, that received some funding from the Madeira government.

"One Doesn’t Even Make A Cêntimo For A Coffee" – Taxi drivers of Porto Moniz pass through days without having a fare’. The Diário’s featured location this week, covers the taxi drivers plight, where they go days without a customer and have weeks where they earn little more than €5. The crisis has not helped. The two drivers interviewed say they are tired of spending the day sitting on the rank at the Praça do Lyra, and also complain about the transport service provided for the sick, saying that the ambulance charges twice the price per kilometre that they do. The traders of Praça do Lyra are also suffering, with one seller of regional handicrafts saying his sales have dropped by 25%. Limited car parking also affects business.

‘PSP seized 300 doses of cocaine and €1500 resulting from drug trafficking – Officers from the Funchal Police detained a foreign individual and identified two drug drug addicts. The alleged activity was operating in the area of Avenida Arriaga’. Police intercepted on Sunday morning a male of foreign nationality in possession of several packages of cocaine and €1,500 in cash, allegedly resulting from illegal activity. Police had spotted a number of individuals seemingly buying / selling drugs and moved in. Subsequently they identified a house used for transactions, and in the house was found a precision scale, a prohibited weapon, several mobile phones and money. The individual detained is now subject to weekly reporting at a police station until investigations are complete.

12 suspected Gripe A cases were tested on Madeira in the last week, but only one man of 46 years from Venezuela was found to test positive for swine flu. He was taken into intensive care, but his condition is stable. That takes the total from the beginning to just 40 confirmed cases, with just one case in two weeks. Early days I know, but isn’t it reassuring that we are in the lucky position of knowing the age, sex, and nationality of all our Gripe A victims, whilst other countries have lists amounting to hundreds or thousands on a weekly basis. Just doing my bit in case any potential ‘non infected’ tourists come across this posting and fancy paying us a visit.

‘Oral Health Month Also On Madeira – 17 dentists on Madeira and Porto Santo join the initiative running during October’. In order to prevent oral diseases and improve education for proper oral hygiene among the Portuguese population, Colgate and the Portuguese Society of Estomatologia?? and Dental Medicine (SPEMD) are carrying out in October the 10th edition of "Oral Health Month". 15 of the dentists are in Funchal. They will be available next month to do free dental check ups (without treatment or radiographic examination). The annual initiative has allowed so far 95,000 free check ups since it’s first year, and more dentists are joining up. The main conclusion from 2008 was that less than 1% of adults have completely healthy gums and teeth.

Next Tuesday the cruise ship ‘Black Prince’ arrives in Funchal on its 594th and final visit. The ship has been in service nearly 43 years. Several initiatives are being planned to mark the final visit, including a short lecture on the ‘Black Prince’, which will take place tomorrow, 1st October at 18:30 pm, in the auditorium of FNAC in Madeira Shopping. The ship has been sold to a Venezuelan company, and it expected to remain in tourism activities.

‘Armas Making Losses – The regional government has already granted half a million Euros in support, €28 per passenger disembarking’. “Scammed”, the Spanish ferry company that owns and operates the route Portugal – Madeira – Canary Islands has been hiding losses of two million Euros. President Jardim is not happy that Madeira has been the victim of a cover-up, and with the purpose of the threats of the Spanish owner Naviera Armas, of not performing the second trip between Madeira and Portimão, on the pretext that the port authorities of the region have imposed operational limitations that make the extra trip unviable. In fact the whole operation is proving to be an economic disaster, with Naviera Armas accruing a loss that at this time is around €2 million. The company have publicly stated that each week the ferry incurs costs of €160,000, in personnel, fuel, administration etc. But an analysis of the passenger numbers and journey prices over the period the service has been running, shows that takings from the 32,000 passengers (plus cars) add up to just €6 million, compared to costs of €7.8 million. The Diário concludes that the ‘Volcan de Tijarafe’ is short of over 500 passengers per week in order to be a profitable operation. I thought right from the start that it was quite remarkable that this ferry could operate profitably from passenger revenue, and put its viability down to freight revenues, without really having any idea of what that would amount to. A small island like this is never going to contribute much to address the massive shortfall in passenger numbers, so it looks like the future of this great asset is in the balance. There is a schematic presentation of the facts and figures here :
http://www.dnoticias.pt/diario/fotos/110509/economia.jpg

The Portuguese airline TAP has started an advertising campaign in London, aimed at attracting Brits to Madeira for the bargain price of €48 (all inclusive), from Gatwick and Heathrow.It is using London taxi cabs to display the promotional material about it’s daily flight from London, in response to tough competition from Easyjet, and emphasises that it offers more sociable flight times than it’s competitor.

Another regular visitor to Madeira is to go into retirement. The cruise ship ‘Black Prince’, owned by the group Fred Olsen will be taken out of international service in October, and is then destined for a more leisurely life in the waters of Venezuela. It made its first visit to Madeira in May 1967, and its last visit on 6th October will be the 586th.

On 24/04/09 IGA – Investimentos e Gestão da Água, S.A, informed the public that the route known as “Levada da Serra do Faial” (Serra do Faial Levada Walk), will have limited access in the section between Lamaceiros and Lombo da Raiz, in the parish of Santo António da Serra, Machico. For safety reasons, as a result of the maintenance work to be undertaken by IGA, this section of the footpath will have limited access and may eventually be closed. These works are scheduled to start on 15 May, and should be finished by August 2009. (Thanks very much to Paul for that bit of information).

Sunday’s main headline : ‘Copenhagen For 198 Euros – Cimber Sterling launches a new service from Denmark to Madeira starting 31st August’. The company has already put the flights on sale through its website. The new airline is the result of a merger of the regional airline Cimber Air with Sterling Airlines, which closed due to bankruptcy at the end of last year, having already provided a weekly flight to Madeira from the Danish capital. The new service will be once a week, on Mondays, using a Boeing 737-700, with capacity for around 180 passengers. The cheapest price found by the Diário was €198 return, but there are 4 tariffs available, the most expensive working out at €997. SATA, the Azores based airline, has already announced plans for a service on the same route, and a spokesman reacting to the news said nothing will change the confirmed plans. The article doesn’t say specifically whether it is a year round service, but in the spirit of good research I went to the website of Cimber, and checked for flights in November and January, and found them to be bookable, but the article itself mentions just two Winter flights.