Madeira News Blog

(13th August). ‘PS Porto Moniz Hides Supporters – Beside not having rallies during the campaign, the socialists don’t divulge supporters in order to avoid possible pressures’. Nuno Jardim Fernandes is the top of the list in the local elections for the socialist party, and is keeping quiet as best he can about the people and support behind his bid for power. This is the strategy of the PS for the local elections of 11 October, and is based on the pressure and fears that the people in Porto Moniz are suffering. The strategy is to go door to door in the campaign, with only the PS knowing who is with them, there being no need to make supporters feel uneasy. "It is known that it is difficult to have to pick up (show) the flag of the PS", says a spokesman. Weird I know, but of course people have the right to privacy on their voting preferences. It brings to mind a conversation I had a few years ago with an ex-party campaigner for the PSD-M social democrats, who was told to tell pensioners that if they didn’t vote for the PSD their pensions would be taken away. She refused to do it, and promptly resigned her position in the party.

The final front page headline today : ‘On Porto Santo, Renata Sousa Reacts To Roberto’. The PS candidate for Porto Santo wants to know what the people of the island have to gain with the €5 million that the council there is planning to sink into the Colombo Resort project, in the attempt to restart the project that ran-aground with financial difficulties. The €5 million is a third of the Câmara’s annual budget, and although not yet absolutely committed, is promised on a ‘memorandum of understanding’ signed by various potential investors. A "megalomaniac project",that on sight "pleases no one", and showed a "number of irregularities" when it was approved by the local council. "Roberto Silva (câmara president) has to come to speak publicly about it" she said. Fair point I think, no customers, no point in spending €5 million yet, but who wants a part built eyesore left cluttering up an already cluttered shoreline.

The PS-M is due to submit it’s candidate list for Porto Santo tomorrow, whilst the PSD-M did so yesterday. President Jardim says he expects a "crushing" victory.

Portugal has registered 52 new Gripe A cases in the last 24 hours, and a creche was closed due to infection. The total now has risen to 735 cases, with 12 people actually in hospital, but all in stable condition. Most of the new cases in Portugal now are through transmission rather than imported.

In the economy :

‘More than 70% of those signed on in the employment centres receive benefits – The self employed and young people with little time in work make up the other 30%’. The number of those not entitled to the benefit is growing faster proportionally than the unemployed numbers generally.

‘Growth (PID / GDP) In The Portuguese Economy Likely To Have Reduced By 0.6% In The 2nd Quarter – Analysts point to some recovery in private consumption and in exports’. The reduction in growth is compared to the first quarter of 2009, and has yet to be confirmed, but if true it will be the 4th consecutive quarter of GDP shrinkage (-0.1%,-2%,-1.5%,-0.6%?). Estimates from two private  banks are for GDP to have shrunk by 4.2% / 3.6% over the full year of 2009, whilst the Bank of Portugal believes -3.5% is more accurate. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -4.5% is more likely.

’9.3% more buildings constructed between 2001 and 2008 – Madeira is the second region of Portugal for higher growth’. Madeira is the second region of the country in terms of higher growth in the total number of buildings, according to the National Statistics Institute, who published a study ‘Construction and Housing’. During the period stated, the number of buildings increased here during the period by 9.3%, only exceeded by the Algarve at 10.6%. The national average was 7.6%. However the constructions have now dropped dramatically on Madeira, and 19.5% less buildings were licensed in 2008 than 2007. On the other hand, Madeira has the largest decrease in the average number of inhabitants per home. Between 2001 and 2008, the number declined from 2.46 to 2.06 per dwelling, a decrease of 16.3%. Nationally the average is 1.86 persons per dwelling.

‘Madeira Is The National Leader In The Use Of The Mobile Phone – The region is also in front in the consumption of subscription TV services’. We talk the least on the fixed home phone, and with Lisbon, the most on the mobile, with residential penetration rates of 88% (Lisbon) and 84% (Madeira).

(4th August). Today’s main news headline : ‘Madeirans Invest €213 Million In Angola – The group ‘Irmãos Chaves’ are going to complete two projects: A logistics park and a housing enterprise’. The 600 apartment housing complex and the business park will both use Portuguese materials, or even better from Madeira if possible, explained the group administrator.

Onto politics :

‘Rui Caetano Concerned With "Hurried Works" – The PS candidate for Funchal Câmara warned about the quality and cost of the work and impact on jobs’. The socialist  candidate warned in particular about the public garden in São Martinho where workers have been working extra hours to get the job finished quickly. The article doesn’t say as much, but it is that time when everything is pushed to completion at all costs so President Jardim can get a pre-election inauguration, and score extra points with the voters.

‘All New, Save Arlindo – In Câmara de Lobos and Santana, the councillors are excluded, only Arlindo Gomes escaped’. Gomes is now the candidate for a third term to serve as president in Câmara de Lobos for the PSD-M social democrats, and that is official, as the final lists for those two regions were submitted to the tribunal that controls such election matters. The rest were excluded or have councillor positions without the right to ‘executive portfolios’ (not sure I quite understand that?). Arlindo Gomes guaranteed that the changes were "peaceful". Rui Moses will replace Carlos Pereira, who since 1984 was the candidate for the PSD-M in Santana.

‘Seven Inaugurations In A Week In Time For The Pre-Election Campaign – He returned to a wave of inaugurations. Then the president goes on holiday’. Yesterday the president of Madeira opened a roundabout and a urban renewal project in Porto Moniz, the first of 7 inaugurations, then he goes to Porto Santo on holiday. For an inauguration near you check  AUGUST PROGRAMME

‘Interest Payments Of The Programme ‘Pay On Time’ Could Be Increased – The Accounting Tribunal (auditors) have alerted that Madeira’s government is not meeting the deadlines on loans totalling €257.7 million’. An audit by the Court of Auditors (CT) warns that the Directorate General of Treasury and Finance may exacerbate the interest rate, by way of a penalty, on the money owed under the State program ‘pay on time’, for failing to meet the dates set by National Government. Money has been borrowed in several loans, and been used to pay off older loans as well as provide finance for expenditure in 2008. The audit recommends that the government here avoids taking on any new forms of debt.

(3rd August). A leftover from yesterday’s front page : ‘Member of Madeira Parliament Changes The Legislative Assembly For The Câmara Of Ribeira Brava’. The social democrat of PSD-M Rui Gouveia ceases to be a deputy in the ALM to become a councillor with Ismael Fernandes (president of the council in Ribeira Brava), and will stand in the October elections.

Finally some national stories :

This story was on the front page of the Diário : ’7 Years For Isaltino Morais – The former PSD minister will serve 7 years in prison, for corruption, abuse of power, and financial fraud. And he loses the mandate of president of the Câmara of Oerias’. Obviously a national story, but bent politicians always catch the headlines, especially around election times when newspapers are looking to influence. Did I mention money laundering as well? The man still protests his innocence, justifying a €400,000 stash in a Swiss bank account as "campaign leftovers", and other funds gained through investments and inheritances (€1.32 million in total). The social democrat was accused also of having "received money in envelopes delivered at the office of the câmara", to license lots, buildings or exchanges of land. I suppose the burning question in court was ‘were the envelopes brown?’, a crucial issue when deciding financial malpractice. Terrible thing … I just hope it never catches on here. Changing the subject slightly … António Lobo (Ponto do Sol, PSD), and Luís Gabriel Rodrigues (Santa Cruz, PSD), both ex-presidents of the câmaras in those areas … never hear much about them these days?

‘CGTP wants to increase minimum wage – Portugal are in the last place in the European Euro Zone’. The CGTP (General Confederation of Portuguese Workers) warned yesterday the "urgent need" to increase the real wages of the Portuguese, especially the minimum wage, being still "very far" from that practiced in most countries of the European Union. "The latest figures published by Eurostat on the value of the minimum wage in the European Union shows that Portugal remains far from the general level of these countries". Just Slovakia is worse. The minimum wage in Portugal will rise to €500 in January 2011, not even enough to cover the cost of living for many. Pensions here are also criticised for not keeping up with the cost of living.

248 passengers were detained before departure of yesterday’s flight between Caracas (Venezuela) and Lisbon when it was discovered there were drug mules on board. 3 passengers were detected with drugs stashed in their stomachs, but none were Portuguese. Another article says that last year 580 kilos of cocaine was seized at Lisbon airport, most of it coming from Venezuela.

(2nd August). The last of today’s headline stories : ‘Bernardo Trindade Pulls Out His Election Agenda Today – Meeting with ex-members of parliament in São Bento; Luísa Clode Araújo is chosen as the representative’. Trindade, currently Portugal’s minister for tourism, and a Madeiran, is adding the final touches to his campaign team. He is ‘top of the list’ for the socialist party to represent Madeira, and in truth is the only one likely to succeed after the 3 socialists that were elected last time.

The political parties will this week begin delivering their lists of candidates for the local and national elections to the governing tribunal. The lists must be all in by the 17th August for both elections.

‘Tourists Stir Little On Porto Santo – There are hotels on the island with good occupation, but others are lower than last year’. This weekend has been good, and next week has higher bookings than expected, but there are complaints about the loss of business since 2008 in some quarters, especially those that are less than a third booked. After the episode with the Italian tourists, the island is being (re)discovered by Venezuelan emigrants and many French who are new this year, and also there has been an increase in the number of Spanish visitors, and those using the new charter flights from Lisbon and Porto. The Torre Praia, Aparthotel Luamar, and the Praia Dourada all have reservations of about 90%, but they all belong to the same group, and offer packages tied in with the ferry company Porto Santo Line. The Hotel Quinta do Serrado on the north coast of the island has bookings at just 30% of occupancy this week.

‘A Difficult May For Regional Hotels – Hotel prices on Madeira dropped around 11.22% during the month’. All the indicators for the month showed varying negatives, compared to May 2008. The summary of market indicators was released by TTT Hotel Monitor of the Association of Hotels of Portugal (AHP). In percentage terms, the average price per room available fell 11.22%, the occupancy rate per room showed a negative of 4.71% and the average price per room sold also registered a decrease of 6.83%. In Portugal as a whole, the May to May comparison showed a fall of 11.76% in occupancy, and a fall of 17.52% in the average revenue per room.

‘Gripe A Attacks Cruise Ship That Visits Madeira – The ship has a visit scheduled for Funchal on 2nd December’. The French authorities lifted a quarantine yesterday afternoon due to swine flu (H1N1) for the 5,000 people who were on board the cruise ship "Voyager of the Seas" that docked in Marseilles. 3,600 passengers were allowed off the ship after Gripe A tests, but another 146 people (66 passengers, and 80 crew) who were infected, or had had contact with the infected, were kept on board.

‘Madeira Promotes Itself In The North Of Europe – Action that will support the creations of new flight routes of SATA to Madeira and that will inform people about the region’. Campaigns addressed at travel agents and tour operators, in Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) and Finland, will be held next month. The actions are being planned under the guidance of the Association for the Promotion of Madeira, with the support of regional hotels and travel agents, and is in the form of a ‘road show’, in the cities of Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. SATA (the Azores based airline) has already set up new flights from Stockholm and Copenhagen, and it is hoped that the road shows will stimulate new initiatives. The four countries are perceived to be amongst those less affected by the crisis in tourism terms.