Madeira News Blog » camara de lobos

Oceans of Wine ; Water price rise in shortage ; Government protects holiday homes

admin — Wed, 17 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, the last and the only bridge of the train.

Many thanks to Elaine (East) for that cartoon, and this web snippet :

Oceans of Wine: Madeira and the Emergence of American Trade and Taste by David Hancock. New Haven: Yale, 2009. This engaging and thoroughly researched (150 pages of endnotes) work delves into all aspects of Madeira from the growing of the grapes on the Portuguese island of Madeira to the merchants, shippers, and consumers. The often complex and changing transatlantic trade was not restricted to the British colonies, but among many nations. HERE

Becky kindly send in this link to a video of fantastic nature photography HERE

How our islands are made … Pete HERE Thank you both.

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

DIÁRIO 16/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Government builds walls on the beach. To protect illegal small villas that were originally ‘casas da lancha’, the Regional Government is building walls in the middle of the beach of Porto Santo. These buildings were for storing boats and have been transformed into holiday homes over the past 20 years. Porto Santo Council has made a complaint to the government. The target of the main complaint was the house belonging to Carlos Machado, the ‘Posto Avançado da Democracia’ (shown). Carlos Machado is associated with Alberto Jardim and the first wall built was to protect his holiday home. These artificial barriers impede the natural movement of the sand and sediments and will have a significant impact on the size of the beach. The Regional Government has also allowed the sand dunes to be destroyed by the replacement of wooden boat houses, with the installation of septic tanks that are emptied at night time onto the beach. The width of the beach is now less than 40 metres in areas and some areas are completely submerged at high tide. Over the last three decades, it has been estimated that 350,000 cubic metres of sand have disappeared, equivalent to 23,000 lorry loads. 13,000 cubic metres per year are lost. There are also less sediments transported to the beach by streams, the flow lessened by constructions designed to control storm water. The houses impede the circulation of sand from the north to the south. To remedy the problem, the Regional Government need to dredge the sea bed to replace the lost sand. These holiday homes are illegal yet other structures have been demolished, for example the Bar do Henrique because it was not a wooden construction. The Ports Administration has identified a number of houses in an attempt to prevent their proliferation. Santos Costa, the Regional Secretary for Social Infrastructure has rejected replenishing the sand. He has also allowed the removal of large stones and pebbles that dissipate wave energy and prevent coastal erosion.

Santa Cruz terminate the contract of a firm dumping earth in the ribeira. An ironic situation arose. A construction firm in Santo da Serra was contracted by Santa Cruz Council to clean the estrada do Ribeiro Serrão (Camacha), that had become impassable after the storms on February 20th. The firm deposited the debris from the road into the Ribeiro Serrão, resulting in the council terminating their employment. The council already have a very rigid policy against individuals and companies that harm the county. The debris was being removed from the site of the Ponte de Pau and the action destroyed pipelines that carry drinking water to Camacha. This area had been without a drinking water supply for one week and the pipes had been repaired that very same day. The firm’s manager denied they had worked for the council but instead for ‘Estradas da Madeira’, and did not understand the accusation. The councillor backed his initial statement, adding that the firm dumped the earth into the stream to prevent having to transport it to temporary landfill sites.

MADEIRA

Expenses paid only when there is a conviction. Clarification of a previous report that the police have to pay for injuries sustained to the attacker, whilst defending themselves. Payments for medical treatment and social security contributions after aggressive incidents are paid by the perpetrators only if they are tried and convicted. The decision rests with the courts and not the health service. If the accused is innocent, the costs are paid by those who lose the court case. These procedures apply to both civilians and the police.

Social Security pays 15 million Euros to institutions. In 2009, the Centre for Social Security transferred 15 million Euros to Social Security institutions and other not-for-profit institutions. This is 25% higher than in 2008. The number of institutions has not increased and they are mainly for children and the elderly, the latter increasingly in need of support.

ECONOMY

Two more dredges and the Zenith in port today. Two regional dredges started to clear the Port of Funchal after the storm of February 20th. Two more from Lisbon and Setubal will help them. One dredger, the Varosa, arrived yesterday morning with the aid of the Comandante Águas tug. It is 55 metres long, 11 metres wide and can hold about 670 toneladas (tonnage/tonnes ?) of inerts. The second dredger, the Gruamar, is transported from Setubal by the tug Monfort and arrives today. This vessel has a length of 39.4 metres and a width of 11.5 metres. Today is the inaugural visit of the cruise ship called the Zenith. Coming from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands with 220 tourists on board then sailing on to Lisbon. The ship was built in 1992 in Germany and is 208 metres long, 29 metres wide and can receive 1,374 passengers served by a crew of 657 personnel.

Jorge Sá complains to the police about a dark campaign. A few days after the disaster of February 20th, an e-mail was circulated claiming that the Sá supermarket chain was taking advantage of the break in the drinking water network by raising the price of bottled water in some municipalities. Thousands of people in Madeira received this e-mail. The sender was identified as a former employee who is currently employed by a rival firm. A second e-mail was sent suggesting that people shopped at Pingo Doce supermarkets, mentioning that the owners of this chain were donating one million Euros to help the reconstruction effort, as opposed to the Sá Group not offering any financial help. The e-mail also alleged that Jorge Sá demanded that employees worked overtime without being paid to do so. Jorge Sá denies these accusations.

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

Today’s main news headline : Renovation of Serra de Água at the cost of privates [companies] – RTP Television and Sonae have clubbed together €1.5 million with the €1.2 million of Mota Engil, in order to guarantee the construction of 26 new houses.

The joint committee starts work tomorrow on the evaluation of Madeira [damage].

A mysterious ‘Crater’ disturbs Achadas da Cruz – The people are suspicious of something that the scientific community have promised to investigate. The hole that is causing restlessness in Achadas has a diameter of one metre and a depth of 1.8 centimetres [yes I have double checked], and locals believe that it was caused by a meteorite. The hole appeared at the beginning of the month, a few days after the extreme rainfall, but the locals don’t believe that the two matters are related. Maria Pestana, owner of the land which took the hit, says that she can now laugh at the situation. However, in the beginning she was not amused at all, and even prayed about the event. She swears that in 78 years of life that she has never seen anything like it, and refuses to cover it up or peek into the hole. "It’s the power of God," she says. As for a reasonable explanation for the event, she refers to the fall of a "lightning bolt", or at worst, for "something more sumen" striking. What is ‘sumen’, and how can someone peak into a hole that is 1.8 cm deep? Sr. Diário reporter, I think you need to go back an remeasure the depth of that hole.

Undercover officer compromises ‘Caso da Mala’ [The case of the case] – An operation of the PSP [Public Security Police] raises a request of invalidity in a case under judgement.

Madeira promoted in Porto and in Vigo – ‘Tourism’ develops a promotional action following the new route of Transavia. The new air link between Funchal and Porto, by the French ‘low cost’ airline, has prompted the Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport to promote Madeira in those two cities. Workshops have been organised with tour operators and travel agents.

Carlos Costa sings in the School Sports festival – The Madeiran ‘pop idol’ participates in the opening session of the event, on the 27th April.

The main sports / football headline today : Councillor condemns "blackmail" of the clubs – Arlindo Gomes [council president] criticises the leaders of Câmara de Lobos and Estreito and warns that he will reduce the support for sport. "Nowhere is there any commitment to continuity of support and the council is going to decide what will be allocated and how much it will allocate, within its capabilities." This is the response of the president of Câmara de Lobos facing the criticism he has suffered, because it has not yet been decided what support to give to sport.

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.

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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. 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.

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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.

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.

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’

Unions cut off Health Administration ; Dumping causes destruction in Machico ; Carnival news

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Pete … Good morning Madeira! The Carnival Time flower

I am sure many will be off to see the Carnival parade tonight in Funchal, and no doubt it will be as wonderful as ever, but don’t forget to send in your best photos. As a bonus for us over the west, there is a ‘Trapalhão’ parade starting tomorrow at 4.30 pm in the streets of Ribeira Brava. That means it’s a free-for-all, so come along and watch, or even better, get yer Carnival togs on and join in the fun … and don’t forget to spend some money, the town needs it. See you there!

The last one from Becky, many thanks … anymore anyone?

Captions please:

I’ll start, with… "Does anyone know where I can get some Toranja Poncha?"

(But you can keep yer hands off mine Bertie. Der)

Thanks a lot to Tobi for this link, that gives access to a brochure called ‘Active Tourism Madeira’. Use the ‘Fullscreen’ button to read the text. NATURE BROCHURE

This weekend’s football : Both our teams play tomorrow, Valentine’s Day of course. Nacional host Rio Ave at 4 pm, and Marítimo go to almost top-of-the-table Braga. The second match is on SportTV1 at 6 pm.

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

DIÁRIO 12/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Dumping controversy. Seven months ago, Diário denounced the illegal mining at the site of Landeiros and dumping of the earth. The local population called in the Forestry Police and they have seized a truck and bulldozer. During the stormy weather on February 2nd, earth dumped by the side of the stream at Lajes caused it to overflow, resulting in a trail of destruction. The local population want Machico Council to build retaining walls around the stream to prevent any further damage. The Regional Director of Forestry and the Regional Director of the Environment do not know if the company is working legally or not. The council said they have authorized the work to repair storm damage in this area and the Forestry Police have no jurisdiction. The Regional Government has the responsibility for the construction of any stone walls.

MADEIRA

Santa Cruz Carnival Parade has less troupes due to lack of financial support. There will be three troupes and 200 participants, fewer than in previous years, due to a lack of financial support from the local Casa do Povo. Two of the three missing troupes are ‘Malta do Furor’ and ‘Amoreiras’. The director of Malta do Furor explained that they will participate at Gaula but the costumes and floats are expensive to make. Santa Cruz Council indirectly supports the Carnival Parade by financing the Caso do Povo who always organize it. The Caso do Povo have financial limitations but still provide six buses and a meal after the parade. There will still be 500 participants on Sunday.

Unions representing doctors cut relations with SESARAM. The two unions representing doctors in the region have suspended relationships with the Health Service Management Board. They complain that SESARAM promotes a climate of permanent tension and that professionals are despised and held in contempt. The unions are ignored and union delegates persecuted. They never hear a word of encouragement and the management is only interested in numbers, indices, percentages and productivity. Careers for Medical Professionals no longer exist in Madeira, so they cannot progress, and their careers are not recognized on the Continent. One union is taking their concerns to Alberto Jardim and are waiting to hear what the Secretary for Social Affairs has to say about the tense climate that exists.

Woman threatening to camp outside the Town Hall in Funchal. A 42 year old woman is threatening to pitch a tent outside the front door of the City Hall in Funchal until the council find her a home. She has been sleeping at the Temporary Shelter for the Homeless during the last month and the length of permanent stay is a maximum of 15 days, which ends today. The woman has had talks with several people from the council with no result. She receives 330 Euros from Social Security which she says is not enough to pay for accommodation. Unemployed, divorced for five years with two children; one son is married and lives in his own house and the other is living temporarily with a friend.

ECONOMICS

Porto Santo Line keeps prices the same. Porto Santo Line run the maritime ferry, ‘Lobo Marinho’, between Madeira and Porto Santo. They will not increase prices this year, in a bid to attract customers. Turnover (cargo) fell 14% last year although the number of passengers increased by 3% to reach 361,275. The drop in business meant a loss of 1 million Euros in turnover. In four years, the cost of travel to Porto Santo has increased a little over 2% and the price for residents is kept uniform throughout the year. The winter season (October to March) is 19.9% cheaper and 40% of passengers travel then. Resident rates are 38.3% below the average ticket price but they are not publicly subsidized, unlike in the Azores. Porto Santo Line are exempt from port charges to compensate for the reduction for residents. A fuel surcharge was not added last year following a drop in fuel prices. Porto Santo Line promotes packages – travel plus hotel, groups of two or four passengers in a car – which can drop the ticket price by 20 – 50% during the winter season, and summer discounts are smaller, 3 – 10%.

UPDATE

"Invasion" of Madalena do Mar stopped. The dispute centres on the emergency exit routes of the tunnel to Calheta going through the access to a parking lot of a condominium. On Wednesday, in the Legislative Assembly, the Left Bloc denounced the "invasion" of private land by the construction firm. On Wednesday, the residents were verbally told that the excavators would be going onto their land but found they were already there. The Left Bloc said this was a way to prevent the owners from triggering any legal mechanism to prevent the invasion of their land. Legally, they should have been given written warning of compulsory purchase of their land by the Regional Government. Today, the construction company was prevented from entering the private property. The residents denied the company access and the police were called. This is a tug-of-war between the residents, Regional Government and the construction company. The residents have had a subpoena filed in court to protect their rights and liberties.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Working group for the recuperation of the Marina and Avenida do Mar. The Municipality of Funchal and APRAM (Ports Authority) have formed a working group to develop a master plan for the recovery of the Marina of Funchal and the third phase of the renovation of the Avenida do Mar. The third phase is from the Verdinho bar to Ribeira de São João. The aim is an integration of the terraces of the Marina and the Avenida do Mar, an area that is little used and unappealing. The council want more green areas and need to consider how to move the palm trees, which were imported from the Canary Islands in the 1980s, to other gardens. The monuments must be preserved and integrated into the new design which must align with works on the North Pier and on the west side. The council also want to know if the central reservation of grass and trees is justified.

REGIONAL

Debt of Madeira Palace is 7.5 million. The Hilton and Sheraton hotel chains are in discussion about the management of the construction of the Madeira Palace hotel. The work stopped for several months last year. The construction company has 50 employees on the site but is having a problem due to the developer owing them 7.5 million Euros. The construction company cannot carry out any more work and the licenses expire in March, but should be easily renewable.

Fábrica dos Sonhos and Geringonça in Machico. Geringonça has been invited to open the Carnival Parade in Machico on Sunday at 15.00. Fábrica dos Sonhos (Factory of Dreams) will be the final act. This will be the tenth time Geringonça has taken part in Machico Carnival. Local schools and youth organizations will participate along with the Municipal Band of Machico.

EVENTS

‘Ritual’ in the cemetery of Câmara de Lobos. A most unusual situation was found in the cemetery on Tuesday morning. Gravediggers found on the stairs near the chapel, in a corner, a ‘table’ on which there were three bottles of aguadente (rum), three bottles of champagne, various glasses, a 2 kilo piece of beef, cigarettes and a fire near the wall. Since this is not a place for parties, the conclusion is that it is part of a ritual by either ‘healers’ or ‘masters of magic’ to invoke the dead for various reasons.

Also, many thanks to Elaine for these web snippets :

A Texan family from a cruise ship visit and are initially harassed but still enjoyed the visit. Lots of good photos.

"I know, I know…I’m very slow! This is the last port day that I have to share with you and in my opinion it was the prettiest. I would love to be able to go back some day and spend more time in Portugal.

Once again we got off the ship with no real plans. We dined with a family that had visited Madeira before and they told us is was unnecessary to buy the bus ticket into town, which were 4.00 each way. So, we took out walking…and we walked…and we walked…and we walked. We were beginning to second guess the decision to walk to town when a gentleman approached us and told us he could take us all over the island and be our personal tour guide for the day. He was a pretty aggressive salesman and I could tell the girls were rather nervous. After Brent dickering with him about the price, the final price was 130 Euro. Brent hemmed and hawed and told the man he would have to pass" TEXAN TALE

Discovering Portugal’s Madeira Wine. Three page article in the January/February edition of Virtuoso Life Magazine.

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

Children shrug-off the Carnival rain – Even with limitations, the kids shook the city. Well of course they did, the kids are born waterproof these days … when was the last time you saw a kid carrying an umbrella? Anyway there is a nice photo on the front page, and probably more inside. But just blowing the blog trumpet a little, you didn’t have to wait until the next day to see carnival pictures on this website.

Serrão gives paid place to the decisive supporter – The leader of the Socialist Party of Machico will be the local government coordinator.

Race on in the national Social Democrat Party : The ‘oranges’ from here are disturbed with the order of Jardim.

National Council of PSD – Jardim quarrels with Passos Coelho. The leader of the Social Democrats of Madeira said that Passos should no longer be making policy in the PSD. Alberto João Jardim was involved in a lively battle with the candidate for the leadership of the PSD, Pedro Passos Coelho. In a speech appealing for party unity, one of the first of the PSD National Council, the Madeiran leader criticised Coelho for his stance with the Regional Finance Law. In a face to face confrontation, Jardim told Coelho, ex leader of the Youth PSD, that if it was up to him he would be making any more party policy. Coelho responded that "it is just as well that the party doesn’t depend on you".

Today’s main news headline : Earth from the landslides invades rivers of Faial – After the storms, it is needed to clear the roads. Rivers pay the price. Justification : in times of emergency, one forgives the bad with the good that it does. Yes I know, that last bit doesn’t make total sense, but I get the drift of the message. The gist of this is that in Ribeira Seca the muck and rubble from the mudslides is being cleared from the roads and then being dumped into the river to be taken out to sea. There are proper sites where this debris can be deposited, but the president of Santana, Rui Moisés, says that in the time of war it is no time to be cleaning weapons, and that restoring normality is the priority. Environmentalist say that that is the exact reason why rivers cause landslides, because the river beds are fouled. As always, I am with the ‘play it safe’ environmentalists when there is any element of uncertainty in such an action, but with the rainy season just around the corner, we will soon find out who was right and who was wrong. That’s a bit scary isn’t it, after what we have already seen this Winter, to think that the rainy season hasn’t even arrived yet.

People power stops advance of the machines – Yesterday morning was one of tension in Madalena [do Mar]. Despite of the police presence, the exit construction works from the tunnel didn’t get started. There is a thought provoking picture of an elderly lady, armed with an umbrella, ‘getting booked’ by the village bobby. Both Elaine and I have both given this story plenty of coverage, so not much more to add really.

The main sport / football headline today : 100 – "I have already had to cut-off unpleasant conversations". The referee Elmano Santos will tomorrow complete his 100th game in the top flight.

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.

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’

Windsurfing feature ; NYT explains the Portugal economy ; Plane spotters paradise

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Tom … that odd looking ship again leaving Funchal Port.

Many thanks to Becky again for finding a couple more ‘web snippets’ :

Interesting blog, part photo-journal around Madeira, part travel guide… by Tommy, who lives in London and "likes beautiful things". TOMMY BLOG

Blog (in English) by two Danish cyclists: "today we got up at around 9 and decided to take a short and easy bike ride of about 45 km with approx. 1500 vertical meters". Rather them than me! [Start at the end of the blog to read about their week in Madeira in chronological order.... ] BLOG

Tobi, who been laid up with back problems, has used his time to come up with a new website. Very eye-catching Tobi. Good luck with it. TOBI IN MADEIRA

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

Europe Watches as Portugal’s Economy Struggles. A good article in New York Times last Friday explaining Portugal’s economic difficulties and shows that the government’s in denial. NYT

Becky found a site on cruise ships that call at Madeira. Now plane spotters at the Airport of Madeira upload their photos. PLANES AND STUFF & MADEIRA SPOTTERS

Many thanks to Paul in Paul do Mar for this latest feature :

Windsurfing in Madeira: some serious (all-be-it mast breaking) wave potential!

Madeira is a world class surfing venue but would it work for a two week windsurfing trip? Olympic sailor, Hugh Sims Williams came out to Madeira to train on his RS:X but also sneaked in his wave board.

Why Madeira? Because in the peak summer season you will be the only one on the water! They only saw two other windsurfers in their two week stay in August. That would tell you that the island is not renowned for its windsurfing and the high cliffs of Madeira make a lot of beaches unsailable unless you’re on big kit and prepared to sail offshore. However, they did find some serious (all-be-it mast breaking) wave potential!

Madeira’s windsurfing world champion: João RODRIGUES. In 2008 at the RS:X European Championships João RODRIGUES stepped onto the top step of the podium at an Olympic windsurfing class European Championship. He did so in 1996 and 1997 following up his World Championship gold medal in Port Elizabeth in 1995.

Madeira windsurf spots : Besides the most well-known Caniço, Funchal, Achadas da Cruz try …

Paul do Mar: faces south-west, long pebble/stone beach, gets some of the biggest waves on the island. Good luck!

Caniçal: launch from the beach next to the harbour. Only suitable for Formula or big board sailing as offshore winds are standard during the summer trades. It is very windy here and provides good access to sail around to the north side of the island, where the swell is massive. This is where we launched to train on the Olympic RSX kit.

Cabo Girão: Vidar Jenson sailed here a few times when he visited the island in the spring of 2006. He’s quite good though!

Link to source boardseeker.com Blog site: Madeira Windsurfing with films

One of Madeira’s Windsurfing clubs: ‘Forca 5’

Pete says "thought you might like this as this ship did dock in Funchal …". CAMERA FOUND

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

DIÁRIO 11/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

132 cases of parental neglect. Every year the Commission for the Protection of Children and Youth handles hundreds of cases of parental neglect, many ending up in the Family and Juvenile Court. At present, there are 132 cases pending. Over 90% are cases of parental neglect and the services protect children who are in danger of being threatened or harmed. Some cases are very serious. The number of prosecutions increase each year and a significant number include children between the ages of 6 – 10 years. The danger can be to the child’s safety, health, moral training, education or development. The options are: child kept with the parents with appropriate support; live with another family member or trusted person; foster care; institutional care or adoption. The crime of abandonment can lead to a prison sentence of between 2 – 5 years, physical impairment from 2 – 8 years and in the case of death, 3 – 10 years.

MADEIRA

No one takes responsibility for the pond. Continuation of Tuesday’s story of the polluted state of the Lagoa do Lugar de Baixo. The SDPO rejects the blame for the state of conservation of the pond. They are responsible for the two buildings and recuperation of the coastal area to the east of the pond but the pond itself is in the public domain. The pond is under the public maritime domain but the Port of Funchal said the area is the responsibility of the Regional Government. The SRES of the Regional Government and the Mayor of Ponta do Sol refused to discuss the issue. The Regional Director of the Environment said there are no projects for conservation or maintenance of the space. It is not known if the Quercus report for the SDPO has been recognized.

Carnival increases in Câmara de Lobos. More than a thousand participants in this year’s Carnival Parade on Monday 15th at 21.30. At present, there are 1,200 people in 18 groups.Two popular dance troupes from the Madeira Carnival will perform: Geringonça and Malta do Furor, and the Carnival ends with Kontraband playing in the Municipal Market. On the previous day, Sunday, the Trapalhão Carnaval is at the Estreito de Câmara de Lobos. This parade is devoted to humour and social criticism, where anyone can take part for free.

Victims claim to have been persecuted. Two women living in Caminho Velho da Igreja in São Roque claim they have been assaulted in the street and on the bus. In the last seven months, they have reported five of the most serious cases to the police. The neighbouring couple who have been allegedly threatening and assaulting them, blame them for their son being taken into care by social workers. This was because of illegal drug taking and they say they will continue the harassment until the son is returned.

ECONOMY

Cruise ships call at Porto Santo next year. There have been no visits by cruise ships during the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 but in 2011, three will call at Porto Santo. These have a capacity of 2,300 tourists and 1,000 crew members. The first ship calls on May 1 2011, the British Amadea, and it is the inaugural visit of this ship. On 26 July 26th, the Artanis calls and on August 10, the Amadea returns. The busiest year was 1999 when 10 cruise ships visited Porto Santo and there have been 42 mooring between 1999 – 2007.

CULTURE

Theme Park gives discounts in museums. The Madeira Theme Park in partnership with DRAC, allow holders of annual passes for the Theme Park to visit museums more frequently and cheaply. Discounts are for holders of the Normal Pass (costs 30 Euros) and Junior and Senior Passes (cost 24 Euros). Entry to selected museums will vary from free entry to a maximum cost of 2 Euros.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

CARNIVAL 2010

Fura Samba associates fado to samba. Fura Samba honours Fernando Pessoa (Portuguese poet) as this year celebrates his birth 120 years ago. Tributes also paid to the Portuguese Maritime Expansion and the fado singer Amalia Rodrigues. Their anthem links fado and samba, evoking the poetry of Fernando Pessoa. The project’s theme is "Samba-Enredo – Mar Português”. It describes a colourful world which goes from: the white foam of waves breaking on the beach and the wind in the sand …. Portugal where there was once a dream that we would be owners of the world ….. The dark blue of the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, the turquoise beaches of Brazil and the green waters of the seas surrounding India. Gold and silver colours represent gold and silver items, pearls and precious stones; wealth brought to Portuguese territory. In the two floats there will be orange tones of the sun setting over Cabo do Bojador and Cabo do Medo. Fura Samba utilize 5,000 ostrich feathers, 15,000 ‘rabos de galo’ (rooster tails) and 250 pheasant feathers. The ‘queen’ is a former Miss Madeira and Miss Tourism Portugal. Fura Samba will take part in the Porto Moniz Carnival on Sunday at 15.30.

João Egídio unveils “Os Encantos do Mar”. The theme this year is ‘The Charms of the Sea’. The float will carry five people; three in the front tractor and two in the trailer. They will be dressed as elements of the deep, such as mermaids, corals, reefs, anemones, plants and other underwater creatures. The dancers will be dressed as starfish and conch shells. João Egídio said, "The mysteries of our fantasy about the secrets of the sea, mean that humans throughout history imagine non-existent beings that become wonderful, splendid and colourful."

Many thanks to Vanessa Swesnik for this complete translation :

Quality and Food Safety : Seminar brought together close to 100 within the hotel sector.

Best practices in the hotel sector were the focus of a seminar organized by SGS Portugal (the auditing and certifying company) and the Commercial and Industrial Association of Funchal (Associação Comercial e Industrial do Funchal- ACIF) that took place in Funchal yesterday. The seminar, entitled “From Quality to Food Safety- a Responsible Destination”, had close to 100 participants from diverse regional hotel and restoration businesses.

Cristina Silva, coordinator from the SGS Portugal delegation, told the DIÁRIO that this initiative met the expectations of the organization insofar as it managed to get a group that is interested in and motivated by the issue of sustainability (which is more and more in demand for tourist destinations like Madeira) into the auditorium of the Regional Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais).

For Cristina Silva, a destination is only totally sustainable when it meets internationally recognized best practices, as the majority of tourists to the Autonomous Region are foreigners. However, she thinks Madeira has made important steps towards this aspiration which is now a requirement of tour operators, international organizations, and to become certified or have a good reputation as a tourist destination. The SGS delegate believes we are moving closer towards sustainability, but that it is necessary to meet and exceed the expectations of clients. “We have taken significant steps in Portugal and the Region, and we are not the exception,” she added.

Best practices were the focus of the seminar yesterday through the voices of diverse speakers covering everything from how to receive guests at hotels to food safety and control. Director of Quality and Food Safety of the Regional Government of Madeira, Celeste Bento, emphasized the regularity present with which standards are met in the Region- something that places regional restoration on a high level of quality. “Madeira is a responsible destination in terms of food safety; it’s well controlled and there is increasing sensitivity to the issue,” says Cristina Silva.

The seminar was well attended and had presentations given by regional specialists from ACIF and the organizing company. Brit Adrian Evans spoke of the “Hygiene Monitored” mark, a seal from SGS Group which attests to the existence of food safety best practices in the establishments audited by the group. In Madeira, this seal is assigned by SGS in conjunction with the ACIF. SOURCE : Diário de Notícias

In her email to me, Vanessa, who has recently qualified in Portuguese, said "Aside from being helpful, translating for your blog has planted a travel bug in my heart to come see Madeira. I would really love to travel to the Laurissilva Forest!!". You must come Vanessa, you must come and see our wonderful island and meet our wonderful people.

Many thanks to Paul for these two important economy news links :

Portugal ‘will not’ quit the euro. Portugal will not leave the euro, Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos has told the BBC : MORE

Portuguese budget vote yesterday Thursday was a victory for Prime Minister Jose Socrates’ government, which has warned of serious political consequences if the budget is not passed.

-Budget bill passes first hurdle in parliament

-Opposition party PSD helps passage with abstention

-Socialists seek to cut 2010 deficit to 8.3 pct / GDP (Updates with more quotes, measures)

Source Reuters : MORE

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

Guide book for five nights of Carnival in the discos – Madeira and Porto Santo are going to samba [?] from today until Tuesday. See the suggestions p.37. Yes you can actually click that link, and it will take you to the list of dates and events, and that saves me a job.

Today’s main news headline : Court leaking – The storms flood achieves, Justice Police and stairways. Works are needed. The Palácio da Justiça in Funchal has sprung a leak(s), and in the latest downpours water found it’s way down the stairs. The water not only affected current files, but also affected the offices of the Justice Police who are located in the basement. It’s an old problem, in a prestigious building from the 1960′s, that has received the praise of many visiting dignitaries over the years, especially for the use of historic tiles. It is well known for becoming a ‘swimming’ pool in Winter, and an ‘oven’ in Summer. The roof leaks all over the show, the walls are sprouting mould, all in a flagship building that doesn’t even have a visitors bathroom.

‘Forestry’ de-authorized Câmara – The landfill site in Landeiros (Machico) has a municipal license. But the GR seized the truck. Also today’s main front page photo, showing a small plot of land, with a digger and a Scania truck, which may or may not be in the process of being seized … it’s hard to tell from a photo.

Celebrating the joining of the Europe Union ‘with Rome burning’ – In a time of crisis, Socialist Party Leader Serrão criticises commemorations of the 25th anniversary of Madeira in the EU. It’s like the story of Nero and the harp [wasn't it a fiddle?].

There is also another lead story about Miguel Alburquerque, President of Funchal Council (who makes Uncle Bertie seem like Cristiano Ronaldo). Câmara Municipal of Funchal takes action against the state – It relates to the delayed transfer of funds from the IRS. The action had been threatened, and now it has actually started, in the Court dealing with Financial and Administrative matters. The action against central government relates to a delay in the payment of tax funding valued at over €5 million, that had been claimed by the council in March 2009. Alburquerque says he will not give up on the funds … "Funchal Câmara can not be penalized by the failure of the Government of the Republic". I am going to regret that comment above I am sure, as Sr. Miguel is a red-hot favourite to succeed Uncle Bertie as president in 2011.

The main sport / football headline today : Promotion doesn’t excite in the Regional [league] of football. This is about the small league below the newly formed Série Madeira, and the fact that some of the teams are not so keen on the idea of going up to the next rung.

I really can’t find anything that interests me much in today’s news, so I am off early downtown on the off chance that the weather will improve and the children’s carnival will take place. Don’t forget to send me in some carnival photos this weekend please.

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.

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’

Seven Wonders of Portugal ; Cash for Golf & Rally Healer scammer ; Calheta Robberies

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Pete … “Madeira soil erosion”.

I saw this photo on Flickr titled ‘Natures Fireworks’, which I thought was very clever and appropriate. It was taken in the Farmers Market in Funchal.

Many thanks to Tom for sending in this link : “The Greek debt crisis has spread to Spain and Portugal in a dangerous escalation as global markets test whether Europe is willing to shore up monetary union with muscle rather than mere words … Credit default swaps (CDS) measuring bankruptcy risk on Portuguese debt surged 28 basis points on Thursday to a record 222 on reports that Jose Socrates was about to resign as prime minister after failing to secure enough votes in parliament to carry out austerity measures … Parliament minister Jorge Lacao said the political dispute has raised fears that the country is no longer governable. “What is at stake is the credibility of the Portuguese state,” he said”. UK DAILY TELEGRAPH It had 112 comments by 9 pm yesterday!

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

DIÁRIO 07/02/2010

MADEIRA

Laurissilva among the favourites. The list of 77 candidates for the next stage of the competition, ’7 Natural Wonders of Portugal’, will be released today for public voting between 7 March and 7 September. These have been chosen from the original 323 entries and there will be 11 chosen for each of the seven categories.

The nine wonders of the region
Ilhas Selvagens – Located about 163 miles from Madeira, they represent the extreme south of the country. The Nature Reserve of Selvagens was established in 1971 and is one of the oldest reserves in Portugal.

Ilhas Desertas – Biogenetic Reserve since 1992 and Nature Reserve since 1995, the Ilhas Desertas are one of the last strongholds of Lobo-marinho. They are also an important centre for nesting seabirds.

Floresta Laurissilva – Considered World Natural Heritage by UNESCO and classified as a Biogenetic Reserve by the Council of Europe, the Laurissilva is endemic to Macaronesia.

Cabo Girão – Located in the municipality of Câmara de Lobos, it is the highest promontory in Europe with a height of 580 metres. The viewpoint of the site is one of the most sought after.

Fajã dos Padres – Narrow strip of land along the coast, under a cliff about 250 metres high, this fajã is located on the south coast of Madeira and is endowed with an agricultural area of excellence.

Pico Ana Ferreira – About 283 metres above sea level, it is the highest point of the western part of the island. At its peak there have developed a spectacular set of prismatic columns known as ‘piano’.

Praia do Porto Santo – Stretching over six kilometres between Vila Baleira and Ponta da Calheta, the golden sandy beach is one of the attractions of Porto Santo and the sand has therapeutic capabilities.

Cabeço dos Laranjas – On the islet of Cima (Porto Santo), you can see a spectacular outcrop of fossils of red algae, known locally as ‘oranges’ for their striking resemblance to that fruit.

Galerias do Ilhéu da Cal – In the largest island of Porto Santo, where the limestone mining industry began in the XVIII Century, today there are wonderful galleries where you can see subaquatic lava flows and volcanic ash.

1,000 participants in the Carnival of Câmara de Lobos. 18 groups will participate in this traditional parade held on the evening of February 15th. This year it will include the Associação de Animação Geringonça and Malta do Furor (Achada de Gaula) and two other newcomers: Banda Filarmónica do Caniço e Eiras and the Escuteiros de São Martinho. Participants from various institutions, of all ages. The parade begins at 21.30, starting at Avenida Nova Cidade and ending at the car park of Baía de Câmara de Lobos.

Plans for Vila Giorgi and Castanheiro in discussion. From 18 February to March 17, plans for the redevelopment of this area of Funchal will be available online. The mayor noted that this is a very balanced plan when it comes to shopping, houses and services as it sets a percentage for each. In between Rua das Pretas and São Pedro, there will be a plaza of 1,700 square metres under which there will be a car park with 450 spaces, and 150 of these will be reserved for local traders. Vila Giorgi is a private development consisting of a five star hotel with 44 rooms and a block of 33 apartments. The detailed plan of the area Ornelas will be available between 18 February and 10 March.

Court establishes that the driver responsible for a fatal accident had no licence. The accident occurred on the 25 October 2008 near the viewpoint of Cabo Girão. At around 3 am, the car hit a stone wall causing the death of one of the occupants, an 18 year old man and the other was seriously injured. At the time, it was a popular location to practice dangerous manoeuvres. The driver had no licence and the car was uninsured. The driver was still learning at a driving school and had only been in possession of a car for a short period of time.

PT and PSP used in ‘phishing’. If there is an e-mail in the mailbox with the logo of the police and PT (shown), it should be deleted immediately. Clicking on one of these logos takes the user to a copy of the website and an executable file is immediately downloaded.

ECONOMY

430,000 Euros for the Open de Golfe and Rali Vinho Madeira. Turismo de Portugal will provide 330,000 Euros for the Golf Open and 100,000 Euros for the Madeira Wine Rally. This is 30% of the total needed for the golf tournament at Porto Santo, and the Regional Budget will provide an additional half a million Euros. The Wine Rally also needs 1 million Euros in funds and will receive 650,000 Euros from the government.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA – FRONT PAGE NEWS

‘Healer’ takes money and gold at Caniçal. A case of doorstep fraud. A woman and her son knocked at the door of a house where a 40 year old woman lived with her son. The visitors tried to sell clothing but the resident was not interested. The street vendor then changed the course of conversation, claiming that she was a registered healer, reading palms, tarot cards etc. She wanted money for powerful remedies which would be fully effective. Over a period of several days, the victim handed over 3,500 Euros in cash and gold items, totalling 5,000 Euros. The police have found the two suspects, assumed mother and son, and some of the items but not the money. The local people commented on the ridiculous way in which this has happened.

EVENTS

Five robberies in Calheta. Five burglaries in recent days but the assailants have not been caught. Most of the damage has been by the forced entries rather than items stolen. Two houses at Ledo, two at Palheiros and the Junta de Freguesia have been robbed.

ECONOMY

Loja do Cidadão and Dolce Vita have a new innovation. A new information system will be installed in these two areas in Funchal. The user of the Loja do Cidadão can find out their place in the queue for their chosen service and estimated waiting time. The service is also accessible on the second floor of the Dolce Vita commercial mall, so the user can shop or consume food while waiting. This service will be inaugurated at 18.00 on Monday February 8th.

CULTURE

Cortejo folião animated “Festa dos Compadres”. This was the first time this parade has taken place in Santana during the Festa dos Compadres. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, 16 groups from the primary and secondary schools took part. The parade was followed by musical entertainment. Prizes were awarded to the best participating groups and the best participant. The Ball of Compadres followed at 22.00. Many, including families, watched this procession especially as it was the initial one. It is to be kept as a separate additional event from the main parade, which is on the following Sunday afternoon (this afternoon).

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

500 waiting for tobacco consultations. The search for help in quitting smoking grows, but Madeira cannot provide an adequate service, lacking facilities and doctors to cope. [Why is a doctor needed I wonder?]. Outside of Funchal, only Câmara de Lobos can actually offer consultations to help smokers. It has been two years since the publication of the directive of the Directorate General of Health, which called for the creation of specialized clinics in all health centres and hospitals, but decentralization has still not happened.

In politics : Social Democratic Party and Socialist Party without proposals since the Summer – The two biggest parties only came up with two projects of decree in the current legislative session. It’s a good point actually. With the distractions of the regional and national elections, Christmas, the PS leadership election, the Regional Finance Law, and the bad weather, it seems that the politicians here have taken the opportunity for a verrrrry extended Summer holiday.

Many [suffer] damages without the right to compensation. The majority of the storm damage caused over the past weeks, will not be covered for repair or replacement. Natural disaster damage can be covered, such as that experienced recently by thousands of people, and can be remedied, but only for those who have appropriate insurance. The other option for some, is to find someone else to blame, but Saint Peter (São Pedro) himself is exempt from such claims. This is pretty much the situation facing those who are victims of natural phenomena, that may or may not be worsened by human intervention. And the problem is that, except for compulsory insurance associated with bank loans for house purchase, the majority of homes in the region (especially rural) are not insured. The article also has a helpful ‘Question and answer’ session fielded by the Insurance Institute of Portugal, as well as citing various laws that cover this area with insurance policies. Just for Martin’s benefit, after raising the subject at the weekend.

Today’s main news headline : Bad debt threatens health – The Regional Health Service owes 147 million Euros to suppliers, that admit withholding supplies from the hospitals and health centres. With wisdom the people say : health doesn’t have a price. But the truth is that on Madeira it costs plenty, more than the money that the Region makes available. The shortfall is paid through the long waiting lists, as well as from the medical suppliers whose ‘financial health’ for a long time has been connected to the [life support?] ‘machine’. At the end of 2008 the Regional Health Service (SESARAM) had to pay €147 million to the suppliers, a scary figure if one considers the impacts on the suppliers of essential products to health centres and hospitals. Several other large figures are presented, all related to various categories of debt, or lack of equity, and the Diário once again labels another major organisation as ‘technically bankrupt’. 60% of the health budget on Madeira is used to pay doctors, nurses, and other staff. Skipping through the meat of the article, the Diário changes tact somewhat, and then reports that the average costs of public expenditure per head of population here (in general terms) is 36% higher than in the Azores. In medical terms the two archipelagos compare differently, with Madeira with 2.5 doctors and 7.7 nurses per thousand of population, and the Azores with 2 doctors and 6.7 nurses for the same numbers of people. Both sets of numbers are however well lower than the European average. Madeira spends on health an average per head of population of €1,312 [per year?] compared to €960 on the Azores. So where does that leave us you ask, with a health service in technical bankruptcy? What can we do to protect ourselves in our times of greatest need. Whilst we can all do things to lessen our risk of needing health care, like Uncle Bertie packing in those toppling Cuban cigars for instance, the answer of course lies in Poncha. More research and investment is needed in Poncha, and I am prepared to do my bit to help. Where health facilities are being starved by suppliers of essential medical supplies, low cost Poncha substitutes are the key. We could allocate different flavours for different illnesses for example, with the traditional lemon being used to treat problems with stress and depression, whilst the rather more sickly maracujá flavour could be used for ladies with problems.The main sport / football headline today : What lacked in the paint remained in the points – The game in Barreiros was delayed because one could not see the lines on the pitch. But neither that, nor a barely tolerable performance stopped Marítimo beating União de Leiria [1-0], and overtaking Nacional, defeated [1-0] in Olhão. The unimpressive photo with this story has the lions share of the front page of the Diário, with the rather bizarre scene out on the football pitch, of a solitary man and a pot of paint and a brush, repainting the seemingly non existent white lines on the pitch. It could only happen here … a premier league match, a cut field with goalposts, two football teams, a refereeing team, a couple of thousand fans, … but someone had forgotten to mark out the pitch, and nobody noticed until it was too late!!! Luckily the game wasn’t televised, as this embarrassment can hopefully be maintained on Madeira. It must have been quick drying paint too. The plot of distraction obviously worked as Marítimo overcame the opposition to win. Well done lads, good tactics (said through gritted teeth).

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.

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’

February events ; Invest in trees ; Car Boot Sale washed out ; The point of acupuncture?

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Elaine out West … dried herbs and chillies on sale in Funchal Market

"Docking early in Funchal meant there was plenty of time to explore the city before taking an afternoon excursion. A member of the crew then introduces everyone to each other which is a nice and informal way to get to know your shipmates. Funchal is a bustling city and I soon found myself at the indoor flower, vegetable and fish market. It was fun to wander around the groaning stalls of fruit and to see the magnificent display of fish. And as for the flowers, they were stunning and I couldn’t resist buying a bunch of roses for my cabin". A reporter for the UK Daily Mirror newspaper took a cruise that took in Madeira, a place she seemed pretty struck by. FULL ARTICLE

Boeing 737-800 – From Wien to Madeira Funchal with Lauda Air. Yes, it’s another one of those ‘pilot’s view’ videos, but this one is a little different if you have 8 minutes to spare. It shows the take of from a snowy runway, and the landing at Madeira Airport from the other ‘easy’ end.

Some more from Becky’s latest batch of interesting web links :

Madeira is a property hot-spot according to this recent article. VESTED INTERESTS?

Here’s a blog from some cruise passengers. Although I love to see the cruise ships coming in and out of Funchal, is it just me or is the photo of all those identical balconies rather depressing.? I love to look at them, but would hate to be on one. Which makes it all the more puzzling why "Torsten" only got off the ship to go to a shopping centre! bem-vindo a Funchal

Caught in the act? Becky reckons this lad was having a grope of this statue’s feminine assets in Santa Catarina Park and was caught on this webcam grab on Saturday. Captions invited.

Vanessa Swesnik has kindly done a full and exact translation of the article covered yesterday by Elaine. The original article link is given below, for any Portuguese students who might find it useful.

Region has a Scarcity of Park Rangers – Currently, the regional corps has about 30 staff members. Currently there are only a few more than three dozen people in the region working as Park Rangers. The number has grown substantially since 1988 when the first corps of Rangers (then three or four) was created; however, there are still not enough for the large array of tasks undertaken by these professionals.

During this week in which another National Park Ranger Day is celebrated, João Paulo Mendes, president of the Association of Madeira Park Rangers (Associação de Vigilantes da Natureza da Madeira- AVNM) explained to the DIÁRIO DE NOTÍCIAS that with the current legislation in force, the area allows for up to 50 Rangers. “Even that wouldn’t be very many,” he states.

Over the past few years, protected areas and natural reserves have grown under the auspices of the Madeira Park Services (Serviço do Parque Natural da Madeira- SPNM). Additionally, every year the number of conservation and preservation projects (in terms of animal and plant species) grow and the SPNM Rangers are asked more and more to support awareness-raising actions and environmental education projects in schools and other establishments.

João Paulo Mendez says that even though much of the community associates Ranger work with just keeping an eye on things, the truth is that these professionals do much more than “keep watch over” important areas.

“We work in a variety of functions,” he clarifies. “From environmental education to conservation projects of the Park Services – we also work as guides when people visit reserves and when we are stationed on the Desert and Savage Islands we have to do a little bit of everything because we are more isolated.

Despite currently being few in number, one of the other challenges faced by the regional corps is that no new Park Rangers have come aboard over the past past few years. “All of them are in the same age group [between 30 and 35], and if no new Rangers enter the corps, we will have a group that is too old to respond to daily demands within 15 years.”

According to the AVNM President, the daily work is complicated because in the grand majority of cases it demands a lot of skill and physical strength. “For example, some surrenders are made by boat, we have to load materials, collaborate on Freira da Madeira’s and Freira do Búgio’s conservation projects, and we have to know how to mountain climb and rappel,” João Paulo Mendes explains.

The three week tours on the Desert and Savage Islands aren’t easy either, although improvements in mobile communications have minimized the effect of separation from family and friends.

“Park Rangers either enjoy their work, or they don’t make it.” Regardless, João Paulo Mendes says the work is very gratifying in that Park Rangers can see the results up close of that conservation projects implemented by the Region.

Celebrations: National Day of Celebration in the Region on Tuesday : The AVNM is promoting a commemorative event for National Park Ranger Day this Tuesday, February 2 with the objective of “raising awareness of the profession and its importance in the world of nature and biodiversity conservation.”

The event will take place in the auditorium of the Regional Authority of the Environment and Natural Resources in the Golden Building (Secretária Regional do Ambiente e Recursos Naturais – Edifício Golden) at about 9:15 AM with an opening session presided over by the Director of the Madeira Park Service, Paulo Oliveira, and followed by another opening statement by the President of AVNM, João Paulo Mendes. Afterwards at 9:30 AM there will be a presentation by Park Ranger Nélson Pereira on “The Park Ranger’s Contribution to Nature Conservancy in Madeira” and another on “Biodiversity post 2010” by Domingos Abreu, President of The Order of Biologists.

There will even be a debate moderated by Paulo Oliveira followed by a speech at 11:00 AM by the Regional Environmental Secretary, Manual António Correira, and then an appreciation ceremony to praise local Park Rangers with outstanding job performance. The Closing Ceremony is scheduled for 11:30 AM.

In addition to this celebration, AVNM is working with its National counterpart in placing a bid to receive the 2012 International Rangers Convention. João Paulo Mendes says that if the event takes place here, it will be a good opportunity to publicize Park Rangers’ work here and throughout the world. FULL ARTICLE IN PORTUGUESE

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

Madeira Tourism Site – Information for February.

Tourist Entertainment Calendars for 2010, 2011 and 2012 in Portuguese, English, French, German and Spanish.

5th to 16th – Carnival Celebrations – Funchal. Carnival, one of the main tourist attractions of Madeira, is fiercely enjoyed by both Madeirans and the hundreds of tourists who visit us. It is a week of "revelry", which invades the hotels, bars and nightclubs, transforming them into continuous parties. This atmosphere of boundless joy bubbles with astoundingly creative and imaginative initiatives that find themselves audaciously parodied in the Slapstick Parade that takes place on the Tuesday of Carnival. The highlight of the celebrations is on the Saturday night (13 February) when the majestic float parade takes to the avenues of Funchal. Various groups with thousands of participants take part in this parade, flooding the city with music and joy.

The Tuesday of Carnival (16 February) is reserved for the Slapstick Parade. This is a typically Madeiran parade, open to all, where humour and social satire are the main themes. Gigantic puppets, floats and many "bunglers" entertain and interact with the public in a manner that nobody takes the wrong way. The detailed programme can be found HERE

6th to 7th – Festa dos Compadres – Santana. The Festa dos Compadres is a celebration that marks the start of Carnival in Madeira. Giant puppets travel the main streets of Santana, a small and peaceful town located on the north coast of the Island of Madeira, transforming it into the setting for a parade of humour, lots of colour and joy.

DRAC site – Cultural Agenda for February can be downloaded.

DIÁRIO 01/02/2010 – FRONT PAGE HEADLINES

Serrão asks Cavaco to intervene in debt. "It is a problem of the regime. There must be an upper intervention. The President must intervene." This is the position of Jacinto Serrão on the amount of debt of the region, its consequences and the attitude of the Regional Government, especially Ventura Garcês. The new president of the Socialist Party, Serrão, said he would inform the President of Portugal, Cavaco Silva, to intervene in the case. During the debate and approval of the Regional Budget for this year, Ventura Garcês only admitted to 1.2 billion Euros of direct debt and hid the indirect debt, despite being confronted by deputies of the opposition parties. Serrão considers this a serious situation and shows that Ventura Garcês cannot resolve the situation and must resign. According to this socialist’s calculations, at a 5% interest rate on the 5 billion Euros total debt of Madeira, the interest is 250 million Euros per year, 20% of the Regional Budget. He says this is an impossible situation which cannot be solved without the intervention of the State. But you have to assign responsibilities and they are on the side of Jardim’s Government. It is an episode with negative consequences for the lives of Madeirenses. During the debate on the budget, the socialists calculated the total debt as nearly 6 billion Euros but Ventura Garcês said it would not exceed 2 billion Euros and he would "teach the opposition how to make accounts," and that the direct debt would not exceed 18% PIB (GDP).

MADEIRA

Landings limited. The reason why several SATA and TAP planes could not land in poor weather conditions during the last two weeks of December whereas other planes, EasyJet and some from European capitals could, was the extra safety restrictions of TAP and SATA airlines. A TAP spokesman said the planes only land when the conditions are ideal for security and every company sets its own security standards. Aircraft failing to land cost more than those that land. Despite this, the other airlines are not breaching safety regulations of the airport or INAC, National Institute of Civil Aircraft.

ECONOMY

Campaigns that marked 2009. Still end of year round-ups. The most remembered adverts were for Meo and Orange telecommunications firms and Pingo Doce supermarket chain. Marktest survey found 4/10 respondents remembered the campaigns with Meo Gato Fedorento, 3.4 the TMN advert and 3.4 the Pingo Doce brand. Of the brands recalled, Coca-Cola dominated followed by Optimus, Jumbo (Portuguese supermarket chain), Modelo and Zon, showing that advertisements of telephone operators and supermarkets are the most successful.

Investment in a forest has a good return. The Portuguese can now invest in a forest. A Spanish company, Madeiras Nobres, has a branch in Portugal and will start planting trees this month at the Casal do Serrão in Loures. The return on the investment is between 8 and 13% per year depending on the batch of trees purchased. The company buys the land, plants hardwood trees – carvalhos, castanheiros or nogueiras – and cultivates them. The investor does not pay anything beyond the initial outlay and when the life cycle is complete and the tree harvested and sold, 90% of the sale goes to the investor and 10% to the firm. "This is a forestry investment with a big return." People who invest in forests "will have an economic return in the future". In addition to providing income, the trees produce oxygen, water-retaining soil, absorb carbon dioxide, combat desertification and produce high quality woods, helping to preserve virgin rain forests. Carvalhos (oaks) will be planted and the life cycle lasts 22 years. Each lot costs 1,700 Euros and a conservative annual return is around 9%.

Brazilian tourists this Easter. The Brazilian tour operator, Bis, in its program for Portugal includes an extension to Madeira this year. Tourists will fly from Salvador to Lisbon then to Madeira. Since last year, customers have shown more interest in visiting Madeira. The program is in conjunction with Windsor Travel, representing the Brazilian operator in Madeira. There are no official regional tourist promotion agencies in Brazil although interest was shown last October at the largest Latin American tourist fair in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s economy is in the fifth place globally and the currency is robust, so Brazilians are a great potential in terms of holidaymakers.

POLITICS

Câmara de Lobos asks for more than 900 thousand Euros. Espada to Venezuela and help to Timor. At the council’s public meeting, they focused on the need for a short-term loan of 900,000 Euros. This decision needs ratification by the Municipal Assembly. The Carnival in Câmara de Lobos will need an investment of 21,000 Euros; money is required for the air fares for a câmara-lobense, Tiago Brito, to take part in the 19ª Maratona de Lisboa; approval was given for the membership of the council to the Associação de Municípios Portugueses do Vinho; 1,250 Euros for the renovation of the Mercado de Bacau in East Timor and expenses for sending 300 kilos of espada preto to Latin America for the 4º Encontro dos ‘Filhos de Câmara de Lobos na Venezuela’. — 300 kilos of black scabbard fish – how many will that feed / costs?

CULTURE

‘The Nature of Things’ in John dos Passos. The Centro Cultural John dos Passos in Ponta do Sol, opens on Thursday 4 February a group exhibition entitled ‘The Nature of Things’. This is the first of ten exhibitions scheduled for this year. The centre can show new talent and allow local artists to exhibit their work, an opportunity they would not normally have. This exhibition includes paintings, sculptures, photography and drawings. One of the five exhibitors is António Pascal, who interprets various stories and legends of the region and draws satirical cartoons. Examples of his work HERE. — His webpage is interesting.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

CRIAMAR have new project. This association supports young people and has a new project named the Sol da Esperança (Sun of Hope). This was unveiled at yesterday’s car boot sale (Feira da Amizade). Funds raised from this new venture are for young people too old to continue in institutions but too young / unable to be employed, i.e. 15 – 20 years old. Two ex-users of Aldeia da Paz are funded to help with the renovation of Abrigo da Nossa Senhora da Conceição, one of whom is waiting for a place on a course run by the Pestana hotel group. There are already more than ten names on the waiting list for funding. Yesterday’s Feira da Amizade was poorly attended by both vendors and visitors as it rained heavily all day. There were 10 stalls and the visitors were mainly foreigners. The fairs will be held in the car park of the Pestana Casino of Madeira, from 10 – 17 on the last Sunday of every month. Anyone can sell items for this charity and further information is at: CAR BOOT SALE.

Two more acupuncture centres in the region. Since the opening of the Acupuncture Centre in Funchal in 2001, the response rate has been quite large as people have seen good results in various illnesses. People are more informed today and have either previously used acupuncture or know others who have. Two more centres will open this year and they hope to have demonstrations at this year’s Chinese Medicine meeting. Most of the treatments are given for pain and allergic conditions, especially respiratory. Combined with a diet plan, weight loss can be achieved and Chinese medicine can treat almost all illnesses. Children of any age can be treated and they can use a laser device instead of needles.

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

SIAP gives deadline to the command in order to keep the commissioner away – After going to the Ministry, the Trade Union is preparing itself to go to take the case of Roberto Fernandes to the Public Prosecutor. This follows the headline from a few days ago, when the TU representing police officers tried to escalate within the political system in Portugal, the case of a police commissioner who is alleged to have different sets of rules for his troops and the senior officers. Now the Independent Union for Police Agents (SIAP) has launched a national petition calling for the acquittal of police officers charged under the disciplinary regime of commissioner Roberto Fernandes, and has given the Regional Police Command a two week deadline to remove Fernandes from his current duties, under the threat of exposing the ‘dossier of protectionism’. The ‘dossier’ has already been given to the national director of the PSP police force following advice given to the TU official by the responsible Minister for Internal Affairs. This story just gets weirder and weirder, but hopefully will expose any wrongdoings and result in a cleaner more accountable police force.

SIC refuses to divulge voting in the [Pop] ‘Idols’ [competition]. Carlos Costa complains of the jury, that made biased appeals. The young man from Porto Moniz is out of the competition, saying that the jury on the TV show appealed for votes for the other contestants.

Today’s main news headline : Four years of losses given as profit – Engineering accounting allows ‘Valor Ambiente’ to present an administration with a negative result of 10 million Euros as a profit of €5 million. And the total liabilities are 177 million Euros. A bit of trouble translating that headline, and I am not sure that even now it is 100% right, so I certainly won’t be attempting the whole story.

In politics : Albuquerque against the Jardim theory – The leader [Jardim] wants the major meeting of the national Social Democrat Party closed to the media. The Funchal counsellor already feels "foolish" about the ‘closed door’ conventions. President Jardim and leader of the PSD-M feels that a closed event is needed because the party is going through a difficult time. The previous Regional Convention was also behind closed doors.

Filipe de Sousa rejects return to the Socialist Party of [Jacinto] Serrão. Sousa and his ex-PS-M pals in Santa Cruz broke away from the party to form the JPP (Juntos pelo Povo), which had some impressive success in last years local elections. But now that ex-party leader Gouveia has been sidelined, the new leader has appealed for those who distanced themselves from the party to return. "Out of the question" says Sousa. A shame really as the PS is the only party that has any chance of scoring any victories over the PSD-M in the coming years, and some sort of alliance would benefit all concerned, especially now the new leadership gives opportunities for a fresh start, and Uncle Bertie’s lot are really in the hot seat over debt and finances. Maybe our man in the Cruz will have a word in the ear of Sr. Sousa, for the benefit of Madeira, not just politics.

The main sport / football headline today : Victory in Matasinhos interrupts the suffering of the Verde-Rubro [Green-Reds] – The end of the game yesterday was a double relief : to guarantee a victory suffered away to the detriment of Leixões (1 – 2) and for interrupting a cycle of four defeats.

Argelino Abdelmalek Cherrad reinforces the Verde-Rubro attack. The normally unflappable Tánia Spinola, the news presenter for the TV station RTP Madeira, was stopped in her tracks on this story this morning. Eventually she got a similar sounding name out, making the excuse that it "was very difficult to pronounce".

Also lots of bad weather stories today, or should I say damage caused by the bad weather. Bad weather causes collapses, floods, and fall of trees. Santana was the area worst hit, with various streets cut off due to landslides or rockfalls. Walls also fell, but there is no account of any personal injury. The airport is working as normal, although one plane was diverted to Lisbon due to the rain. Three schools in Madeira closed due to bad weather. The children of the schools of Porto da Cruz, São Roque do Faial and Santana will be most disappointed today. Der forced by rain to stay in pub until long after closing time. Blog writer Der, when out for a walk last night, was forced with a friend into a pub by driving horizontal rain. Unable to borrow an umbrella, the two were forced to stay there with other customers who were unable to leave on foot. After two hours the landlord called time, and gave those stranded a lift home. Jesus … poor guy! No wonder his blog is late today.

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.

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’

Civil Protection website ; SATA add fuel surcharge New football stadium sinking ; 10 kg potato

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Martin … Rolls Royce Phantom c 1922 displayed on Avenida Arriaga during the 2009 Volta da Madeira

"Due to the long established fishing tradition on the island, fish plays an important role on the daily menu of the locals. When you have spent a few days on the island, you will soon discover that Madeirans also have a sweet tooth! Everywhere on the island, in all the cafés, snack bars and restaurants, you will find a wide variety of cakes, sweets and desserts. Besides the world-renowned Madeira Wine, locals produce their own wine from different grapes – the so-called ‘vinho seco’ (dry wine)". A well written and researched article from a cruise website TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT

"Madeira is, essentially, 2 island, and not only does a little over 98% of its population live on just one island, but a huge part of that live in just one city, Funchal. This makes things incredibly easier from a managerial standpoint because then you CAN have any type of flight you want. All the Madeira Regional government has to worry about is the littler under 5,000 people living in Porto Santo". This article was written by a blogger in the Azores, on the problems of servicing the many islands with flights, including the ‘low cost’ factor. Quite an interesting read, and shows that we do pretty well here in comparison. LUSO’S LAIR

A short private blog with a few photos, mainly of the author … CARROT TOPS ARE GREEN

"Discovered in 1419 by Portuguese explorers, its strategic position and warm sub-tropical climate led to quick colonisation and nowadays around a quarter of a million Madeirans call this beautiful island home. Known locally as the ‘Island Of Flowers’, or ‘The Floating Garden’, Madeira certainly lives up to its nicknames and, in fact, boasts some of the most beautiful natural scenery you’ll find anywhere". ANOTHER MADEIRA REVIEW – CREST HOLIDAYS

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

Der, small news items today. If you want to make money, sell on the black market in Venezuela or become a doctor. No wonder the Health Service is in debt – I bet the article on the doctor’s cars gets some comments. The paper misprinted ‘Austin Martin’. This was the Google translation to a photo caption of the story I covered yesterday about a falling wall damaging a roof: ‘The day before yesterday, Matilde Gonçalves not resist the temptation to go to her house to lie down to eat three cats.’

Wind looses force from tomorrow. Today, yellow alert for wind up to 50 km/h and gusts up to 90 km/h in mountainous regions. A slight reduction in wind speed from tomorrow, a moderate 20 – 30 km/h wind from the west becoming weak, below 15 km/h. In mountainous regions, the wind will be moderate but should not exceed 35 km/h. Temperatures slightly below today’s maximum of 22 C and 18 C minimum temperature. Sea conditions about the same, temperature 18 C, 1.5 – 3.5 metres waves.

‘NetMadeira’ fraudulent e-mail. An e-mail asking for personal details was received yesterday by 1.5% of NetMadeira customers who use the 880 mailbox. NetMadeira, like other companies, does not ask users for their passwords or identification.

New Civil Protection website. This site has been updated to make it easier and quicker to find useful information. I had a look and it has a version in English and contains useful information. Examples include road closures, phoning about emergencies, location of fire stations, weather and health alerts, emergency first aid and there are good links. Website: Civil Protection — Might be one for Der’s right-hand side toolbar. OK, make a comment if you like it and we’ll see, but I know the sponsor wants to shorten the list rather than grow it. Der

Dates when nurses are on strike. For two days, 27 – 28 January. On the 29th, some will participate in the national demonstration at the Ministry of Health. There is a three day national strike but it is only for two days in Madeira. The proposed wage scale presented by the Ministry of Health in January is worse than the one presented in November.

SATA also increase fuel surcharge. As expected, following TAP’s announcement yesterday that they will increase the fuel surcharge for flights between the Continent and Madeira, SATA will similarly increase it for flights between the Continent and Madeira and the Azores. Increased from 9 to 12 Euros for flights from 20 January. In effect, this means an extra 3 Euros on each ticket except promotional fares. Promotional fares SATA Discount are unchanged for flights between Funchal and Porto Santo, and for other tickets the surcharge increases from 4.5 Euros to 6 Euros. Fuel surcharge is updated quarterly.

Caracas – Funchal ticket doubles in price. Flights between Caracas – Funchal will cost twice the present price due to the exchange rate between the strong bolivar and the dollar. Last Friday, Hugo Chávez announced a devaluation of the national currency, which rose from 2.15 to 4.3 bolivars to the dollar. Thus, Luso-Venezuelans will have more difficulty in leaving Venezuela. The airline ticket between Caracas and Funchal rises more than 200%. The sale of flight tickets was suspended last Monday to allow the airlines to update the reservation system, as they have to be sold at the official exchange rate. There is no change in price for tickets sold in Portugal because the exchange rate for euro – bolivar stays the same. Exchange rate controls have been in place in Venezuela since 2003 to prevent obtaining unregulated foreign currency in the country. This also means imported goods are more expensive and people have been rushing to the shops to stock up. On the black market, due to demand the euro is worth three times more than the official exchange rate. Venezuela is said to be like a pressure cooker with no escape valve. — I think there will be mass exodus of Madeirans back here. The old houses in Madeira owned / inherited by Madeirans who have emigrated to Venezuela might finally be restored and made habitable. Many have been murdered recently, especially in Caracas.

Garage claims a doctor owes 83,000 Euros for work on his ‘fast-cars’. A well-known physician who works in family and occupational medicine, known for his display of top-of-the-range ‘fast-cars’ is facing a debt of 83,000 Euros owed to the workshop. At the end of December at Santa Cruz Court, a claim was lodged to recover the debt accumulated between March 5 2002 and September 10 2008. The garage, as far as Diário could establish, is ‘Auto Lazareto’ in Cancela and the claim is for unpaid mechanical repairs, bodywork and panel beating, painting and upgrades. The cars involved are: a red Ferrari, Jaguar, Golf, Aston Martin, 2 Toyota Yaris, Opel Astra, Maserati, Audi A6 and a Citroen AX. The claimant provided goods and services to the amount of 75,898.86 Euros plus interest, which have not been paid for. They acted in good faith and in a climate of friendship. Over seven years, the debt grew and the doctor postponed deadlines claiming financial difficulties and debts from third parties. Since September 2008, the doctor suddenly failed to appear at the garage to pay the instalments although he had been gradually settling the bill. He used his reputation as a reputable and distinguished doctor and it was his social status that led the workshop to grant credit. The doctor asked for urgent repairs to his Ferrari (photo) so he could lend it to Cristiano Ronaldo on his trips to Madeira, and repairs to other cars to lend to the singer Marco Paulo and other media figures whom he knows well. Diário contacted the doctor who denies he owes the money. He said he has not been notified of the court action, and if and when notified will challenge it, and if necessary will sue for defamation. — "Trust me, I’m a doctor."

Potato more than 10 kg in Tabua. This sweet potato was dug up from agricultural land in Tabua and weighs 10kg and 600g. The potato is of the type batata vermelha (red potato).

CDU support agricultural reserve areas. The communists want the region to adopt agricultural reserve areas. These would be located in areas where agriculture is most profitable in the region and would be adequately protected for this activity. They would not be ‘eaten away’ by construction works, for example the places chosen for the Câmara de Lobos football stadium (zona do Carmo) and the future Hospital of Funchal (Santa Rita), which absorb significant agricultural areas. Such reserves already exist on the Continent and the Azores. Edgar Silva accused the Executive of being "the grave digger of regional agriculture".

Census 2011. The National Institute of Statistics in conjunction with the Regional Government will hold a census in 2011. The last one was in 2001. 450 people are already being recruited who will carry out the survey and the period for the census will last from January to July 2011.

New Pestana hotel in Porto Santo. The Pestana Group are preparing to build a second hotel in Porto Santo. The work will begin later this quarter and will be a four star tourist village named Pestana Residence. It will include 250 apartments and the investment is 50 million Euros. The financing of the Colombo’s Resort is still uncertain as the banks are not interested in loaning the money to complete the development.

Vote of congratulation of the EU Treaty rejected. A vote of appreciation of the entry of the Treaty of Lisbon was rejected yesterday by the PSD, BE, PCP and only favoured by the Socialists who proposed the vote. The Socialist Serrão Jacinto considered that the Lisbon Treaty resolved the impasse the EU was plunged into and economic problems, thus constitutes "a tool that will give more power to the EU". He said that Madeira should appreciate the EU as it has used their funds to develop the country. "We must stand together in solidarity with those who were with us."

79 People in ‘virtual home’ in hospitals. 51 people who remained unnecessarily in hospital with ‘high dependency’ status have been transferred to homes; 28 to Dr. João de Almada, 15 in Lar de Bela Vista, 8 to Lar do Porto Moniz and one transferred to the Health Centre in Calheta. This has been after a joint effort by the Department of Health and Centre for Social Security. There are still 79 people left in a ‘virtual home’ in the two hospitals in Funchal. This is not ideal as they are likely to become infected and are ‘bed blockers’. The situation is aggravated by a waiting list of 800 elderly people for care home places. There are plans to provide 400 more nursing home places in the near future but with an increasingly elderly population, an additional solution is needed. To help keep people in the family home, there are 3,000 people receiving daily nursing and social care at home. Since 2008, the aim has been to pay family members to function as carers and there are 179 such people who receive 220.79 Euros from Social Security.

State will have to pay 82 million Euros in 2010 to restore justice to Madeira. The Technical Unit for Budget Support has proved that the current Regional Finance Law has lost Madeira 157 million Euros from 2007 to 2009. To remedy this, the State would have to transfer 82 million; 74.6 million to Madeira and 7.4 million to the Azores.

11.5 million investment in Câmara de Lobos football stadium is sinking. The soil along the wall that supports the newly opened stadium is sinking. This stadium, promoted by the Regional Government, has been open for six months and is already causing concern. The stadium cost 7.5 million Euros to build and an additional 4 million Euros to stabilise a slope overlooking it. The athletics track is uneven, also due to subsidence. The Regional Secretariat for Social Infrastructure say that this is normal settling of land.

Dog disappeared from the circus. Circus Brazil in Machico was yesterday without two of the three dogs that were part of the show. One was a hit and run victim. The other, Nina, was the star of the show and has been missing since last night. The dog is a brown poodle wearing a pink collar. The dog is two years old and has been in training for eight months. The circus goes to Lisbon on Saturday. Any information, please phone 968072755. If found after Saturday, please contact Joaquim who works at Circus Dalas at Madeira Tecnopolo.

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

Very unusually the Diário moves out of Portugal for the big photo and headline : Earthquake in Haiti kills 100 thousand – The numbers are of course not confirmed, because there are bodies buried. But the tragedy results in the destruction of one of the poorest countries in the world, very vulnerable to natural disasters.

Video catches boss that wanted to fire – Bakery in Machico filmed employee suspected of stealing, but the video didn’t serve as proof and the management even incurred expenses.

Moisés opened presents sent to employees – The president of Santana [council] took care of the Christmas presents and opened them in front of everybody, with the names of the benefactors. Bottles and cheeses were kept for the office Xmas party. Moisés diverts the presents for employees to the council. Bottles, cheeses, liquors, wines, chocolates and watches were kept. Not everybody was happy. The new president of Santana Câmara never ceases to surprise. This time, after the office Xmas lunch held in the school canteen in Porto da Cruz, the boss ordered all Christmas gifts to be received at work to be taken directly to his office. And it wasn’t just the employees, with bosses, politicians / councillors also told to fall-in-line, with the spoils claimed as property of the treasury. Rui Moisés confirmed to the Diário that he had taken the action … "I respect everything that is personal. However, from the time the delivery is made in the council it ceases to belong the individual", justifies the president to explain the his position, not withstanding that the move has a questionable nature. Some of the bottles (costing in excess of €30 each) were drank at the staff gathering, but the rest of the goodies were retained. It has been suggested that things like the watches be auctioned, but Moisés guarantees that they will serve as ‘offerings’ in official functions. Since he was elected last October and took up his post, PSD politician Rui has made waves throughout his constituency, with staff, locals, local businesses, and even his predecessor, and since then has probably made the front page more times than Uncle Bertie himself. But is he the real thing we ask? Is he a PSD politician determined to crack down on corruption and special favours, as Portugal portrays as an urgent priority, or are there ulterior motives more in line with what we are accustomed to in the Socialist Democrats of Madeira? Will there be a man with a boné and dark glasses with a stall at the nearby Sunday market selling certain goods this weekend I wonder? I would like to think that his motives are genuine, but I think we need to give this a few more months, or even years, before concluding that someone has broke that stereotypical image we all know so well.

Today’s main news headline : Strike and lack of vaccines threaten to make matters worse in health – The ventilators [breathing aids] arrive at the end of the month, guarantees the company that won the public tender process. But the vaccines for Gripe A have run out again. And the nurses foresee more disruption during the three day strike.

Jardim keeps quiet over Regional Finance Law and State Budget – But he praised the stance taken by the CDS / PP, MPT, and PCP over the Regional Finance Law.

The main sport / football headline today : Nacional draw and stay with one foot out of the [next phase] of the League Cup – The ‘Alvinegros’ now depend on the results of others to progress to the next stage. With just one point from their first two group games after a 1 – 1 away draw yesterday, Nacional are bottom of their group, with a tough game remaining against Guimarães on Madeira.

‘Chapéu da Esperança’ [Hat of Hope] delivers donation of €5,000 to charitable institutions. I have no time to read the article this morning due to a rare foray into Funchal, but I hope that this annual fund raising event managed more than €5,000, with all the effort put in. It must cost so much more than €5k just to organise. It all seems a waste of effort when you compare with the €45 million of taxpayers money given to Marítimo to redevelop its stadium. And yes I am getting repetitive.

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.

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’

Electricity prices rise ; New year for the young ; Christmas supplement ; and news stories

admin — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Eiryl … Xmas scene from Câmara de Lobos (pt 2).

"The airport was opened on 18 July 1964 with two 1,600m runways. The airport was once infamous for its short runway which, surrounded by high mountains and the ocean, made it a tricky landing for even the most experienced of pilots. The original runway was only 1600 metres in length, but was extended by 200 metres 8 years after the TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 incident of 1977 and subsequently rebuilt in 2000, almost doubling the size of the runway, building it out over the ocean. Instead of using landfill, the extension was built on a series of 180 columns, each being about 70m tall. This airport is also considered the Kai Tak of Europe because of its singular approach to runway 05". MADEIRA AIRPORT ARTICLE

The Diário de Notícias newspaper has published a Christmas colour supplement if anyone would like a browse through it’s online HERE with lots of photos.

The charges for electricity are going to rise by 2.9 percent in 2010 in continental Portugal, the equivalent of a €3 increase for an average bill of €40. In Madeira the increase is of 2.5 percent and in the Azores of 2.1 percent. PORTUGAL NEWS Well of course you already knew, you always hear it here first!

Nothing to do after the new year’s eve celebrations? This might appeal to the younger ones, and might offend the older ones …

Most Levada walks are difficult for anybody with the slightest fear of heights; so when reading about a short walk described as ‘easy’ and ‘flat’ it already had sounded interesting . A short ride on a local bus up to the Palheiro Gardens (Blandy’s gardens) where you can enjoy the peaceful surroundings of what must be a beautiful garden at the height of summer, a little short on colour in December but still interesting. A short walk, approximately 45 minutes to the renowned Jasmine teahouse; once there you can have a refreshing cuppa before catching the bus (conveniently the stop is just outside the tea house) back to Funchal. Funchal Really Easy levada walking

"Higdon Life in Madeira: Jardim do Mar, Madeira Island, Portugal: We live a simple life on the beautiful island of Madeira off the coast of Morocco. We have three beautiful children that God has blessed us with-Kaija, Mikkai and Adelei!" Never post anything private about Madeira on the web … I will find it! HIGDON FAMILY JIG

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

(There is no newspaper today, as I guess the reporters all had yesterday off … what a luxury, and yesterday’s newspaper just had a handful of stories, some already covered here a couple of days ago).

Rock fall forces family from home. The car was buried inside the garage, and the house damaged, early on Christmas morning in sítio do Calvário, in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos. There were 5 people in the house when it was stuck at about 1.30 am yesterday morning, but all escaped uninjured. The fire brigade attended, but there was little they could do, so the matter is now in the hands of the council to clean up and secure the location from further problems. Also up until early yesterday morning the fire departments were called to Funchal, Tâmega (Ribeira Brava), Fontaínhas and to Quinta Grande to deal with trees that had fallen into the roads. At Levada dos Piornais a wall collapsed. Somehow I suspect there must be many more stories of problems than just the few cited here, but everyone deserves a day off, so bad luck for the firemen as well as for those badly affected.

Expense with unemployment benefit soars – Compared to 2008, this year obliged Social Security to spend 40% more on benefits. With unemployment up around 50% in the same twelve months, they did well to keep the increase in expenditure down to 40% in my opinion. The article is full of facts and figures, but luckily for me the Diário also published them in a table, saving me some work.

Yesterday’s main news headline and with most of the front page with a great big picture of a Santa statue : Bring back the good old times [?] – The period of celebrations has been marked by storms and damage. And the forecasts for the next few hours are not the best. But there are compensations that help to fuel the dream and to maintain the tradition.

Footballers : Living Christmas in the traineeship – Christmas dinner in the home of Cléber. A bit of a space filler methinks. The story looks at three 18 year old apprentices from Nacional football club of Madeira, who are spending their first Christmas away from home. Their normal home these days is in the athlete’s accommodation at the Choupana Stadium. Everyone else has returned home for Xmas, but these 3 Brazilians stayed on Madeira, using the time to play computer games and play snooker, because it would take too long to return to Brazil with just a short break ahead of them.

At the moment I can’t get into any other online stories, but may try again later.

If anyone else can oblige with any other news stories, Thank you in anticipation.

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’

Presepios hit Jersey ; What they drank in Copenhagen ; 4,200 toys for children in need

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Eiryl … Xmas scene from Câmara de Lobos

The Jersey Evening Post reports that traditions travel : Mr De Sousa said: ‘Last year I created something like this in Madeira where this sort of thing is typical. I think that this is the best thing for Christmas as you need more than just a tree to mark the occasion. We have even had one class of schoolchildren come and visit. They all took a picture and said how wonderful it was. People just love it and I am very happy to see them so excited.’ No room at the inn … but there’s space in the garage

What do you put on the dinner table at a climate conference? The answer: you make sure that the carbon footprint is low. Indeed, key ingredients for the royal banquet placed the emphasis on locally-sourced products rather than exotic materials flown in from afar … Madere Hors d’Age. Madeira is a fortified wine made in the Madeira Islands, which belong to Portugal. The wine is produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry to sweet wines. The islands of Madeira have a long wine making history dating back to the days when Madeira was a standard port of call for ships heading to the New World or the East Indies. To prevent the wine from spoiling, neutral grape spirit was added. On the long sea voyages, the wines would be exposed to excessive heat and movement which transformed the flavor of the wine as the wine producers of Madeira found out when an unsold shipment of wine returned to the islands after a round trip. Today, Madeira is noted for its unique wine making process which involves heating the wine up for an extended period of time and deliberately exposing the wine to some levels of oxidation. Judging from the outcome of the conference in Copenhagen, Madeira Wine also doesn’t reach the parts that other wines don’t reach. Madere Hors d’Age on the menu

Anyone thinking of checking in on the blog tomorrow, I can’t promise anything. I worked the last two Christmases, and the blog had as many visitors as any other day, but us bloggers need a few hours off now and again, as I said I can’t promise anything. I will make a posting I will prepare later, perhaps just a photo to start with, and we can see what happens from there. You can leave an Xmas message, a humorous one if you like, or whatever you fancy.

More than four thousand toys for needy children – Success of the campaign ‘Brinquedão’ is a result of the solidarity of the Madeirans. The collections centred in the Madeira Forum will result in 4,200 books and toys being given to children in institutions within Madeira’s social support network. The donations are both new and used, and were given in the build up to Christmas. The campaign almost doubled what was collected last year. The Foundation D. Jacinta Pereira de Ornelas and the Movimento de Apoio à Criança (Child Support Movement) are the beneficiaries of the initiative.

Crude oil slick sighted on the North of the island – A Navy ship was sent to the scene. The Navy is at the scene to measure the extent of the slick and collect samples for analysis.

Madeira is the main destination for the Portuguese during Christmas and through the new year – Crisis impedes a general increase in the end-of-year travel sales. The effects of the economic crisis are still making themselves felt, and the Portuguese are not spending much on travel during the festive season, although sales are expected to be close to the level registered in 2008. The travel agents are not suffering (financial?) losses compared to 2008, but any improvements are few and reduced (in value?). According to the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (APAVT), sales of travel this year have fallen around 15%. Aside from the crisis, Gripe A concerns have taken their toll. APAVT data indicates that there is a growing demand for domestic destinations, at the cost of some travel locations abroad, and that Madeira is the clear favourite. The rise in the number of Portuguese holidaying on Madeira has really been a blessing this year, and I hate to think what the 13,500 unemployment figure would have been like if this hadn’t been the case. And that wouldn’t have happened without the general reduction in the price and additional availability of flying options between Portugal and Madeira. The politicians and airlines that made it possible for sure had other motives in their involvement, but even so they have unwittingly saved Madeira (so far) from a far worse economic crisis than the bad one we are currently facing.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias, absolutely loads of them :

People defy the bad weather and come down to Market Night – The rain came at the time of the interval yesterday at the start of the night. The people took advantage. (hope that makes sense, as it doesn’t to me). I saw some coverage on the 9 pm local news last night, and quite a few people were milling around, but not too many smiling it seemed. Less people attended than usual, a fact confirmed by the fact there was less rubbish to clear up this morning. The clean up team was organised by the council to start work at 5.30 this morning in the Market Night vicinity. The counsellor in charge of the clean-up, Henrique Costa Neves, commented that "there could have been a little more civility", because the garbage ended up outside the catchment area and to some extent all over the city. Well of course he is right, and whilst I have no idea whether there were adequate rubbish bins spread around, he is being a bit of a humbug. Of course people make a mess, but when their behaviour is influenced by alcohol into the early hours of the morning, things can get even messier. Who supports the event, who issues licences to the sellers (who originate the rubbish), and who issues licences to those who sell the booze? … Funchal Council of course. Sr. Neves didn’t create the rubbish, but his council facilitated it!

Today’s main news headline : Nurses expose environment of terror – The president of the Order [of Nurses] say there there is a concerted action coming from the highest level to hide the problems in the health Service. The expulsion of the head of nursing at Santo António is an example of the "climate of fear and persecution". "There is a concerted action at the highest level of the hierarchy of the Health Service with the aim of silencing the more assertive voices, or silencing those who are closer to the users and that know the problems and needs". The complaint is made by Élvio Jesus, president of the Order of Nurses, who speaks of the existence of a "climate of fear and persecution" in order to silence those who know from the inside, what goes wrong in the health system of Madeira. This ‘climate of fear’ shows in the removal of the head nurse at the Health Centre of Santo António, who blew the whistle on doctors and politicians getting friends and families vaccinated quicker against Gripe A, but also has deeper consequences. Nothing new here … it is reported frequently that the Health Service is run in the fashion that Uncle Bertie runs the government, and that the government runs Madeira. Even the Regional Health Secretary opts to keep quiet on the matter. Anyone attempting to speak out about a wrong is told to shut up, and probably threatened with some sort of big bertie stick if not.

The main photo today continues the weather theme of most of the last week, and shows a road and supporting wall which has half collapsed into a river, and looks like it will be very expensive to repair. Storm continues its destruction and the spread of chaos – In São Vicente, isolated locations and houses are at risk of collapse.

Santana : 4 parishes (freguesias) without drinking water.

Torrent bursts through promenades at Faial and Madalena.

Santa Cruz : fall of trees damages houses and cars.

Floods and rock falls in Funchal and in Curral [Valley of the Nuns].

Mistakes cost more than €300,000 in a laboratory construction – Further works to will worsen the cost of the Veterinary Laboratory.

Elaine (west) has kindly covered some of the above bad weather stories … many thanks.

Bad weather devastates São Vicente – "The pig was drowned in the pen, the chickens and the dogs died". Most of the inhabitants of São Vicente woke up joyless, others with no desire to live. There were many tears shed throughout the day yesterday, particularly in sites of Rosário, Ginjas and Ribeira Grande, where the storm’s trail of destruction left a family homeless and several homes at risk of collapse. A desolate scene. The uplands of Rosário and Ribeira Grande were the worst affected, and there was panic to take care of several families. There was criticism of the lack of cleanliness of streams and of discharge of waste. The family of Leonitina Camacho was until yesterday afternoon the only one to be relocated. The water rose through the river bed destroying part of the house. A few meters from the entrance gate, the Vargem de Cima road was literally ‘bitten off’ by the current. "There was despair. No one got any sleep all night," she reported, her nerves still on edge. Nearby, Helena Silva was in tears as she tried to protect her husband’s car. "In another 10 minutes the river could sweep the car away.” Below, on the other side of the river lives Luciano Gomes. He is paraplegic and saw the water steal the few belongings he had. He told the Diário that all he had was some clothes and his wheelchair. "I have nothing left," he said. Waiting for the weather to improve was a group of men, all in their 30s. All knew that the weather report indicated more rain and more wind for a second night. José Manuel Rui Camacho had almost lost his cars. "The water nearly dragged them over the bridge. I had to tie them with rope otherwise they would have been in the river below," he said.

In Ginjas the picture, though bleak, does not compare to the neighbouring village. Fatima Lira lamented the loss of property and animals. "The pig is drowned in the pigsty. The chickens died, and the dogs," she weeps. In the village, the morning also brought the discovery of the damage. In the Galleon Trade Centre. Gabriel Cunha has not yet worked out the cost of the damage to his store. "It certainly exceeds 5,000 Euros," he estimated. The insurance policy provides cover the damage, but the construction of the pavement had facilitated the entry of water into his premises. However, another trader, Tomas Jesus, does not have insurance to cover his flooding totalling 2,500-3,000 Euros. Both lamented the loss of stock at a time when things are difficult. Ribeira Grande is causing greatest concern to the authorities. 50 residents are at serious risk. Cláudia Silva (21) could not get home. "I finished work at 10 pm and when I got here (on the bridge of Ribeira Grande) I saw that I couldn’t even get home on foot", she said. For 20 hours she tried to contact her father who was not at home. Then the phones died. "There was no phone connection, no way to travel on the roads, and no electricity. We were totally isolated from the rest of the world.” In the town the damage is enormous. In the worst case the water was up to the roof of a garage. Farmers were left without their plots of land. In the village of São Vicente the supporting walls of the chapel (built in 1694) were battered by the sea. The storm spared the religious monument. Above, the expressway between the roundabout and Loural Fire Station is closed.

PP Peoples Party presents in São Bento [Lisbon Parliament] law to share out advertising.

‘Lobo Marinho’ returned to stay in Funchal. Commander of the ship predicts the next journey to Porto Santo will be on Saturday. Rough seas make docking impossible at Porto Santo, so the ferry returned to Funchal this Thursday morning. The first flights out today from Madeira went as planned, although a flight from Frankfurt had to stay airborne for a while until there was an improvement in weather conditions. The airport management company predicts that there will be some delays.

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 Thank you in anticipation.

Oh what bliss it was to sleep through the night last night without the mega-bangers at 5 am, 6 am, and 7 am for the Missa do Parto. I ended up sleeping through to 9.30 am undisturbed, and today was a day I really wanted to get up early, and now I am all behind. 9 days of just 3 or 4 hours sleep has taken it’s toll, and I am knackered, although from the comments the last few days it seems that many people are having a less than desirable run up to Christmas. A friend of mine coming from Ireland via England to stay over Xmas was supposed to have arrived Wednesday. His flight was cancelled, and he has had to stay in hotels and rebook a flight with another airline for tomorrow at a different airport (250 km away) because of weather problems in the UK. When he rang to tell me about the delays, I reluctantly told him of the weather problems at this end and the impact on flights, and he was none too pleased. If I can keep my eyes open long enough, I am really looking forward to tonight, as town will come to live after about 12.30 am, after the Missa do Galo has finished in the local church, but the feeling is locally that even if the rain holds off, many people will head home early and town will close much earlier than it normally does. It seems strange that the Missa do Galo (cock / rooster) is at midnight, as that would be the more apt name for the 9 early morning services. It was bedlam in the local Pingo Doce this morning, but I am glad I got there reasonably early, failing to find just potatoes, although they did have some really expensive ones.

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’

State denies debts to councils ; Tree preservation plan ; 12 tips for a ‘green’ Christmas

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Martin L. … Porto Moniz

" … And an organizational disaster. It took us 1,5 hours to finally leave the ship and they extended the already short stay therefore for 0,5 hours. That was the worst of a long line of going ashore problems we faced. Don’t think that only because it says being at a port from 10 to 17 actually means you got that time". CRUISE PASSENGERS BLOG

"Funchal is another hillside town on the ocean. It has about 150,000 inhabitants and is another quaint town where tourism is the number one industry. Unfortunately, we were docking in Funchal on Sunday so a bunch of the attractions, such as the Madeira wineries, were closed. Enough of the tourist souvenir shops were open that we were able to get some shopping done". YET ANOTHER CRUISE PASSENGERS BLOG

"The island of Madeira has an oceanic microclimate with the warm Gulf Stream passing through the islands and offers year round warm waters to swim in. The capital town of Funchal is picture perfectly set in the bay and is home to the majority of 300,000 population". It’s about Madeira Wine, but quite well written, and worth a visit. DID WE HAVE A POPULATION EXPLOSION LAST NIGHT?

"Woman who battled cancer by embarking on string of adventures plunges 100m to her death from cliff". An update on the death of Ruth Holdway who fell to her death whilst out walking on Madeira. UK DAILY MAIL

Portuguese Ministry of Finance denies owing any money to local authorities in autonomous regions. Portuguese Finance Minister Teixeira dos Santos has denied that the State owed 15 million Euros to the local authorities of the Azores and Madeira. However, local authorities said that the State owes 5 million Euros to the Azores, and €8 million to Madeira in IRS revenues. Azores and Madeira local authorities voiced their complaints this weekend during the National of Associations of Municipalities which was attended by Prime Minister José Socrates. RTP AZORES

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

West Zone not celebrating New Year’s Eve. The amusement park Giga Park is the exception on the evening of New Year’s Eve. The amusement park in Ponta do Sol is the only official attraction for the night of New Year’s Eve in the counties west of Funchal. From Câmara de Lobos to Calheta, passing logically through Ribeira Brava, there will be no party to commemorate the passing of the year, with the exception of Ponta do Sol, which this year hosts the Giga Park Christmas fair, which on this long night is open until at least five in the morning. Here lies the only lure that will attract the attention of thousands of Madeirans in what for many is the longest night of the year. Moreover there will be no more proposals for animation because it its understood that Funchal is itself an attraction impossible to dethrone on the magical end of year night. In Câmara de Lobos, due to the proximity of the ‘capital’, a bet on staging a New Year Eve’s Party is risking an expected failure, since the well-held tradition focuses on the centre of Funchal and surroundings. Yet the bars in the old zone of Câmara de Lobos will be open until dawn, thus providing an alternative for those looking to escape the crowded fun areas of Funchal. The nearby Ribeira Brava this year has nothing to offer. After several years of promoting a musical show at the sea front in the early hours of the morning of the first day of the year, which almost always showed low compliance, the Council decided not to continue with an event that a priori was doomed to poor participation. Hence, the arrival of the new year will have no cause for celebration in this county, mainly because of the strong competition that focuses attention both on the capital city or in nearby Ponta do Sol. Ponta do Sol this year is placed on the ‘map’ of options for fun because of the Christmas fair there. The relative proximity to Funchal (20/25 minutes) and the privileged access to the main road – one minute to the expressway – and the large parking capacity (3,000 places) around the Giga Park, are factors that promise to heavily influence not only the residents in the area southwest of the island, but also from other parts. In the extreme, Calheta, also has a night without a party. A reality that also reflects the fact that the only nightclub in the ‘West Point’, the Art Caffe, closes its doors, transferring itself to Funchal on this night of the reveillon.

Christmas only for the great. Political Christmas party rivalry. With three elections this year, the smallest parties have no funds for gatherings. The PSD and the PS will have large celebrations in Madeira Tecnopolo. The PCP (Communists) have never held dinners at this time and the funds will be spent on their convention in February. The MPT (Earth Party) also have insufficient funds. Of the three large parties, only the CDS-PP have a different choice of location for the Christmas dinner; 200 met yesterday in a restaurant in Encumeada. Last year, there were over 1,500 PSD members in the Tecnopolo and this year, the organizers expect a similar number. It will be at 20.00 on 12 December. With the usual protocol, the regional leader, Alberto Jardim, will open the official speeches before the dinner. The Socialists expect a more ambitious gathering than last year when there were 800 at the meal. This year, they expect 1,200 to 1,400 at Tecnopolo. This is scheduled for December 19 at 19.30, with a speech by the party leader João Carlos Gouveia. On 20 December, the Socialists Funchal branch will also hold a Christmas party for children belonging to the militants.

Credit growing in the festive season. It is normal for this season: closer it is to Christmas the use of credit increases considerably. The manager of Radio Popular in Cancela said that the main sales were in Forum Madeira but he expected a ‘flood’ in the days before Christmas. "Taking into account the experience of previous years, people all come at the same time: it is a massive demand." People of all ages now use credit cards, even the older population. FNAC expect the most sales in the middle of the month and normally the cards provided by the shops are linked to reductions, in the case of FNAC there is a 10% reduction on purchases on ‘days adherent’. —- Other recent articles about Christmas shopping, especially in smaller shops in the centre of Funchal, have been very negative with shopkeepers complaining that people are just looking and not spending.

Câmara de Lobos lights up tonight. In Câmara de Lobos, they maintain the tradition of the official opening of the Christmas celebrations on the public holiday assigned to today. In ‘baixa’, the House of Father Christmas at the entrance to the city is the ‘card’ for the visitor. A traditional nativity scene is by the Municipal Market. In the vicinity of the Town Hall, at the entrance to Avenida da Nova Cidade, the garden is decorated with a large nativity scene with a background of the traditional houses of Santana. Other areas for excellent decorations are the churches where the presepios and lapinhas have been authentically constructed.

Reveillon marks the ‘Day of the City’ of Santana. Santana begins to celebrate the 9th anniversary of the elevation of the village to a city from New Year’s Eve onwards. From Friday, the services of the municipality will begin to collect subscriptions to join the mega-gala dinner. There will be a meal and musical concert in a tent next to the City Hall. The mayor states that you can still go to Funchal to see the fireworks and return in time, as the celebrations will go on well into the night.

Funchal advance in 2010 with classification of trees. The inventory ‘Trees in the Public Interest’ will be advanced in 2010 to include the classification of nearly 30 trees of this genus. The law gives preservation status to these trees. These are iconic or monumental trees and are classified according to size, age and rarity. The most impressive examples are to be found in parks, forests, churchyards, public and private gardens, quintas and public squares. Once classified, the trees have a protection area which has a perimeter with a 50 metre radius from the base. The tree cannot be cut or pruned without prior authorization by the Forestry Authority and maintenance work has to be carried out with their technical guidance. The trees are measured every ten years to monitor their growth to try to prevent their decrepitude. Trees can also be classified for purposes of tourism or environmental education, if asked for by either the land owners, members of the public or authorities. The survey of monumental and emblematic trees was carried out in 1985 and updated in 2008, which is awaiting ratification. The Nucleo de Dragoeiros at Neves is about the only area where there is a Centre of protected trees, the dragon tree (dracaena draco) is slow growing taking 10 years to reach about 2 to 3 metres. The Regional Directorate of Forestry have edited a book on monumental and iconic trees. In addition to protected species such as the lauraceaes, the laurissilva in nature reserves, there is no progress in the protection of individual examples.There are many sites on the island to be looked at.

Fire at Panteada Market. Fire broke out early on Tuesday morning at Panteada Market in Sao Roque, causing extensive damage to 12 fruit and vegetable stalls. The warning was given at 07.07 and two emergency fire vehicles and two ambulances went to the site, manned by 15 men. The firemen wearing breathing apparatus broke down the corrugated zinc door and roof to extinguish the flames and allow the smoke to escape. It is thought that a short-circuit causing overheating of Christmas lights started the fire. After the investigation, the debris can now be cleared away and the losses which are huge are still being evaluated by the stall holders.

Revenue in 2009 does not depend on authorization of the State. With or without the ‘redistributive’ budget approval in the Assembly of the Republic, Madeira will operationalize the €230 million revenue in the budget for this year as ‘financial liabilities’. The redistributive budget and the revision of the Law of Regional Finances are to be voted on in Lisbon on Friday. These two documents represent many millions of Euros to Madeira. Due to falling revenues and the current expenditure, there is a shortfall of 100 million Euros. The budget has a limit of 5 million Euros but Madeira wants a loan of 129 million Euros approved, arguing that this is much lower than if the amount of debt allowed was in direct proportion to the indebtedness of Portugal. As for the Law of Regional Finances, if the proposed amendments are approved for calculating the money that should have been transferred from the State over recent years, 111 million should be returned to Madeira. It is thought that the Socialist Party in Portugal will approve the new debt limit but the fact that Teixeira dos Santos did not include the Regional Government proposed amendments in the State Budget is worrying. Garces Ventura believes he can find some other way to ensure the budget revenue. Rather than go to the banks to seek authorization to pay off loans and short-term borrowing, the Government will go to funding sources that do not count towards the debt. This will include a new small loan. The vice-president of the Regional Government said that the State is obliged to pay the health and educational costs in the Region but it has not paid a third of what has been spent.

Quercus 12 tips for a greener Christmas. The Association for Nature Conservation has 12 tips to reduce waste which increases each year. Greeting cards should be via electronic mail. This is cheaper and reduces the use of paper and producing waste. If this is not possible, use recycled paper and reusable envelopes, or make your own using recycled paper. Offer any excess used toys to other children. Buy useful gifts which will not just be thrown away. Use rechargeable batteries. Re-use wrapping paper from gifts from last Christmas and birthday presents. Make use of Christmas tree ornaments from last year and buy artificial trees. If buying a real Christmas tree, make sure it is from authorized forest thinning and ask the Town Hall to collect it after Christmas. Buy longer-lasting higher quality items. Buy books printed on recycled paper. Do not eat in excess and cook at home rather than eat pre-packed foods. Consume drinks in reusable containers and use returnable bottles. Recycle packaging and use the waste bottle, card and plastic banks. Use energy-efficient lighting and appliances and have old appliances recycled. Use public transport whenever possible.

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

Funchal Council have €200,000 to restore the market that burned – The fire damaged 12 stalls in Penteada. There are in fact only 12 stalls or stands there, and all were damaged to some extent. Elaine has already covered the story above. There will be another 12 pretty unhappy families on Madeira this Christmas, as a chunk of prime selling time passes them by. Maybe the €200,000 recovery budget will compensate them, but things don’t generally work like that here.

PSP Police promise ‘zero tolerance’ during Christmas. There will be no ‘Christmas spirit’ as far as our police forces are concerned, and although they are sensitive to the festive season, the law will be upheld to the ultimate degree. The police chief said that his priority is to ensure the safety of the population, and as such there will be no slack for driving offences or other infractions, and checks will be reinforced.

People already infected by Gripe A swine flu advise calm. ‘Calm is the best remedy for H1N1′. 3 people of different ages tell of their experiences as victims of the the Gripe A virus, and they all talk of the importance of following the recommendations of the authorities. The total number of victims has risen to nearly 400, and there have been two deaths to date, but these were people with other medical problems. The advice given is to quarantine yourself for 7 days, and in most cases one can then return to a normal life.

Today’s main news headline : There are less Madeirans travelling by plane. The liberalisation of the airways doesn’t appeal to residents despite of the fares having fallen by 40% and the travel subsidy. Compared to the previous system, there are 100,000 less benefiting from the public assistance. The state saves 15.5 million Euros. The numbers are undeniable, in the first 11 months of this year only 117,513 journeys by the residents of Madeira benefited from the €60 subsidy, support from the state for air travel. Surprising really, as an early bargain booking combined with the subsidy would cost less for many than the journey to the airport at Santa Cruz. Money spent that could probably easily be saved on Christmas shopping in Lisbon or even Porto.

Rui Moisés renegotiates previous contracts – The councillor runs a fine tooth comb through the council of Santana. Practically all of the negotiations of the previous president, Carlos Pereira, have been reviewed and renegotiated by the new president Rui Moisés. Loans, debts to suppliers, and public contracts are all being reviewed, and the new man has publically appealed to all the companies involved to show understanding. Moisés says the move is to meet budget cuts of €100,000 imposed by the government of Portugal through failing to transfer 5% of tax revenues. Discussions between the regional and central government seem to be going nowhere, so it may be that we see the other câmaras doing the same exercise now that Moisés has very publically set a good example, and as all councils face the same problem. I suppose most people will see it as a more palatable option than increases in council tax, but I do wonder if there is a little bit of an attempt in this to embarrass an already embarrassed outgoing president, who has already been undeservedly kicked in the teeth enough times by Uncle Bertie and pals.

In Gaula, councillors challenge puzzling work of the Regional Government.

In football : Portuguese great in the ‘Champions’ – Ronaldo scored two more, FC Porto thrash Atletico. Madeiran Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice for Real Madrid away at Marseille (1 – 3). Porto won away (0 – 3) at Atletico Madrid. Both teams qualify with ease for the knockout stages of the Champions league.

Another story that caught my eye, but away from the front page, was about a drunk cyclist arrested for hitting and damaging a parked car in Santa Cruz. The man was cycling with over 2 g/l of alcohol in his blood on Sunday night. It is an unusual case, as the cyclist clearly has no insurance for road accidents, and the police have had to take on the role of mediator between the cyclist and the owner of the car. The highway rules specifies that the man committed a crime by drink-cycling, and he will have to appear in court. What the penalty will be I have no idea, but unlike a car driver, it can hardly be anything that will prevent him doing the same thing again.

That’s all I have time for. If anyone else can oblige with any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines or other news stories, here is the link

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.

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to 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’

Celebrity Solstice premiers ; The impacts of Chinese businesses ; Dumps on Porto Santo

admin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Derek … Queimadas thatched Madeiran house.

‘Funchal Daily Photo’ had a photo yesterday of the Google camera car making its way through Funchal, capturing images for ‘Street View’. HERE

Anyone thinking of a late break to Madeira, coming from Scotland, might want to check out these hotel deals on the airline website. Some very cheap deals for sure, especially if you can travel today or next week, or even straight after new year. FLYGLOBESPAN

Martin L sent me this photo from a slightly familiar looking venue, with the caption ‘Uncle Bertie has a part time job?‘. Any other suggestions?

It’s a public holiday tomorrow for the ‘Immaculate Conception’, and the final traditional street festival of the year. I shall be making a visit to my very local one and making the most of it tonight, as it’s a long wait to the next one.

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

Premier visit of the Celebrity Solstice. The cruise ship the Celebrity Solstice has her first visit to the region today at 9 am. The ship arrived from Cartagena and the visit is part of a transatlantic repositioning cruise to its final destination of the Caribbean. The 2,594 tourists on board are mainly American (1,771). Traditional welcoming ceremony of exchange of gifts with the Captain, water jets and entities of the authorities and Ship Enthusiasts Club. This is a relatively new ship built in 2008 and can accommodate 2,850 tourists with a crew of 1,250. This year, Madeira has received 11 inaugural visits by cruise ships and there will be two more this year, the Azamara Journey and the MSC Magnifica on the 8 and 14 December, respectively.

ACIM discuss the actual impacts of the ‘rising sun’ trade. On Wednesday in Porto Santo, the Commerce and Industrial Association will discuss the impact of the entry of the Chinese traders into the region. The aim of the conference is to clarify the opinions of the public and traders of the impact of the proliferation of Chinese shops in the region. Traditional business is threatened and the price payable by the local residents will be in ruin and social imbalance. The conference also aims to dispel taboos around the advantages of Chinese trade.

Police target five illegal dumps in Porto Santo. Five unlicensed rubbish tips were found in Porto Santo on Friday in a joint environmental monitoring operation by the police, Forestry Police and the local authority. The first part of the operation focused on prevention and the police went to several auto repair shops to inform the owners about the effect of toxic waste; oils, tyres, vehicle and body parts. The second phase was enforcement action and five sites were detected but locations have not been revealed. Reports for prosecution purposes will go to the Directorate for the Environment and the Municipality of Porto Santo.

Venezuelan cuisine fair. Occurring at Fajã do Penedo in Boaventura, 5 and 6 December. This is the fourth year and this year there are two stands where traditional Venezuelan dishes will be cooked. There are also ten pavilions with regional flavours; carne de vinho e alhos, soup, poncha, broas, bolos-de-mel and others. Also, traditional Madeiran entertainment. —- Notice a bit late in Diário. According to the websites of the Casas do Povo in the area, a lot of food fairs and cultural activities during the year.

Market Night in Câmara de Lobos. Tuesday 22 December at the Municipal Market. Usually attended by thousands of locals and visitors to relive the Christmas traditions. Variety of entertainment from philharmonic bands, folklore and carol singing to modern music. In parallel, there will be the Christmas Craft Fair in the same area.

Farmer’s Market holds Sexy New Year Eve’s Party. The party at the Farmer’s Market in Funchal will have two separate areas for different audiences with separate access. The entrance to the ‘VIP Area’ will be at the entrance to the Market with a red carpet in front. The exterior and interior walls will be painted red and iced Madeira Wine with lemon will be served at the door. This area is for personalities from the media and famous people have been invited. Entrance fee 15 Euros. A second zone with the entrance south of the fish market has a 10 Euros entrance fee. The musical selection of DJ Nelio Fabricio and the dual Sexy DJs will play from 1 am until 3 am. There will be four bars, two in each area and a ‘coffee break’ service. Powerful lighting and sound system and led curtains. Tickets soon on sale at the kiosks at the Yacht Bar Marina.

Santa Claus does not give kisses to children and washes his hands every hour. Santa Claus hides a different gift in his bag this year: an influenza A kit. In the shopping centres, he is forbidden to give kisses to children, instead he must blow kisses through the air, shake hands and make bows. Dozens of Santa Clauses are working in the 13 shopping centres of Sonae Sierra in Portugal, hired by the firm Bee Action. All players have had special training from a drama teacher on the character role. If they feel unwell, they are automatically replaced as 36 people have been hired to fill this role. They also disinfect surrounding surfaces hourly.

Trade is strengthened against assaults. The Christmas season is synonymous with an increased volume of sales in shops but also more theft and robbery. Small and medium businesses cannot afford to hire security guards, alarm systems and video surveillance cameras. Instead it is down to employees to be more vigilant in response to an increased number of shoppers. The culprits blamed are the toxicodependents and an increased number of unemployed, often to support their family. The police respond by more officers on the streets and in Operation Christmas last year, there were 41 per day in Funchal centre.

PSP in force in downtown Funchal. For twelve consecutive hours on Saturday night / Sunday morning, 66 police officers surrounded the main streets of downtown Funchal in a Special Crime Prevention Operation. A total of 672 vehicles were stopped, 262 drivers breathalysed and speeds monitored. 32 were arrested for driving offences and driving under the influence of alcohol, 16 were identified and 2 sticks of wood seized.

Expansion of Tecnopolo stopped by Arabic crisis. Expansion of the Science and Technology park in Panteada postponed without date. Announced with pomp and ceremony in June 2005 that the second development phase of the Science and Technology Park would feature a multinational Arab group, the Tricon Group. The project is now stagnant because the economic crisis affects the investors. The area reserved for the expansion is on the left and right margins of Ribeira de São João and the only development has been a new access road. The development company renamed itself Madeira Knowledge City (MKC) in 2006. The plans are for construction of buildings with their operation and maintenance, to support technology and business. Also themed public spaces; leisure and sports, a garden of biodiversity, a multi-purpose pavilion, a science centre, a home for the orchestra and a cable-car running throughout the length of the complex. The Government Program for the next three years is to invest 560,000, 750,000 and 500,000 Euros for the years 2010 – 2012. From 1996 to 2008, the investment has been 9.632.347 Euros. The Chairman of the Board of the Science and Technology Park answered some of Diário’s questions. They have had promotional activities to attract investors in Singapore, Northern Europe, India and the USA. They emphasize the location, climate and presence of the International Business Centre. They are focusing on other areas; interaction with research and technology departments of the University of Madeira and University of Carnegie Mellon, and tourism and energy in conjunction with the University of Madeira.

Dallas circus tent in the car park of Tecnopolo. After all, Funchal will not spend the festive season without the circus. After much controversy surrounding lack of space, the Madeira Tecnopolo was the site chosen. The circus opens at 21.30 on the 22 December and is here until 15 January. Performances held every day at 15.00, 18.00 and 20.30. The tent has a capacity for 2,000 spectators. This year the show will be more diverse with many animals, including lions, horses, ponies, pigeons, dogs, camels, macaws, parrots and cockatoos. Performances by clowns, a juggler and a ventriloquist.

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

Maurício Melim insists on the priority groups – The Health Administration is against Miguel Ferreira : The vaccines go to ‘at risk’ groups. You would need to read yesterdays main headline (on the blog), but it seems on the face of it that the two superpowers in health here are at odds on who can and who can’t get priority vaccinations against Gripe A swine flu. The vaccination plan against Gripe A will remain as before, and the president of the Institute of Health Administration (IASAÚDE) insists that the vaccine doses are only available to give to people from priority groups. In other words, pregnant women, the chronically ill, and children up to two years old. Maurício Melim understands the concern of the clinical director of the health service, Miguel Ferreira, but reminds him that the vaccination plans are specified by the Public Health authorities. Around three thousand vaccinations have already been made, and another two thousand vaccine doses are just coming available. The reality is that both men are saying that with a doctor’s recommendation, anyone can get the jab, but Melim clearly wants to play down what Ferreira said, which suggests a clear and deliberate breach of what was demanded by the Directorate General of Health.

Mega-operation leads to 32 arrests – Driving under the influence of alcohol and / or disobedience, were the causes of the arrests made Friday through Saturday in downtown Funchal by the PSP police. This is the 5th special anti-crime operation and lasted around 12 hours. Already mentioned by Elaine above, but to add that, this is the highest number of detentions ever in such an operation. The operations objectives included vehicle checks, criminal investigations, checks for weapons and explosives, and checks on private security and establishments.

Today’s main news headline : Race to retirement - Facilities granted for the choice of retirement have led to growing demand. From 2006 / 2007 to 2008 / 2009, there was a was a doubling of requests, with a corresponding increase in pensioners. * No time for me to translate this today, but what is that photo all about? I have noticed this before in newspapers, that when they are struggling for a photo of an article about people, they select a ‘stock photo’ showing people walking away from the camera. I suppose the philosophy is that every story should have an illustration, but in this case no one has any idea whether these people are the ones plumping for early retirement, and they could just be a bunch of people off to do their Xmas shopping. We have an ex-journalist who reads this blog, so maybe they can shed some light on the subject?

Câmara de Lobos prepares a budget of €45 million. *

Marítimo return to the convincing victories – At 5 – 2 Olhanense hid the difficulties experienced by the red-greens. Marítimo had a splendid 5 – 2 win against Olhanense yesterday, that takes them into 4th position in the league. Baba got a hat-trick with 3 late goals within 13 minutes, and captain Bruno, who this time last week was in bed with Gripe A swine flu, also scored.

Nacional play tonight in Leiria, Machado shows improvement. Manager of Nacional, Manuel Machado, who was on the critical list a week ago after an infection during a surgical procedure, is gradually recovering.

Paulo Franco, swimmer with Nacional sports club, beats national record. *

* For anyone with the time and urge to translate these articles, you could make a lot of people very happy. Here is the LINK

Also, yesterday the Diário did a really useful article on tax matters. It was in the printed edition at least. Too long to go into detail here, but the highlights might prove useful. As always with these matters, although I am confident in the translation, if anyone is to use the information, you should confirm your situation with your own accountant or tax advisor. This is especially important as some of the allowances or deductions have conditions attached, and some also have claim limits (some of which are shown in the article).

You can still gain with IRS (tax) – Organisation is important , despite there being only 26 days until the end of the tax year. The year end is close, but you can still organise yourself and pay less in tax to Finanças with some organisation and planning. Expenses on health, and education and training, investments in renewable energy, pensions savings plans, life and accident insurance premiums, and many other items also count as ‘deductibles’. There is no shortage of ways and tricks to make life in 2010 somewhat financially easier, and because we are at Christmas it comes to the fore the ‘spirit’ of charitable donations, that are tax deductible to 25% of the amount spent (see below). The important thing is to take into account is that the organization of documents regarding expenditure and revenue earned this year, will bring only benefits. Mainly, because if you forget to declare a receipt, you may have to pay the extra income tax, increasing the overall tax burden.

The article also list the tax bands and tax rates for 2009, that will apply to the next income tax submissions in the Spring. The rates applied range from 8% to 41%, depending on which earnings band you fall into.

Health expenses – 30% (no limit).
Interest on health loans – 30% (no limit).
Expenditure on education and rehabilitation of disabled people – 30% (no limit).
Expenditure on education and professional training – 30% (maximum 720 Euros and 135 Euros more per dependent student).
Insurance premiums rehabilitation of taxpayers, disabled or dependent – 25% (limit of 15% of collection)
Amounts spent on homes and institutions in support of old age – 25% (limit of 382.50 Euros)
Interest and amortization on debts of property acquisition, construction or improvement of property – 30% (minimum 586 Euros, plus 10% for certain categories)
Interest and amortization of debt through contracts with social housing – 30% (ditto)
Payment of rent on properties – 30% (ditto)
Charges incurred for the rehabilitation of buildings – 30% (maximum €500)
Premiums for life insurance and personal accident – 30% (limit of €64 for single taxpayers and married €128).
Insurance premiums covering only health risks – 30% (limit of €84 Euros for singles and €168 for married couples, with 42 Euros for each dependent).
Expenditure on new equipment using renewable energy or natural gas – 30% (limit of 796 Euros. Cannot be combined with deductions for buildings).
Purchase of ‘environmentally friendly’ cars – 30% (maximum 796 Euros and can not use in combination with deductions in respect of renewable energy).
Purchase of personal computers – 50% (limit of 250 Euros)
Donations to the State, Autonomous Regions and Municipalities – 25% (no limit)
Donations to other entities – 25%. Donations to churches or religious institutions 130% (limit of 15% of collection).

Source: ‘Tax Guide 2009′

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.

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’

Lisbon pressured on new hospital ; Azores think on Madeira proposals ; 75th visit award

admin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Karen … View from Pico dos Barcelos

It looks very familiar to me Karen, perhaps someone sent in a similar one? Lovely view.

"Funchal is by far among one of the prettiest places we’ve been so far on this cruise. We we docked, we look out over our balcony to see that the sun was shining and all the white buildings with the red roofs were sparkling in the sunlight". Lots of photos, and a bit of mickey taking too. CRUISERS PRIVATE BLOG

The Madeira specialists have updated or revised their website ATLANTIC HOLIDAYS

"The World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED), a World Tourism Organisation (WTO) institution, has assessed the Madeira Islands as a tourist destination based on 15 parameters". I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT’S ALL ABOUT?

This weekend’s football : Marítimo host Olhanense tomorrow at 4 pm. Nacional make the trip to Leiria on Monday with the kick-off at 8.15 pm. Neither game is televised. The game between Benfica and Académica on Sunday is on RTP at 8.15 pm.

Have a jolly good weekend!

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

Lisbon almost forced to give money for the new hospital. The possibility of the State providing capital for the construction of the new Hospital of Madeira is nearer. All because the CDS-PP delivered a draft resolution urging the Government of the Republic to regulate what the Regional Finance Law provides: "The establishment of projects of common interest between the Republic and the Regions." In the document the centrists recall that 30 months after the law is in force, the decree on these projects, which are promoted for strategic or national interest, was not elaborated and approved and impedes the Autonomous Regions to nominate projects and works for this important financial instrument. Following these rules, the Assembly of the Republic asked the opinion of the Regional Government and the Legislative Assembly. Jardim has already decided in favour of a move to proceed with these rules as soon as possible. Apart from having a view applicable to the new Central Hospital of Funchal, the reason behind this initiative of the centrists, the type of project the Regional Government would like to see the State finance is the access to the maritime station at the port of Funchal and the fishing port at Câmara de Lobos. The Regional Government asks for haste in approving the law, so that it enters into force in time for the Regions to obtain funding for projects in the next State Budget. With this political will in Madeira and the support of the opposition in Lisbon, applications for projects of common interest could soon be a reality. The classification of a project as being of community interest is subject to approval by the Government of the Republic and the Regional Government, so the final decision is down to Jose Socrates. Even if the decision is positive, little is known about the conditions of financing by State funding.

Seismic activity of magnitude 3.7 on the Richter scale felt in Madeira and Porto Santo. The Institute of Meteorology noted at 12.05 yesterday, an earthquake of magnitude 3.7 (Richter) with epicentre about 16 kilometres North of the island Deserta Grande. The intensity reached III on the Mercalli scale (from I to XII) and was felt in Machico, Santa Cruz, Caniço, Funchal and Porto Santo. There was no record of any damage and some people asked the authorities for assistance. It was the second episode in less than two months in the same area; on 23 October 2009, 2 km away, activity of magnitude 2.8 Richter or grade II/III Mercalli.

Santa Cruz launches a program for the Christmas period to promote local trade. The Municipality is launching a program from December 9 to January 13, called ‘What is ours is good!’ In an effort to boost local businesses, customers are to be rewarded for buying in the county. For every 10 Euros of purchases, the customer receives a voucher that can be entered in a tombola. The draw will take place on January 16 but the value of the prizes will not be determined until the number of traders taking part is known.

Industrial parks are full. The Business Park in Câmara de Lobos is to build 11 new units due to the high demand from regional businesses. 12 units have just opened and there are 5 in Funchal and 5 in Ponta do Sol opening early next year. By 2011, there will be a total of 50 units. The Government’s strategy has been to create infrastructure and incentives for the regional economy to maintain levels of production and income. The park has been built so that industrial units are not in urban and residential areas, and to provide better technical and working environments.

‘Casa Pretoria’ fraud in Catalonia linked to Madeira. The Casa Pretoria fraud case has its epicentre in Catalonia and is being investigated by a top Spanish judge, Baltazar Garzon. There are links with various tax havens in Andorra, Switzerland, Gibraltar, Portugal and Madeira. The case relates to crimes of conspiracy, money laundering, corruption and falsification of documents to illegally divert European Cohesion Funds. 21 people have been indicted, of which 5 are in custody. Most are businessmen or hold senior positions in Municipalities in Catalonia. Results from investigations into real estate transactions have so far detected crimes in three municipalities to the sum of 44.4 million Euros. A member of the Socialist Party of Catalonia, Luis Garcia, was the instigator of the fraud. A business close to him was awarded a development project by municipalities involved in the fraud. The money received for favours was laundered through tax havens. Money invested in tax havens was used to purchase land which was subsequently reclassified through a network of middlemen and commissioning agents.

Promoting tourism occurs without any money. Promoting tourism affected by default of 2 million. Turismo de Portugal has not transferred 800,000 Euros and 1.2 million has not been transferred from the Regional Budget to the Association of Promotion of Madeira. Out of a budget of 5 million, this is a shortfall of 40% with less than 25 days until the end of the year, resulting in defaulting. With the 4 + 1 + 1 rule: for every 1 euro private funding, add 1 euro from the regional budget and 4 Euros from Turismo de Portugal. Turismo de Portugal refused to transfer money without regional authorities doing so, and is in the process of settling the payment of the remaining 30%. This is causing distrust and contracts amended by some operators. There is unease because the Regional Government has ended the extraordinary boost in funding and although the Regional Secretary of Tourism has an increase in budget, the Promotional Association will have a 2.3% cut in funding. In addition, there is uncertainty about the Government investing in emerging markets rather than the tradition markets of the United Kingdom, Germany and France which represent 47.8% of the tourists.

Carlos César says the Azores have not yet decided to support the proposal of Madeira. The President of the Regional Government of the Azores declined today to reveal its position on the proposed revision of the Regional Finance Law presented by Madeira, as they are still evaluating the document. During the election campaign for parliamentary elections, Carlos César repeatedly supported the Azores being positively discriminated against in relation to Madeira, arguing that it is an archipelago of nine islands, which have different needs than one that has only two islands in close proximity. The president of the regional executive, who is also the leader of the PS – Azores, criticized the actions of the opposition parties on the continent as they are not in government. "The opposition says the Government has not realized that it does not have an absolute majority in the Assembly of the Republic, but the truth is that the opposition does not yet understand that it is not in government."

Tourism honours German couple. The German couple, Egon and Astrid Roes have visited 75 times. They received a certificate, bouquet of flowers and a toast of Madeira Wine. Astrid Roes said he liked much of the island and when people asked why they favoured the island, he said they liked to experiment, and the island had always something to find, even after dozen of trips.

VII Meeting of the Africans People. 7 December in the Municipal Gardens, Funchal at 20.00. Music, dancing and food. There is a small African community in the region, only about 300 Africans.

Madeira reaches EU target for education. Madeira has managed to achieve some of the goals set by the EU for the level of education for 2010, others are still being achieved. 100% of children under 5 years are in pre-school education, 87.2% attendance at school and 100% at Basic Education are learning English. The drop-out rate of 12% still needs working on. Portuguese and Mathematics results are good at year 4 but decrease at year 6 and again at year 9.

Corruption in the police? Commissioner Roberto Fernandes is the commander of the police in Funchal and also leads the Public Relations Department of the Regional Command. But his past is overshadowing his career. When sub-commissioner of Câmara de Lobos in 2004, there were two incidents involving members of his family where there are allegations of falsification of the evidence. Based on an anonymous letter, alleging abuse of power, falsification and denial of justice, the Public Ministry began an investigation. This is awaiting a court hearing. His name is not ratified in the Official Gazette, possibly due to the pending court case.

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

‘Over the top’ operation at the arrival of Lobo Marinho – PSP, GNR, SEF and public prosecutors (?) searched cars and seized drugs yesterday evening on Porto Santo. The police, national guard, border and immigration control (amongst others) got wind that something was up, and were waiting for the Porto Santo ferry as it landed at the golden island yesterday. Searches were carried out, focused on the 37 cars that were being transported, and drugs were seized. The Diário says that it was waiting for an official statement on the matter and had no more details when going to press.

Funchal Council want the Madeira Government to pay ‘freebies’ of the hotels – Touristic usefulness in question. Under regional laws new constructions (particularly hotels in Funchal) can be exempted from paying council tax, at the decision of the local authority, that being the Câmara Municipal of Funchal (CMF). A great incentive for attracting investments in tourism, and great business for those investors, but of course it all leaves a gaping hole in the CMF coffers, a hole that has to be filled with local taxes from other IMI payers in Funchal. So some bright spark in CMF proposed that these losses should be paid for by the government of Madeira, and this was voted on and accepted in a council meeting. So now CMF will be the ones who approve all plans for new ‘touristic’ investments, and the ones who give the discretionary exemption of IMI taxes, and then ask the government for reimbursement from public funds, at the cost of all the taxpayers of Madeira. Good business for Funchal for sure.

Riu ‘chain’ starts in Brazil through the hand of the Madeiran Estêvão Neves. This is a hotel chain that has decided to enter the Brazilian market, thanks to a Madeiran businessman. A bit out of scope for this blog me thinks.

Today’s top news story : Jardim switches budget of Sócrates for €100 million – The PSD national is in tune with the strategy of the president of Madeira : The ‘orange benches’ guarantee the approval of the redistributive budget if there is a guarantee that the document contemplates increased debt capacity for the region. No time for me today to do this top story today, but if someone else is willing to translate, here is the LINK

Rubbish piles degrade the roads of Porto Moniz – cans, paper, plastic, iron and even mattresses thrown on the public highways, a damaging scenario for the landscape in the district. The ‘population’ is breaking the law by dumping rubbish in areas where they shouldn’t be. An action that prejudices the attempts to attract more tourists to the area. As well as the rubbish already mentioned, there are washing machines and chairs, just dumped on the roadsides. The president of the council of Porto Moniz said he had no knowledge of such ‘tips’, but said that as soon as he was made aware he would have the areas cleaned up, and try and identify the offenders. What a disgrace! There are several photos, one even worse than this one. Some tourists will find this all quite attractive of course, more specifically the four legged disease carrying hairy kind.

… and of course the big football story : Draw pretty unfriendly for the World Cup – Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea. These teams will be the opponents of Portugal in the 2010 World Cup, that starts in June in South Africa. The draw, full of stars, decided that we play in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Durban. You heard it first on yesterday’s blog comments, with live coverage of Portugal’s fate, probably first on the internet worldwide. But what a contrived lottery it was, they might as well of picked out the four semi-finalists and not bother with the rest. And yes it was full of stars, if you can count that idiot Beckham. This is what a reporter for the UK Daily Telegraph said :

"Seriously, what is it about David Beckham? Not only did he steal the show before the 2010 World Cup draw in Cape Town, he got a ticket onto the main stage, a kiss from Charlize Theron, and then stood there smirking … they clearly love him more than ever. Becks may look like a lesbian barmaid with his new half-mowed haircut, but put him in a room with suits and cameras and strange things happen".

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’

Nacional exit Europe League ; Transport hub idea in Ribeira Brava ; SPAD appeal for food

admin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Elaine over West … I have been dreading this one, it’s been giving me bad dreams, so I will be more than happy to get it off my laptop. Der

"Rui’s case is special for another reason: he’s not from Funchal, which is a large city (100,000 people, more or less). He comes from a small village in the mountains. A very small village. When the people there (many of them his relatives, of course) found out about his interest in the gospel, the sky started falling. Threats have been made; he is no longer considered to be a part of the family; he is considered an outcast. His wife came with him Sunday, but she has serious reservations. Her Catholic upbringing is strong: the comments by her neighbors about her having anything to do with a religion "that doesn’t believe in the Virgin" makes her stop and think". TROUBLE IN THE BAPTISTS

Don found an interesting seasonal story and put it on his blog : "Dinner was taken at Baroness Conceicão’s, and the afternoon passed right merrily. During the entire day the streets of Funchal were completely deserted. The mystery of this was afterwards explained by the fact that the native population spend their Christmas by congregating in one another’s houses and eating pig". Christmas on Madeira anno 1896

If you have the time, the Travel Channel has put a 5 minute video of one of it’s programmes on it’s website. It’s all about Porto Santo, but nice, and something I hadn’t seen before. TRAVEL CHANNEL

It’s the big ‘switch on’ tonight if I am not mistaken. Well in Funchal that is, as here in Ribeira Brava they do things differently and don’t tell people when things happen. You guys in Funchal have no surprises, you know tonight is the night for thousands of Christmas lights to come to life, and you can be enchanted by the spectacle. Here the number of lights is no surprise and no great spectacle, but instead that is substituted by the heavy suspense of an unknown switching on date, and I wouldn’t swop it for anything.

Nacional last night lost their final, albeit very slim, chance to proceed in the Liga Europa after losing 4 – 1 in Germany to Werder Bremen. Rúben Micael scored for our lads, which won’t have done him any harm at all, with top club scouts supposedly present at the match to watch him. No doubt more later on from the newspaper headlines. On the subject of football, it’s the draw for the groups in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which I believe starts at around 5.15 pm, so no guessing what the Portuguese news will be full of for a couple of days, or even for a good few months. My condolences to those who dislike football … there’s always hibernation!

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

Madeira Tourism site now has end of year program in English.

CDS wants to concentrate transport in Ribeira Brava. The CDS-PP surprised the ‘new’ town council (mainly PSD and PS) at the first public meeting of the current mandate, with four proposals. One proposal is a central parking area for public transport, tourism buses and taxis which will be on a platform suspended over the bed of the river in Ribeira Brava. The idea is to make a central hub where the passenger, be it resident or tourist, can take another means of public transport to reach the desired destination. For example, a bus passenger could then take an immediate taxi to go to the outer districts. Concentration of these services instead of the current dispersion will give greater convenience to passengers. It would increase security in the bypass road where one of the lanes is currently occupied by buses, which is dangerous for other road users and pedestrians. The desired location is on the river at the old North Bridge. Faced with the impact that such a structure may have on the environment, the architects would have to find the best solution to mitigate the impact on the landscape. The Council has technicians capable of knowing how this project would fit in with the surrounding setting. Asked if this bold proposal by the party in opposition will be considered, a centrist councillor replied, "The proposals can always be accepted or not. It depends on the sensitivity of the people. But we believe that this is a valuable proposition and I think it does not hurt political sensitivities. Above all, it is in the interests of the municipality and of residents."

Two weeks without sessions. The Legislative Assembly will not hold sessions until the 15th December. This is when the debate and votes on the Plan and Budget for 2010 has been completed in Lisbon. The discussion of the proposal for the budget will take place between the 15 and 18 December. A condensed discussion is unpopular with the opposition parties and it reduces the time of the plenary sessions. The opposition parties only have short periods of time during the debate to ask questions to the regional secretaries. The plenary meetings will not return until January after the Christmas holidays and a date has not been set for the first meeting of 2010.

Gouveia is in reverse and Rodrigues is in Lisbon. Having advocated a tough stance against the Government and Alberto João Jardim, which would be a boycott of the budget discussion, the leader of the PS has retreated after a meeting of the parliamentary group, confirming the presence of members of his party in the discussions that take place between the 15 and 18 December. João Carlos Gouveia admitted only a week ago, the PS was a clear voice of protest against the regiment of the debate of Planning and Budget 2010, but the way of expressing socialist discontent has changed. Yesterday, the parliamentary group was convened and decided to attend the debate. The leader went on to defend that strategy. Gouveia acknowledged that it would be difficult to explain to Madeira the absence of discussion of a proposal by the Government which affects the lives of all. The president of the PS, who is also the parliamentary leader, recalls that by the end of the year there will be no more debates in the Assembly so the boycott will be even more complicated. Although he dropped the withdrawal strategy which was to demonstrate against the violation of rights of the opposition, he accused Jardim of behaving as a dictator who refused to discuss the budget with his deputies. The PS complain about the time distribution among parties, but especially the fact that the President of the Republic is not subject to questions in Parliament. "Then at the end, and without a time limit, he can insult the deputies." The leader of the CDS-PP, José Manuel Rodrigues, will not be at the Legislative Assembly to attend the debate on the Regional Budget of 2010. He will be in the regional parliament to discuss the most important aspects of the Plan and Budget, but would not join the debate and vote. The main reason for his absence is that he has to be at the Assembly of the Republic when they discuss specific proposals that affect the region. He will be in Lisbon to discuss the revision of the law of regional finances, scheduled for the 11 December and other legislation arising form the Legislative Assembly of Madeira.

200 cars in Used Car Show. Initiative of the company Camacho. ExpoGonfirpe from yesterday until December 6 at Madeira Tecnopolo (free entry). There will be 200 cars exhibited with promises of unbeatable prices. Financing available with their partner Santander Consumer, the average interest rate (APR) of 6% and car insurance with Lusitania and AVS, for example insurance liability (broken windows) of around 160 Euros. These shows are held twice a year, the last one was in June when they traded almost 100 cars.

Record of Madeira might have fallen last night. Madeira must have lost last night its only recognized record in the famous Guinness Book of Records, the fireworks display of New Years Eve 2006/7, which was recognized as the largest of its kind. Yesterday in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates far outpaced the record of eight minutes from Madeira and the news has reached the Diário through the news agencies of the Persian Gulf that the show lasted 45 minutes and the fireworks reached a height of 2,000 metres. 100,000 fireworks were released from 12 barges located in front of the Marina Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The inspectors from the Guinness Book of Records were in attendance and within a few days, Madeira will know if the firework display which marked the 38th National Day of the United Arab Emirates is approved as a new world record in that category. In November 2008, the Emirate of Dubai, at the opening of the Atlantis Hotel on an artificial island had a show of fireworks which earned the rank of the world’s most expensive. The cost was 3 million dollars.

Madeiran Christmas in the Palace of Belém. Nini Andrade Silva designed the Christmas decorations for the Presidency of the Republic. The Palace of Belém, where the Head of State, Cavaco Silva and his employees reside, the Madeiran designer Nini Andrade Silva was invited to decorate for Christmas. This renowned interior designer is responsible for the interior decoration of some prestigious hotels in Portugal and abroad, winning several international competitions. The Madeiran insisted on taking to Belem decorations and arrangements produced in Madeira as well as many fresh flowers originating in the gardens and greenhouses of the region. Nini also took the team of decorators to Lisbon for the finishing touches and three companies collaborated in the project. The inauguration of the Christmas tree at the Palace, a ceremony marking the opening of the Christmas spirit, will occur today. The tree itself was also from Madeira.

SPAD needs blankets and food for the rescued animals. This year, SPAD will not be able to promote the usual December collection of food for the dogs and cats it rescues, due to a lack of volunteers. There is a particular need for food for infants / young due to the growing number of litters of dogs and cats. They also need blankets, any old ones which are no longer used, and Turkish towels. The cost of adopting an animal is 40 Euros, which pays for vaccinations, deworming, an identification chip and sterilization. Membership is 25 Euros per year and allows 20% discount on services.

Region has completed the POG areas of conservation. Six Plans of Organization and Management required by the EU for the Special Areas of Conservation have now been completed with the Laurissilva the last one to be executed. The plans required both the Directorate of Forestry and the Natural Park of Madeira to work together. The other ones have been for areas of the Desertas, Selvagens, Ponta de Sao Lourenço and Porto Santo. This plan covered the forests of Santana, São Vicente, Ponta Delgada, Boaventura, Seixal, Ribeira da Janela, Porto Moniz and Poiso.

Adventurous tourist required rescuing. A tourist born on the continent required help yesterday afternoon in a rocky area of Fajã Escura in Nun’s Valley. The walker was alone on a path by Pico do Areeiro, then left the path to go up a rocky slope thinking it would lead to another path. This was not the case and showing signs of muscular fatigue, thought it was best not to try to descend back to the original route. Asking for help, was assisted by the bombeiros from the Curral Section. After being helped back to the levada, the tourist continued the walk alone.

German camper helped. The German citizen who was camping for some time in the Admirante Reis gardens was picked up by the police and is now being helped by the Association for the Protection of the Poor. He was in a very precarious position in terms of food and hygiene and was taken to the hospital and later contacted by Social Security. He is now being helped by the Association for the Protection of the Poor, especially due to his physical limitations.

Man attacks another with knife to kill pigs. A man used a ‘knife used to kill pigs’ to attack another, with some gravity, near to the Casa da Luz – Rua Artur de Sousa Pingo. The attack occurred during a brawl and despite a deep abdominal wound, the victim is out of danger. A man is detained by the police, awaiting a court appearance, and claimed he used the knife that day to kill pigs. Under the new arms law, it is illegal to be in a public place with a knife or sharp object.

Carristur launches ‘Sparkling Funchal’. The panoramic tourist buses will for the third consecutive year run trips to see the Christmas lights in Funchal. The ticket costs 3 Euros and is free to children under 12. The trips are held from 4 December to January 6, omitting December 24, 25 and 31. They begin at 19.00, 19.30, 20.00 and 20.30 from near the Marina, Avenida do Mar.

37 tons of food collected by Caritas. Christmas campaign was a success. Thirty-seven tons of food were collected last weekend, 4 tons more than in the campaign in June and 10 tons more than last Christmas.

Câmara de Lobos seafront plan. Urban redevelopment project of the seafront between Socorridos and Fajã do Mar, includes new access and a promenade. The promenade will be between Praia do Vigário and the new fishing port. There will be new access to the seafront, both pedestrian and by road, and recreational areas and green areas. There will also be specific zones for nightlife. The plan will be completed by the end of 2011. The countryside will also be preserved with sitting areas and recreational areas installed in each parish. Air quality will be monitored, more solid waste recycled and the domestic water supply upgraded. There will be a new Fisherman’s House created, integrated in the recuperation of the Historic Zone, renovation of the Sao Bernardino Convent and old chapels and churches, and the building of a new Church of Santa Ceclia. Social support to the elderly will be intensified with community centres built and a new community and social area at Fajã das Galinhas.

News headlines from today’s front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Tourist promotions continue without funding – There are €2 million of arrears from the Madeira Government and Tourism of Portugal, and the budget for 2010 will be diverted to the internal market. The State and the Region don’t make the transfers, which leads to collapse in the Associação de Promoção da Madeira. Conceição Estudante and Bernardo Trindade, secretaries for tourism at both levels, get the blame for the 40% shortfall in AP-Madeira revenue this year. They should have together contributed €2 million for the activities of the association, that is responsible for promoting Madeira for tourism purposes. Attempt to resolve the issue were ‘smothered’ by Tourism of Portugal, who refused to settle the account.

Today’s main news headline : Gripe of the people of Funchal treated in Santo António – It is starting on Monday for the residents of the capital with flu symptoms, who will be treated in the centre of Santo António, and not in the hospital, that remains allocated for pregnancies and babies. From 7th December, the health centre (Centro de Saúde) of Santo António will be the destination for anyone from Funchal showing symptoms of flu (Gripe A or seasonal flu). This was always part of the contingency plan, to set up a specialist unit, the Serviço de Atendimento à Gripe (SAG), and the decision was taken to implement the measure following the recent increase in the number of people becoming infected with H1N1, particularly in schools. SAG will be open 7 days a week, between 8 am and 8 pm on weekdays, and weekends and public holidays between 8 am and 1 pm. Outside these working hours, only serious cases may go to the hospital for examination and treatment. The president of the health service IASAÚDE said that those living outside of Funchal should continue to go to the nearest Centro de Saúde that has the facilities (valences?). Pregnant women, babies under 1 year old, and chronically ill people will be the only exceptions to the rule. 55 schools have now registered outbreaks (2 or more cases). Did you know that to date Porto Santo island has been Gripe A free?

Museums awarded – Portuguese Association reveals innovation of Palácio de São Lourenço and Estação de Biologia. (Marine Biology Station?). The two institutions were recognised by the Associação Portuguesa de Museologia (APOM) with awards for Innovation and Creativity, for making themselves more accessible, with blind people in particular mentioned as beneficiaries of the actions taken.

Taxi Judges – In the performance of their duties judicial officials catch a taxi on the rank, or a ‘Carroça’ from home. Carroça translates as a cart or wagon, but it just means ‘own car’ in this case. Elaine of the West very kindly translated this article … many thanks.

An ancient car in poor condition remains the only means of official transport official in the service of the courts of Madeira. This car is given over to the General Circuit Court of Funchal, although occasionally, when available, it is ‘borrowed’ together with a driver for the duties to be carried out by the Judicial Court of Funchal. But when this is not possible, judges and officials of the Justice Palace in Funchal have no option but to resort to using taxis or even their own private cars to travel where they need to in the course of work.

The issue of transport for the Madeiran judges and court officials is not a new one. About two and a half years ago, the DIÁRIO recognised this problem in connection with the criminal court of Funchal. After that time, the scenario remains, though, on the other hand, the number of external representations also declined. The regional representative of the Association of Portuguese Judges, Paulo Barreto, recognizes that the only official car in Madeira is old and on several occasions it has broken down, leaving the officials stranded on the road. The demand for a new car has already been issued a while ago, but so far the Ministry of Justice has not responded positively. He argued, “Here in the Circuit Court on Fridays we have to go to Santa Cruz, São Vicente and Ponta do Sol, so it is important to have a car".

However, Paulo Barreto questions the real need for an official car at the service of a district court, since trips performed as part of the proceedings are normally short. Except, of course, the district of Funchal, which, said the judge, has a remit which extends as far as Santana. The magistrate further clarified that it is only when it is a criminal case that the State assumes the costs of transport, which are then forwarded to the defendant in the case of conviction. In civil cases, the value of travel is borne by the parties as part of the expense of the process. The coordinator of the Regional Delegation of the Union of Judicial Officials, Danilo Pereira, believes that one solution to the problem of lack of transportation would be to use those cars seized by the courts which are in good condition. However, he admits that the issues of who would pay for the fuel and insurance are not easily solved. What is more, ends Danilo Pereira, “The risk of conducting an investigation using a private car, particularly in certain housing estates, must be taken into account.”

and Jon of the East also … Sod’s law I think it’s called, after over a week of trying this ploy!

The Judges of Madeira that have to travel to various Courts around the Island (in pursuit of their duties) wish to have a new "official" car supplied to them to enable them to do this. Currently they have an "old banger" that is worn out and not roadworthy and so have to resort to private taxi hire between home and the various courts. Whilst the costs can be claimed back it does take some time and is less convenient than having an official car. It is two years since they applied for a new vehicle but as the legal system here is somewhat slow and many cases are "log jammed", the relevant government department has yet to approve the "issue" of a car. It has been suggested (by the Judges?) that perhaps vehicles "appropriated" by the Police could be used instead …… I can’t believe that there is no official transport for our fine and respected legal gentlemen – unless of course they are unpopular with Uncle Bertie?

Many thanks to you both, and your stories collaborate too, so 10 out of 10!

Over half of the front page today is given over to a photo of the president and players of Nacional, looking rather dejected leaving the pitch in Germany last night. Defeat in Bremen finishes any mathematical chances of qualifying – Liga Europa : Alvinegros show too much respect and lose 4 – 1.

Marítimo has another player (Kléber) infected with Gripe A. It was already reported this week that Bruno is laid up with swine flu. No doubt if there are any more, the president (you choose which one) will be calling for games to be postponed.

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’

Firework record about to be broken ; Red Cross need volunteers ; Rat control measures failing

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Debbie … a last look at the Savoy Hotel in Funchal

"Having been to Madeira many times on holiday I enjoy reading the blog to keep up to date with news. I don’t feel that I am able to contribute very much but appreciate those who take their time to translate news etc. When I was in Madeira this summer, I took these photos of the Classic Savoy knowing it was all about to change. It was the first hotel I stayed in when I first came to Madeira". Debbie

Nacional coach Manuel Machado in intensive care. The coach was in a life-threatening situation over the weekend, but the indications are that Machado has now stabilised, although he is in a state of induced coma. A full recovery is expected to take many weeks or even months. GET WELL SOON MANUEL

"The Main Tourism Office in Madeira has gone Wow! with the installation of an interactive water floor picturing images and info about the famous madeiran levadas. Wow! also delivered a multimedia kiosk where users can browse through a Madeira interactive guide available in four languages". EQUIPMENT PHOTOS anyone know any more on this?

DUBAI – Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi hopes to set a new world record for the largest fireworks display on Wednesday to mark UAE National Day, local daily the National reported on Tuesday. The 45-minute display will see fireworks set off from 12 barges floating offshore reaching up to 2,000 metres into the air, the newspaper reported.
The current record holder for “largest fireworks display” is a 2006 New Year’s Eve display on the Portuguese island of Madeira, the paper said. OUR RECORD GOING UP IN SMOKE? perhaps it will pour down with rain, but it’s not likely in that part of the world!

This is an image of Madeira’s Guinness World Record certificate, which if the above is true will be obsolete later today. (Click image for a slightly larger view).

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

Sea changes colour. Deposition of land into the sea by the works of the promenade. Increasingly common sight now Winter is approaching.

Unicer will sell Guinness in Angola. Unicer will sell Guinness in Angola in partnership with the drinks company Diageo, which owns the brand. This partnership is for a period of five years and they expect to reach 180,000 customers in the first year. Unicer sells about 125 million litres of beer in Angola per year – the brands Super Block, Cristal and Carslberg. —Not strictly Madeira related but I know of interest to particular blog readers. Where will they sell Guinness next?

Government blames Councils. The Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development stress that unless there is greater involvement of the Municipalities in the program of extermination of rats which has been promoted by the Government, the success of the program will be jeopardized. It is for the Municipalities to place traps in places that need further attention and there will be hundreds of clarification sessions with farmers and officials of the Councils. The regional authorities should tackle the problem of uncultivated land and bill the landowners for the cost of the pest control campaign. "The Councils may notify the owners of vacant lots to put rat poison in these areas and should give a deadline for that to happen. If the owners do not take this measure, the Councils are entitled to do so and send the bills to the owners of the land." People’s habits need to change to fight the plague of rats. The worst factor is the abandonment of land. Other factors are the use of abandoned land as landfill and not cleared of rubbish, land full of scrub and beds of streams not cleaned. The aim of the program is not to completely eradicate the rat population but control the numbers. The second phase of distribution of rat poison to the Municipalities has already begun. Rat poison will be distributed to 10,000 farmers in the coming days. This program to combat the plague of rats lasts three years, from 2008 to 2011. By the end of the program, they hope to have distributed 300 tons of rat poison and 60,000 traps throughout the region, at a cost of €1.3 million.

Red Cross needs more volunteers. There are about three dozen people who make up the volunteer corps of the Portuguese Red Cross (Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa CVP), but they need more people willing to take part in the social work of the institution. They deliver breakfast to outpatients at the hospital, visit inpatients, work with groups of elderly people and deliver clothes to families and individuals in need. The opening of the Christmas Bazaar is only possible because of the goodwill of a few volunteers. All products on sale were made by the volunteers of the CVP. It will continue until Saturday December 5, from 10.00 to 19.00, at 21 Rua Dr. Fernão de Ornelas. The most demand has been for the sweet products and Christmas decorative pieces.

‘Adopt a Star’ to support the Centro da Mãe. The Centro da Mãe is situated in the Bairro do Hospital in Funchal and is an institution for pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers and their children. Until 15 December, Liberty Seguros have a campaign to collect toys for the Mothers’ Centre and other Social Services institutions. Last Christmas they delivered 1,800 gifts and a wheelchair.

SEF holds Belarusian sought by Interpol. A woman born in Belarus was held by immigration officials at the airport yesterday as she attempted to board a plane to the UK. The arrest was on the grounds that Interpol had an International Warrant for her extradition to Belarus to fulfil a prison sentence (10 years for corruption). She was sent to Lisbon where the court rules on all extradition cases. They allowed her to continue to the UK where she has been living recently. —- No reasons given yet for that decision.

Isidora pays a fine and expects a licence. João Isidora, the leader of the Earth Party (MPT) had work done on his house that was not licensed by Funchal Council in 2007. The Council ordered the demolition of this extension last June. He challenged this decision and awaits an outcome. Meanwhile, he must pay a fine of 1,000 Euros. The original licence was for improvement to the roof but instead he added an attic. He applied for a second licence but this was refused on grounds that it did not fit in with the Municipal Plan (MDP). His new challenge is that only 65 cm of the roof is illegal and he also challenges the legality of the MDP. — The Earth Party leader spoiling the contours of the environment!

Region tries to ensure funds for the sea. A maritime network for transport of goods to Europe to replace traffic congestion on the road links in the EU is being developed. In the case of Madeira, it is suggested an amendment to the EU maritime policy to allow funding to facilitate the transport of goods as well as basic goods and raw materials that are necessary for the region. This links in with an article stating that movement of goods and passengers in Madeira had a sharp fall in the third quarter of 2009 compared to both last year and the previous quarter. The largest fall was the transport of goods at Caniçal Port which fell 15% between July and September this year. Similarly, at the airport, passenger movement fell 3.3%.

Construction contentions in Chão da Ribeira. In the countryside, brown wooden barracks have been built in defiance of the laws. There are now several thousand throughout the valley, they infringe the Municipal Master Plan and are of concern to both the Council of Porto Moniz and the Natural Park of Madeira. The Mayor of Porto Moniz and the Director of the Natural Park of Madeira are to meet to decide the most effective measures to combat investors converting ‘palheiros’ and vacant land to small buildings for weekend / weekday nightlife. These constructions of non-permanent residence proliferate in an area of strict building restrictions to protect the landscape and existing buildings. Buildings can only be reconstructed, restored or remodelled if they do not increase the area of existing construction. This is what is happening. The mayor is awaiting a detailed plan of the location in order to impose detailed rules setting out, once and for all, policy development. The cultural and environmental heritage will be preserved. These palheiros were used to store farm implements and agricultural products. "I am in favour of reclassification but with detailed guidelines." The mayor has a stone palheiro in the area. The Director of the Natural Park of Madeira confirms that criminal misdemeanours have occurred. A wooden building can cover an entire plot of land, have high walls, a barbecue and a TV satellite dish. The previous mayor defended the Municipal Plan for the area which enabled the reconstruction of 120 palheiros and a restoration area, and was agreed by the Regional Government. Now it is known the gravity of this plan on the landscape of the whole valley of Chão da Ribeira. —- A palheiro is a small building, like the typical A-framed houses at Santana. Selling on the web, with land, for about 100,000 Euros. —- for anyone who likes history, from the J. Madeira.

Madeira between the ‘filipinos’ and the Restoration of 1640. Portugal today celebrates the first day of the fight against the Dinastia Filipina who for 60 years (1581 – 1640) reigned in Portugal. December 1 marks the Restoration of Independence, with the consequent establishment of the Portuguese Dynasty of the House of Braganza. These two times (that of Filipes of Spain and the Restoration) were reflected in the political and economic situation in Madeira. In the fifteenth century (Filipes of Spain), Madeira had close relations with the Canaries for trade and Spanish soldiers settled in Madeira and even married Madeiran women. It was a peaceful occupation except for a few warships sent here, not to occupy but to prevent the English, as they did in the Azores. In 1640, when there was Restoration of the Republic, those from the Canaries residing in Madeira returned to the Canaries. Not because of expulsion by the Madeirans but because of the privileged position of England, which supported Portugal during the fight against the Spanish, led to English families being installed in the Region. The border war in Spain / Portugal was reflected in the Canary Islands, with restrictive measures to trade between those islands and Madeira. In Lanzarote, there was retaliation against the Madeiran residents, especially a prominent family whose assets were confiscated by the Spanish. Limited trade with the Canaries led to Madeira turning to new markets, under British influence, especially the USA and the British colonies, which had a positive impact on the export of wine. So Madeira won both economically and politically while Portugal was under the two situations: the Filipes of Spain and the the Restoration.

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

Today’s top news headline : Porto Santo subsidised to the power of 7% of purchases. The Porto-santenses are amongst the best-off in the country thanks to the salary increase. Only the 30% insularity allowance causes regional irregularities : one lives worse-off in Funchal. Top story today I will leave for some other kind soul to translate. LINK

Sá Group invests €3.5 million in Câmara de Lobos. The new Hiper Sá store opens on Saturday, with over 7 thousand products, and provides employment for 30 people, and also 10 posts indirectly. It will be open every day between 8 am and 9 pm, and includes free parking spaces for 31 cars, with 5 of those allocated for disabled and pregnant shoppers.

256 vacancies to be filled – Every month there are work positions to be taken up. It’s strange : Madeira has almost 13 thousand unemployed. October finished with almost 13,000 unemployed signed-on at the Institute of Employment and not far off 400 job offers made. Even so there were 256 vacancies still to be filled at the end of the month. Those aged over 35 and less than 9º grade education are the worst off when it comes to finding new jobs.

Insecurity in Venezuela is a myth. Vice-minister for Europe represented Hugo Chávez (President of Venezuela) in the XIX Ibero – American summit and guaranteed to the Diário that the intervention in banking serves to save the savings of the international community that lives in Venezuela. I am not allowed to say ‘who cares’ it seems, so I will skip this story on the basis that ‘it likely provides limited information of little interest to blog readers’.

Discotheque will liven Market Night. The nightclub ‘Vespas’ will erect a tent in the Praça da Autonomia. The programme for December includes various parties and the presence of famous DJs, and runs into the beginning of January. The big story is the market night entertainment provided by Vespas, that will appeal to the younger generation, that each year fill the main arteries of Funchal. I could give you a list of the ‘star’ names who will play music, but I suspect it might be as useful as the names of Rudolph’s pals who will be out delivering presents those nights. I remember reading from last year that the traditional significance of Market Night was diminishing, and with this racket filling the streets all night this year, that it not likely to get any better. Perhaps I misjudge the younger generation, and after dancing the night away to DJ Motiv8 (pictured), perhaps they will stock up with a bag or two of fruit and veg before ambling home. And as for Motiv8 himself, what were his parents thinking when they christened him with a number in his name?

Finally, in sport, or football rather : Lionel Messi dethrones Cristiano Ronaldo. The Argentine was elected with simplicity. The (ex?)-king of football drops down a notch, as Messi of Barcelona picks up the Golden Ball 2009 award, given by a French football magazine, after CR737 won it last year. Messi got 473 points, Ronaldo just 233 in the selection process, but still ended up a clear 2nd place in the rankings.

Marítimo player Bruno contracted ‘Gripe A’, making him the first case in Madeiran football. Get well soon Bruno … enough said?

And a bonus story : Portuguese use internet to see emails, exchange messages, and to see news. Obercom reveals a study that gives account of the increasing use of the internet. These are the facilities that those who go-online most use, and the growth areas are contact with friends (58.9%) and family (41.3%) through the internet, since 2003. In terms of information searches, the search for online news is the most widespread activity within the internet activities of the Portuguese, and nearly one-third perform this search daily. The study also indicates that the Google search engine has emerged as the most popular, having been visited since the beginning of 2009 by 87.4 percent of Internet users, followed by Sapo, visited by nearly two thirds of Internet users. 24 percent of the survey respondents believe blogs have little or no importance as sources of information, and 28.7 percent think the same in relation to government websites. Well what can I say, is it time to pack up and go home?

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.

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’

Xmas lunch sacrifice ; Hashish tops drug imports ; Tourist wears the same clothes for a month

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:02:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Eiryl … Parakeets at the Bird Park near to the Botanical Gardens, don’t worry about the headless one as I am assured he is in good health.

Some fantastic cloud / mountain photos here : Madeira – Island above the clouds

A sneak preview of the first Christmas lights that were switched on Friday. I recommend you turn the sound off first …

Enjoy your public holiday today – A trip to Porto Moniz Aquarium sounds nice!

November was a good month for blog visitors, the best since the new format. Over 3,000 different visitors visited nearly 9,000 times. I hope our sponsor is pleased. Many thanks for those who have supported it during November, and whilst there are several people who deserve credit, Elaine stands out for providing another whole month of news stories without a day off. The following stories included :

Tradition of singing the Charamba dying. The cold was felt at the site of the mill Ti Jesuina situated at Estrada Camacha/Poiso but it did not cool the enthusiasm of the participants at the Fifth Meeting of Xarambistas. The event was scheduled for 15.00 but started at 16.00 The five participants ranged from the ages of 70 to 81 years old and were accompanied by a 49 year old playing the viola de arame. An enthusiast lamented: "The charamba is dying because children are not interested in this artistic expression that comes from our ancestors. And the people who sing, because of their age, also are disappearing."

Machico Council vote themselves out of a Christmas dinner. Saving internally so as not to compromise the street festival. The decision of the Municipality of Machico ‘debunks’ the traditional Christmas lunch for the officials and also the gifts for their children. The decision was well accepted by the 200 employees with 60 children affected. "Our priority is to keep the festivities in the county and people understand why because they also feel the crisis at home." The same number of light bulbs as last year will be used to economise. The festivities will begin on December 6 with an opening play entitled, ‘The True Spirit of Christmas’. Circus Brazil starts on December 11 underneath the airport runway. On December 20 there is a Gospel Christmas concert in Forum Machico. The live nativity scene from December 22 is in the cultural activities room in the Junta da Freguesia. The Christmas Program 2009 ends on January 10 with the Singing of the Kings in Santo da Serra from 15.00. —- A true Christmas spirited Council!

Edificio Santa Luzia wins award. This is one of the contemporary Portuguese buildings to receive the award IHRU 2009, to promote municipal and regional buildings. Designed for the Housing Investment of Madeira (IHM), the award is from the Institute for Housing and Urban Regeneration. This apartment block contains 10 apartments for people with reduced mobility and includes an elevator, garden and communal room. It is designed for single people or couples, especially the elderly.

‘Excellence’ lobbying against civil construction. The delegates of APAVT (congress of the Portuguese Association of Travel Agents and Tourism) praise the "intelligence and courage" of Conceição Estudante (Tourism Minister). This is due to the region having already taken a significant step in the direction of alerting politicians and those responsible for the tourism sector to environmental sustainability. This had led to the region being classified as a ‘Destination of Excellence’. The strategy pursued by her is thought to act as a very strong lobby against civil construction, the major cause of deterioration in the quality of our tourism product. The tourism product has been degraded by overbuilding, insensitive urban planning and not enough defence against building and cultural heritage. Poor management of the law of supply and demand is also a problem. The growth rate of supply has been much faster than demand and not adjusted accordingly. There should be no new licensing until the occupancy levels recover to above 65%. As far as Funchal is concerned she is a good few years too late. Uncle Bertie won’t be pleased that one of his cronies wants to cut back on concrete use, how will the shareholders survive? Der

Funchal represents 45% of energy certification. This figure shows that this is the most active area for the real estate market. These certificates for energy efficiency and air quality have been awarded since 2001, a total of 2,881. The most (46.4%) of those in Funchal have been awarded in São Martinho. These have been awarded for all new buildings, those rented and those sold. The second main area of activity is Santa Cruz where 60% have been awarded in the parish of Caniço. Other counties have relatively few certificates issued, either due to a stagnant property market or the councils not enforcing the law. In the case of residential buildings, these certificates are valid for 10 years. The responsibility is the seller or owner of the building and they should be checked by the legal bodies when contracts are concluded for sale and/or lease.

Rescue effort off the Desertas Islands. At 15.00 on Friday, the crew of a French vessel sent a warning message that the João Amndio fishing vessel was adrift with no crew activity on board, despite normally having a crew of 10 men. Fears deepened when the contacts of the Subcentro de Lisboa went unanswered. The Maritime Search and Rescue Centre in Funchal, Maritime Authorities and the navy launched a rescue effort. Two SANAS semi-rigid lifeboats were launched, one from Santa Cruz and the other from Funchal, and the naval patrol boat put on standby. The rescue effort proved unnecessary as the crew were all safe and were having a rest period with the person on watch away from the VHF equipment at the time, which is why he did not respond to the message.

Câmara de Lobos firemen discontent over non-payment of updated salary. They should have had their salary increased by 2.9% on January 1 2009 but have only received additional pay since September 2009. Some firemen also complain about inconsistencies. The president has appointed a relative into the corporation, who receives almost double than others in a similar position. They also complain about money spent on the 60th anniversary party and the Christmas party. The president, Rui Fernandes, is an ex-deputy of the PSD and also president of the Municipal Assembly of Câmara de Lobos. He argues that this criticism is just in bad faith as the anniversary party was also to award merit badges. He denies there is an unwillingness or refusal to meet with the union leaders as there is another meeting in January. Also, the firemen have no grounds for complaint as they have good working and employment conditions. Nepotism in the fire brigade, hard to believe I know, and I wonder who might set such a bad example? Der

Judicial Police seize more heroin and hashish in 2009. Quantities have already surpassed those in 2008. The amount of hashish has almost tripled and heroin increased from 57,469 to 73,800 doses. In contrast, cocaine has decreased remarkably from 632,395 to 21,400 doses. The major seizure last year of cocaine was of 57 kilogram or 570,000 doses at the airport in Operation Check Out, probably not all for the regional market. There were 78 people arrested this year for trafficking compared to 43 last year. Three firearms have been seized this year in relation to drug trafficking.

The port is too small for the number and size of cruise ships visiting. The photo taken yesterday illustrates the problem; when two large cruise ships berth at the South Terminal and another at the North Terminal, the port has exhausted 90% of its capacity. The increase in length and tonnage of cruise ships means that for 18% of days of this year, the port has exhausted its capacity. The large cruise ships circuit can include Southern Portugal, Madeira and the Canaries. A large ship can represent an income of 12 -18 thousand Euros for APRAM (Ports Authority) and another 150,000 Euros in revenue for companies that provide tourism services. On December 15, there will be four large cruise ships visiting meaning that the Oriana has to berth offshore. The passengers are mainly over 70 years old and many will be unable to use the ship’s tenders to visit the island. Eight cruise ships are already booked for the last night of the year. A ship unable to berth and having to stay offshore looses the Administration of Ports 40% of revenue and penalizes local businessmen, as only 30% of passengers come ashore. The present investment for development of the port is the most important decision taken for a long time due to the limited size and increasing size of ships visiting. This topic was continued in another article stating that next year, there will be 24 days when the Port of Funchal cannot receive any more ships. 20% of days there will be three ships and for four days there are four cruise ships booked, and for another three days, five booked simultaneously. March, April, November and December are the months when capacity is limited. In 2010, there will be newer and larger cruise liners visiting. The new Queen Elizabeth is due on 21 October 2010.

Five arrested for attacks on the police. Sporadic violence occurred in Funchal and Câmara de Lobos. The first incidence occurred on Friday in Funchal when three men were detained for violence against an officer. On Sunday in Câmara de Lobos, a man and a woman were eventually arrested after intervention by the police. In Machico, a man was arrested for possession of a bat and a knife.

Corpse of a tourist found at the bottom of a ravine. The body of a tourist who was missing since 19.00 last night has just been recovered this morning from a ravine of a depth of 80 metres. The 30 year old was separated from his parents in Levada da Lombada in Ponta do Sol. The mountain rescue team of the bombeiros recovered the body.

German camps in the Almirante Reis garden. A German citizen aged more than 60 years old has lived there for over a month in unsanitary conditions. He came to Madeira as the weather is favourable for his illness. He sleeps in a small tent pitched by the walls of the hotel and is well educated, walks with difficulty, wears the same clothes and has hygiene problems. The Town Hall was not aware of the situation but now alerted, say they will quickly resolve the situation in a humanely way and a person cannot be allowed to camp in a public area which is also a tourist attraction.

Then my contribution from today’s front page stories … Der

Today’s main Diário headline : ‘Order of Doctors’ doesn’t want doctors to give advice against the vaccine – The doctors that judge inopportune that people submit themselves to vaccination against Gripe A swine flu, should not ignore the instructions of the World Health Organisation and the Directorate General, that are advising the take up of this precaution. So says the Order. Some doctors apparently have been advising their patients against getting vaccinated against H1N1, but that has to stop. These patients are considered as ‘risk groups’ due to age, medical factors, or pregnancy, and the instruction is that the ‘opinions’ of medical staff are not to be offered. Some doctors have doubts about the product ‘Pandermix’ based on lack of tests and scientific studies about the efficiency of the vaccine. Some doctors are saying say it is better to strengthen the immune system with other methods, through rest, good nutrition and vitamin supplements. The president of the Order says that presently, there are pregnant women, parents of small children, and the chronically ill who do not know which is better: to take the vaccine or hope that the Gripe A flu does not infect them. There were 123 new cases of Gripe A confirmed by the Health Service last week. 57 are female, 66 male. There were 39 confirmed outbreaks of the virus in Madeira’s schools, a similar ratio to that happening throughout Portugal. I won’t be taking the vaccine under any circumstances, and have reinforced my supplies of © Toranja Poncha © over recent weeks as my means of prevention and cure, as well as it’s properties for aiding a good nights sleep during the early morning mega-bangers, due to start any day now. However as there are some who take things I say a little too seriously, I am not recommending this approach to others, who need to make their own decisions, and ‘the blog’ does not accept any responsibility for those who follow my chosen path. Besides that, the glut of cheap toranjas (grapefruit) that I have been enjoying for the last couple of a months seem to be coming to an end.

2009 is a black year in the economy of Porto Santo. Consumption plunged. Airport and port register sensitive losses of movement. We have been reading the stories for the last year or more, about reduced hotel occupation and travel, projects and developments stopping mid-term, or not even starting. The only recent positive highlight I remember was the opening of the new animal shelter, but I am not even sure now if that was just an election stunt and is still open. The golden island, two or more years ago, was the top of everyone’s agenda, including Cristiano Ronaldo, for a new hotel. The island was hosting direct charter flights from Italy and the UK, and there was so much employment (low pay admittedly) that recruitment was focused on immigrants. Speculators and others were buying property at inflated prices. The article gives some stats on what is mentioned above in terms of economic factors, but nothing we didn’t really know about before. It has to be said that Porto Santo is treated differently as a separate island, and clearly has differences, but in reality the other regions of Madeira, especially outside of Funchal, are suffering in equivalent and similar ways, but don’t get the same media attention. At least Porto Santo still has it’s own separate weather forecast, whereas the rest of us are usually lumped in with Funchal, regardless of climatic considerable differences.

Institute of Francês Marie Curie studies levadas. A French investigator, Jean-Luc Sabatier, has come to Madeira to study our network of levadas, and will stay here for two years to complete his work in the study titled ‘Irrigation and Society’. He will focus on the anthropological and sociological perspective of the famous mountain waterways, funded by a grant from the prestigious Institute Marie Curie. I just can’t go on with a straight face … it’s another ‘jolly in disguise’, despite lots of technical justifications in the article. How do people get these jobs, as I certainly don’t see them advertised in our newspapers? If I come up with a study, say the ‘Saltiness of the seas around Madeira’, or ‘Regional differences in the beers of Madeira’ will someone stump up the dough to pay for me to ‘research’ for two years … please email me if you can.

Haylofts and huts in Chão da Ribeira cause controversy. Reconstruction and widening of the structures result in a meeting between the council of Porto Moniz and the Natural Park. This story one I will leave for someone else to translate … thank you.

and finally, today’s football story : World Cup 2010 : "Portugal are going to feel at home". Eusébio is already in South Africa. He revealed his expectations to the Diário about the final stage of the Wold Cup. Portugal’s ex-most-famous-footballer is already in South Africa, sussing out the situation ready for 2010. It must only be in today’s printed edition of the Diário, as I can’t find it online. Dare I mention the ‘J’ word once again?

That’s all from me news-wise for now, as the Diário advert for the car sale at the Technopolo has smothered the links into the pages and individual news stories, and it can’t be closed down to delve into the newspaper. I presume everyone is on holiday at the Diário, which is why the fault still hasn’t been corrected by 10.30 am. Elaine has found a way around the problem if you look in the comments. Thank Elaine.

I already mentioned that today is ‘Restoration of Independence’ day for Portugal and Madeira, and as such a public holiday … for some maybe. At 6.22 am I was awoken by a grand rumpus … the local band starting playing at that time of the morning … just one song … and then they stopped. Well, it was too late by then to return to deep slumber. Restoration of Independence indeed, how about restoration of my lost sleep! This is normally the sort of comment where a blog sniper pops up and says ‘why don’t you move away from Madeira if you don’t like it’?, so just to pre-empt such a stupid comment, the answer is I don’t want to. Why are the snipers out in force this last few days I wonder, maybe not much doing on the Madeira Island Bulletin Board (for a change!), where some snipers often lurk, or just pure Christmas humbugism … who knows what drives these people? Do they sit at home and watch TV programmes they don’t like, and then write in and complain?

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’s first boxing bout ? Organic farming initiative ; Jardim denies upsetting Police

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

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.

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.

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 ‘clean up’ teams ; Dogs rescued in Paul da Serra ; Sharks in Funchal (non-political)

admin — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo : Thanks to Sue … New Allotments. "I took this from Dr. Manual Manual Pestana Junior, watched them being installed and in no time already showing plants".

I´m back after a short break (not that it seemed anyone noticed). I am back and a little irked (I am glad that word got through my spellchecker OK, as I wasn’t sure if it was a real word). The debate about animal welfare irked me, but what also irked me was a posting seemingly directed at UK readers, but this is not a UK blog. It is a blog for and about Madeira. It is a blog for anybody who is an English speaker, and not specifically English people. BTW It is also read by Madeirans who speak English. Nobody can tell me if I have a right to an opinion or not, they can only speak for themselves. I have opinions, and I express them … only limited by law, the fear of retribution, and sometimes the limits of my bizarre imagination. If I and other people think that too many animals are treated cruelly, we are probably right. If someone else thinks that is not the case then they are also right, albeit in their own opinion, and you are welcome to express those thoughts here. Of course they are all opinions based on personal attitudes, personal experience and the information available. Commenting on this issue or anything else regarding Madeira, has absolutely nothing to do with where you were born. If anyone thinks I, or anyone else for that matter, doesn’t have the right to express their opinions because they weren’t born on Madeira, you are definitely reading the wrong blog. Perhaps the Brit newspaper would be more suitable.

And … regarding the issue in point, under the general heading of ‘Animal Welfare’, the Diário has been well filled with readers letters since the article about abandoned dogs was published a week ago. There was even one from that cute wet bichinho on the front page on the day in question. I think I have read them all, and they all conclude pretty much the same thing … that the situation is a disgrace and an embarrassment for Madeira. I agree! So any animal abusers and those who think it is acceptable, stick that in your pipe and smoke it! Anyway, on that very same subject, Doris kindly dropped me a line yesterday …

Abandoned dogs on Paúl da Serra – on the way to a happy? ending
Members of the animal protection organisation PATA together with the help of Vetmedis, the Vets’ in Caniço, collected the abandoned dogs from Rabaçal and Choupana. One very shy one remains. Ever since the story broke, a German couple went up daily with food for them and helped catching them. They are still persevering with the very shy one. A couple of German tourists also picked up a female from Paúl and last week took it with them to Germany to give it a home.

The Vets at Vetmedis noticed that 2 females were in milk and with the help of PATA members, the females were taken back up to the mountains and promptly led their rescuers to their families. Now there are also puppies looking for a good home. A reader’s letter from the dogs in yesterday’s Diário tells that they are at the moment at the new branch of Vetmedis, which is to open shortly in Câmara de Lobos. If anybody can help, contact pata@pata.pt , NIB: 003802460556441877117 or Vetmedis-Sociedade Veterinária Lda., Tel: 291 744 552. Doris

Bless those fine people, but how can we stop more abandonments? … many thanks for the update Doris.

Billy Lansdowne, ex pro footballer, and now TV pundit, writes on his blog about a trip to Madeira for a golfing event "I thought Madeira was flat. I was wrong … the highest point is 1861 m above sea level (some things do register) and the Golf Course we are playing tomorrow is over half way up". BILLY’S BLOG

UEFA, you know the European football people, have announced the details for their ~~jolly~~ very important meeting in Funchal next month. No mention of why Madeira was chosen or what’s to be discussed, but if I was in the government I would be out showing them some of the excellent training facilities here, like the sports complex at Ribeira Brava. UEFA XMAS BOOZE-UP

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

Government increases current expenditure by 5.2%. The Government has made public the 2009 budget amendments introduced for the period covering the first nine months of the year. Current expenditure will rise by 5.2% or 55,2 million. The Government reduces by 7.6% or €31,4 million the amount needed for capital expenditure (investment). The Regional budget for 2009 will be the highest in recent years amounting to 1.528.790.366 Euros.

Environmental cleaning changes. The Department of the Environment of Funchal will create a separate section for cleaning urban streets and tunnels. They want to extend the hours and actions of environmental teams to include nights and Sundays. The change is to stop rubbish bags being abandoned in public places, on land and in water courses. "There are fewer and fewer cases but it still happens, and in some places it is recurrent." The eight teams will work shifts so that one team is always active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They will open abandoned bags to try to identify the offenders for prosecution. Fines vary between 50 and 500 Euros. The change in cleaning will involve 40 more staff and 4 new machines. The total investment will be 670,000 Euros. Funchal Council also want to extend the collection of organic waste.

Atlas of Birds. The project for the ‘First Atlas of Breeding Birds in the Archipelago of Madeira’ was started this year by the Natural Park of Madeira. The book will be presented at the Iberian Congress of Ornithology. The project is still ongoing and 60% of the territory of the region has been analyzed. All information collected is being made available in both Portuguese and English on the Internet (atlas das aves). The database can be used for various activities from nature conservation to tourism in relation to nature. The Director of SPNM notes, "There is now a doctoral student at an English university who will use and interpret some information from ‘Atlas’ to prepare his thesis on the subject of the evolution of birds on islands and its relationship with the available habitat." On November 20th, a new book is out emphasising nature on Porto Santo, written in both Portuguese and English. ‘Looking at Porto Santo’ by Susana Fontinha and Jose Felisberto Almeida.

Free diabetes testing. There are more than 26,000 Madeirans with diabetes and estimates indicate that 56,840 others may also be pre-diabetic. Between 17 and 20 November, there will be free blood glucose testing as advertised on information posters around the island. World Diabetes Day on November 21st will be celebrated by a symbolic ring of people in the Largo de Municipio followed by ‘Walking for Diabetes’ to Santa Catarina Park.

Cheque for 10,000 Euros went through contractor to Lobo. A cheque for 10,000 Euros issued by the Vale da Ribeira do Sol society, allegedly to repay the favour to approve a set of 29 apartments in Ribeira da Ponta do Sol as the Plano Director Municipal (PDM) was suspended, was passed to the contractor who did the work. The cheque was to finance the election campaign of the PSD but ended up in the personal account of ex-mayor António Lobo, who is being tried for serious fraud and bribery. A former secretary of the company Giestas said she filled in the cheque, which has the signature of the accused Emidio Correia (former member of the PSD and partner in Ribeira do Sol), and it was put into an envelope for delivery to the building contractor. This cheque for 10,000 Euros and two others for 5,000 Euros ended up in the personal account of António Lobo. It is thought partners of the Ribeira do Sol society were to receive apartments worth around 100,000 Euros as payment.

Marine Biology Station collects dozens of sharks. About a dozen Pata Roxa sharks, popularly known as ‘Canejas’, were yesterday collected from the ponds around the Vagras restaurant where they had been left by fishermen and the restaurant owner realized they would not survive in captivity. The fishermen do not like this type of fish and ether throw them back into the sea or into this area. Some will be taken to the Municipal Aquarium of Funchal, some to the Aquarium in Porto Moniz and others returned to the sea.

Merlin helicopter from Porto Santo participated in a rescue near the Azores. Search and rescue for two crew of a vessel that had issued a call for help off the Azores. The crew were eventually rescued by a Puma Helicopter of the Air Force stationed in the Azores. Also mobilized to the site were a scientific research vessel and another ship, which were both in the area, and an aircraft to co-ordinate the operation. The Co-ordinator of the Rescue Centre of Ponta Delgada said, "The initial problem was that the position of the distress call was out of the reach of the helicopter. The scientific research ship was already in place for some time but could not collect them because of weather and oceanographic conditions, which were very, very adverse."

Racism in sport discussed in parliament. The violence, racist and xenophobic attitudes and safety in sports grounds will be topics of discussion next week. A new law came into force in August for both amateur and professional sports. Placement of cheerleaders, segregation of fans, parking and video surveillance systems are some of the areas with rules that clubs and other sporting bodies are obliged to observe. Xenophobic and racist behaviours are severely penalized for both the perpetrators and the supporters clubs. Penalties for crimes of aggression, xenophobia, destruction of property and entering the area of the game range from 1 to 3 years imprisonment, and are worse when the victims are athletes, referees, coaches or members of the media. The penalties for clubs range from fines to bans on sporting venues.

Forum Madeira promotes collecting toys for disadvantaged children. More than a hundred children awaited the arrival of Santa Claus today. There is a ‘Brinquedao’ in Forum Madeira for the collection of used and new toys.

SESARAM and Social Security trying to contact families who leave elderly relatives in the Emergency Department. Last Wednesday, eight people were left there. The authorities are trying to contact families of 130 such patients who remain in hospitals in the region. These families often feel they cannot cope with the relatives, so the Social Services will try to find a solution as the relatives miss their homes and contact with their families.The problem will worsen when the influenza A epidemic reaches its peak and the relatives are at risk of catching the infection.

New fishing port at Câmara de Lobos. The work should start at Easter 2011 and all infrastructure relating to fisheries will be transferred there from Funchal.

Youth arrested with drugs in his shoes. The Customs Services of Madeira Airport picked up a 23 year old carrying drugs inside his shoes. He had 250 grams of cocaine, equivalent to 2,500 doses, which could yield an income of more than 50,000 Euros. The cocaine was in between the insole and base of the shoes. He had flown in from Lisbon and thought nobody would be there to order him to remove his shoes.

A quarter of the demand for homes is for rental. Between the months of August and September, a quarter of the residential demand was for rental homes. 63% of the property supply is apartments and 29% houses. 47% of enquiries were for apartments and 39% for houses. 61.6% of enquiries were for T2 and T3 properties. 50% of the enquiries were in the region of Funchal and 13% Santa Cruz. Ranges of purchase varied from 120,000 Euros for a T2 to 270,000 Euros for a T5.

300 art works from museums at an exhibition in Lisbon. From November 2009 to February 2010, the Painting Gallery of King Louis 1 in the National Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon will host an exhibition of art works from museums in Madeira. These reflect the main phases in history from the fifteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. The exhibition brings together a set of symbolic parts of the collections of sculpture, painting, jewellery, furniture, ceramics and photography among others. The aim is to show the strategic importance of the archipelago in the context of expansion into Portugal and then Europe, in relation to the sugar, wine and tourist trades. The exhibition will promote the region as a cultural destination of great quality.

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It’s back to me now (Der), so the top story of today has to be the 1 – 0 victory of Portugal over Bosnia last night in the World Cup Play-off game, and I know that without even looking at the newspaper. It was a tough game for sure, those Bosnian players were so big compared to our lads. I was quite confident about a home victory yesterday, but after what I saw yesterday I am not at all confident for the away leg on Wednesday. So much at stake, and with Bosnia hitting the woodwork 3 times yesterday, they must have felt really unlucky. I tried to use the line ‘Portugal were saved by the madeira’ last night, but no one understood what I was on about. Perhaps goalposts here are made of plastic? More luck than judgement. Was the headline. Portugal won 1 – 0 but Bosnia sent the ball to the post three times.

Today’s main news headline in the Diário : Authority builds 13 churches - The Government has invested millions of Euros in the construction of Catholic churches. The participation generates criticism.

Privates ‘help out’ CMF – Funchal council pockets 48% of the revenue from the parking meters of SEP. It is the local authority in Portugal that earns the most with its franchise. The company that manages the parking meters of Funchal ensures that its master is well rewarded, according to research carried out by the Diário. In fact rewarded to the tune of €635,121 in 2008. On average each parking space generates around €965 of charges per annum. Funchal council not only benefits from it 48% slice of the cake, it also gains more because it charges car owners 60% more than the going rate.

Bad weather takes away €250 thousand – The ‘Independence of the Seas’, with four thousand tourists on board, cancelled its stop-off today in the port of Funchal.

‘Pit of Death’ in Ponta do Sol. The Christmas fun is back. This year the ‘Gigapark’ moves west. After previous Xmas visits to Água de Pena, Porto Novo, Cancela and Ribeira Brava, the ‘Gigapark’ Xmas fair is to ‘erect its tent’ in Ponta do Sol. Close to the main road, and with 3 thousand parking spaces, this years event is expected to be a real winner. It will be in place from the beginning of December, located in the development area of the town, and will stay there until the middle of January. One of the attractions will be a circus of sea animals, including sharks and penguins, that will perform for the public. Perhaps the new laws covering the use of animals in circuses didn’t extend to sea creatures then?

One further story from yesterday that I spotted, that rang alarm bells. Jardim cancels construction in Porto Moniz. The president of Madeira’s government cancelled the construction of a road between Porto Moniz and Fajã das Achadas da Cruz in the programme of the Madeira executive. He said it was too costly and wouldn’t benefit anyone. This is from the blog of 12th October, following the local elections : "Surprises In Juntas de Freguesia. The PSD had already said that their aim was to take all 54 of the the Juntas de Freguesia, or town / parish councils, and were already the holders of 52(?), but things didn’t quite go as planned, with just 49 remaining ‘orange’ at the end of the night. The PS socialists managed to retain Água de Pena and Achadas da Cruz, and gain Porto Moniz". Coincidence or punishment?

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.

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’

Impacts of recession ; Massive debts in Health Service ; Colombo Resort deadlock

admin — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo : Thanks to Tobi … "Just a pic"

This article might appeal to potential tourists who like walking, particularly LEVADA WALKING

Sheila kindly sent me in an article, but as it may have copyright issues I have provided a link to it instead : "Crisis in Portugal is mirrored in Madeira – Perhaps this article in the latest edition of The Portugal News will be of interest because some of the problems being faced in mainland Portugal (for instance unemployment and a lack of funds for animal care) are even more acute here in Madeira". Institutions struggle – Thousands of families in Portugal have been left living below the breadline.

Which leads on nicely to a letter I saw in the Diário on Friday, that brought a lot of responses from Diário readers.

P’Neco – A letter from a dog :
I’m an old dog, I am 14 years old. I’m happy, I have owners who really like me, who always gave me love and attention. But now I’m sick, I feel pain, I’m tired and my owners have little money. They took me to the vet, I was very well attended, my mistress was nervous, my master was sad and I just thought: – Do not be so sad I’ll will become well.

After the consultation I went home, I was already feeling better, but I realized that my owners were still anxious and sad. I finally realized why – they had little money and taking care of a dog is not easy. There is no assistance from anyone, no Health Centre to go to, as my owners have when they feel sick. Everything costs and is very expensive, and there are no reimbursements.

My owners have spent the rest of the money that they had to get through the month. They had to pay for the consultation, and it seems I need a special diet, I had to do tests, there are vaccines that I have to take … I have doggy friends in the same situation or even worse than me.

In the news, it is all about cases of abandonment, and bad treatment. But there are many good owners, like mine, that want to take care of their dogs, treating them, but that sometimes can only give affection that is not sufficient, as you must also have money.
In the car on the way home, my mistress was crying because she knows that I’m older and that from now on I will need care and medication, and she will not be able to pay.

I realised that one of the options was to put me to sleep, because I’m old. But I do not want to die, knowing the grief that my owners are going to have to suffer to send me to be killed, just because they have no money to take care of me. My desperate mistress already said he did not want more dogs, because it was too painful to see us die without dignity.

A few days ago my neighbour, a dog called Bobby, heard his owner say that he wanted to have another dog, but to treat it right is very expensive, and that there is no public vet and nothing cheaper, and so it was better not to. Bobby was sad, he wanted company, because his owners go off to work all day and he is left alone.

We dogs are friends, loyal, playful, because there are no laws to protect us, and to help those who protect us. – Anabela Sousa

Another fine contribution from Elaine from yesterday’s news, with many thanks …

Health Service and Electricity Company have liabilities totalling €985.2 million. The Regional Health Service at the end of the 2008 financial year had liabilities worth 484.6 million Euros, as calculated by the ‘Exame’ magazine. Two-thirds (€323 million) were owed to banks and suppliers. The liability represented record levels of debt (126%) unparalleled at a company / institution level. The Regional budget paid 227.2 million Euros to the Health Service and profit was a negative 13.9 million Euros. With 101.2 million Euros in negative equity, it was technically bankrupt, as the cost-effectiveness of services provided was -7%. The service provides care in 3 hospitals and 54 health centres. The Electricity Company of Madeira had total liabilities of 500.5 million Euros. The firm owed 360 million to banks and 60 million to suppliers. It had an 18% increase in sales (171.3 million) and overall profit of 3.7 million Euros. Madeira had 5.8% of the 500 largest Portuguese companies, 20 of these were foreign-owned and residing at the International Business Centre. They were from Italy, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Brazil. Despite popular opinion that they are tax-free companies, they provided a large proportion of both corporation tax and IVA. —– Lots of figures given which are meaningless to me and difficult to summarise. Der calculated the EEM had a debt of 5,000 Euros for every customer. The debt the health service is running up for each taxpayer must also be unbelievable. Is everyone living beyond their means? Sharp increase in taxes coming?

More details about rescue exercise in Rabaçal. The Civil Defence and Armed Forces are performing a ‘Missing 09′ rescue exercise on the 19th and 20th November in Rabaçal. To simulate the disappearance of a group of 15 tourists in Rabaçal and an accident involving a passenger bus on the road that leads to the Casa da Rabaçal. Over 100 people and 25 vehicles will be involved. There will be the Armed Forces, Emergency Medical Teams, Bombeiros and ambulances from 6 regions, PSP and GNR, SANAS, Forestry Police, Mountain Rescue and Canyoning Teams and Calheta Council representatives. Rabaçal is chosen as it is a tourist area where weather conditions can quickly change during the day, which tourists are often unaware of. On November 18th at the airport, the other rescue exercise will involve about 60 – 70 people, 10 – 12 ambulances and 2 Emergency Medical Teams. It is a collaboration between ANAM, Civil Defence and the Armed Forces. —- Don’t have an accident on any of these days.

Veterinary clinics now only used in emergencies. Due to the economic crisis, the clinics are used less for prophylactic care and animals tend to be taken only when essential. The clinics occasionally have large debts run up by customers and offer phased payments to assist. SPAD also find people have problems paying, and sometimes ask for proof that people really are in the economic difficulties that they claim.

Banks should finance Colombo’s Resort. Jardim has dismissed the Government’s responsibilities in the deadlock of continuing the financing of the work on Porto Santo. He said that the Government has nothing to do with investment and "If not resolved as soon as possible, banks will have to explain to shareholders how they lost that money, so the only solution is for those same banks to finish the work and subsequently put in on the market." Talking about the resignation of the Director of RDP and RTP-Madeira, Leonel de Freitas, he said his departure should have happened earlier. He pointed to the divisive character that RTP-Madeira had assumed, violating some of the fundamental ethics of the media. —- I think he is referring to RTP-Madeira not always reporting the Government in a favourable light. I think there were pre-election (interview) broadcast disputes.

Chakras and energy in health. SESARAM sending 400 nurses on a training course on the ‘Consciousness of Being’. These training sessions (the human, scientific and religious grounds; fields and energy centres; principles of the universe, care, healing nursing) and particularly (chakras, mental and emotional issues, anatomical power to defend the self, self-esteem, willpower, follow our dreams, faith and knowledge, spirituality and devotion, among others) have led some to question their relevance, scientific status and priority over more scientific / technical training needed. Especially the seven universal principles taught (mentalism, correspondence, vibration, polarity, rhythm, cause and effect and karma). This theory of transpersonal nursing was developed by a Colorado University Professor of Nursing who is considered a pioneer in the study of nursing as a scientific discipline that unites rationality and sensibility. This training promoting a holistic approach is financed by the EU, supported by WHO directives and authorized by the Director of Nursing. It aims to humanize the health service as patients do not want to be treated as mere numbers. The ‘Consciousness of Being’ serves to remind nurses that they deal with people and not the patient in bed X, ward Y. —– I love the last sentence – do nurses really have to be taught this? Just thought the taxpayers would like to know what the €484 million debt they are financing is spent on. Evidence-based medicine? No mention of the cost of the course. (Wikipedia has a page on Chakra which is a concept from traditional Indian medicine. I am still no wiser and wonder if quality of care will improve after this course).

260 have been treated for alcoholism this year. Treated at the Centre at the Casa de Saúde São Joao de Deus (hospital). The Unit has been functioning for 30 years and treated 7,000 to 10,000. The Director of the Hospital does not think that alcoholism is increasing in Madeira but there are more people seeking treatment and there is more attention given to treatment, recovery and rehabilitation. 18% of the patients are female and there are 20 beds. The Unit does not act alone but in conjunction with the regional network and the family have a key role. The Director of the Department of Mental Health, Luis Filipe, who also runs the unit, said that quicker and easier access is due to the recent formation of Community Mental Health Teams at the Regional Health Centres. More women are now asking for treatment possibly due to a decrease in stigma. A statistical analysis of the extent of alcoholism is presently being undertaken. He noted the help of the voluntary organisations, Alcoholics Anonymous and ‘Mão Amiga’. Alcoholism is decreasing amongst 40 – 50 years old as this age group has been targeted but increasing amongst young people who refuse to believe they can have a problem at their age. There will be an anniversary party for the Unit on December 2nd for 250 guests to celebrate those successfully treated.

Increase in the number of insolvencies. A new Code of Insolvency came into force five years ago and there has been an increase in the number of bankruptcies. There have been 72 this year which is about 7 times more than in the Nineties when there were only 10 – 12 a year. There were 26 in 2008. The number of firms becoming insolvent are 7% of the number of firms created, which is a positive sign.

Public works pollutes the seafront of Câmara de Lobos. Mud was being washed into the sea yesterday afternoon west of Vigario causing a brown discolouration. This was clearly seen from the Largo da Autonomia situated in front of the Town Hall. Diário reporters traced the origin to Council contractors who are building a wall in association with a new access to Ribeira da Alforra and Limoeiro. No one at the Council was available for comment.

Schoolchildren taught road safety. 50 children in Câmara de Lobos participated in an initiative promoted by the Operation Life association. After a talk at the Police Station, they went to the promenade at Vigario where there was a test course marked out. There was a maze of signs, both marked out on the promenade and roadsigns, and different means of transport, ranging from bicycles, rollerblades and skateboards. This was also part of the social inclusion project called Radically Inclusive which is designed to channel the excess adrenaline that youngsters have.

Assassination of Madeiran restaurant owner in Venezuela. A 44 year old man originating from Ribeira Brava was shot yesterday in his restaurant in Venezuela. Two men entered the establishment and repeatedly asked to be served by him, Jordan Teixeira dos Santos, mentioning his name several times. He was shot 14 times and it is thought to be part of a personal vendetta or Venezuelan ‘sicariato’. Complaints about insecurity are increasing in the country.

Destination Madeira promoted in London. The World Travel Market is to be held at the ExCel Exhibition Centre in London on the 9 – 11 November. The UK is the largest market for tourists, increasing 26.4% last year but has sharply fallen since then.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a fashion icon for the young. In his birthplace, Quinta Falcão in Funchal, the youngsters try to copy the way he walks, talks, hairstyle, earrings etc. according to the owner of the local billiard hall. They have difficulty buying from his store CR7 due to expense. A local hairdresser, who has Ronaldo’s mother and sister as clients, agrees. Ronaldo is also the Portuguese most imitated by young people worldwide and this began when he joined Manchester United six years ago and he has replaced previous idol Beckham. He is the ‘victim’ of the publicity machine of that club that buys players for their skills and transforms them into icons that can sell millions.

A quick look at today’s front page headlines :

Purely by coincidence (having published the readers letter above), this was the main photo on today’s Diário cover : Strays in the mountain remain waiting for owners until they die. Paul da Serra is the dumping ground for abandoned dogs. Also in other remote sites like Choupana. They fight until death to survive (exact translation). Confused, and wet to the bones, a little dog wanders amongst the parked cars at the miradouro of Rabaçal, in Paul da Serra. The fog was thick on that Thursday morning. The rain drizzled but was steady, soaking into the ground and leaving puddles here and there, and the animal ambled around in search of food, and for his owner who left him there to die. Further in front, on the road, the same scenario. The dog this time is bigger, seemingly a German Shepherd, hungry, soaking wet, staring and pleading … enough of that because does anyone really care? Will anyone head up there today to feed them … no I thought not, so there’s not much point in me continuing.

Marítimo with attitude to confront Porto – Mitchel (Van der Gaag) scored in the last victory against the portistas. Good prognostic for this afternoon’s game. I think I heard on the radio that it has been 6 years since Marítimo beat Porto, but this time I think Porto could struggle a little. SportTV1 6 pm.

Accounting Tribunal (Public Auditors) refuse explanations – The region asked the tribunal if it might explain the denial the approval of support for the TV series ‘Flor do Mar’. The tribunal says that it is already all clear. Clear it was, as even I understood without any mental effort at all, that the accommodation for the crew and cast of TVI (the series producer), was so costly that there should have been a tender organised. It’s called I believe ensuring effective use of public money, a concept that I think is totally alien to the Madeira government. Uncle Bertie and his crew of cronies are constantly breaking the rules on expenditure, and then always complain when the auditors criticise the action. Thank god we have the auditors, otherwise who knows what pockets would be lined and crazy projects endorsed without us ever knowing.

The main news headline today : Fishing fleet flees to the Azores – Already 14 boats and 250 fishermen are opting to labour in the neighbouring archipelago. They come to the dockyard of Caniçal yet pay the taxes there (?). They complain of lack of support of the regional government. Accompanied by a photo of two large fishing boats in dry dock, that clearly weren’t going anywhere. Lets hope these fishermen in the Azores don’t have the ‘Madeira taxi driver mentality’, or it will all end in tears for sure.

‘Wall of Shame’ fell 20 years ago – On a night of liberty, canticles and hugs, the Germans reunited the country two decades ago. It was the 9th November 1989. A news item that the world commemorates tomorrow. Well the world will have to commemorate without me, ‘cos I couldn’t care less, and I doubt if most of the people who read this headline will change their day either. I will spare a thought for that poor little dog pictured above though, and wonder if he is still just about alive. That wall is just history. Yet another stupid chapter in the history of mankind.

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.

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’

Camacha Apple Festival ; 2 sharks born in captivity ; Fatima statue on the move

admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … This, according to Tobi, is the Porto Santo Wolf Spider. I actually wonder if it is a wind-up. Can anyone confirm? Talking of animals, you should take a look at this page of animal photos, all taken on Madeira, all taken by Tobi. YOU WILL BE SURPRISED

I went to a bit of a do in Serra da Água Saturday night, but through lack of transport I decided to make the return journey on foot, thinking it was an hour or so at a brisk pace, which was actually far from the reality. Having got a little lost at the start of the town itself, which is a lot bigger than I thought, I stopped somebody to ask directions, and he ended up taking me the last couple of kilometres in his car. Then on the return walk, after about half an hour of walking, someone stopped and picked me up and took me home, but that was after buying me a beer en-route. What kindness and generosity indeed!

A couple of today’s main headlines :

The main news headline in today’s Diário : Pain Unit Without Resources – The lack of human resources and changes made in the field of work contribute to the reduction in capacity of the unit in Funchal Central Hospital. The unit should work with three full time anaesthesiologists, but for the last year has only had one. The monthly average of procedures carried out so far this year is 1,064, compared to nearly 1,500 in 2007 and 2008. The lack of trained staff and specialists means the unit has to turn to other specialists in the hospital for help, but that is not sufficient to fill the shortfalls.

The other main story continues from yesterday (see below) : Haemorrhage In Caniçal – Burst piping in the transfer of fuel oil leaks an undetermined quantity of spillage in the sea. The transporter was pumping fuel into the tanks of Companhia Logística de Combustíveis da Madeira (CLCM), when a union burst. The official opinion is that the spillage is not large, as the problem occurred at the end of the transfer, and teams were quickly on the scene to deal with the matter.

New Disappointment – Marítimo again falls by the wayside in the first round of the cup. Camacha and União continue in the competition. Marítimo managed a shock result yesterday in the Azores, losing 2 – 1 to lowly Santa Clara, in the Portugal Cup. The other two local União and Camacha teams won their games on Madeira and go on to the next round. Machico and Canicense also got knocked out.

Today is the big day for Portugal, who will learn their opponents in the 2010 World Cup play-offs, to be played on 14th and 18th of November. The home leg will be played in the Stadium of Light "Luz", the home of Benfica. Portugal are the clear favourite in FIFA rankings, whichever opponent they meet.

Yesterday’s top news stories, many thanks to Elaine :

Apple Festival to change date next year. On Saturday afternoon, there were few visitors to the festival in Camacha. There were 1,500 kilos of apples from 14 farmers for sale. The main interest to visitors was the traditional cider production/selling. The President of the Parish admits that the festival has been loosing strength in the past three years despite increased production and quality of apples. The organizers will attempt to revitalize the Apple Festival next year and by request of the producers, want to hold it in late September/early October as the apples mature early. They are hopeful that Sunday will bring more visitors. —-I hope they can resurrect the festival. Perhaps trade was better on Sunday afternoon. Did anyone go?

In comparison, they said that several hundred people took advantage of the sunny afternoon to attend the Regional Meeting of the Philharmonic Bands in Ribeira Brava. Yes I can confirm Elaine, lots of people there, as this event goes from strength to strength each year. This year seating was provided for everyone, and yet amazingly there was still enough space for the drunks to dance. Also, they used the super-duper big stage this year, with the roof that goes up and down. That must be the fifth time this year, so they might as well just buy the darn thing.

ARMAS has carried 24% fewer passengers per trip than last year. The average per trip this year has been 24% less than last year and 40% less than 2007. The highest average was in 2007 when it was 280 passengers per trip but this year has only been 166. There have been 40 more trips this year but with only a gain of 563 passengers (25,959 passengers this year so far). Although the total number of passengers has increased, it has been offset by the cost of an increased frequency of service. The major increase in trade has been Portimão / Canaries (57.9%) and Funchal / Portimão (17.3%). The only decrease in passengers was 3.4% less on the Las Palmas / Funchal route. The transport of vehicles is slowly increasing each year. Cargo transport has increased over 500%, so helping revenue.

In addition, the airport had 4.9% less passengers and 3.6% less flights in the first nine months of this year, compared to last year. Domestic passengers increased 12.7% and a decline of 18% international passengers.

No candidates for the City of Culture 2010 award. Eight municipalities could have entered by the deadline in June but none did, possibly due to elections. Last year, Santa Cruz, Machico, Funchal and Câmara de Lobos entered and the latter won. The award was started in 2007 by the Government and they must either end the award or invite a particular municipality.

Less patients had to travel to Portugal for treatment. Since 2006, an average of about 2,000 patients had to be diagnosed / treated in Portugal. So far this year, only 1,200 have had to go. The Health Department pay for air fares at short notice, local transport, subsistence and also the transportation and subsistence of a companion. This year, no patients had to be referred out of the Continent. This is partly due to the opening of the new Radiotherapy Unit in February, which they hope will save more than 1 million Euros by the end of the year in costs.

Two sharks born in Madeira Aquarium. A shark, commonly named Caneja, gave birth to one on Saturday afternoon and one on Sunday morning. This is an unusual event and the mating sharks have been in the aquarium in Porto Moniz for ten months.

Pilgrim statue goes to the regions. After a Mass, the statue of Fátima goes to Boaventura, accompanied by a procession of about 300 bikers from the Madeira Biker’s Club. The police hope that the quiet traffic on Sunday will not lead to too many queues.

Suspected murderer returned to freedom. Continuation of the case of a man killed in Nogueira on Wednesday after an argument. The deceased man was from Mozambique and had gone to the alleged murderer’s house with a knife in his hand, where he was killed. The suspected murderer has been freed as long as he regularly reports to the police, as they pursue enquiries, and his family have moved out of the area for their own safety.

Ecological Park has planted 63,000 species. A daily activity between Autumn and Winter, involving employees, schools and associations. The projects have EU support. They aim to eradicate evasive alien species and restore natural vegetation cover, especially in areas to resist erosion. The Ecological Park is a protected area of Funchal, founded in 1994. The Reception Centre was developed in 2004 and has had more than 4,000 visitors.

Shipping news. After two failed attempts, the 290 tonnes generator engine has finally been unloaded at Câmara de Lobos. In another event, during the transfer of fuel from a supply ship to Caniçal, there was a spillage which meant the emergency ‘absorbent blanket’ (looks like foam) was sprayed into the sea around the spillage.

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If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or 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 or comments and photos / videos, or if you can contribute regularly, I can give you a special account that allows you to create your own blog postings.
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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.

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’

Camara de Lobos in focus ; Tunnel trial continues ; Live-amo army exercise

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to ???? … Fish market. Really sorry that in one of my absent minded moments I forgot to make a note of who sent it in, but if you can email me I will be sure to correct the situation with the rightful credit.

Maybe this was taken in the days when the espada fish was plentiful? On that subject, I don’t know if anyone remembers a couple of years ago, there was a big rumpus when the European Union tried to impose fishing quotas for the black espada fish, purely as a conservation precaution. Fishermen and politicians were most perturbed by the suggestion, and after a lot of wrangling eventually the EU dropped the proposal, making a special case for Madeira, where we insisted that the espada population was alive and well and plentiful. How exactly did we know that the espada population was alive and well and plentiful I hear you asking, the bl**dy thing lives about two thousand fathomythings below sea-level? I don’t think we did know for sure, and fed up with growing straight bananas we BS’d the EU, and now perhaps we have been found out?

"The island is a veritable mixing plant ’subtropical zone where the spread banana, cane sugar, warm temperate Mediterranean-type, which has encouraged the cultivation of the vine area of primeval forest (forest gold), unique relic of the Tertiary Era before the great period of glaciation". Interesting writing style if nothing else! I GOT MY WORDS MIXED UP

I had a rare foray into Funchal yesterday, thanks to a letter I got from those good people at Radio Popular, telling me that there is 10% off everything I could carry (or in this case have delivered FOC). Saved me a pretty centythingy. Santa Catarina park was interesting, with the university students out in force, as part of their initiation week. The name of the game was to throw a water-filled balloon in the air over a group of novices, and hope that they would catch it without it bursting. The punishment for failure was a large number of press-ups, or a dying-fly impersonation lasting several minutes. Nice, and yet not one student appeared drunk … how is that possible. Saw the ship National Geographic Explorer in harbour. Aside from that I was glad to get home from our hot, sweaty and polluted mother city. No shortage of tourists from what I could see.

A very quick looks at today’s Diário headlines :

Lobo Case : ‘Cheque for campaign’ mix up. A cheque for €10,000 created confusion between building contractor and politicians. The judgement started yesterday with António Lobo silent. Elaine already has most of the story covered, but Lobo is saying nothing in court. I haven’t looked at the article yet, I will do so tonight, but I can see already from this headline how this innocent misunderstanding occurred, and I think if someone suddenly gave me a €10,000 cheque I would be also be inclined to be confused.

Super-Shop upsets trade in Machico – The Chinese enterprise with various businesses obliges local traders to put into perspective the closure of their shops. ACIM (a sort of chamber of commerce) strongly threatens to obtain a court injunction. What a horror, I can’t even begin to imagine what a Chinese version of a Madeiran minimum wage must look like, but that aside, once again the locals clash with the Chinese over competition.

Homeless of Funchal lose their ‘street beds’. The shop owners of Rua do Carmo are arranging to cover up the recesses in their shop fronts. Meanwhile an anti-poverty plan is on the way. According to this morning’s TV news, 18% of the population of Portugal is now living within the definition of poverty.

Counting of rifles in the PS-M. The race for the leadership of the Socialist Party of Madeira between Serrão and Victor proceeds with much ‘hidden play’. They are going to appear supportive of each other, but only on ‘drip-feed’ rate.

Nacional wants to avoid surprise in the cup. Varzim, club of the Madeiran Gonçalo, is the opponent today.

Thanks again to Elaine in Garajau for the news from yesterday :

The Lime Route Museum, ‘Rota da Cal’ has a free cultural event on Saturday 17 October. Begins at 10.00 am in Lameiros near São Vicente. Rethatching event to renew expertise. At 15.00 a group from Boaventura will perform using traditional instruments. —–To celebrate International Day of Older Persons and International Day of Music.

Cavaco summons Diniz. Main headline about Cavaco Silva, the President of the Republic, calling Monteiro Diniz, the Representative of Madeira, to Lisbon to talk about the ‘cases’ of campaign events during the elections. Diniz just seems to give an account of the issues and that they had not influenced the results.

Embroiderers (bordadeiras) criticize passitivity of IVBAM. The Syndicate of Embroiderers accuses the Government body, the Institute for Wine, Embroidery and Handicrafts (IVBAM) for passitivity. According to Maria Gananca, there are difficulties due to competition from the Asian market and lack of quality training. Innovation is important, for example, jeans, handbags, watches and wedding dresses but tradition must be preserved. Tapestry is in even more crisis as market demand is low and there are only two companies and the few embroiderers are older.

School children visit the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. The statue has been visited by a large number of locals as well as organized school visits. The photo shows the children offering flowers, and they also had hymn singing and a recitation of the rosary. The statue will be in the Se Cathedral until Sunday.

Court in awe with negligence in the tunnel. The continuing trial about the explosion during the construction of the tunnel in Nun’s Valley in 2003 when four workers died. A security expert gave evidence that the detonators were not appropriate given the weather conditions (water running down the walls and into the prepared holes for the explosives) and the ‘Jumbo’ drilling machine was running on electric rather than diesel power. The training of the operator of the explosives was weak and the explosives were detonated during the lunch hour. The trial resumes on the 5th November.

Fire in Levada dos Moinhos, Viveiros, Funchal. A fire broke out early Friday morning and the firemen were in attendance from 00.45 to 1.20 am.

Suspect accused of corruption in Ponta do Sol financed the election campaign in 2004. Continuation of the case involving the former mayor António Lobo. The industrial construction businessman, Jose Angel Giestas, wrote a cheque for 10,000 Euros to finance the ‘campaign’ for a block of 29 apartments and 10,000 Euros for the Sports Association of Ponta do Sol. According to the prosecutors, the money went into the personal account of Antonio Lobo. The trial begins today with Lobo and 4 others in the dock for serious fraud and bribery.

Psychotropic drug use in Portugal has increased 36.6% in five years. Anxiolytics, hypnotics, sedatives and antidepressants. The High Commissioner for Health says it is important to know why so many psychiatric drugs are consumed. It is above the European average. Antidepressant use increased 26.4%. The President of the Portuguese Society of Biological Psychiatry explained, "Although there is a real increase in use of antidepressants in Portugal, Europe and around the world, there is no scientific evidence that this increase is due to bad clinical practice." "Growth in consumption is not related to the number of depressed patients as the use of antidepressants is a common practice in other medical specialities than psychiatry."

Links with another article. According to a Portuguese psychiatrist, one in five patients in general practice has depression. It is under diagnosed and undertreated, mainly because it manifests as physical symptoms and family doctors do not have enough time to talk to patients.

In another article, the President of the Misericordias in Portugal says there are more people who are ashamed to be in poverty, due to the economic crisis. This needs to be met with discreet support. ——Saturday is the International Day of the Eradication of Poverty ——-Saturday is European Day of Depression !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Highest percentage of pressure ulcers in the region occur in Madeira. Due to lack of training to caregivers, usually family members.

Army tests with real ammunition. As previously warned, the exercise in Ponta do Pargo. It occurred near the lighthouse and involved two anti-aircraft guns from 1981 but the military assures that they have up to date technology. The Association of Aeromodelists of Madeira participated with a remote controlled helicopter which simulated a landing approach by an enemy. The target for the guns were two sets of balloons (as shown). As well as spectators banned from the area, there was a liaison officer at the airport and one in a patrol vessel to ensure that vessels would not be in the area. —–Dad’s Army (?)

Genetics may define diet. In accordance with Der’s article about poor eating habits. There is evidence that the genetic profile of an individual can help in developing a proper diet although we are a long way from personalized ‘gene-diets’. A diet may have different responses in different individuals, e.g. a low-sodium diet might reduce blood pressure in some but not others, so they have to be as accurate as possible to avoid some diseases. The article then goes on to castigate us all for poor diet and thus destroying the environment. ——Today is World Food Day

Arun sails within the next 19 days. Two new support vessels for assistance at sea. There will be one boat for Santa Cruz and one for Porto Santo.

Linked to another article. The Commander of the Maritime Zone of Madeira, Coelho Candido, has just had a leaving presentation. He said that the Maritime Police are not yet ready for rescue at sea and that the navy will still assist.

Brussels proposes a 15% reduction in the catch of mackerel in Madeira and Azores. This will begin in 2010 but will not affect Madeira as the catches are already below the quota.

Leacock invests €14 million in a hotel in the Algarve. New five star hotel to be built in Lagos, similar to the Quinta Jardins do Largo and Quinta do Casa Branca in Madeira.

Câmara de Lobos feature. 174th anniversary of the municipality. In recognition, J. Madeira had an interview with the mayor, Arlindo Gomes. He attacked ‘dirty politics’ against him during the election campaign. The council want to create more social housing and day care centres. They will also help small and medium enterprises in the economic crisis. The council also want to see the night life returning, especially at weekends, the ‘câmaralobenses nights’. The President of the Municipality said, "The nights were well attended by people from both inside and outside the municipality, which ended peacefully." "It’s hard to go downtown on a Saturday night and see almost no one in those cafes and bars which were once bursting at the seams." The many festivals are popular, for example, the Feast of the Black Scabbard Fish , Cherry Festival, Wine Festival and Chestnut Festival. Religious festivals are also important, e.g. patron saints of the nine parishes in the municipality. There have been many physical and social activities and summer activities for children. 45% of the population is under 25 years old. It is also a tourist area, famous for scenery, espetada (beef on laurel skewers) and poncha.

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’