Madeira News Blog

(24th June). Today’s main news headline : ‘Mandatory To Change The Economic Model – Or Madeira must reduce its running costs or cut back on investments. The suggestion comes from a study of the Catholic University, commissioned by ACIF, to evaluate the effects of the Regional Finance Law’. The study also suggests salary cuts, and offers new economic models that will work better with Madeira’s circumstances. The headline says it all really, but why was it necessary to commission a study, and what good is it now halfway through the financial year. As a quick bit of background, the Portuguese government slashed the budget application for Madeira at the end of last year, so it has been well known for over 6 months that the government here would have to cut back on it’s spending plans. But could this government not actually figure out itself that if the budget was smaller it would have less money to spend, or is this study just a way of making it bleedin’ obvious?

The main photo on today’s front page shows a rather unpleasant slick seeping into the sea : ‘Factory Contaminates The Sea At Porto da Cruz – The discharges polluting the waters continue to keep the bathers off the beach’. The acidity of the pollution is dangerous to life. The beach of Porto do Cruz opens the Summer season the same as in the past, with pollution in the sea. The story is repeated every year, as the factory that make aguardente (rum) from sugar cane causes a discharge onto the beach of Alagoa. The problem is the overlap between the two things, and the yellow liquid that gives off a strong odour is giving the beach a bad image. The Diário assessed the beach users for an opinion, and there were just 6 users. 2 German couples were there, but they saw the pollution and chose not to go in the water, and two other swimmers went to the far end to avoid the discharge. Clearly a long term solution is needed to contain the discharge. But for now, if we had to choose a Madeira without poncha, or without Alagoa beach, it’s a tough call.

‘Armed Wallet Thieves Return To the Levadas’. Tourists were held at knifepoint on the Levada dos Barreiros on Monday morning, by a man now being sought by police, seemingly knowing who he is through similar crimes. He told them to hand over all valuables, but ended up with only €30, before running off. There are concerns that the robbery will discourage tourists from walking the  Levada dos Piornais(?).

‘Extraction Of Sand And Gravel In Faial Is Legal’. After months and months of arguing about the illegal extraction of materials from Ribeira do Faial, a parliamentary commission has now decided that work can continue there as long as the jobs are safeguarded and the environmental requirements are observed. This followed a petition by locals to keep the operation going, after it was shut down several months ago.

The first phase of the national exams finished yesterday.

There will be strike of technicians in the health service here and nationally on Thursday and Friday. Amongst other services, radiology, physiotherapy, operating theatres, external consultations, and clinical analysis will be affected.

The front page also covers a Summer fashion festival on 24th July in the Naval, but as I don’t understand fashion I probably have no hope of understanding it in Portuguese.

‘Trade Union Demands Guarantees In The Agreement With The Savoy’. All negotiations from now on are to be between the legal advisers of the Association of Hotels of Madeira and the Savoy Hotels Group SIET. A meeting yesterday discussed the commitment to those 45 workers who are already on their way out (as a result of the demolishing of the old Savoy Hotel), but are expected to rejoin the staff in the new hotel, when rebuilt.

‘Talents Put To The Test In Câmara de Lobos – The Regional Talent Festival takes place next Tuesday’. Eleven contestants representing each region of Madeira will compete in the 10th edition of the contest, which forms part of the Summer Festa between 26th June and 1st July. One judge will also be appointed from the 11 regions, but they cannot vote for their local talent. The most successful region is Funchal, who won in 3 consecutive years 2003 to 2005. Parades are scheduled to take place on Sunday at 9.30pm, in Câmara de Lobos, with 800 participants in 14 troupes. The theme of the day is ‘Culture’. The night will be a long one, with a carnival dance, and fireworks with music at midnight.

‘Classics To The Conquest Of The XXII Rally – The rally starts today and includes various Ferrari Models’. "Ferrari invade the avenue", all ten of them on Avenida Arriaga, on the day that marks the 22nd tour of Madeira, organised by the Classic Car Club, with support from Funchal Council and the regional secretary for transport and tourism. After all the paperwork and formalities for the 40 teams, the first stage will be the traditional opening challenge, that starts at around 8.30pm tonight. The main event starts tomorrow, with two days on the road, divided into several sections, and then the winner for 2009 will be decided. Tomorrow the event sets off from Santa Cruz at 10am, and will end up in São Vicente around 5.30pm. Friday the day starts at 9.30am at Câmara de Lobos (don’t forget to lock your car people), and should end up in Funchal (at the podium) around 4.30pm. The winner will be announced at 8pm, and the prize giving will be at the Regency Hotel at 11.45pm.

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Karen … the tunnel on the levada leading to 25 Fontes.

Our council here in Rib. Bra. has just issued a glossy booklet called ‘Green Beach – Blue Wave – Summer 2009′, and I was lucky enough to be one of the first proud owners. The Blue Wave bit refers to the Blue Flag that the beach hasn’t yet got, but the booklet confidently states that it will be flying in July and August. The ‘Green Beach’ bit refers to the responsibilities of all to keep the beach clean and be environmentally friendly. Thanks to the booklet, I know now how to avoid sunburn, drowning, what the different colour flags mean, how to keep the beach clean and recycle my rubbish, and what activities are planned to entertain beach users from June until September. Very useful stuff, and as it’s is also printed in full in English, handy for tourists also. Anyway, what caught my attention was one page entitled ‘Ribeira Brava – Green Is our Colour’, because I asked for recycling bins over two years ago and we still don’t have any. The one big metal bin we have serves around 20 properties, and everything from nearly all those properties goes in there so it needs to be emptied every 2 or 3 days (I am in fact a good boy, and I separate everything and take it into town where there are recycling bins). Businesses in town that are also supposed to separate their rubbish often don’t, because apparently when the rubbish collection is made it all goes in the same wagon mixed up. Not the be-all and end-all of green issues I know, but it’s the one most visible to most people. Not to mention the fact that our council brought two new coaches, to add to it’s existing fleet of vehicles, and it doesn’t need them. That is not green behaviour, but it seems that trade descriptions laws don’t apply to ‘green’, and it’s a label anyone can attach to mislead the public.

Please don’t forget that news articles will now be posted at various times during the day – Check back regularly and keep yourself up to date.

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

(more…)

‘Armas Making Losses – The regional government has already granted half a million Euros in support, €28 per passenger disembarking’. “Scammed”, the Spanish ferry company that owns and operates the route Portugal – Madeira – Canary Islands has been hiding losses of two million Euros. President Jardim is not happy that Madeira has been the victim of a cover-up, and with the purpose of the threats of the Spanish owner Naviera Armas, of not performing the second trip between Madeira and Portimão, on the pretext that the port authorities of the region have imposed operational limitations that make the extra trip unviable. In fact the whole operation is proving to be an economic disaster, with Naviera Armas accruing a loss that at this time is around €2 million. The company have publicly stated that each week the ferry incurs costs of €160,000, in personnel, fuel, administration etc. But an analysis of the passenger numbers and journey prices over the period the service has been running, shows that takings from the 32,000 passengers (plus cars) add up to just €6 million, compared to costs of €7.8 million. The Diário concludes that the ‘Volcan de Tijarafe’ is short of over 500 passengers per week in order to be a profitable operation. I thought right from the start that it was quite remarkable that this ferry could operate profitably from passenger revenue, and put its viability down to freight revenues, without really having any idea of what that would amount to. A small island like this is never going to contribute much to address the massive shortfall in passenger numbers, so it looks like the future of this great asset is in the balance. There is a schematic presentation of the facts and figures here :
http://www.dnoticias.pt/diario/fotos/110509/economia.jpg

The Portuguese airline TAP has started an advertising campaign in London, aimed at attracting Brits to Madeira for the bargain price of €48 (all inclusive), from Gatwick and Heathrow.It is using London taxi cabs to display the promotional material about it’s daily flight from London, in response to tough competition from Easyjet, and emphasises that it offers more sociable flight times than it’s competitor.

Another regular visitor to Madeira is to go into retirement. The cruise ship ‘Black Prince’, owned by the group Fred Olsen will be taken out of international service in October, and is then destined for a more leisurely life in the waters of Venezuela. It made its first visit to Madeira in May 1967, and its last visit on 6th October will be the 586th.

On 24/04/09 IGA – Investimentos e Gestão da Água, S.A, informed the public that the route known as “Levada da Serra do Faial” (Serra do Faial Levada Walk), will have limited access in the section between Lamaceiros and Lombo da Raiz, in the parish of Santo António da Serra, Machico. For safety reasons, as a result of the maintenance work to be undertaken by IGA, this section of the footpath will have limited access and may eventually be closed. These works are scheduled to start on 15 May, and should be finished by August 2009. (Thanks very much to Paul for that bit of information).

Sunday’s main headline : ‘Copenhagen For 198 Euros – Cimber Sterling launches a new service from Denmark to Madeira starting 31st August’. The company has already put the flights on sale through its website. The new airline is the result of a merger of the regional airline Cimber Air with Sterling Airlines, which closed due to bankruptcy at the end of last year, having already provided a weekly flight to Madeira from the Danish capital. The new service will be once a week, on Mondays, using a Boeing 737-700, with capacity for around 180 passengers. The cheapest price found by the Diário was €198 return, but there are 4 tariffs available, the most expensive working out at €997. SATA, the Azores based airline, has already announced plans for a service on the same route, and a spokesman reacting to the news said nothing will change the confirmed plans. The article doesn’t say specifically whether it is a year round service, but in the spirit of good research I went to the website of Cimber, and checked for flights in November and January, and found them to be bookable, but the article itself mentions just two Winter flights.