Madeira News Blog

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Elaine out West … dried herbs and chillies on sale in Funchal Market

"Docking early in Funchal meant there was plenty of time to explore the city before taking an afternoon excursion. A member of the crew then introduces everyone to each other which is a nice and informal way to get to know your shipmates. Funchal is a bustling city and I soon found myself at the indoor flower, vegetable and fish market. It was fun to wander around the groaning stalls of fruit and to see the magnificent display of fish. And as for the flowers, they were stunning and I couldn’t resist buying a bunch of roses for my cabin". A reporter for the UK Daily Mirror newspaper took a cruise that took in Madeira, a place she seemed pretty struck by. FULL ARTICLE

Boeing 737-800 – From Wien to Madeira Funchal with Lauda Air. Yes, it’s another one of those ‘pilot’s view’ videos, but this one is a little different if you have 8 minutes to spare. It shows the take of from a snowy runway, and the landing at Madeira Airport from the other ‘easy’ end.

Some more from Becky’s latest batch of interesting web links :

Madeira is a property hot-spot according to this recent article. VESTED INTERESTS?

Here’s a blog from some cruise passengers.  Although I love to see the cruise ships coming in and out of Funchal, is it just me or is the photo of all those identical balconies rather depressing.? I love to look at them, but would hate to be on one. Which makes it all the more puzzling why "Torsten" only got off the ship to go to a shopping centre! bem-vindo a Funchal

Caught in the act? Becky reckons this lad was having a grope of this statue’s feminine assets in Santa Catarina Park and was caught on this webcam grab on Saturday. Captions invited.

Vanessa Swesnik has kindly done a full and exact translation of the article covered yesterday by Elaine. The original article link is given below, for any Portuguese students who might find it useful.

Region has a Scarcity of Park Rangers – Currently, the regional corps has about 30 staff members. Currently there are only a few more than three dozen people in the region working as Park Rangers. The number has grown substantially since 1988 when the first corps of Rangers (then three or four) was created; however, there are still not enough for the large array of tasks undertaken by these professionals.

During this week in which another National Park Ranger Day is celebrated, João Paulo Mendes, president of the Association of Madeira Park Rangers (Associação de Vigilantes da Natureza da Madeira- AVNM) explained to the DIÁRIO DE NOTÍCIAS that with the current legislation in force, the area allows for up to 50 Rangers. “Even that wouldn’t be very many,” he states.

Over the past few years, protected areas and natural reserves have grown under the auspices of the Madeira Park Services (Serviço do Parque Natural da Madeira- SPNM). Additionally, every year the number of conservation and preservation projects (in terms of animal and plant species) grow and the SPNM Rangers are asked more and more to support awareness-raising actions and environmental education projects in schools and other establishments.

João Paulo Mendez says that even though much of the community associates Ranger work with just keeping an eye on things, the truth is that these professionals do much more than “keep watch over” important areas.

“We work in a variety of functions,” he clarifies. “From environmental education to conservation projects of the Park Services – we also work as guides when people visit reserves and when we are stationed on the Desert and Savage Islands we have to do a little bit of everything because we are more isolated.

Despite currently being few in number, one of the other challenges faced by the regional corps is that no new Park Rangers have come aboard over the past past few years. “All of them are in the same age group [between 30 and 35], and if no new Rangers enter the corps, we will have a group that is too old to respond to daily demands within 15 years.”

According to the AVNM President, the daily work is complicated because in the grand majority of cases it demands a lot of skill and physical strength. “For example, some surrenders are made by boat, we have to load materials, collaborate on Freira da Madeira’s and Freira do Búgio’s conservation projects, and we have to know how to mountain climb and rappel,” João Paulo Mendes explains.

The three week tours on the Desert and Savage Islands aren’t easy either, although improvements in mobile communications have minimized the effect of separation from family and friends.

“Park Rangers either enjoy their work, or they don’t make it.” Regardless, João Paulo Mendes says the work is very gratifying in that Park Rangers can see the results up close of that conservation projects implemented by the Region.

Celebrations: National Day of Celebration in the Region on Tuesday : The AVNM is promoting a commemorative event for National Park Ranger Day this Tuesday, February 2 with the objective of “raising awareness of the profession and its importance in the world of nature and biodiversity conservation.”

The event will take place in the auditorium of the Regional Authority of the Environment and Natural Resources in the Golden Building (Secretária Regional do Ambiente e Recursos Naturais – Edifício Golden) at about 9:15 AM with an opening session presided over by the Director of the Madeira Park Service, Paulo Oliveira, and followed by another opening statement by the President of AVNM, João Paulo Mendes. Afterwards at 9:30 AM there will be a presentation by Park Ranger Nélson Pereira on “The Park Ranger’s Contribution to Nature Conservancy in Madeira” and another on “Biodiversity post 2010” by Domingos Abreu, President of The Order of Biologists.

There will even be a debate moderated by Paulo Oliveira followed by a speech at 11:00 AM by the Regional Environmental Secretary, Manual António Correira, and then an appreciation ceremony to praise local Park Rangers with outstanding job performance. The Closing Ceremony is scheduled for 11:30 AM.

In addition to this celebration, AVNM is working with its National counterpart in placing a bid to receive the 2012 International Rangers Convention. João Paulo Mendes says that if the event takes place here, it will be a good opportunity to publicize Park Rangers’ work here and throughout the world. FULL ARTICLE IN PORTUGUESE

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

Madeira Tourism Site – Information for February.

Tourist Entertainment Calendars for 2010, 2011 and 2012 in Portuguese, English, French, German and Spanish.

5th to 16th – Carnival Celebrations – Funchal. Carnival, one of the main tourist attractions of Madeira, is fiercely enjoyed by both Madeirans and the hundreds of tourists who visit us. It is a week of "revelry", which invades the hotels, bars and nightclubs, transforming them into continuous parties. This atmosphere of boundless joy bubbles with astoundingly creative and imaginative initiatives that find themselves audaciously parodied in the Slapstick Parade that takes place on the Tuesday of Carnival. The highlight of the celebrations is on the Saturday night (13 February) when the majestic float parade takes to the avenues of Funchal. Various groups with thousands of participants take part in this parade, flooding the city with music and joy.

The Tuesday of Carnival (16 February) is reserved for the Slapstick Parade. This is a typically Madeiran parade, open to all, where humour and social satire are the main themes. Gigantic puppets, floats and many "bunglers" entertain and interact with the public in a manner that nobody takes the wrong way. The detailed programme can be found HERE

6th to 7th – Festa dos Compadres – Santana. The Festa dos Compadres is a celebration that marks the start of Carnival in Madeira. Giant puppets travel the main streets of Santana, a small and peaceful town located on the north coast of the Island of Madeira, transforming it into the setting for a parade of humour, lots of colour and joy.

DRAC site – Cultural Agenda for February can be downloaded.

DIÁRIO 01/02/2010 – FRONT PAGE HEADLINES

Serrão asks Cavaco to intervene in debt. "It is a problem of the regime. There must be an upper intervention. The President must intervene." This is the position of Jacinto Serrão on the amount of debt of the region, its consequences and the attitude of the Regional Government, especially Ventura Garcês. The new president of the Socialist Party, Serrão, said he would inform the President of Portugal, Cavaco Silva, to intervene in the case. During the debate and approval of the Regional Budget for this year, Ventura Garcês only admitted to 1.2 billion Euros of direct debt and hid the indirect debt, despite being confronted by deputies of the opposition parties. Serrão considers this a serious situation and shows that Ventura Garcês cannot resolve the situation and must resign. According to this socialist’s calculations, at a 5% interest rate on the 5 billion Euros total debt of Madeira, the interest is 250 million Euros per year, 20% of the Regional Budget. He says this is an impossible situation which cannot be solved without the intervention of the State. But you have to assign responsibilities and they are on the side of Jardim’s Government. It is an episode with negative consequences for the lives of Madeirenses. During the debate on the budget, the socialists calculated the total debt as nearly 6 billion Euros but Ventura Garcês said it would not exceed 2 billion Euros and he would "teach the opposition how to make accounts," and that the direct debt would not exceed 18% PIB (GDP).

MADEIRA

Landings limited. The reason why several SATA and TAP planes could not land in poor weather conditions during the last two weeks of December whereas other planes, EasyJet and some from European capitals could, was the extra safety restrictions of TAP and SATA airlines.  A TAP spokesman said the planes only land when the conditions are ideal for security and every company sets its own security standards. Aircraft failing to land cost more than those that land. Despite this, the other airlines are not breaching safety regulations of the airport or INAC, National Institute of Civil Aircraft.

ECONOMY

Campaigns that marked 2009. Still end of year round-ups. The most remembered adverts were for Meo and Orange telecommunications firms and Pingo Doce supermarket chain. Marktest survey found 4/10 respondents remembered the campaigns with Meo Gato Fedorento, 3.4 the TMN advert and 3.4 the Pingo Doce brand. Of the brands recalled, Coca-Cola dominated followed by Optimus, Jumbo (Portuguese supermarket chain), Modelo and Zon, showing that advertisements of telephone operators and supermarkets are the most successful.

Investment in a forest has a good return. The Portuguese can now invest in a forest. A Spanish company, Madeiras Nobres, has a branch in Portugal and will start planting trees this month at the Casal do Serrão in Loures. The return on the investment is between 8 and 13% per year depending on the batch of trees purchased. The company buys the land, plants hardwood trees – carvalhos, castanheiros or nogueiras – and cultivates them. The investor does not pay anything beyond the initial outlay and when the life cycle is complete and the tree harvested and sold, 90% of the sale goes to the investor and 10% to the firm. "This is a forestry investment with a big return." People who invest in forests "will have an economic return in the future". In addition to providing income, the trees produce oxygen, water-retaining soil, absorb carbon dioxide, combat desertification and produce high quality woods, helping to preserve virgin rain forests. Carvalhos (oaks) will be planted and the life cycle lasts 22 years. Each lot costs 1,700 Euros and a conservative annual return is around 9%.

Brazilian tourists this Easter. The Brazilian tour operator, Bis, in its program for Portugal includes an extension to Madeira this year. Tourists will fly from Salvador to Lisbon then to Madeira. Since last year, customers have shown more interest in visiting Madeira. The program is in conjunction with Windsor Travel, representing the Brazilian operator in Madeira. There are no official regional tourist promotion agencies in Brazil although interest was shown last October at the largest Latin American tourist fair in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s economy is in the fifth place globally and the currency is robust, so Brazilians are a great potential in terms of holidaymakers.

POLITICS

Câmara de Lobos asks for more than 900 thousand Euros. Espada to Venezuela and help to Timor. At the council’s public meeting, they focused on the need for a short-term loan of 900,000 Euros. This decision needs ratification by the Municipal Assembly. The Carnival in Câmara de Lobos will need an investment of 21,000 Euros; money is required for the air fares for a câmara-lobense, Tiago Brito, to take part in the 19ª Maratona de Lisboa; approval was given for the membership of the council to the Associação de Municípios Portugueses do Vinho; 1,250 Euros for the renovation of the Mercado de Bacau in East Timor and expenses for sending 300 kilos of espada preto to Latin America for the  4º Encontro dos ‘Filhos de Câmara de Lobos na Venezuela’. — 300 kilos of black scabbard fish – how many will that feed / costs?

CULTURE

‘The Nature of Things’ in John dos Passos. The Centro Cultural John dos Passos in Ponta do Sol, opens on Thursday 4 February a group exhibition entitled ‘The Nature of Things’. This is the first of ten exhibitions scheduled for this year. The centre can show new talent and allow local artists to exhibit their work, an opportunity they would not normally have. This exhibition includes paintings, sculptures, photography and drawings. One of the five exhibitors is António Pascal, who interprets various stories and legends of the region and draws satirical cartoons. Examples of his work HERE. — His webpage is interesting.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

CRIAMAR have new project. This association supports young people and has a new project named the Sol da Esperança (Sun of Hope). This was unveiled at yesterday’s car boot sale (Feira da Amizade). Funds raised from this new venture are for young people too old to continue in institutions but too young / unable to be employed, i.e. 15 – 20 years old. Two ex-users of Aldeia da Paz are funded to help with the renovation of Abrigo da Nossa Senhora da Conceição, one of whom is waiting for a place on a course run by the Pestana hotel group. There are already more than ten names on the waiting list for funding. Yesterday’s Feira da Amizade was poorly attended by both vendors and visitors as it rained heavily all day. There were 10 stalls and the visitors were mainly foreigners. The fairs will be held in the car park of the Pestana Casino of Madeira, from 10 – 17 on the last Sunday of every month. Anyone can sell items for this charity and further information is at: CAR BOOT SALE.

Two more acupuncture centres in the region. Since the opening of the Acupuncture Centre in Funchal in 2001, the response rate has been quite large as people have seen good results in various illnesses. People are more informed today and have either previously used acupuncture or know others who have. Two more centres will open this year and they hope to have demonstrations at this year’s Chinese Medicine meeting. Most of the treatments are given for pain and allergic conditions, especially respiratory. Combined with a diet plan, weight loss can be achieved and Chinese medicine can treat almost all illnesses. Children of any age can be treated and they can use a laser device instead of needles.

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

SIAP gives deadline to the command in order to keep the commissioner away – After going to the Ministry, the Trade Union is preparing itself to go to take the case of Roberto Fernandes to the Public Prosecutor. This follows the headline from a few days ago, when the TU representing police officers tried to escalate within the political system in Portugal, the case of a police commissioner who is alleged to have different sets of rules for his troops and the senior officers. Now the Independent Union for Police Agents (SIAP) has launched a national petition calling for the acquittal of police officers charged under the disciplinary regime of commissioner Roberto Fernandes, and has given the Regional Police Command a two week deadline to remove Fernandes from his current duties, under the threat of exposing the ‘dossier of protectionism’. The ‘dossier’ has already been given to the national director of the PSP police force following advice given to the TU official by the responsible Minister for Internal Affairs. This story just gets weirder and weirder, but hopefully will expose any wrongdoings and result in a cleaner more accountable police force.

SIC refuses to divulge voting in the [Pop] ‘Idols’ [competition]. Carlos Costa complains of the jury, that made biased appeals. The young man from Porto Moniz is out of the competition, saying that the jury on the TV show appealed for votes for the other contestants.

Today’s main news headline : Four years of losses given as profit – Engineering accounting allows ‘Valor Ambiente’ to present an administration with a negative result of 10 million Euros as a profit of €5 million. And the total liabilities are 177 million Euros. A bit of trouble translating that headline, and I am not sure that even now it is 100% right, so I certainly won’t be attempting the whole story.

In politics : Albuquerque against the Jardim theory – The leader [Jardim] wants the major meeting of the national Social Democrat Party closed to the media. The Funchal counsellor already feels "foolish" about the ‘closed door’ conventions. President Jardim and leader of the PSD-M feels that a closed event is needed because the party is going through a difficult time. The previous Regional Convention was also behind closed doors.

Filipe de Sousa rejects return to the Socialist Party of [Jacinto] Serrão. Sousa and his ex-PS-M pals in Santa Cruz broke away from the party to form the JPP (Juntos pelo Povo), which had some impressive success in last years local elections. But now that ex-party leader Gouveia has been sidelined, the new leader has appealed for those who distanced themselves from the party to return. "Out of the question" says Sousa. A shame really as the PS is the only party that has any chance of scoring any victories over the PSD-M in the coming years, and some sort of alliance would benefit all concerned, especially now the new leadership gives opportunities for a fresh start, and Uncle Bertie’s lot are really in the hot seat over debt and finances. Maybe our man in the Cruz will have a word in the ear of Sr. Sousa, for the benefit of Madeira, not just politics.

The main sport / football headline today : Victory in Matasinhos interrupts the suffering of the Verde-Rubro [Green-Reds] – The end of the game yesterday was a double relief : to guarantee a victory suffered away to the detriment of Leixões (1 – 2) and for interrupting a cycle of four defeats.

Argelino Abdelmalek Cherrad reinforces the Verde-Rubro attack. The normally unflappable Tánia Spinola, the news presenter for the TV station RTP Madeira, was stopped in her tracks on this story this morning. Eventually she got a similar sounding name out, making the excuse that it "was very difficult to pronounce".

Also lots of bad weather stories today, or should I say damage caused by the bad weather. Bad weather causes collapses, floods, and fall of trees. Santana was the area worst hit, with various streets cut off due to landslides or rockfalls. Walls also fell, but there is no account of any personal injury. The airport is working as normal, although one plane was diverted to Lisbon due to the rain. Three schools in Madeira closed due to bad weather. The children of the schools of Porto da Cruz, São Roque do Faial and Santana will be most disappointed today. Der forced by rain to stay in pub until long after closing time. Blog writer Der, when out for a walk last night, was forced with a friend into a pub by driving horizontal rain. Unable to borrow an umbrella, the two were forced to stay there with other customers who were unable to leave on foot. After two hours the landlord called time, and gave those stranded a lift home. Jesus … poor guy! No wonder his blog is late today.

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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