Madeira News Blog

(18th September). ‘English Tourist Celebrates 100 Years On Madeira’. I know there are many Brits visiting this website, so this is for you. Mary Luisa Latham celebrates 100 years today, and chose Madeira to celebrate her birthday. She comes from Norfolk in the UK, and has been coming here every year since 2000 for her six week annual holidays, always with her daughter aged just 80, and always in her favourite hotel, the Madeira Regency Palace. She is also a keen Casino customer here, and in Las Vegas, where she goes twice a year. To mark the occasion, the hotel has organised a ceremony for tonight (Friday) to honour her, where guests will be treated to a cocktail, music, and a birthday cake, to be shared amongst the guests. The telegram from the Queen of England, traditionally sent for 100th birthdays, will also be read out. 

‘Madeira Gourmet’ Of ACIF Brings Chefs Of World Renown – The first edition takes place between 3 and 7 November and aims to promote creativity and innovation’. Several world famous chefs have already confirmed attendance for the ‘Festival Madeira Gourmet’, an event organised by the chamber of trade and commerce of Funchal. The dishes to be created will reflect the place from where the chef comes from, and will be prepared in certain luxury hotels on Madeira., and served to visiting tourists, offering them a unique experience of high quality and refinement. A number of the chefs attending have been named, but Delia and Jamie are not amongst them, and I don’t recognise any of the others. I do a wicked cheese and mushroom omelette, but I can never get them out of the pan in one piece, so not much point in me entering.

’71 litres of beer per year’. Each Portuguese person consumed on average 71 litres of beer, spending €310, in 2008, a year in which the brewing industry generated €1,020 million for the economy, maintaining 72,900 jobs. In a report by consultants Ernst & Young, entitled “The Contribution of Beer to the European Economy”, issued yesterday, it says that Portugal is the sixth largest exporter of beer in Europe. The study, based on 2008 data, also shows that the value received by the Portuguese state from the beers is €973 million, a contribution divided into €448 million in IVA (VAT) tax, €91 million in consumption tax (?) and €426 million in indirect taxes and Social Security. That doesn’t seem to leave much profit for the brewers, but who cares. 71 litres of beer each a year doesn’t seem much. I used to know people who would get through that in a couple of weeks, but I suspect that they may be dead by now.

(27th June). ‘Payments By Multibanco (ATM) Card Fall By 100 Thousand Transactions Per Day – The plastic money becomes scarce: the Madeira economy lost 14.8 million electronic payments in 5 months’.  The Diário believes that much of this is due to the scarcity of tourists, as Madeirans continue to use the cash points much as in the previous year. The value of each use of the cash point (ATM) card has decreased by an average of 8.7%, with the average transaction now being €42. I think that value may seem high as of course here many use their cards to pay utility bills, council tax etc.

Petrol prices go up again on Monday, one cêntimo per litre to €1.23. Diesel rises 2c to €0.96.

‘Tourism Resists Crisis On Madeira – At this point more tourists are travelling to the region, compared with same period of 2008′. It’s another one of those stories that changes with the wind, but it seem that thanks to Portuguese travellers, the hotel occupancy rate currently stands at around 70%. The numbers are provided by the regional director of tourism, who believes that the extra promotion of tourism, to the tune of €4 million is a contributory factor. There are also more visitors coming from the ‘east’, and the Atlantic Festival has brought positive results.

(26th June). ‘Cane Saccharin Exported To The Continent – The objective is to make natural juice to be sold on the beach’. A former restaurant owner from Calheta, now a farmer, is a pioneer in the export of sugar cane to Portugal. He has already sent a container load of 10 tons, and is preparing to send another. "I never earned as much money as now" he said.

‘A Major Franchising Group In Europe Invests In Madeira Forum – The European giant chooses Madeira as one of the 13 stores to be opened in Portugal’. The international clothes selling chain C & A aims to open a store on Madeira next year. The contract for the premises has already been signed. The group already has shops in 18 countries, and all together there are 35,500 employees. The letters C & A are the initials of the brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer, who founded the company in Holland in 1841. 

‘The End Of Coopobama’. The Cooperative of banana producers of Madeira held their penultimate general meeting, with the last one planned to dissolve the organisation officially, 16 years after it’s creation. The reason given is that a new management company, GESBA, has been set up in the sector, which has taken on the assets and liabilities of Coopobama. After years of paying €1.39 / kilo on the odd occasion I buy bananas, I smell a price increase in the air.

‘Taxes Should Not Have To Increase’. The Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs (Portugal) said yesterday, that neither now, nor in future will there be a need to increase taxes, arguing that the loss of incoming tax revenue is cyclical and the financial system is adapted to the financing needs of the state. "Neither now nor in future will we need to raise taxes to stabilize the budget. Our tax system is very efficient in recovery of revenue that is currently falling short in the state", said Carlos Lobo at the end of the Council of Ministers. That was in the same article that says "Portugal does not need to further reduce civil servants", so I think I will take that tax statement with a large pinch of salt.

(25th June). ‘Five Companies In The Process Of Opening In The Free Zone’. The director of the tax advantaged facility in Zone Franca in Caniçal announced this on Wednesday, adding that dozens of new jobs would be created. The good news comes after a promotional initiative, that was presented both nationally and internationally. In the industrial zone there are currently 52 companies employing 820 workers, which in investment terms amount to €182 million. RTP News had a different take on the story, saying that now offshore structures elsewhere are being black listed internationally, companies are looking to move to tax advantageous areas such as the Free Zone of Madeira, to legitimise their operations.

(15^th May) The ALM, Legislative Assembly of Madeira, is to consider a proposal to pass a law that will stop large companies making mass redundancies, if in profit. If passed, the proposal of the PSD-M will protect workers until 31^st December 2010, as long as the company they work for has a million euros in liquidity (profits?) over the previous accounting period. Life and business doesn’t work like that unfortunately, but no doubt it will be a vote-winning idea amongst many employees in large companies.

(17th May). ‘Quinta de Gaula in difficulties – Transport costs hinder export of proteas flowers’. Between January and April, ‘Quinta Protea’ had a production output estimated at 60 thousand flowers, corresponding to 10% of the Madeira market. Despite the high demand for the eight species of proteas grown in Gaula, the seven year old business is currently facing serious financial difficulties. The main problem of the management is the transport costs. The increases in the price of fuel have pushed prices up in the last four years, and with the rates of export, have combined to lower the price of the flower resulting in a sharp drop in revenue for Proteus. Although the quality of the plants, grown in the soil of Madeira, ensures strong demand from the Netherlands, levels of production do not allow the region to compete with the Canaries and the Azores, and make it impossible to penetrate markets such as France or even the mainland.

(18^th May). ‘IHM Has Tenants Who Don’t Pay – Debts of unpaid rents rise above the €12 million mark’. Investment Housing of Madeira finished 2008 with a negative result of €1.1 million. In a year marked by a 3.7% fall in income, worth €20 million, the government linked organization was guaranteed a specified and limited income through the regional budget. This is the near equivalent of a government backed housing association, if I understand correctly.

BPI Bank now have their internet banking website available in English for those who need it. Just select the option at the top of the log-in page, and then log-in. It doesn’t have all the options that the Portuguese version shows, but it’s a start for those who would find English easier to work with.