Madeira News Blog

(18th July). ‘Tripe of Aveiro’ gets its own space. "The real taste of Aveiro" is gaining market strength, and now has it’s own kiosk in the Centro Comercial Anadia in Funchal. After a year of tests, the sweet tripes with secret recipes went on sale on 2nd July, and is proving a success. Not even the employees know the recipes that make these animal stomachs so delicious. Amongst the flavours are chocolate, passion fruit, and strawberry, or they can be filled with ice cream or soft sweet(?) eggs.

‘Fatal Accident In Paul do Mar – A man died following a skid and the car turning over’. The third road death on the island this week happened at 7.40 am this morning in the tunnel going from Jardim do Mar. The 32 year old man was found in cardiac arrest and died later on in Calheta Health Centre.

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‘Bernardo Martins Rejects Candidature – The MP and former president of Machico Câmara already said to the local PS that he declined the invitation’. The socialists were banking on Bernardo to stand in the elections in Machico, but he refused at the last minute, highlighting more problems in the leadership of the party. He says he "does not feel prepared for a new political battle" and is said to feel a lack of support within his party, which may indicate is he preparing to quit his active political life.

‘Jerónimo And Portas Are The Only Certainties – Nacional party leaders want to include Madeira on their campaign trails’. With two elections in September and October, most of the leaders of the political parties want to cover all of Portugal, but normally Madeira is a secondary objective for most, but this year the six representatives in the Republic could make all the difference in what is seen to be a close battle. So far only the leaders of the PCP  and CDS-PP have confirmed they will be coming here for the official campaigns which start next month. However Manuela Ferreira Leite, leader of the PSD social democrats will be on Madeira at the end of this month (26th). She will speak at the festival (rally) in Chão da Lagoa which serves as the starting point for the PSD-M campaign.  Efforts are also being stepped up to bring Prime Minister José Sócrates to the Fonte do Bispo festival (rally) next month, the equivalent event for the socialists as Chão da Lagoa.

The environmental agency Quercus is not going to accept the decision to close the file on the inquiry into planning consent for the development at Quinta do Lorde (see Friday), and plans to appeal directly to the Procurador Geral da República (Attorney General’s Office). Quercus is very unhappy that it took so long to review the case, and still insists that the construction violates laws aimed at protecting the site from development.

Looking through the political section of the Diário has become a real chore recently, with election fever rife in the media if not in the population. It seems that normal political life has already gone out of the window, with just about every story containing the word ‘candidate’ or ‘election’. It probably seems worse than it actually is, as the other news is suffering a Summer shrinkage, which maybe is a natural phenomenon, or more likely is because reporters and newspaper staff are on holiday. Anyway, my point is that the names in the local articles probably don’t mean a thing to most readers, and the policies and manifestos are even more meaningless when all the political parties except one have absolutely no hope of coming to power. The Machico story above is a good example, but as it was on the front page of today’s newspaper, I included it. Anyway, bear with me, as I will continue to check the section each day, but will have less to report given the situation I have explained.

(4th July). Today’s main news headline : ‘Santacruzense Give-Up On The Série Madeira – The club cannot manage the support to participate in the competition. The vacancy could be filled by Porto da Cruz’. Football of course, and what a shocker. The club will not take part in the new Madeira league in 2009 / 2010, as it did not submit it’s application before the deadline yesterday, having already won the right to participate last season. The club is going through severe financial problems that threaten its continued existence, and an estimated €60,000 would have been needed to play in the new league next season.

The main photo today is of a man sat in front of a very large wooden barrel pouring a glass of red wine : ‘Elections Save Vinho Seco That Is Dangerous – New regulations suspended without hearing the agricultural association; producers ask ‘common sense’ of the government and control of the wine; technicians alert about toxic substances’. The man in the picture is called ‘Wine cellar José’ and in his opinion the ‘inspectors’ (judges) of the regional wine are those who drink it. There are several threads to the story which has been elevated to the front page, but in short, producers, sellers, and lovers of the popular low quality cheap red wine applaud the u-turn of the government in its attempt to stop production, but they believe that it was only the fact that the elections are so close that prompted it. On the matter of toxic substances in the wine, it contains maldivina, that affects the central nervous system. Isn’t alcohol itself toxic?

‘Accident Kills One And Injures Nine’. It’s one of pictures you look at with disbelief and wonder how anyone could have survived. The head-on collision at 7.45 pm yesterday at Meia Légua near Serra da Água, involved a top of the range Mercedes and a minibus belonging to the construction company AFA. Three of the injured are in a serious condition, but all nine were admitted to the emergency department of Funchal Central Hospital. According to a witness one of the vehicles was moving at excessive speed and out of control after a bend. The Diário doesn’t have this information, but according to a source close to the family, the driver of the Mercedes had gone to the poncha bar at around 4pm that afternoon, and the accident occurred on his way home at 7.45pm.

‘Tender Contest For Express Road This Year – Clearing of the escarpment at Sítio dos Juncos being considered’. The end of this year, or maybe the beginning of next, is the deadline set for the tender contest for the construction of a new 3.5km express-way road between Canhas and Ponta do Sol village, by the regional secretary responsible, who visited the location on Thursday. It will have two tunnels to make the route shorter. It is later planned to develop a new urban zone that includes a new junior school and police station on a allocated plot of land in Ponta do Sol, an investment of €5.4 million. I think this is phase 2 of the project, as it seems a lot has already happened. 

‘Nurses Deliver Petition Against Unemployment – There are over 40 youngsters unemployed in the sector’. The trade union representing nurses is to deliver the petition to the regional secretary of social affairs, and the president of the health service.

A new weekly sports newspaper was launched yesterday on the newsstands of Madeira. Published by the Diário de Notícias company, it sells for €0.30 every Friday, with an initial print run of 10,000 copies. It is called ‘MAIS Desportivo’ (More Sport). 

Without digging into the meat of the article, the Diário concludes that the Dia do Região (Madeira Day, 1st July) was a disappointment for young and old in terms of the commemoration, and the key topics of poverty and unemployment were not even covered in the speeches. Add to that the boycott by the other political parties, because they were not allowed to speak, then you have a bit of a lame event.

‘Waiting List For Cataract Operations Reduces Significantly – 800 people now await the surgery in a list that did have nearly 2,000 names’. Funchal Central Hospital has managed to reduce the list, and is currently managing 5 to 7 operations a day.

(27th May). ‘Victim Of Air Crash On Madeira Dies From His Injuries’. The 24 year old man who was a passenger in the private Zlin aerobatics plane, that crashed on Sunday evening, has died from his injuries. He received third degree burns over 80% of his body after the plane crashed and burst into flames. He was taken to a specialist unit in Porto, but was unable to survive his injuries. Funchal Central Hospital mistakenly reported the man as being 49 years old. He is a natural from the Algarve in Portugal.

The Portuguese frigate that has just returned from the Ilhas Selvagens will be in Funchal today for it’s maiden visit, and will be open to the public between 4pm and 6pm. The ‘Bartolomeu Dias’ is the most recent acquisition for the Portuguese Navy, and replaces the class ‘João Belo’, sold to Uruguay. The ship was previously in service with the Dutch Navy, and was purchased along with ‘D. Francisco de Almeida’, which is due to be delivered early next year.

‘Explosion Of Impatience In The Curral’. Six years on, with crimes to be judged, and compensation still to be decided. The families of the four victims in the tunnel of Curral das Freiras (Valley of the Nuns) are still waiting in desperation. It was 7th March 2003 at 12.30pm, when an early detonation of 12 kilos of explosive in the new tunnel under construction, took the lives of 4 workers and injured others. Criminal liability has still not been decided, after AFA and it’s insurer appealed to the court of appeal in Lisbon, after the court in Funchal made judgement in July 2007. AFA (Avelino Farinha & Agrela), the civil construction giant, was cited as jointly criminally responsible for the accident, along with 4 others. The trial against the defendants was supposed to start last month in Funchal, but that was postponed. Also on trial are the explosives handling expert, who had gone off to do something else when the explosion occurred, and a team leader in the construction who was not authorised to handle explosives. It is thought that drilling work may have set off the charges. The article is really more about the suffering families than those responsible, and how the losses have affected the families, and their finances.

‘Ronaldo And Messi Today In Fight For The Champions – Rome hosts the duel between the best in the world and the principal pretender to his throne’. Manchester United V Barcelona in the champions league final of course. I will say no more, other than to add that if there are any football fans out there, you can watch the game on channel one, RTP-1, at 7.45pm tonight. Good luck Ronnie! (only because you are from Madeira of course).

‘Change Of Schedule Throws Flor Do Mar – The TV series filmed on Madeira falls in the audience ratings’.  The TV channel TVI  has split its nightly showing of the most popular programme in the ratings into two time slots, and changed the times, and audience ratings have fallen. Couple that with a new nightly series (soap) that was first shown on 11th May, and Flor do Mar has now fallen 600,000 nightly viewers behind.

Business must be slow for MEO and other divisions in the telephone, internet and TV businesses of Portugal Telecom. MEO are offering 3 months service with no payment, but of course there are bound to be catches. SAPO are offering 3 services for the price of one at €19.99 per month. That includes ADSL with unlimited downloads, telephone with free calls, and wide band mobile.

‘Cemetery Of The Jews Hinders Toco – Judaic law prohibits the relocation of cemeteries, as is the case at Lazareto, that is hindering the start of building work. The Israeli Ambassador, visiting Madeira today, wants to resolve the situation’. The Israeli Ambassador from Lisbon, supports the construction of a supporting wall at the Jewish cemetery in Lazareto, Santa Maria Maior. This would involve the movement of bodies to the cemetery at São Martinho, and the subject is expected to be one of the highlights of a meeting with President Jardim today. The 19th century cemetery is completely abandoned, and the ambassador agrees that the degradation of the infrastructure needs to be addressed quickly, because some of the graves are perched on a cliff edge. It is not entirely clear how the cemetery impacts the building project, costing €390 million, but it seems that it is more of a safety issue, than someone trying to acquire the cemetery land. 

On Monday it was reported that a man involved in a motorcycle accident had a leg amputated, and was in danger of losing his arm also. It isn’t in the newspaper yet, but I was told in town this morning by someone who knew him, that he has also died. He was a policeman (GNR) at Madeira Airport. A pretty bleak few days on the roads, and what with the death from the plane crash as well.