Madeira News Blog

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′

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