Madeira News Blog

Today’s Photo Thanks to Elaine (out West) … The newest wind turbine at Paul da Serra

"We departed a very sunny Madeira at 18.00 as the sun was sinking accompanied by around 100 Cory’s Shearwater outside the harbour entrance. All the passengers on deck watching departure were treated to a fantastic sunset, complete with Green Flash!" I am impressed that anyone passing through Madeira would recognise a Cory’s Shearwater, it took me years to identify what they were, and now I call them Cagarras, the Portuguese name. MARINELIFE BLOGSPOT

I know there are one or two artists who follow this blog, so this should be a real treat from Ella du Cane, and for others who who might be more interested in the text from 1909 of Florence du Cane. This is an actual book, complete, with all the artwork, published in the beautiful format produced by A & C Black back in those days, with titled tissue guards for the plates. You can flip the pages using the buttons in the top right corner, or just let it flip them for you so you can sit back and watch.  The flowers and gardens of Madeira 

There are loads of other ‘Madeira’ books on that website as well, so worth bookmarking!

"Madeira a privileged place and an excellent luxurious destination. At only 1,5 hours of flight of Lisbon, Madeira it offers a warm reception, the happiness and friendliness of his people and the extraordinary beauty of his sceneries with multiple social, sports and cultural activities, they provide in any moment of the year an unbeatable ambience for the celebration of events, trips of incentives and conferences". A CHRISTMAS PLUG

Many thanks to Elaine (the one out West again) for sending in this article :

Classical Orchestra loses the Congress Centre. The Classical Orchestra of Madeira will no longer be able to perform from April at the Congress Centre, at least in its present form. The agreement concluded between the Pestana Group and the Regional Government for a period of three years which allowed the free use of space for training will not be renewed. The director of the Casino da Madeira, Carlota Cavaco, confirmed the news, but denied that the end of the partnership has anything to do with the controversial intervention of artistic director Rui Massena, adding that it was an agreement with the Government, not with the orchestra or with the Foundation. She said that the auditorium, with capacity for 600 tourists, is important for the Pestana Group, and for local events, shows which bring in tourists, and national and international conferences that are held there. The Pestana Group has invested six million Euros to keep the concession for another ten years.

The rest is from the normal Elaine (from the east I think?), with many thanks …

Father Borga at Christmas. On 12 December the Hospital’s Christmas show has many regional artists. The singing priest connected to the RTP ‘Praca da Alegria’ and SIC ‘Casos de Policia’ is the guest artist. The show is at the Forum Machico on the 12 December at 15.00. The authorities tried to book José Luis Borga last year but he was too busy as he is both a singer and a priest. He started playing the keyboards in a youth group with his brother, then played the viola and organ when at the Catholic University and won the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Ancient Mariner’. He started his artistic career with his first album ‘Navigation’ which reached platinum status and his second disc was ‘Singing is Praying Twice’. The concert is especially designed for the elderly and hospital patients. The auditorium seats will be completely filled with users from residential homes, day care centres and patients.

ECM Christmas Drinks Campaign. The Empresa de Cervejas da Madeira (ECM) is having a Christmas delivery service to homes or businesses for individuals or companies. For example, if you want to order Coral beer, you can order an imperial machine, barrels and glasses and they will be delivered and collected, along with any bottles. They have a Christmas Products catalogue including wines from Portugal and Madeira, Madeira Wine and spirits. Ordering can be by phone.

Loja Diogos wine tasting well attended. About 500 people attended the 20th anniversary celebrations at the Hotel Four Views Baia. There were 20 producers with 99 different types of wines. The owners of the firm were surprised by the high number of people attending as well as 90 who stayed for the dinner that evening. Chefs from other hotels also attended who were finalizing their Christmas and New Year menus and wanted appropriate wines. It is a difficult time to sell wine, as customers prefer low prices, but there are many good wines at lower prices.

Members of the three major parties examine Jardim’s pessimistic forecast. In recent days, Jardim has repeatedly said that the next two years (until 2011) will be very difficult, saying cuts in funding, not only of the state budget, will force a rethink about better planning of the Government’s program which was presented in 2007. The leader of the PSD party, Jamie Filipe Ramos agreed and defended these ideas. He said it was inevitable that there would be a reduction in the money transferred from the Portuguese State as it had a decrease in tax revenues. He added that given these circumstances and constraints plus the difficult time for private investment, it is quite reasonable to be selective in public investment without losing the capacity to implement the Government’s programs. "It seems rather reasonable and even wise these days." Naturally, the opposition has a different view. The Socialist Party’s Carlos Pereira points out that it would require a "paradigm shift" and that Jardim and the PSD find external ‘scapegoats’ (Socialist Government in Portugal and recession) to try to evade its own responsibilities. He continued to say that the last two years were difficult and Jardim said he was going to resolve the problems and now after the elections, he says the next two will be. "It is a hoax, a lie sold to Madeira and now we are paying." He believes the plight of the regional economy started in 2000 when the region began to loose the pace of growth because it no longer had the capacity to invest and began to borrow significantly, to be paid by the regional budget. In addition, there was bad negotiation of EU funds. Lino Abreu, the CDS-PP member, believes the statements of Jardim show "a mood of some desperation." "We live in very difficult times and I agree when he says that 2010 will be the most difficult year since the crisis began in 2007." According to the Popular Democrat, "Madeira needs a new investment cycle, a new way of being in the economy. It is necessary to change the current paradigm, a vision and a strategy more focused on the regional economy, on economic factors and the key sectors that are still providing some jobs, like tourism. We need policies for the extraordinary special session in which we live."

Petition for abandoned animals. The ‘Greens’ are starting petitions in Funchal and Santa Cruz, the counties where the problem is greater.  They think the problem of abandoned animals cannot be solved by just goodwill and are against euthanasia, believing that sterilization is a better way to control the population of cats and dogs. They want two kennels to be set up and a more effective registration of domestic animals. They also want the kennels to have housing programs for vacation time in order to avoid abandoning pets during the holiday period. —- A Diário reader commented, how do you subscribe?

Ruckus at the hospital. The Rapid Intervention Brigade (BIR) of the police had to intervene last week to resolve a ruckus that started at the entrance of the Emergency Room of the Hospital Dr. Nelio Mendonca in Funchal. There had been a previous robbery attempt on an elderly couple by a young person and the violence came from the relatives of the victim who decided to take justice into their own hands. The youth was injured and went to the hospital to receive assistance but was again attacked inside the Emergency Room. The BIR calmed tempers and took the youth to the police headquarters.

Domestic violence in Porto da Cruz. After a divorce was granted, the ex-husband still insists on going to the house where his ex-wife and daughter live. The eldest son, worried because his mother lives in an isolated area of Porto da Cruz, has called the police and also reported the matter to the Commission for Children. The father goes to the house at night time and once attacked and frightened the daughter. Her 25 year old brother, who has lived with domestic violence for years, said his father flees before the police arrive and they conclude the ex-wife is fabricating the story. The complaints were first made in September and the father now gets drunk and takes friends to scare the mother and sister. He says his sister is scared and has difficulty at school. He has only heard promises but no action since he complained. The mother has asked for victim status at the police station, but they still say she imagines it as they have no evidence. The brother is married and cannot always be with his mother but is concerned for the safety of his mother and sister and does not know where else to ask for help and protection. 

Surfer in trouble between Jardim and Paul do Mar. A surfer was in trouble yesterday morning forcing the deployment of naval means of assistance. A Maritime Authority and a SANAS launch were sent but before arrival to the area, the surfer had managed to return to dry land, safe and well.

Bishop calls for inner reflection at the end of the liturgical year. The brothers Vicentinos organized an open-air mass which began with a procession from Caniço Church to the Statue of Cristo Rei at Garajau. There was a small stage at the statue which served as an altar for the celebration of the Eucharist, which was attended by seminarians and the Movement of Catholic Scouts. —- I saw the procession along the Estrada do Garajau. It was well attended and they were singing as they went along.

Christmas Gifts purchases awaiting the Christmas bonus. Purchases are limited to cheaper decorations, cookware gifts, pyjamas, slippers and children’s books. Larger electronic goods are being viewed but not sold. Some people are waiting for the Christmas sales. 8 – 24 December is traditionally the busy period.

IHM and squatters. On November 17th, the Diário reported that the IHM had 15 days to evict a family of five who were occupying social housing in Nazaré. The aunt had lived there for three years then was admitted to a nursing home and as the son had emigrated, he had no legal right to live there. The other family members illegally moved in. The IHM (landlord) will allow children and third parties to live in a place temporarily as long as there is no overcrowding, although the rent may increase depending on income. They cannot tolerate people who take advantage of someone with advancing age or disease problems, move in then consider it a fait accompli. They have several of these cases, along with ‘squatters’ returning after a divorce or economic hardship. They usually only resort to court proceedings for failure to pay the rent and since 1978, arrears have totalled nine million Euros. 803 tenants do not pay on time and 358 are complying with a payment plan.

24 children adopted this year. The majority are aged between four and six years. There are 19 other children in a situation of adoptability, all older than six years, and 97 couples or single women on the waiting list to adopt. It is more difficult to find suitable couples to adopt when the children are older and when there are siblings, one case is of three siblings and the social services do not want to separate them. Older children tend to end up in institutions, occasionally after a failed compulsory pre-adoption period. In 2010, there will be specific training for people wanting to adopt. There has been a decrease in the number of families for fostering, at present 30. No children are waiting for a family. There is to be an awareness campaign to increase the number. Currently, 73 children are being fostered and 9 were fostered this year.

Metropolitana and OPM use port areas and do not pay anything. The Court of Auditors is preparing an audit of APRAM (Ports Authority) and have concluded that the business model developed by the Regional Government adversely affects the public interest as there is under-capitalization. The company Metropolitana occupy the North Terminal and have not fulfilled a concessionary contract. Recently, the vice-president of the Regional Government has tried to raise revenue from the infrastructure. The Terminal dos Socorridos da Cimentos Madeira pay a fee to use the port at a value considered too low. The Auditors also question why the Government have not paid APRAM a concession for the area where the balloon was installed. They also want to know why the port operators OPM do not pay to use the ports. Although concessions are beneficial for the price of goods and services, the Court questions more than 70 of the licensing or concessions. The experts denounce the Region spending 240 million Euros on the ports, €190 million on Funchal, Porto Santo and Caniçal, the only ones with any commercial revenue, while APRAM was forced to spend another €53.7 million on small ports that do not generate any revenue. This has led to APRAM having a liability of €227 million and accumulated losses of €56.6 million.

Councils not creating advisory bodies in matters relating to youth policy. Porto Santo is the only exception, i.e. working within the law. The main reason given is that the recent elections have not allowed them to comply with the law. There are also financial constraints as the councils have to finance logistical and administrative support to the advisory bodies.

Police arrest 8 and seize 6 weapons. Special Crime Prevention Operation on Saturday night / Sunday morning in Câmara de Lobos, Ribeira Brava and Calheta. 7 arrests associated with driving while under the influence of alcohol and the eighth individual was arrested for possession of a prohibited weapon and receiving a stolen gold bracelet. 32 other individuals were identified. Searches of vehicles, people and premises resulted in the seizures of 6 weapons including an alarm gun, rattle (?), knife with an 11 centimetre blade, a 1 metre long baton and 2 pairs of scissors. There were 46 traffic offences and 12 violations of the law at 5 nightclubs. 65 police officers were involved.

Back to me (Der) :

The leading news headline from today’s Diário : Public Service Police victim of fraud investigate dentist – The police’s own social services bring an inspection team to Madeira because of medical bills with exorbitant charges. There is at least one dental practice in Funchal under investigation, where the 700 police here have special arrangements for dental treatment under a state protocol. The inspection will involve interviewing around 20 police officers who received treatment from the alleged fraudster. In question is that the treatment described on the bills submitted is considerably more elaborate than the treatment actually given, and the state (Ministry for Internal Administration) may have been ripped-off to the tune  of tens of thousands of Euros.  Ha, join the club! So it’s not just me. Expect to read in the next few days the headline ‘Dentist found lying in Funchal gutter after a good flossing’.

Not even the ‘sales’ help the hotel industry – ‘Full house’ for New year doesn’t soften the loses. Hotel bosses confirm that the tradition still goes on as always, but they say that it has gone bad. The principal hotels in Funchal and in Madeira are generally sold out for New Year, but it has been a bad year in terms of hotel occupation rates and that will still reflect in the financial results.

’100 Biggest and Best’ disputed and awarded – Three invited guests participate in the conference. The consecration is today at 5 pm. Entrance is free. My personal favourite headline of the today, as it means we are almost at the stage where I won’t have to keep reading about it anymore for almost a year. Company news for the sake of it is boring, unless you own one of those companies of course, but I lost count of how many times the Diário gave front page coverage to their own little showpiece. The Diário even had the cheek to publish a supplement yesterday, Financial Times style, and while it might have been almost ‘red’ all over, I would bet my bottom Euro that it certainly wasn’t ‘read’ all over … anywhere.

This got headlined twice : The most sought after toys only for order – Games, films and dolls head the favourites lists. Many are already sold out. A month to go until Christmas and already there are toys sold out – Consoles, dolls, and toy cars lead the favourites list. Despite the crisis and with still a month to go until Christmas, some gifts can only now be acquired by advance ordering, as they are sold out on the shop shelves. Even then there are no guarantees they will be delivered in time for Xmas. One toy in case is the figure ‘Naruta’ in the ‘Brinca kids’ series, but the shops still display the publicity regardless. This year the trend continues as always, with girls preferring dolls including Nancy’s and Barbies, and boys prefer toy cars and figures such as Gormiti’s and Bionicle. No mention of ‘Action Man’, is he out of fashion these days? I had one once, but it was a cheap squeezy Chinese version with no moving parts … what an embarrassment. Every time my pals had a ‘action man get-together’, I had to pretend that my ‘action man’ was off sick. I think they called him the ‘out-of-action-man’ in the end.

… and finally : Ex-deputies (MPs) request ‘reintegration’ – Maximiano Martins may receive up to €30 thousand. Sérgio Marques studies his case. I can’t really be bothered to delve into such political stories, but from memory these were two Madeiran gentlemen ‘displaced’ by recent elections from political roles in the Portugal Republic.

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(more…)

(3rd August). ‘President Of ECM Says That Without Publicity The Sales Fall – Miguel de Sousa explains the value of the marketing role’. The president of Empresa de Cervejas da Madeira (Coral Beer) says his company invests 5% of its receipts in marketing. In an interview in the Diário he outlines the objectives and ambitions of ECM, but also added a bit of humour. When asked if without advertising would sales, he replied "Yes, of course. That is why we advertise. Don’t think that we do it just to support or subsidise the Diário de Notícias, as I am often accused". Some interesting facts too, in that although ECM was formed in 1934, it originates from a merger of companies going back as far as 1872. Also the orangeade it produces goes back 135 years, and is older than Coca-Cola. It’s factory in Socorro can produce 15,000 litres per day and fill 65,000 bottles. Last year its turnover was €43 million, of which around €2 million went back into marketing. Not quite sure what that was doing on the front page, and as Coral pretty much dominates the beer market here, why they spend so much on advertising with so little competition is a mystery to me. You can’t walk for 2 minutes in any populated area without seeing the company name somewhere.

‘Porto Santo Line Increases Connections In August – The Lobo Marinho will make two trips on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays’. An increase in demand for this month has led to the decision to make two daily crossing three times a week, to serve holidaymakers wishing to go to the island. The councillor Roberto Silva said he anticipates a full house on ‘the sand’ throughout August. That doesn’t tie in with the weekend story about reduced hotel bookings, but the facts published often change with the wind. Perhaps there are going to be a lot of day trippers, and / or people staying with friends or family?

‘Council Wants Tourism In Sítio dos Salgados – The Salgados are what gave origin to what is today the parish of Camacha’. The council of Santa Cruz is looking for community support to move forward with a regeneration project in one of the more southerly locations in the area, where nature keeps itself in a better state of conservation. The Salgados are a small residential community nucleus that according to history gave rise to Camacha. There are still some remains of a chapel there dating back to that time, and there is an old stone house that belonged to a family named ‘Camacho’, probably giving the origin of the name of the parish. It will not be easy to move the project forward, as funding will need to be approved, and it will need the approval of families with property there, some of which have emigrated. One thing that is going ahead is the construction of a new access road to the Salgados, from Lombo Centeio. The article also mentions the Levada dos ‘Caniceiros’ which passes through the area.

‘The First Hotel In Faial Will Have Twenty Rooms – The new hotel will be built in the grounds of the Casa de Chá (tea house) in Faial (pictured)’. The tea house itself will undergo major changes and improvements. The project has already been assessed and approved by the local authorities of Santana, and the current owners are just awaiting to collect the licences to start work. The restaurant and bar will remain open and unchanged, as they were already upgraded in 2003. The location has fantastic views, surrounded by two valleys of exceptional beauty. The first plan for the development was a 40 room tower, with a rotating restaurant on top, but it was deemed unrealistic and inappropriate for the location. The 20 room hotel will also have a conference / function room with capacity for 300 guests.

Notice lots of picture today? I had to fill the space with something, as there are just 15 articles in the Diário today, excluding politics (nothing doing as politics has closed down for the Summer, with just election news left), sport, and entertainment.

(28/29th July). ‘PSD, CDS & MPT Approve Proposal For Constitutional Review – The rest of the opposition abandoned the room at the time of voting’. The document of PSD-M social democrats was approved by its own party, the populars, and earth party yesterday, without objection. The final version which will go to the republic confirms the wish to remove Madeira’s post of Representative to the Republic.

The president of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira (ALM), Miguel Mendonca, highlighted yesterday the productivity of the regional parliament, which ended its work for the Summer. He said that in the last legislative year the assembly met 65 times, and the standing committees around 150 times. Hmmm, two ways of looking at that, firstly did it actually do anything very useful like address the real issues in a time of crisis, or just create and debate politics, and secondly, with an absolute majority that won’t allow anyone to stray from its own party line, and won’t give opposition parties any time or slack, it should theoretically be super productive.

Today (29th) is the last day anyone entitled to vote can make any changes to their voting registration, for example a change of address. All voting records now remain frozen until after the local elections, and anyone registered with an old address will have to vote in the area currently registered.

On to matters of the economy … 

(29th July). Today’s main news headline . ‘Bad Debt Increased 15% – Madeira’s companies don’t pay 2% of the money that they were asked for. They remain owing €93 million’. The companies of Madeira are suffering huge problems, reflected in the fact that bad credit has hit 2% of the money loaned to the companies by the banks, 150% up on the same month in 2008. The article is full of facts and figures about who owes what, both in commercial and domestic loans, and compared to nationally, Madeira is up to it’s neck in debt. However, its not until you get to near the bottom of the article that you find out that the headline figure of 2% of unpaid repayments is actually quite low in terms of Portugal, the worst region being 4.7%, and even the Azores registers 2.6%, and the national average is 3.3%.

The same article covers domestic loans and debt. A study by the Nacional Institute of Statistics reveals that Madeira is the region of Portugal with the highest average debt per head of population in terms of housing loans. At the end of 2008 each Madeiran theoretically owed €9,274. So now you know why Madeira has so many banks, because we love to borrow, we love to borrow more, and when it comes to repayments we are a better bet than most. In 2006 a study showed that the 76 banks in Funchal had a loan to bank ratio of €235 million, the second highest ratio in Portugal. Even Lisbon, that came third, only had a ratio of €171 million per bank branch.

‘Super Sá of São Vicente Starts In September – The new superstore will be completed next year and will employ 30 – 40 people’. Construction work will start in September, taking around 10 months to finish, with completion expected for next July. As well as Sá, there will be 3 shops and a snack bar, and a car park for over 100 cars. The full development will cover over 6,000 square metres in the zona nobre of the town. The new facility will be welcomed by most, but is feared by some small traders who will undoubtedly suffer, as happened after the last new store opened in Santana.

‘So Many Bends And Me Without Brakes’ – That’s the slogan for the rally’. The slogan is for the publicity of the Empresa de Cervejas da Madeira (makers of Coral beer) who are once again sponsors of the Madeira Wine Rally, and this year will be focusing on their alcohol free beer. The event is also sponsored by the TV channel Eurosport, who will be providing daily coverage of the event, as well as it being covered on RTP Madeira.