Madeira News Blog

(11th September). The last of today’s headlines : ‘Fisco Recovers €12.2 Million In 7 Months – The Madeirans flee less from their financial obligations but the coerced revenue increases’. The treasury is benefiting from citizens feeling more inclined to pay their taxes, despite financial difficulties in families and businesses. More effective collection and checking from the Regional Directorate of Fiscal Affairs means that taxpayers are becoming more compliant. Some fines for late or non-payment have also decreased, and the number of court actions are lower comparatively than in mainland Portugal.

(10th September). ‘Finanças To Replace Letters With Emails – Electronic communications with the taxpayer starting in earnest this month’. The Directorate General for Taxation (DGCI) wants to finish with the paperwork and reduce costs. The action will need a progressive implementation, starting next Tuesday, because "we need to change the attitudes and habits", says a spokesman.

In the same article, the DGCI says it has 75,000 cars it needs to sell, that were seized for non payment of taxes. It aims to sell all of these by the end of this year. A spokesman says that cars are the most ‘seized’ item, followed by household goods and ‘bank accounts’, for non payment of taxes.

(11th September). ‘Ports Promote Terminal – Partnership with the Canaries is better value for the Port of Funchal’. The port of Funchal will be present in the trade fair ‘Seatrade Europe’, which this year will take place in the city of Hamburg from the 15th to 17th of this month. This year the representation is in partnership with the Canary islands, through (the theme) ‘Cruises in the Atlantic Islands’, which has a 48 square metre stand. Asked about the importance of this event for the region, particularly with regard to the port area, Bruno Freitas of the port authority APRAM acknowledged that "the representation of APRAM at this show serves as an effective promotion of Madeira Islands, and the Port of Funchal as one of the more competitive cruise ports in this area of the Atlantic, but also in the continuity of work on publicity and projection that have been held regarding the new Maritime Passenger Terminal". He reminded that work has already been done in this respect in Lisbon in January, as well as in Miami, the largest fair in the market, that took place in March this year.  "APRAM is promoting, along with national ports, the creation of new partnerships to explore new routes with the aim of attracting more cruise ships to the Port of Funchal, highlighting in this way its seasonality", he said. November this year will be the busiest and important month with 54 cruise ships visiting, some on repositioning journeys for a new cruise season, and able to see the construction of this new facility.

In a related article . ‘Project Alterations Could Delay Completion Of The Terminal’. The port authority APRAM guarantees that alterations being made to the new terminal, so that it can accommodate it’s own services, will not delay the inauguration. But the truth is that that opinion is certainly not shared by those who are on the site, having been obliged to take down structures (walls) to ensure the right configuration. The president of APRAM said "the changes in the project are designed to ensure the maximum functionality and comfort of passengers boarding and disembarking, as well as improved conditions for passengers in transit". "These changes at no time have caused any inconvenience or delay in carrying out the work, which, incidentally, continues on schedule", he added. The Diário believes that completion by the deadline of December 2010 is in jeopardy. APRAM has until December 2010 to complete the work without penalty to the €7 million granted by the Cohesion Fund.

(10th June). Today’s main news headline : ‘Veto Of Cavaco Affects Jackpot – The President of the Republic gives back to parliament the finance law of the political parties. Cavaco Silva contests in a decision that has an effect on Madeira : hindering the legalisation of the ‘Jackpot’ of the ALM’. By way of background, the ‘Jackpot’ is a budget that was designed to fund the Madeira assembly (ALM) for a greater number of politicians than there are presently, and the current law allows the keeping of the excess money. This used to be split between the political parties, but that was found to be against the rules, so last year it was shared out amongst the politicians, who then gave it back to their political parties for funding. All the political parties nationally then came up with and agreed a different model, which will increase public funding, and that in itself would take the matter away from public scrutiny. But the President of the Republic has rejected it because of issues with exterior funding.

At an inauguration speech on Tuesday, President Jardim again expressed concerns on the growing popularity of communism, as expressed in the European election results on Sunday. He warns of widespread indiscipline and "civil disobedience" on Madeira, should the communists come to power.  He then went on to reassure us that "We have, in my opinion, the security forces fully prepared to safeguard democracy". What on earth is this stunt Uncle Bertie is pulling here, clearly he is sending a message to the voters about something that will never happen in his political lifetime.

There are several new courses running this month in Funchal, one of which is ‘Local Authority Communications’. I think it is likely that my câmara won’t be sending anyone alone, as they are all already absolute experts. The policy is to tell nobody anything, and they execute that policy perfectly.

It goes without saying that after the poor turnout in Sunday’s European elections, that the debate is on about making voting compulsory for all eligible Portuguese.

‘Aigle Azur Working Out Connection Between Paris And Funchal – The French company  has already announced a boosting of links between Porto and the French Capital’. "It is in deep analysis the possibility of making the connection between Funchal and Paris", announced the chief of Aigle Azur in Portugal, after breaking the news that the Porto – Paris connection was to be doubled from July. Is there a new airport in Funchal then? Beats me how I missed that!

‘Madeira Lost 380 Flights In 5 Months – Madeira Airport registered 68,385 less passengers between January and May’. That’s a reduction of over 355 in the number of flights coming from outside of Portugal. The national sector is holding up quite well, especially with increased demand for Madeira from Portugal, and the additional flights from Easyjet to add to those from TAP and SATA, resulting in a 10.8% increase in domestic passengers between January and May (407,445 to 450,455). the Diário concludes that the loss of passengers represents around 40,000 hotel guests, compared with the same period in 2008. Porto Santo Island has it even worse, with a fall of 58.3% in foreign visitors movements by air (down from 7,327 to 3,052) over the same 5 months.

Bit of a thin newspaper today, maybe to do with the public holiday today, so the odd few news stories left I will take over to tomorrow.

Banks, Banking & Finance

Madeira is well blessed with banking organisations, with at least 7 banks well represented on the island. Outside of Funchal, which hosts the Bank Of Portugal and other international banking institutions, much smaller towns on Madeira will have branches of some if not most of these banks. Hence the customer is king and can pick and choose who they do business with for the best terms and conditions available.

The Main Banks are:
Bank of Portugal (Funchal)
Barclays Bank (only in Funchal)
Banco BPI
Banco Espirito Santo (BES)
Banco Santander Totta
Banif (Banco Internacional do Funchal)
BPN (Banco Português de Negócios)
BPI
Millennium BCP
Montepio Geral
Caixa Geral de Depositos

As well as multiple branches across Madeira, internet banking is also available to manage accounts, bills and services, but not all have English language versions of their websites (BES & BPI definitely do).

All the usual services are available, such as personal current and savings accounts, cheques, cash withdrawals from ‘multibanco’ machines, direct debits for bill paying, credit cards, loans, mortgages, insurance and investment products, and a similar range of products and services for business customers.

The ATM machines, or cashpoints, are called ‘Multibanco’ machines. They are widepread in larger towns, and have numerous functions. As well as cash withdrawals, one can use them to pay bills, set up direct debits, transfer money to other bank accounts, to name just a few facilities. The instructions come up in Portuguese if using a Portuguese bank card to access, but with bank cards from other countries the language presented should be English.

Some key aspects of the banking system on Madeira are the almost instantaneous interbank money transfers, a speedy cheque clearance system, and the ability to manage accounts in different ways by branch, internet, and multibanco machines to the extent of setting up your own direct debit mandates.

Some Madeiran banks charge a monthly fee, others charge certain transaction fees, and some operate on practically no fees whatsoever for normal daily transactions. Banks don’t normally pay interest on current account balances.

To open a bank account you need to choose your ‘supplier’ and go along with your ‘numero de contribuinte’ (taxpayer reference) issued by your local Finance office. Take along also your passport, residência card (if you have one), and proof of address (utility bills). If you don’t have a Madeira address, you can still open an account, but check what documents you need.

If you don’t speak portuguese, you might be well advised to find a bank branch in Funchal or another major town, as explaining your needs and problems can be a little tricky.

If you have savings or wish to put some money away to earn interest, ask to link a savings account to your current account. You might not get the highest interest rate, but the convenience of an easy transfer between the two accounts may make it worthwhile until you find something better.

Normal banking hours are 8.30 am until 3.00 pm weekdays, though some larger branches stay open later for appointments and other services. Visitors to Madeira may be surprised to find that most bank staff sit or stand behind counters with virtually no security arrangements … long may it continue!

Currency Exchange

Banks on Madeira offer currency exchange, as do banks elsewhere, and also in some Funchal hotels. If you are just taking a holiday, then you can use those facilities, but take note that the exchange rate may be poor, and there may be commission charges.

To move large amounts of foreign currency to a Portuguese bank account may also incur conversion charges and a poor exchange rate. There are specialist currency exchange companies that operate low cost exchange deals on high value transactions, and its worth checking some of these out in order to convert your currency at the best rate before sending it to your bank.

There are other currency exchange offices, mainly in Funchal. The usual opening hours are 9.00 am until 1.00 pm, and 2.00 pm until 7.00 pm, Monday to Friday. Saturday hours differ. Portugal and Madeira use the Euro (€) monetary system, which has been in place since 1999.

The notes used are €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, €5, the coins are in denominations of €2, €1, 50 cents, & 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1 cents.

The Euro monetary system bank notes are standard across the Euro using countries (15 in 2008), but each value of note is different in size and colour to assist with easy identification.

The coins are designed by the individual members to a European specification, with their own images one side, but are otherwise identical across the user countries.

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