Madeira News Blog

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Tom … "Vintage hidden view point on St. Luiza street behind house # 152. No one knows about it I guess".

Many thanks to Becky for these web snippets :

"This afternoon the wardrobes and cupboards here will be a little emptier.  We wish the best of luck to everyone associated with the collection and hope that it makes the lives of the people of Madeira a bit easier in the short term." MORE

"We left Madeira in the middle of the night, stealing away from our hotel, from the sleepy-eyed night clerk we roused from slumber on the lobby’s wicker furniture who watched us drive away through the glass lobby doors, from the sea finally quiet and the stars which we could see for only the second time in a week, with the yellow lights of the city guiding us, the air calm, the night quiet, the whistling wind at last abated–we left the island more full of peace than when we arrived". BLOG STORY

"A bit more on Funchal ships over the years" … Pete. HERE

"Comment here about Graf Zeppelin passed over Funchal"  … Pete HERE  AND HERE  SIGHTING / PHOTO

Also from Pete … "Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner flying over Funchal looking at February flood damage on the 7/3/10. Thanks for all that Pete.

Which is rather good timing, as Paul kindly sent this in, along with the CR article :

Know your EU Commissioners: Johannes Hahn : Without a doubt the most significant EU Commissioner for Madeirans indeed all Madeiran residents is Johannes Hahn, European commissioner for regional policy who is now responsible for a policy that accounts for about one-third of the EU’s spending. He is expected to overtake agriculture as the single biggest budget item. He was of course in the Region to assess the floods damage and discuss scope for EU support with the President of Madeira’s regional government, Alberto João Jardim. The Madeira visit follows up a meeting the Hahn held with the Portuguese Interior Minister, Mr Rui Pereira, in Bruges (Belgium) on 26 February.

The sheer scale of regional spending, roughly €50 billion per year, makes Hahn one of the more important figures in the college.

Johannes Hahn, lover of baroque music and a keen sailor, is that rare breed of politician who does not feel a constant need to talk.

Philosopher: “At university, Hahn quickly discovered that philosophy suited him far better than law. His whole outlook on life changed soon after, however, when, aged 22, he was diagnosed with cancer. “If you are confronted with death, your priorities change,” says Hahn, who still goes for regular check-ups at the age of 52.”

Vienna man: “spent his entire life in Austria’s capital, Vienna, occupying the same flat for the past 24 years”. To read Johannes Hahn’s profile and CV click to this ARTICLE

Imagine Ronaldo playing for Australia!

Had the planets aligned differently, Cristiano Ronaldo might have been playing for the Australian national team rather than Portugal.

“Maria-Angela, 80, and Jose, 81, have had 13 children and four live with them in Perth. Ronaldo, 25, was just a child when Vivieros – who works as a cleaner – moved to Australia to find a better life about 20 years ago.

These days Vivieros pines for the beauty of Madeira, but his parents – who migrated to Perth about a decade ago – are settled and have no wish to return. ”They look after me and I look after them as well,” Vivieros said. ”Now my life’s here.”

Western Australia boasts a Portuguese population of about 8000 and 85 per cent are from Madeira, according to the Portuguese consulate in Perth. The Madeirans started arriving in large numbers in the 1950s and many settled in Fremantle as fishermen.” Link to full article

Marítimo only managed a dreary 0 – 0 draw on Madeira yesterday with Académica. Nacional play tonight, and could climb to 5th in the league table if they win.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 07/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Infrastructures in areas of risk. Link to the map is on yesterday’s blog. Infrastructures of strategic importance are in areas at risk. These include those needed in an emergency, for example fire stations and health centres. Porto Santo is one of the three regions in Portuguese territory that are most at risk if global temperatures increase by two degrees over the next few years, (December 2004 study). Madeira is at risk depending on volcanic activity on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands. A BBC documentary said that in the worst case scenario, a tsunami tidal wave could reach Madeira within a few hours. By the end of the century, it is predicted that the archipelago will have an average temperature increase of 2 – 3 degrees with a 35% reduction in current rainfall. Water availability will decrease by 40 – 50%, (Filipe Duarte Santos, September 2006). Madeira has a population density (310 inhabitants / square km) higher than the EU and national average. 75% occupy only 35% of the territory, mainly on the south coast. 45% of the population (130,000) reside in Funchal, (1,500 inhabitants/ square km). Since 1991, only two counties have increased in population, Câmara de Lobos (10%) and Santa Cruz (26.7%). The first increase is natural and the second as a result of improved road access to Funchal. The development of the Calheta – Machico transport network has allowed a more equal distribution of the population on the south coast, resulting in Funchal losing 12,000 inhabitants between 1991 and 2001. Due to the physical characteristics of the territory, the north coast has been consistently losing population and represents less than 10% of the total population of Madeira.

MADEIRA

‘Delusional fantasy’ reported in the London newspapers. This story has been reported in previous blogs. Diário has picked up on the Daily Mirror and Daily Telegraph reports of the discovery of a nail from the time of  the crucifixion of Christ, on the Ilhéu da Pontinha (Forte de S. José). Élvio Sousa of CEAM says it is purely delusional fantasy, agreed by Brian Philp from the Centre for Archaeology. Élvio Sousa guarantees that reports that objects have been found on this site are manifestly false. In the area of the dig, there were found objects from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, however there are some remnants that can be traced to the seventeenth century. He said it is sensationalism to say that these were found in a wooden box by the sea, perfectly preserved for over two thousand years. The nail that was found is strong, but is just like the ones used in constructing residential dwellings in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and there are many of these found in the excavation. Contacted by Diário, Renato Barros the owner of Forte de São José, said he himself found the pieces therefore it was a finding, not an archaeological discovery. He added that 200 – 300 people visit the Fort each day and a "person from the British Museum" took note of the relics and then returned to London where the museum authenticated the pieces. He said he would not give any further details, as they will be divulged in Madeira in conjunction with museum officials.

Lack of salary causes strike in Jardim da Serra hotel. Tired of not receiving their wages on time, 16 of the 20 employees of the Hotel Quinta do Jardim da Serra started a two-day strike yesterday. The staff have repeatedly threatened to go on strike since last year for wages paid in arrears, and job insecurity since early 2009. The situation worsened at the end of last year when the salary was two months in arrears but a strike was suspended as the company said they would pay the salaries. The staff are on strike now because they have not received wages for December and the Christmas bonus.

Thieves take items donated for the homeless. Dozens of articles donated by the public for victims of the storm of February 20th were stolen from the warehouse at Rua do Brasil, Nazaré. The burglars entered through the door to the rubbish storage area. According to the president of the charity Cáritas Diocesana do Funchal, they took appliances such as toasters, kitchen mixers and hairdryers. The charity had already suspected that the warehouse could be subject to a possible burglary as some volunteers had noticed on Friday, a group of individuals who attempted to divert products. The doors will be reinforced and the police have been asked to investigate. As well as the army, police will patrol the area.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

MPT [Earth Party] makes possible Serrão [PS-M leader] as vice of the table of parliament.

Women of Madeira that telephone to APAV answered in the Azores – On the Day of the Woman there is a signalling of the lack of an office of APAV on Madeira, the presence of 20 complaints of domestic violence per week to the PSP Police, and the myths amongst the young people that consider the pressure and the jealousy to be normal. Victim support for Madeira’s battered women is handled initially in the Azores, by the Associação Portuguesa de Apoio à Vítima (APAV), as there is no office on Madeira. This is despite of there being 511 complaints to the Public Security Police in the first six months of 2009. The calls to a Madeiran number are automatically rerouted to Ponta Delgada, in the Azores. The distance causes some difficulties, as often the women are desperate and need information immediately, but the staff of APAV in the Azores need to contact someone on Madeira to seek further help, to give support and if necessary access to sheltered accommodation.

Today’s main news headline : Solidarity already raised €7.3 million. Companies and citizens are on a wave of notable generosity. Mota Engil on its own is giving 1.2 million Euros for 10 (or even 12?) houses for the homeless due to the storms of 20th February. But there are many and good examples that arrive from all the Country and Region. The generosity of companies and the Portuguese is unprecedented. The Diário has done an assessment of the various fund raising initiatives and bodies, to come up with the figure of €7.3 million, and has also concluded that over 40% of that figure is promised by companies. Aside from Mota Engil, Jerónimo Martins has pledged €1 million, BES (Banco Espírito Santo), €500,000, Montepio €150,000 (plus more direct help), Totta €100,000, and Galp Fuel €200,000, are amongst the most generous pledges to support the various fund raising initiatives. Amongst many other sources of support, the Portuguese Football Federation is giving €100,000, whilst the teams Sporting and naval have donated complete gate receipts. Two ‘countries’ have also given, with a €50,000 cheque from the USA Embassy in Lisbon, and €556,000 from one of the poorest countries in the world, East Timor. The list goes on, and on, and on ….

Pestana JR, R. Oudinote and the tunnel Sá Carneiro reopen. Funchal today will be better-off. Running late are Avenida do Mar and Rua do Anadia. As Funchal returns to normal, on a day to day basis at least, roads and tunnels are reopening albeit with restrictions in some cases. Rua Visconde do Anadia needs two or three more weeks before reopening, because the drains are completely blocked. Also the roads Avenida do Mar and Comunidades Madeirenses will continue with restrictions for some time, although there will also be some movement on the South side in a few days when drainage problems have been resolved.

The main sports headline today : Latest draw distances Marítimo from Europe – The ‘verde-rubros’ returned to distance themselves further from the objective of a European placing. The draw with Académica left the team of Mitchell in 10th place. Tonight Nacional close the weekend fixtures in Guimarães.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated. 

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If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

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(23rd August). Today’s main news story : ‘Forensic Medicine Troubles The Hospital Of Funchal – The specialists are half of those necessary, they are close to retirement and at the weekend they turn to obstetricians of the emergency department’. It is necessary to double the number of forensic experts. The three doctors are aged between 50 and 60. At the weekends there are no forensic doctors working in Funchal Central Hospital (HCF), no one to qualified to examine the victims of sexual assault. In the end is is left to obstetricians or gynaecologists who are working in accident and emergencies to provide cover. "In reality there is still not enough (experts of forensic medicine) to allow them to provide this service in full. Therefore, when there are not sufficient, it is done as it used to be: by the obstetrician who is working in emergencies, who collects the evidence", explains Miguel Ferreira, clinical director of the HCF. According to police data, every month there is a person aged over 16 that is raped on Madeira. The average number that arrive at HCF is certainly higher, but the police coordinator did not wish to disclose more. Specialists of the Institute of Forensic Medicine are the most qualified to perform the collection of organic elements (semen, hair, and other cells) that, in pathology laboratory tests, may prove the existence and culprit of sexual crimes. What most worries Miguel Ferreira is the future. It is the age of the current specialist of the Institute of Forensic Medicine employed on Madeira, being between 50 and 60 years old, in pre-retirement age. The aging of the limited staff makes it urgent to train new specialists in this area. "If someone does not appear in the next ten years it will be difficult" admits the doctor obstetrician. But the field of pathology is unpopular, with doctors completing the course and then deciding not to continue in that field. "They prefer to deal with the living rather than the dead", says Miguel Ferreira.

Today’s main picture is of a normal looking street in Porto Santo : ‘Case Of The Kidnapped Businessman Changed Habits On Porto Santo – The population has recovered from the shock of the murder, one month after, but there are a series of precautions. The foreigners give rise to mistrust’. "Now anything is possible", "but everything changed" two of the leads quotes in the article. "People think now that everything is possible," says Roberto Silva, president of the council of Porto Santo, noting with some irony, that "nobody believes in Santa Claus". "Initially, it was putting some pressure on people," recalls the president, as the tragic and violent circumstances surrounding the death of 78 year old businessman José Guilhermino Alves turned out to be "abnormal, both at regional and even national level". The man was lured to a fake business meeting, and murdered, and the Diário went to hear the after effects of the event on the people of Porto Santo, and how they view safety on an island that in the last 10 years has changed as much "as the night into day". The article also looks at crime on the island, which was low anyway, but is even lower now, so the fear of crime generally should make people feel more comfortable, but as one man said "people no longer leave home or leave the car parked without ensuring that the doors are firmly locked". Alexandra Castro Brito says that since the murder (that occurred on Madeira) she is "very scared" when she has to go to Madeira to consult the doctor who is monitoring her pregnancy. Another man said "I know one person that was coming here every year and no longer comes because their house is far away and isolated". Also he said, he views with some suspicion, at least at first, the many people that now come to the island.

‘Merlin And Lobo Test Evacuation Of Crew – The crew of the helicopter EH101 ‘Merlin, of the Air Detachment of Madeira, tested yesterday the operational ability of the aircraft in an evacuation exercise of an injured person from the ferry boat Lobo Marinho’. The exercise was to prove the rescue a seriously injured victim of an onboard accident from the top deck of the ship, and take him to Madeira Airport on route to hospital. The exercise took place off the Praia da Fontinha beach, roughly half a mile from the coastline, and captivated the curiosity of many tourists who were on the beach despite the lack of sunshine. I bet it did, probably thought it was for real. Wall to wall sunshine here again in Rib. Bra.

‘Drugs Were Arriving Inside Heels – Customs seize 750 grams of coke and heroin’. A foreign national was caught and arrested by customs at Madeira Airport smuggling in cocaine and heroin drugs inside the heels of a pair of designer ladies shoes, inside his luggage. Supposedly a gift for someone living here. The baggage control system detected the presence of illegal substances within a package wrapped in a bag. The passenger was searched and the customs officers eventually found the drugs: 580 grams of heroin and 180 of ‘coke’. The heels of the designer shoes, were very well sewn so that to the naked eye, the package had a perfectly normal appearance and was far from suspicious.

‘Police Grab 21 Feet Of Cannabis In Ribeira Brava’. The Public Security Police (PSP) carried out a seizure of 21 feet of cannabis, which were planted on land located in Eira do Mourão, in São Paulo in Ribeira Brava, some 50 metres from the roadside. A couple were identified as having planted the plants. At the beginning of last week another seizure of plants was made in Ribeira Brava, enough for 270 individual doses. I am not sure that ‘feet of cannabis’ is the correct interpretation even though the translation is technically accurate.

Most of the twenty or so cases of Gripe A have passed without not even the need for hospitalisation, but a 39 year old man from Santana has already spent several days in hospital connected to breathing equipment, and is likely to be there for 10 days. His condition has now stabilised after he was affected by bilateral(?) pneumonia.

Another article looks at the high number of days on Madeira with high UV radiation warnings, and basically concludes that people don’t "always" take the issue and warnings seriously.

Today’s sports headline : ‘Opening Game With The House In Works – Marítimo receive Leixões at The Barreiros, Nacional Play tonight in the Dragon’. Referring mainly to the fact that Marítimo play their first home game at a building site, as reconstruction work is already well underway for the new look stadium.

(22nd August). This was in yesterday’s economy section, to mark the success and profits of the company concerned, but I though it was better as an article on the attitude to smoking and the continuing strength of the disgusting habit : ‘Dismade Turned Over €125 Million In Six Years – The company is the leader in the distribution of tobacco products on Madeira’. Friday was the 6th anniversary of the company in the company premises in Água de Pena, Machico, where it has a warehouse. Many clients and local politicians attended the event, besides its employees and business partners. Of the €125 million in 6 years, €21 million was turned over last year, and the business has grown every year, with a 5% growth expected for 2009 to €22 million. The company is responsible for around 85% of the Madeira tobacco market, with 2,400 outlets here. It has made it through the crisis with new and diversified products to meet demand. The company offered guided tours through its preparation and production facilities. Funny how attitudes differ, as I expect this would be a low key event in Portugal where smoking is less acceptable, and probably most tobacco companies go to great lengths not to talk about profits, and success if they can help it (except direct to shareholders of course). Here of course we have a smoking president and the habit is far from discouraged, and we even have weaker smoking laws for public places. Hence we can safely celebrate the growth in the profits of a supplier for the world’s deadliest habit … no namby pamby stuff like that here, and maybe I shall have a puff tonight to mark the event.

and in politics, mostly along the normal theme of course :

(23rd August). ‘PS-M Expects 15 Thousand For Today’s Visit Of Sócrates At Fonte do Bispo’. Prime minister José Sócrates participates for the first time in the annual rally of the socialists of Madeira. This time he is not here as prime minister, but as general secretary of the socialist party. He is always invited but this time is the first acceptance, an event that a local PS-M leader feels will "alleviate the feeling of orphanhood" amongst the party activists, as well as give encouragement to other activists and socialist sympathizers, especially on the eve of two elections. The “Festa da Liberdade”, according to the Jornal da Madeira, is for the first time this year not selling alcohol on the ‘barracas’, with the excuse that the space normally allocated is needed for other ‘cultural’ things.  That hardly fits in with the "festival of freedom" sentiment, and I wonder if the activists already knew this? Uncle Bertie says that the arrival of Sócrates here always sinks the socialist vote. I think he has only been here once since becoming prime minister, and that was earlier this year. So he is technically correct, as the European election results did go the wrong way, but I would hardly put that down as a ‘track record’ though.

The last of the front page stories : ‘Block Insist On A Pact To The Left – Roberto Almada, head-of-list of BE (Left Block) in the legislative national elections, holds PS and PCP responsible for the non-existence of a anti-PSD coalition. But he still has hopes’. This is the Diário daily interview with the top of the list candidates. It’s not worth covering as another no-hoper party, but as regards the headline where he refers to attempts to form a coalition with the PCP and PS, he said this has been an aim of BE since 2004, but he talks about the elections for Funchal council rather than national elections. To win this he said would put an end to the reign of the PSD, and start "the beginning of the end" for Jardim.

‘PS Of Sócrates Doesn’t Have Ideology – Jardim says that the actual socialist party is not that of Soares, Almeida, Guterres or Alegre’ (being previous party leaders I presume). President Alberto João Jardim, who reiterated that he is close to leaving politics, accused prime minister Sócrates of having finished with the party ideology. He accused him of being responsible for the worst economic situation in the country since April 25 (1974?) and to be the mentor of the "greatest propaganda campaign" of ever in Portugal, in order to hide the true state of the nation. He appealed to the disenchanted socialists to vote for his party the PSD social democrats, and also challenged Sócrates to explain how he managed to help the communist political forces to achieve together 20 percent of the votes in the recent European elections. For the Social Democratic leader, the only concrete proposal of the present Government of the Republic was to propose homosexual marriage.

In the Jornal da Madeira . "I Always Translated The Sentiments Of The People", was the headline quote from president Jardim, returning to his holidays on Porto Santo after the Funchal 501 celebrations. Explaining why he goes to Porto Santo for his holidays, he said it is because of official commitments, but more so to relax and be with friends. Asked about the initiative of the PND (New Democratic Party) who were on Porto Santo asking people to donate money to help Jardim pay for his holidays (see also yesterday in Funchal), he said "As you know the PND is a party of the extreme right that lives on clowning around. This form of begging is not unusual, because one of the PND leaders is heir to the fortune of Padre Lopes, in a way that I don’t admire such a method of obtaining money through donations" he snapped.

Back to the Diário : The police unit on Porto Santo was asked to despatch two officers and other elements of the maritime police authorities, in response to a rumour that the PND had arranged to walk two pigs on leashes along Porto Santo beach at the same time that president Jardim was taking the same stroll, on the way to the famous ‘Bar do Henrique’. The stunt was cancelled for hygiene reasons, because the leaders of the PND couldn’t find away to "stop the animals satisfying their physiological needs on the beach". Sounds like a bit of a wheeze to me, but why two pigs? Was this to be a remake of the famous story ‘The Three Little Pigs’ with houses of straw, sticks and bricks, and a big bad wolf? Which role would Uncle Bertie have played, with such a clear conflict of interest on both sides. And if asked to play along do you think he might have said "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin"?

I am having big problems with the Diário website today, and it’s taking sometime 5 minutes to get from one article to the next. I will have to carry some stuff across to tomorrow.

(26th June). ‘Cancela Is A Rats Nest – There are prisoners who complain to the guards about rats in the cells’. A plague of rats is ravaging the zone around the prison in Cancela. The situation is not new, and as well as prisoners complaining, so is the trade union representing the guards. Apart from a programme of rat extermination that is seemingly not working, nothing is being done. The problem was first reported 2 years ago to the prison management. Some prison guards live in accommodation on site, and they are also affected.

‘Poor Entitled To Dine For Free’. From next September, the poorest people will be dining on the premises of the Association for the Protection of the Poor for free. As well as a daily lunch and an evening snack, they will also be served meals on Sundays, as announced by the regional office of the Secretary for Social Affairs, Francisco Ramos. The government has taken a lot of criticism recently, through opposition parties and the church, for not doing enough to take care of the poor.

‘Machico Without Flag – The council of Machico has requested the Regional Directorate of the Environment to postpone the flying of the Blue Flag until next year’. According to information from a council, the decision is due to the fact that works are being undertaken to reinforce the foundations of a river wall, which may cause the reduction of water quality to standards below those required by the European Union.

(25th June). ‘Direct Flight To Cape Verde Cancelled By TACV – The new international airport in São Vicente is not yet approved’. Following a report here a few days ago about the new scheduled flight between Cape Verde and Madeira, the airline TACV announced on Wednesday that the plans had now been cancelled. The service was due to start next month, with flights and holidays already on sale here. To blame are delays in the works for widening and strengthening of the runway over there, and hence not yet being properly certified. The approval will take place only at the end of the work and after an international inspection to ensure that new infrastructure meets all the parameters required for an international operation, particularly to receive aircraft the size of those that would be used in the Madeira operation, the Boeing 757-200.

(24th June). ‘Heliatlantis Restarts Services With A Smaller Helicopter – The company has started a partnership with Helibravo for the Madeira operation’. The service will start again next weekend to offer charter flights and other services (aerial imagery and inter-island taxi). Helibravo is based in Lisbon, and that company will have full responsibility for the operational performance of Heliatlantis. The helicopter to be used is a Robinson 44 Clipper, manufactured in the USA. It is several years old, but much newer than the 16 year old craft it replaces and more economical to operate. As you can see from the picture, it has already been painted with it’s new livery. The old craft was withdrawn after being taken away for repairs, and due to less business and the loss of government funding.  As a result charter prices should be lower. The old craft will now be used for tourist flights over the city of Lisbon. However, the full terms of the agreement are still being negotiated.