Madeira News Blog

(1st July). Today’s main news headline : ‘Government Finishes With Regional Red Wine (Vinho Seco) – The executive orders analyses to be done, apply taxes and control the retail sales. Everything in the name of quality to put in order the wine of the poor’. A sub headline says ‘Dry wine of Madeira ‘sentenced’ to extinction’. Madeira’s government have already published an order in the official journal (Joram) that defines the rules to control retail sales of Vinho Seco on Madeira and Porto Santo. Producers and farmers "who want to stay in business" must comply with the rules, which include chemical-physical analysis, payment of taxes and quota limits, and fines for not meeting date deadlines. However that may help eliminate the copious quantities of dubious quality wine that is sold openly. The tax is set at around 7 cêntimos per litre, for a minimum quantity of 500 litres. A EU regulation adopted in 2006 is also to be used to try to get farmers to switch to a vine that produces a better quality table wine, but that is likely to take at least another 6 years. This is the dry red wine that tourists will probably never see, that is the main result of lower grade grape vines that cover Madeira. It is what many locals, and particularly poor people drink, and can be brought for around €1 a litre, or €0.35 by the glass in a bar. It is also the source of many an alcoholic on Madeira, or at a lesser level drunkenness on the streets. I drink it now and again, in moderation of course, rather than pay 4+ times the price for glass of a bottled wine, but my expertise comes from being a grape picker every autumn. Normally it tastes fine, but bad brews have been known, and this is sometimes then illegally distilled to make spirits. This will certainly be seen as taking a dig at the poor, but on the other hand it does cause a lot of social problems. Should the wine become tightly controlled or even extinct, it will only result in a ‘moonshine’ market for sure, as these vines exist on just about every bit of arable land not used for commercial agriculture.

‘Suspect Of Gripe A In Madeira Airport – Health authorities investigate two suspected cases’. The two people were taken to the health unit at Madeira Airport on Tuesday night, after travelling from London with flu symptoms. A ‘prevention’ team has been assembled at the airport to manage the situation until the H1N1 swine flu has been analysed.

‘Summer 2009, 44 Beaches Waiting For You’. A generic headline with several sub headlines:

1. ‘There Are Still Many Beaches Without Surveillance’. Around 130 life-guards and assistants have been employed, but there are not enough to cover all the legal requirements on all the beaches. Notices should be posted at beaches to inform the public of the life-guard situation. Also, two search and rescue boats that were acquired in 2003, but have been grounded through bureaucracy, will be finally launched on 15th July, depending on a final inspection.

Further information on safety and conditions  for all beaches can be obtained on a website, but when I checked it was not working properly MADEIRA BEACHES

2. ‘The Swimming Pool In Ribeira Brava Disrespects Edict’. This is about the council or their contractors emptying the swimming pool for cleaning during peak beach hours, when the complex is full of people. The same with the kiddies paddling pool. They do it often, and even worse, the foot washing facility which feeds of the pool ceases to function, ending up with beach sand all over the place. The council have now committed to doing something about it.

3. ‘Scalding Prices Of Hotels On Porto Santo In August’. (I will have to leave that one for now, as there is loads today).

‘Desperation Arrives At The New Desk Of Social Security’. The new service set up to deal with growing numbers of enquiries from people claiming or trying to claim benefits, or just obtain advice, is struggling under the load, with over 2,000 enquiries in six weeks. The time taken to respond, and the quality of information is leaving much to be desired, with different clerks giving different information on the same topic, and some responses taking several days.  Most enquiries are along the lines of "when will I receive my benefits".  The new system was started around 2 months ago in order to improve the response to ‘customer enquiries’, through personal visits, through a WEBSITE, email (cssmadeira@seg-social.pt), or by telephone (808 200021) during the hours 9am – 12.30 and 2pm to 5pm.  On the website one can see personal data, change address or bank details, apply for benefits and pensions(?), request the European Health Card (the old E111 ?), obtain statements etc.

(30th June). ‘UNESCO Intervenes In The Rabaçal Cable Car – A committee seeks to assess the impact on the heritage’. The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO has requested a "quick" evaluation of the controversial project to build a cable car in Rabaçal, after the matter was discussed at talks ongoing in Seville. The report will need to be delivered by 1st February 2010. The area is covered by Laurissilva forest, which in 1992 was incorporated into the network of biogenetic reserves of the Council of Europe and is a designated Special Protection Area under the directive for birds. On the other hand, the regional government of Madeira stresses that the cable car project "aims to enhance an area of unique beauty, creating a convenient fast and safe access, with minimal visual impact on the landscape".

‘Portugal Telecom launches FTTH network on Madeira’. Portugal Telecom (PT) has launched triple-play services delivered over its new fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network on Madeira, giving residents access to Internet speeds of up to 100 Mbps. The new triple-play packages, called ‘Meo Fibra’, are available from today in two versions – ‘Meo Fibra 20 Megas’, offering Internet speeds of up to 20 Mbps. unlimited telephone calls between 9pm and 9am and 70 linear channels on the telco’s IPTV service ‘Meo’, costing €47.41 per month; and ‘Meo Fibra 100 Megas’, offering Internet speeds of up to 100 Mbps, unlimited telephone calls and 100 linear channels on its IPTV service, costing €61.66 per month. The new network is being installed in 12,000 homes across the island by the end of this year, using 150 km of fibre-optic cable. Not sure I understand all of that … so just as well I didn’t have to translate it!

A new office in Funchal has opened to deal with simple divorces and matters of inheritance, the first of it’s kind on Madeira. It is located in Edifício 2000, and was opened on Monday. Besides saving time in the resolution of the matters mentioned, it should also work out a lot cheaper. In the case of inheritances it will be possible to work out entitlement in the sharing of goods, and deal with any taxes and records of ownership (property etc.), relating to anywhere in Portugal. In the case of simple ‘shared divorces’, it will be possible to deal with all acts and formalities connected with a decision to divorce, division of property and marital assets, and manage taxes and records. The cost savings are considerable, and what used to cost €1,200 to €1,500 should now cost nearer €300. The aim is to open similar facilities in all the 11 regions of Madeira by the end of this year.

The EU has announced that from today (1st July) mobile charges between EU countries will be limited to €0.43/min to make calls, €0.19/min to receive them and texts €0.11. Outside of Europe costs are higher.

(16th June). ‘Revalue Emigrants – Strengthen partnerships with Portuguese Abroad’. The Secretary of State for Communities, António Braga, warned yesterday of the need for the entire government to engage in the "revaluation of the Portuguese living abroad", and converting that into "concrete actions". "I speak of a population estimated at around five million people, of businessmen, that already exceed about 120 thousand companies". He believes that there is an urgency to strengthen the visibility and recognition through programs and activities "in the field of economy, culture, and preservation of language". He adds "the programs devoted to stimulating investment in Portugal have to take into account those partners living outside of Portugal". That had never occurred to me before, but it makes a lot of sense in a country of 10 million, to rope in another 5 million emigrants to buy products and materials here through their businesses abroad. Now if Madeira were to take the same approach on it’s own, if successful it would probably be out of crisis in a month, there being so many emigrants, but there is one flaw in that plan … how does one export tourism, our main industry.

’73% Of Portuguese Do Not Trust Government Policies To Combat Corruption – The majority believe that government policies are ineffective in this area’. That’s according to an international agency that specialises in this area, and means in terms of confidence the Portuguese people have the 5th lowest opinion in this area in Europe, just behind Greece and Bulgaria, with Israel leading the corruption belief stakes with 86% of their public vote. The author of the study said "corruption is now a truly global phenomenon". Was it ever any different? I am surprised that only 73% were untrusting, but perhaps the other 27% had nice cars and houses, and worked in government.

‘Permits For Foreigners Limited From Yesterday – Until the end of this year only 3,800 new permits of residents will be issued to foreigners’. I already covered this a few weeks ago, and should mention that this does not include European Union citizens who have a right to live here. The justification for the restriction is of course the economic crisis. That limit itself imposes a maximum number of 89 permits for Madeira for the rest of this year. Last year Portugal allowed 8,600 non-EU foreigners to live and work in Portugal. Associations representing immigrants felt that this was "regrettable", "disturbing", "discriminatory", "protectionist", "immoral" and "incoherent."

The Employers’ Confederation yesterday warned Prime Minister, José Sócrates, that the ‘breath’ of Portuguese companies is coming to an end, and consider that there is an urgent need to strengthen measures to support business and to revive the economy. Also, the President of the Confederation of Tourism of Portugal (CTP), asked the Prime Minister to not reduce the measures to support business in the country, because they think that the crisis is now coming to an end.

‘The Government Will Order Vaccine Against Influenza A – Only 5 to 30% of the population will have access’. That was revealed yesterday by the Health Minister Ana Jorge. "This has to do with the sectors of society that we have to cover" she says, stressing that has not yet been defined the sector of the population that should receive the vaccine. "Today, the Ministry of Health and its team are in discussion to reach a decision within a few days" she said, and was expecting the World Health Organization (WHO) "to give some guidance on who should be vaccinated, with the certainty that there will not be enough vaccine for everyone in the world".  Currently, Portugal has confirmed three cases of patients with influenza A H1N1, or Gripe A as it is known here. Ok, let me try and help start the list off … Health Ministers, families of health ministers, politicians, families of politicians, senior civil servants, families of senior civil servants … that should be the 30% quota reached already.

(6th June). ‘Crimes Using Weapons With Tougher Sentences – New Law on Weapons enters into force today’. The new gun laws, which toughen the punishment for crimes using guns, comes into force today, according to the Ministry for Internal Administration. The law was passed in Parliament on 19th March with the votes of the PS (socialists), the abstention of the PSD, and the CDS-PP, the PCP, BE and ‘The Greens’ voted against. By law, those who sell or transfer firearms without permission, can be punished with a sentence of two to ten years in prison. I thought it odd that the green party voted against, as firing a gun causes pollution, but knowing that lot they probably thought the new law wasn’t tough enough.

(3rd June). The Portuguese population living in Spain increased 10.4% last year. There are now 140,424 Portuguese living there. Other nationalities moving to Spain only registered a 6.3% increase.

(2nd June). The minister of health in Portugal has admitted that there is a second case of ‘Gripe A’ in Portugal, brought in by a Portuguese citizen that returned from the USA. The 33 year old is under observation in Porto hospital.

(6th June). ‘SB Airlines Returns – Venezuela’s airline resumes direct flights between Caracas and Madeira’. The first flight was yesterday, with the landing at 8am and take off at 11am. Carola Torquemada, the company’s commercial director for Europe, told the Diário that SB Airlines went through a major restructure, both in terms of its shareholder structure, and at an operational level, and now presents itself as the largest airline in Venezuela in the international market. Initially there is just one weekly flight, but if there is sufficient demand then SBA will consider a second weekly round trip.