Madeira News Blog

Today’s Photo : Thanks to Eiryl … Azulejos tiles at the entrance to old house in Santa Maria Maior, Funchal

Thanks again to Elaine of course for yesterday’s top stories :

Ilhas Afortunadas, ‘Fortunate Islands’ at New Year. The contract for the end of year fireworks display has been awarded to Macedo’s Pirotecnia. The theme this year will be the ‘Fortunate Islands’. The eight minute display will be divided into 21 separate ‘pictures’, each directly inspired from an element of fauna and flora of Madeira, e.g., agapanthus, banana, firecrest, dolphin, sea urchins etc. The aim is to draw attention to the Laurissilva and the importance of preserving the heritage of biological diversity in the region – International Year of Biodiversity is 2010. Estimated cost is just over 1 million Euros. It was in 2007 when Macedo’s helped to get Madeira in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest firework display in the world. The Secretariat of Tourism will present the Christmas and New Year program to the media on November 24. The first phase of the illuminations starts on November 27 and the second on December 4. —– €1 million spent in just over 8 minutes!

Diário wins two European Newspaper Awards. Awarded a prize in the category ‘Front Page’ for the cover of the July 15 2009 edition and ‘Sector in Front Page’ award for two pieces on pages 2 and 3 in the 21 March 2009 issue and the December 8 2008 issue. The Portuguese ‘I’ won the award in the category of ‘Best Newspaper Designed in Europe’ and the ‘Expresso’ achieved various distinctions.

Negligence causes gas explosion. An explosion by a gas cylinder yesterday morning in the Piornais Levada in Funchal caused a huge scare but no casualties or damage. The accident occurred when a woman was changing an empty bottle and the connection was not secure but fortunately it was the empty cylinder that exploded and the flame did not reach the full one.

Illegal parking. Complaint of continual illegal parking near the entrance/exit to the highway at Ribeira Brava, despite road signs.

Infamous development in Porto Novo. A controversial development built on top of a steep cliff. This area contains 48 apartments spread over three blocks and was built by the company JSP Franca. It was subject to court action in 2000 and since then, the complex for public housing has been vandalized while the case has been going through court. The problem is that the land is part of the public maritime domain belonging to the Government and therefore the private properties along the coastline are illegal. The other interpretation of the law, favoured by the Government, is that the land has been recognized by them as private for more than 100 years and therefore detached from the public domain and the development is legal.

Technical problem at the port costs €3 million. The embarking / disembarking equipment bought for the new port is designed to operate in ports where the tidal range is less than 2 metres, which is not always the case in Madeira. The technical solution costs an additional 3 million Euros. The ports authority invested a total of 8 million with a loan and there are questions raised as who will pay the 600/800 thousand Euros per year to finance and operate the service. The shipping agents are concerned that the passenger rates may increase 50%. The doubts about paying the loan are that only 2.5% of port passengers need to use the formal boarding arrangements for checking luggage and other procedures, which will be those starting or ending a cruise in Funchal. Those using Naviera Armas or the Porto Santo Line will not require it. The International Passenger Terminal will not be opened until March next year, instead of this December, due to structural changes in the building.

Tunas festival dates. Tuna Universitaria da Madeira (TUMa) will keep alive the Regional Meeting of Tunas, from 3 December to June 5 this time. The XV Meeting program dates in Funchal are: Thursday December 3 – reception at the Town Hall followed by a tour of the city centre. Saturday December 5, 21.00 – Praça do Municipo.

Madeira Wine awarded silver medal.  Justino’s Madeira Malvasia 10 Years Old was awarded the Silver Medal in the competition Fortified Wine Challenge sponsored by the magazine ‘Drinks International’. This was in the category Madeira, Marsala and Other Styles. This wine has achieved Gold Medals in the International Wine Challenge (2001), the VII Wine Masters Challenge (2006), and The World of Malvasia (2009).

100 hospitalized children will go whale and dolphin watching. The Foundation of Gil has made an agreement with the company Rota dos Cetaceos (Whale Route) to allow children hospitalized for long periods to go on whale and dolphin watching trips.

Porto Moniz Council worker accused foreman of assault. While cutting the roadside vegetation, some workers came across a wasp nest. One man hesitated as he had previously been stung, causing his leg to swell. The foreman said this would not happen again and then the worker inadvertently touched the nest with his podoa (curved sickle for pruning trees). Provoked, the wasps swarmed and attacked the workers. The foreman grabbed the worker by the shoulders and pushed him onto the road and then down a 1.5 metre bank. When pushed over, the worker fell on top of his podoa and had small cuts near his eye and he also cut his right arm. The doctor at the Health Centre provided written evidence for the police and the foreman denies the assault. —- Anyone else fallen on their padoa?

Residents fear using a road in Lazareto. The instability of the slope has caused small landslides onto the road when it rains. These have caused problems to motorists and pedestrians. Small stones can also come loose at any time and are of concern to residents waiting at the bus stop. The council know about the problem and wanted to enlarge the road but this was too expensive.

Retired police commissioner might be subject to disciplinary action. Continuation of the saga about the pre-election violence. On the 2 October during the opening of the expressway to the port, clashes between the populares and the PND required the presence of the BIR. Jardim disputes the inaction of the PSP and accuses the Regional Commissioner of being under "the control of Lisbon" and not adequately protecting the opening. On the 14 October, the Diário learnt that a police officer requested a transfer out of the Region because he believes there are no conditions for performing police functions in the Region where the Government offends the honour, dignity and impartiality of men and women who are in the service of the Regional Command of the PSP. There are now two more similar requests for transfers. The retired commissioner Manuel Felix is said to be in "clear conscience". He has not yet been asked to give evidence to the PSP or Public Ministry. Although he is retired, he might face disciplinary action for neglect of duties. The penalty could be a fine or loss of pension rights.

Front page headlines from today’s Diário de Notícias :

A nice easy job for me today, with just one important story in the eyes of the Diário, which has devoted almost the complete front page to the matter :

África Nossa (our Africa) – Portugal beat Bosnia and qualified for the World Cup Finals 2010. The draw takes place on 4th December. Portugal won 0 – 1 on Bosnia’s home soil, with a very fine goal early in the second half by Raul Meireles. Tricky game, but Portugal reverted to their more natural attacking game and it paid off. I thought the match was going to be called off after some trouble with the crowd in the second half with objects being thrown at players and officials, with a linesman getting hit, but it just prolonged the game another 5 minutes. What a relief, and a what a tonic for the Portuguese sanity.

Slovenia and Algeria, the teams of Nacional’s players  Pecnik and Halliche, are among the 32 teams that qualified.

There were a couple more headlines just about squeezed in at the bottom of the page :

Court Annuls Judgement – High Court sets aside the decision of the Court of Funchal that sentenced a mother to 16 years in prison for the death of her daughter. The court ‘Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa’ annulled the judgement of the court ‘Vara Mista’ in Funchal, that had sentenced a young mother to 16 years in prison for the death of her 2 year old daughter in November 2007, for qualified homicide. The allegation was that she poisoned her whilst she was institutionalised, using biscuits and fruit juice, a fact proved by the autopsy.

Government unties knot in Campanário. The photograph shows that rather awkward junction of the via rápida in Campanário. The government is to put the problems right to ease traffic flow and to improve safety in the problem area. Work to correct the problem area should start early next year, and is being progressed with some haste, even though it has been like that since construction 12 years ago.

‘Case of the suitcase’ has connections to Madeira. This is about a suspended MP in the Assembly of the Republic, António Preto, accused of fiscal fraud. It seems he is involved in the real estate company in Funchal ‘Serbro-Construções Imobiliárias, S.A.’. Did I mention that Senior Preto is a member of the Social Democratic Party? No, well he is, so I can only deduce that such behaviour must run in that orange blood.

44 sympathetic institutions display art. Feel free to send me in a translation for this story.

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(7th August). Today’s main news headline : ‘Lisbon Already Gave €64 Million In Incentives To Tourism – At the time of assessment, Tourism Of Portugal, the remit of Bernardo Trindade, realised that Madeira has received €10 million more than the Azores’. The imbalance in support has occurred since 2005, the same period of the mandate of the Secretary of State for Tourism, who also happens to be Madeiran. Quite why the Diário would want to stir up problems between Madeira and the Azores beats me, but I would guess the needs and circumstances of both locations are quite different regardless.

‘Suspicion Of Gripe A Isolates Scouts’. Two teenagers from Las Palmas, Canary Islands, are under observation for suspected Gripe A. They are both being kept isolated in the School of Louros to avoid the risk of spreading H1N1 swine flu, whilst analysis is being undertaken to confirm the virus. The rest of the Spanish scout group continue to enjoy their Summer holidays here.

‘Only One Doctor Per Centre In The North’. Not just in Porto Moniz, Santana, and São Vicente, but also on Porto Santo, there is just one family doctor, and other services are having to be provided using retired doctors. The health centres are open up to 24 hours a day, but the clinical director of Madeira’s health service says that the number of daily visits are low enough that the situation is justified. There are 10 vacancies for family doctors on Madeira, so as a temporary arrangement retired doctors are used to help. I am not entirely clear, but it seems there are still emergency doctors in the health centres that are not part of this story.

Half of today’s front page is taken up with a photo of the Brazilian striker named Wanderley Santos Júnior : ‘Nacional ‘Steal’ Wanderley From The Rivals – After being offered as a Marítimo reinforcement, the forward of Cruzeiro is now a Nacional player for 4 seasons. Rui Alves paid €750,000 and responds to the contract given to Alonso by its rival team’. An attempt by the Diário to invent a tit-for-tat story, but it doesn’t really stack up, and the player hasn’t yet agreed terms anyway.

Apart from a political story to follow later, that’s the front page today, so it looks like it’s been a struggle to fill the newspaper again.

Just announced in football, in the new Europa League, Nacional will be playing Zenit St Petersburg. The first leg is away on 20th August, with the home leg the following Thursday (27th), both fixtures are scheduled for 8 pm kick-offs. Zenit were the holders of the 2008 UEFA Cup, and of the 2008 UEFA Super Cup, after beating Manchester United 2-1 in Monaco. Tough one!

‘Church Robbers Are Repeat Offenders – Detained in Tabua they are answering for robberies committed in March and April’. At least two of the three men arrested by police early Wednesday morning in Tabua are identified by police and judicial authorities as responsible for a string of church robberies, including in Santa Cruz, Funchal, Câmara de Lobos, Ribeira Brava and São Vicente. Police enquiries have revealed a ‘modus operandi’ which denotes "a considerable degree of organization and hierarchy", equipped with various construction tools to break in through bars, doors, and windows, also using stolen cars with false number plates to travel between regions and transport their loot, most of which was the proceeds of collection boxes. Two of the robbers didn’t even have driving licences. The Regional Command of the PSP (public security police) will soon issue a press release revealing more details about this wave of church robberies.

‘Firework Positions Already Defined – A government resolution is aimed at overcoming objections about the posts’. Although the year end is still nearly 5 months away, the plan for the firework posts has already been prepared. The plan of the positions was approved by the Council of Government and published in the Official Journal of Madeira on the 28th of July. Resolution No. 860/2009 states that "in recent years there have been some objections raised on the part of private entities, and in particular the use of land, structures and spaces for the placement of posts for the launch of fireworks that were traditionally used for this purpose". 39 positions have been approved to launch fireworks above Funchal and the bay. One new post has been accepted in the anfiteatro in São Martinho, and another has been slightly moved. Meanwhile the Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport has already published the tender contest for the supply, installation and setting-off of the fireworks for the end-of-year celebrations 2009/2010. The successful tender will be known at the end of September or early October. The last few times it has been Macedo’s Pirotecnia providing the show. Some of the locations shown on the map will have several firework launching posts. Wasn’t it at one time one the purpose of the Atlantic Festival firework competition to find the best entrant and then give that company the year end contract?

The dates for the new school year have been fixed, and the new term will start on 21st September, with the school year finishing in June 2010, either on the 8th, 18th, or 25th, giving a school year of between 160 and 172 days. The first term will run from 21st September to 18th December, with some schools being closed at election times. The second term starts on 4th January and continues until 26th March, less the normal 3 days off at carnival time (15th – 17th February). The final term starts on 12th April.

‘Festival of cocktails in Machico – Twenty-five bartenders demonstrate the ‘art’ of creating cocktails’. The Association of Bartenders of Madeira are promoting a festival of cocktails within Machico Gastronomy Week. The ‘first works’ will emerge around 2.30 pm on Sunday, with the prize giving at 6 pm.

This from the Jornal da Madeira : For only the second time in service on the Porto Santo route, the ferry Lobo Marinho transported over 50,000 passengers in a month. The achievement last month show a recovery in the market, but is also thanks to price reductions forced on the Porto Santo Line, due to poor passenger occupation during the earlier part of this year. the maximum capacity per trip is 1,150, and during the first 7 months of this year the ferry has transported 196,000 passengers.

(24th July). ‘Lack Of Bunkers Threatens Fireworks – The lack of storage facilities threaten traditional fireworks, after the police say that it is "desirable" to create bunkers to meet the demand for fireworks’. All of the tradition of fireworks on Madeira, in religious events and country festivals, and even the larger events like the end of year and Atlantic Festivals, may be at risk. Who says it is Carlos Macedo, president of the Portuguese Association of Industrial Explosives and Pyrotechnics (APIPA), and he explains that there is currently no storehouse for keeping fireworks in the region. "Before there were many, throughout the island, and even in the city centre", he recalls. However, under Decree-Law 87/2005, as these spaces did not meet the required standards they were closed. In Portugal dozens of new ‘bunkers’ are being created, like ammunition storerooms, but in Madeira nothing has been done, and any fireworks are kept in the Military Zone of Madeira, only because the space has been made available, or because the police are tolerant and allow storage in places that are not best suited for the purpose. The situation is worsened by the illegal manufacture and trade of fireworks here, as well as illegal importation. Last June 5,400 kilos of fireworks were seized in Caniçal Port. I expect Uncle Bertie will be on the case with this, and change the law so explosives can be stored in his cigar cellar, underwear, or wherever. I can hardly see a little thing like safety putting an end to two of the greatest tourist attractions this island has.

‘Divorce Process Causes Death Of Couple – Man from Arco fulfils his threat: killed his wife and committed suicide’. The murder in Calheta On Wednesday night, covered briefly yesterday, was in Arco da Calheta, when a man of 49 shot his wife aged 47, and then killed himself. An illegal firearm was used, a Magnum .38mm. The man is reported to have a record of violent behaviour against his wife, with the police, and had recently returned to heavy drinking after a long period of abstinence. The couple were going through divorce proceedings. They leave two adult children behind.

‘Shots Fired At Houses And Cars In Santana – It rained lead on a night of revelry’. Youths in five cars fired shots with a shotgun at cars, shops and houses, in "scenes worthy of the wild west". No one was hurt on Tuesday night last week, in an incident that is seen by police as pure vandalism. The police have some names to investigate, and a gun cartridge which is undergoing ballistics tests. They suspect that the youths were under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

‘Yacht Bar Robbed Again In The Early Hours’. It happened again yesterday morning, the fourth time this year. This time no money was stolen, but the thieves took cooking utensils and a gas bottle, and damaged the video surveillance cameras.

Today’s main photo shows a group performing at the auditorium in the Municipal Gardens in Funchal : ‘Atlântico Without Roots Of Traditional Music – The option for innovating projects, such as the Percussion Ensemble, won over the public that yesterday filled the auditorium of the Jardim Municipal’. Hundreds of Madeirans and tourists watched the opening night of the ‘Roots of the Atlantic’ festival last night. The 10th edition of the festival started with a musical about emigration and health called ‘new world’, with music and dance, video and plastic arts. The festival has been much criticised this year after traditional music, that started this event right at the beginning, was dropped. The festival runs through until tomorrow, with the shows beginning at 9.30pm. The programme is on www.atlanticroots.com (bit of a naff photo from the Diário don’t you think?)

‘Ten Suspected Cases In The Emergencies Of Funchal Central Hospital – A group of Spanish scouts await confirmation of tests in the Institute Ricardo Jorge (Lisbon)‘. A hospital source confirmed that tests are being done for Gripe A (swine flu H1N1) on the youngsters, who are on holiday on Madeira. A separate report says that 13 youngsters actually went to the hospital complaining of Gripe A symptoms, but a spokesman said is is likely that a lesser strain of flu is involved, and this was an over-reaction to the pandemic situation. A 17 month baby that arrived here from the UK on Monday was also confirmed as infected, the 6th confirmed case. Portugal now has 174 confirmed cases.

‘Urgent Works Needed To Save Bridge – Tender for the work in Serra d’Água is launched with urgency’. The recent appearance of cracks at the base of the support structure of the road bridge, believed to have been the result of heavy rainfall last month, are estimated to cost €30,000 to repair. I didn’t realise the municipal vocabulary included the word ‘urgent’, and the fastest expression of important action was still ‘when I get around to it’.

‘Star Gazing In Pico do Areeiro’. The Association of Amateur Astronomers continues its tour in the International Year of Astronomy at Pico do Areeiro tomorrow at 9.30pm. Anyone is welcome if the past events are anything to go by.

This photo was taken on Tuesday, showing the end of a rockfall over the beach between Lugar de Baixo and Tabua. None of the beachgoers were hurt, but they must have had a bit of a scare. It is well known as a danger zone despite still being open to the public.