Xmas lunch sacrifice ; Hashish tops drug imports ; Tourist wears the same clothes for a month
Today’s Photo Thanks to Eiryl … Parakeets at the Bird Park near to the Botanical Gardens, don’t worry about the headless one as I am assured he is in good health.
Some fantastic cloud / mountain photos here : Madeira – Island above the clouds
A sneak preview of the first Christmas lights that were switched on Friday. I recommend you turn the sound off first …
Enjoy your public holiday today – A trip to Porto Moniz Aquarium sounds nice!
November was a good month for blog visitors, the best since the new format. Over 3,000 different visitors visited nearly 9,000 times. I hope our sponsor is pleased. Many thanks for those who have supported it during November, and whilst there are several people who deserve credit, Elaine stands out for providing another whole month of news stories without a day off. The following stories included :
Tradition of singing the Charamba dying. The cold was felt at the site of the mill Ti Jesuina situated at Estrada Camacha/Poiso but it did not cool the enthusiasm of the participants at the Fifth Meeting of Xarambistas. The event was scheduled for 15.00 but started at 16.00 The five participants ranged from the ages of 70 to 81 years old and were accompanied by a 49 year old playing the viola de arame. An enthusiast lamented: "The charamba is dying because children are not interested in this artistic expression that comes from our ancestors. And the people who sing, because of their age, also are disappearing."
Machico Council vote themselves out of a Christmas dinner. Saving internally so as not to compromise the street festival. The decision of the Municipality of Machico ‘debunks’ the traditional Christmas lunch for the officials and also the gifts for their children. The decision was well accepted by the 200 employees with 60 children affected. "Our priority is to keep the festivities in the county and people understand why because they also feel the crisis at home." The same number of light bulbs as last year will be used to economise. The festivities will begin on December 6 with an opening play entitled, ‘The True Spirit of Christmas’. Circus Brazil starts on December 11 underneath the airport runway. On December 20 there is a Gospel Christmas concert in Forum Machico. The live nativity scene from December 22 is in the cultural activities room in the Junta da Freguesia. The Christmas Program 2009 ends on January 10 with the Singing of the Kings in Santo da Serra from 15.00. —- A true Christmas spirited Council!
Edificio Santa Luzia wins award. This is one of the contemporary Portuguese buildings to receive the award IHRU 2009, to promote municipal and regional buildings. Designed for the Housing Investment of Madeira (IHM), the award is from the Institute for Housing and Urban Regeneration. This apartment block contains 10 apartments for people with reduced mobility and includes an elevator, garden and communal room. It is designed for single people or couples, especially the elderly.
‘Excellence’ lobbying against civil construction. The delegates of APAVT (congress of the Portuguese Association of Travel Agents and Tourism) praise the "intelligence and courage" of Conceição Estudante (Tourism Minister). This is due to the region having already taken a significant step in the direction of alerting politicians and those responsible for the tourism sector to environmental sustainability. This had led to the region being classified as a ‘Destination of Excellence’. The strategy pursued by her is thought to act as a very strong lobby against civil construction, the major cause of deterioration in the quality of our tourism product. The tourism product has been degraded by overbuilding, insensitive urban planning and not enough defence against building and cultural heritage. Poor management of the law of supply and demand is also a problem. The growth rate of supply has been much faster than demand and not adjusted accordingly. There should be no new licensing until the occupancy levels recover to above 65%. As far as Funchal is concerned she is a good few years too late. Uncle Bertie won’t be pleased that one of his cronies wants to cut back on concrete use, how will the shareholders survive? Der
Funchal represents 45% of energy certification. This figure shows that this is the most active area for the real estate market. These certificates for energy efficiency and air quality have been awarded since 2001, a total of 2,881. The most (46.4%) of those in Funchal have been awarded in São Martinho. These have been awarded for all new buildings, those rented and those sold. The second main area of activity is Santa Cruz where 60% have been awarded in the parish of Caniço. Other counties have relatively few certificates issued, either due to a stagnant property market or the councils not enforcing the law. In the case of residential buildings, these certificates are valid for 10 years. The responsibility is the seller or owner of the building and they should be checked by the legal bodies when contracts are concluded for sale and/or lease.
Rescue effort off the Desertas Islands. At 15.00 on Friday, the crew of a French vessel sent a warning message that the João Amndio fishing vessel was adrift with no crew activity on board, despite normally having a crew of 10 men. Fears deepened when the contacts of the Subcentro de Lisboa went unanswered. The Maritime Search and Rescue Centre in Funchal, Maritime Authorities and the navy launched a rescue effort. Two SANAS semi-rigid lifeboats were launched, one from Santa Cruz and the other from Funchal, and the naval patrol boat put on standby. The rescue effort proved unnecessary as the crew were all safe and were having a rest period with the person on watch away from the VHF equipment at the time, which is why he did not respond to the message.
Câmara de Lobos firemen discontent over non-payment of updated salary. They should have had their salary increased by 2.9% on January 1 2009 but have only received additional pay since September 2009. Some firemen also complain about inconsistencies. The president has appointed a relative into the corporation, who receives almost double than others in a similar position. They also complain about money spent on the 60th anniversary party and the Christmas party. The president, Rui Fernandes, is an ex-deputy of the PSD and also president of the Municipal Assembly of Câmara de Lobos. He argues that this criticism is just in bad faith as the anniversary party was also to award merit badges. He denies there is an unwillingness or refusal to meet with the union leaders as there is another meeting in January. Also, the firemen have no grounds for complaint as they have good working and employment conditions. Nepotism in the fire brigade, hard to believe I know, and I wonder who might set such a bad example? Der
Judicial Police seize more heroin and hashish in 2009. Quantities have already surpassed those in 2008. The amount of hashish has almost tripled and heroin increased from 57,469 to 73,800 doses. In contrast, cocaine has decreased remarkably from 632,395 to 21,400 doses. The major seizure last year of cocaine was of 57 kilogram or 570,000 doses at the airport in Operation Check Out, probably not all for the regional market. There were 78 people arrested this year for trafficking compared to 43 last year. Three firearms have been seized this year in relation to drug trafficking.
The port is too small for the number and size of cruise ships visiting. The photo taken yesterday illustrates the problem; when two large cruise ships berth at the South Terminal and another at the North Terminal, the port has exhausted 90% of its capacity. The increase in length and tonnage of cruise ships means that for 18% of days of this year, the port has exhausted its capacity. The large cruise ships circuit can include Southern Portugal, Madeira and the Canaries. A large ship can represent an income of 12 -18 thousand Euros for APRAM (Ports Authority) and another 150,000 Euros in revenue for companies that provide tourism services. On December 15, there will be four large cruise ships visiting meaning that the Oriana has to berth offshore. The passengers are mainly over 70 years old and many will be unable to use the ship’s tenders to visit the island. Eight cruise ships are already booked for the last night of the year. A ship unable to berth and having to stay offshore looses the Administration of Ports 40% of revenue and penalizes local businessmen, as only 30% of passengers come ashore. The present investment for development of the port is the most important decision taken for a long time due to the limited size and increasing size of ships visiting. This topic was continued in another article stating that next year, there will be 24 days when the Port of Funchal cannot receive any more ships. 20% of days there will be three ships and for four days there are four cruise ships booked, and for another three days, five booked simultaneously. March, April, November and December are the months when capacity is limited. In 2010, there will be newer and larger cruise liners visiting. The new Queen Elizabeth is due on 21 October 2010.
Five arrested for attacks on the police. Sporadic violence occurred in Funchal and Câmara de Lobos. The first incidence occurred on Friday in Funchal when three men were detained for violence against an officer. On Sunday in Câmara de Lobos, a man and a woman were eventually arrested after intervention by the police. In Machico, a man was arrested for possession of a bat and a knife.
Corpse of a tourist found at the bottom of a ravine. The body of a tourist who was missing since 19.00 last night has just been recovered this morning from a ravine of a depth of 80 metres. The 30 year old was separated from his parents in Levada da Lombada in Ponta do Sol. The mountain rescue team of the bombeiros recovered the body.
German camps in the Almirante Reis garden. A German citizen aged more than 60 years old has lived there for over a month in unsanitary conditions. He came to Madeira as the weather is favourable for his illness. He sleeps in a small tent pitched by the walls of the hotel and is well educated, walks with difficulty, wears the same clothes and has hygiene problems. The Town Hall was not aware of the situation but now alerted, say they will quickly resolve the situation in a humanely way and a person cannot be allowed to camp in a public area which is also a tourist attraction.
Then my contribution from today’s front page stories … Der
Today’s main Diário headline : ‘Order of Doctors’ doesn’t want doctors to give advice against the vaccine – The doctors that judge inopportune that people submit themselves to vaccination against Gripe A swine flu, should not ignore the instructions of the World Health Organisation and the Directorate General, that are advising the take up of this precaution. So says the Order. Some doctors apparently have been advising their patients against getting vaccinated against H1N1, but that has to stop. These patients are considered as ‘risk groups’ due to age, medical factors, or pregnancy, and the instruction is that the ‘opinions’ of medical staff are not to be offered. Some doctors have doubts about the product ‘Pandermix’ based on lack of tests and scientific studies about the efficiency of the vaccine. Some doctors are saying say it is better to strengthen the immune system with other methods, through rest, good nutrition and vitamin supplements. The president of the Order says that presently, there are pregnant women, parents of small children, and the chronically ill who do not know which is better: to take the vaccine or hope that the Gripe A flu does not infect them. There were 123 new cases of Gripe A confirmed by the Health Service last week. 57 are female, 66 male. There were 39 confirmed outbreaks of the virus in Madeira’s schools, a similar ratio to that happening throughout Portugal. I won’t be taking the vaccine under any circumstances, and have reinforced my supplies of © Toranja Poncha © over recent weeks as my means of prevention and cure, as well as it’s properties for aiding a good nights sleep during the early morning mega-bangers, due to start any day now. However as there are some who take things I say a little too seriously, I am not recommending this approach to others, who need to make their own decisions, and ‘the blog’ does not accept any responsibility for those who follow my chosen path. Besides that, the glut of cheap toranjas (grapefruit) that I have been enjoying for the last couple of a months seem to be coming to an end.
2009 is a black year in the economy of Porto Santo. Consumption plunged. Airport and port register sensitive losses of movement. We have been reading the stories for the last year or more, about reduced hotel occupation and travel, projects and developments stopping mid-term, or not even starting. The only recent positive highlight I remember was the opening of the new animal shelter, but I am not even sure now if that was just an election stunt and is still open. The golden island, two or more years ago, was the top of everyone’s agenda, including Cristiano Ronaldo, for a new hotel. The island was hosting direct charter flights from Italy and the UK, and there was so much employment (low pay admittedly) that recruitment was focused on immigrants. Speculators and others were buying property at inflated prices. The article gives some stats on what is mentioned above in terms of economic factors, but nothing we didn’t really know about before. It has to be said that Porto Santo is treated differently as a separate island, and clearly has differences, but in reality the other regions of Madeira, especially outside of Funchal, are suffering in equivalent and similar ways, but don’t get the same media attention. At least Porto Santo still has it’s own separate weather forecast, whereas the rest of us are usually lumped in with Funchal, regardless of climatic considerable differences.
Institute of Francês Marie Curie studies levadas. A French investigator, Jean-Luc Sabatier, has come to Madeira to study our network of levadas, and will stay here for two years to complete his work in the study titled ‘Irrigation and Society’. He will focus on the anthropological and sociological perspective of the famous mountain waterways, funded by a grant from the prestigious Institute Marie Curie. I just can’t go on with a straight face … it’s another ‘jolly in disguise’, despite lots of technical justifications in the article. How do people get these jobs, as I certainly don’t see them advertised in our newspapers? If I come up with a study, say the ‘Saltiness of the seas around Madeira’, or ‘Regional differences in the beers of Madeira’ will someone stump up the dough to pay for me to ‘research’ for two years … please email me if you can.
Haylofts and huts in Chão da Ribeira cause controversy. Reconstruction and widening of the structures result in a meeting between the council of Porto Moniz and the Natural Park. This story one I will leave for someone else to translate … thank you.
and finally, today’s football story : World Cup 2010 : "Portugal are going to feel at home". Eusébio is already in South Africa. He revealed his expectations to the Diário about the final stage of the Wold Cup. Portugal’s ex-most-famous-footballer is already in South Africa, sussing out the situation ready for 2010. It must only be in today’s printed edition of the Diário, as I can’t find it online. Dare I mention the ‘J’ word once again?
That’s all from me news-wise for now, as the Diário advert for the car sale at the Technopolo has smothered the links into the pages and individual news stories, and it can’t be closed down to delve into the newspaper. I presume everyone is on holiday at the Diário, which is why the fault still hasn’t been corrected by 10.30 am. Elaine has found a way around the problem if you look in the comments. Thank Elaine.
I already mentioned that today is ‘Restoration of Independence’ day for Portugal and Madeira, and as such a public holiday … for some maybe. At 6.22 am I was awoken by a grand rumpus … the local band starting playing at that time of the morning … just one song … and then they stopped. Well, it was too late by then to return to deep slumber. Restoration of Independence indeed, how about restoration of my lost sleep! This is normally the sort of comment where a blog sniper pops up and says ‘why don’t you move away from Madeira if you don’t like it’?, so just to pre-empt such a stupid comment, the answer is I don’t want to. Why are the snipers out in force this last few days I wonder, maybe not much doing on the Madeira Island Bulletin Board (for a change!), where some snipers often lurk, or just pure Christmas humbugism … who knows what drives these people? Do they sit at home and watch TV programmes they don’t like, and then write in and complain?
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Unrepaired road complaints to the Municipality. Whenever it rains with some intensity, the road Caminho da Cova Grande in Amoreirinha, Canhas turns into a muddy swamp and dangerous for pedestrians and cars. Only jeeps and wellington boots can cope with the mud that collects on the flattest areas of the road beyond the initial cemented 100 metres. The water descends from the surrounding serra along with debris which enters homes, especially as there is no storm water drainage system installed in the road. Antonio Joaquim has a garage below the road level and that is the worst part of his house affected. He complained to the Council but still no change, whereas he recalls with nostalgia that in the times of the mayor Antonio Lobo, "Within 15 days, it was cemented." The mayor of Ponta do Sol said he knew of the problem and promised that soon there would be intervention by the Municipality in order to regularize the situation of the rainwater. He confirmed that during the election campaign, which also coincided with days of rain in late September, he passed the site in question and realized the accumulation of water which comes from the serra of Canas. The extension of the cemented path is not justified because it is already up a hill. He says, "Who has a house in the serra should be prepared to deal with these situations." 
Lights, music and nativity: it is almost Christmas in the municipalities. A round-up of Christmas events staged by the Councils. The tradition still remains for presepios and carols. In Santa Cruz there are initiatives for all tastes. The Council of José Alberto Goncalves promotes several dinners – on December 23 for the elderly and December 29 for University students. Festa in the streets of the county. Camacha monopolizes the festivities, where on the 8th is the opening of the doors of the ‘tenda’ in the parish with traditional musical entertainment until January 18, promoting folklore and regional music. A Market Night (no date yet) and photography competition and the usual municipal crib. In Machico, the municipal crib and lighting start on December 7. On the 20th at the Forum of Machico, there is a Christmas Concert and the next day is the turn of the municipal band and on January 6, Singing of the Kings. As well as the usual lighting and nativity scene, Câmara de Lobos is holding a Market Night at the Estreito de Câmara de Lobos. Sao Vicente’s Market Night is on December 18 and the casas do povo are organizing the municipal crib. On the 23rd at São Vicente, there is a lunch for officials and their children, at a very low entry price. Porto Santo has various initiatives and a dinner for University students. In Funchal, there are endless initiatives. A dinner for 300 employees and celebrations at all the institutions and the 14 community centres. The main attraction is the Market Night.
CMF wants to encourage renovation of buildings. Funchal Council want to revise the municipal tax again in another initiative to encourage private investment in the renovation of houses. There is already a 50% reduction for residential use and exemption if the use will be for tourism. The mayor Miguel Albuquerque said that in recent years there had been a housing boom in the city centre. Therefore the council must make an effort to ensure affordable social housing in these areas such as in Cruzes and Alegria, and not introduce discrimination in terms of residents in the historic centre. He was speaking at the inauguration of a restored building in the Rua do Bispo, which includes six apartments, seven offices and three commercial spaces, and cost 1 million Euros to renovate, keeping the original facades and main features. (Shown in photo)
Airport receives 200 pieces from the private collection of Joao Carlos Abreu. The collection of ‘Angels and Boys Choir’ will be on display at the Arrivals Area from 20 December and throughout the Christmas period. These figurines are made of clay, ceramic, cardboard and metal and many were collected in Portugal and Italy as well as other countries. 
‘Estelinha’ and the conflict over the chapel. ‘Estelinha’ – popular name for Estela Pereira Ferreira – a 73 year old resident of Campanário who holds the keys to and receives the money from the promises for the Capela de Nossa Senhora do Bom Despacho (Chapel of Our Lady of Good Order). She has done so for more than 40 years on behalf of the local population. Several parish priests have been in the region but none have been able to clarify the ‘jurisdiction’ over the private chapel which belonged to Conde Canavial. There have been bitter exchanges and suspicions between ‘Estelinha’ and some priests, disagreements over public/pulpit money. In 2004, the priest and the diocese refused a baptism in the chapel, other times there have been weddings, Masses and christenings. Now the Mass is limited to festive seasons and the priest has to ask ‘Estelinha’ to open the door. ‘Estelinha’ says she has the permission of the owner to manage the chapel and has a ‘commission’ to pay for the upkeep made from received money and the ‘gold’ of Our Lady given by Conde Canavial. With conflict over the ownership of this property over the past 15 years, this ‘commission’ is not enough for the people to legally claim ownership of the chapel. Also conflicts over payment for repair work and the door and the roof were restored with the ‘commission’, not by the parish. The chapel is in a magnificent setting with a beautiful view and it is worth tourists asking to see inside. It was founded in 1672 and restored in 1762. In 2007, the Regional Government classified it as a monument of public interest and with this classification, it is in an area for special protection.
Today’s top news headline : Expenditure in the port divides opinions – The project is to provide facilities to embark and disembark in the comfort of covered passageways. But the investment of €3 million is not peaceful between the shipping agents, because the equipment will not be 100% functional. This is about the installation of walkway equipment that will be used to embark and disembark some passengers arriving by ship (ferry or cruise), similar to the facilities used for planes, where a moveable corridor is moved into place to allow passengers to enter or leave the ship through a moveable corridor mechanism, as shown.
