Madeira News Blog

(10th September). Today’s main news headline : ‘Money Of The Festivals Disappeared -  Restlessness lives in the parish of Água de Pena. Everything because of the ‘theft’ of donations, to the value of €10 thousand, left in a car of a member of the Commission of Festas’. The money was in envelopes inside the car of one of the festa organisers, and was taken early in August. The matter has been kept secret since. The money had been collected from various sites around the parish before the theft, but no one really knows what happened. The Diário managed to speak with the person who had the stolen money in his charge, who was very upset about the matter, but takes the blame and said he intends to ‘regularize’ the situation. The locals are worried. Very recently a grocery store next to the church was robbed, when thieves broke in through the roof and stole €500 and other items. There is a feeling of impunity, and there are those who say that it is not worth complaining to the police.

The sports headline & main photo today : ‘Victory In Bad Game Feeds The Dream – Portugal won in Hungary 1 – 0. Pepe scored the goal that keeps hope alive of qualification for the World Cup. Ronaldo squandered opportunities’. The mood in town last night, despite the result, was sombre. "A weak performance" I heard said several times. Who cares, with all the toughest games out of the way now, and 6 more points for the taking. The problem is we still needs someone else to slip up.

‘Lack Of Agricultural Water Causes Protest – A 20 year old promise yet to be kept takes the population of Penha D’Águia to deliver a signed petition in Santana’. The residents of ‘Eagle Rock’ in Faial are tired of waiting for the 20 year old promise to be fulfilled. A 65 signature petition was raised and delivered to the council in Santana. Signed by residents, family, friends, and land owners in the area, fed up with irrigation problems and being unable to produce crops as they should. "Many times we were waiting for a little rain, but could not grow anything", said one resident. The problem in the area often also affects drinking water. "Sometimes there is no water to drink there", he said, adding that many are the days when only around midnight they get "a drop of water" to quench their thirsts. The councillor responsible was unable to comment as he was on holiday, but the council said that he had no knowledge of the petition, and that as the promise was made so long ago by another ‘team’, the promise it is not the responsibility of the current council in this current mandate.

‘Businessmen’ Blame Government For 7 Year Old bad Debt’. In an episode referred to as "Brides of September", the government is blamed for a €10 thousand debt, or more specifically those responsible for tourism 7 years ago. The event, which only ran three times, involved the making of 7 wedding dresses by 5 guest designers, and the funding for the 7 dresses was a verbal agreement with the person responsible for tourism and culture at that time. One of the wedding dress designers says she spend €1,100 on materials out of her own pocket. The organisers of the event, the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Madeira, are now facing insolvency, and a decision is expected next week.

‘Nurses In Protest On The 18th – Madeira’s professionals will have a presence in the protest in Lisbon’. The protest next week, at the Ministry of health, is over changes to career paths.

Customs staff are also threatening to strike (in a national action), probably in the week prior to the national elections, over government proposals involving career regulations for staff.

‘Study For Parking Meters In Lugar de Baixo – The council wants more rotation in car parking in the area of bars and restaurants’. No decision has yet been taken, but the intentions already point in this direction. The parking, at least within the range of the restaurants in Lugar de Baixo, Ponta do Sol, is expected to be regulated through the placement of parking meters. The expected action would be taken during the next mandate of the council, with the primary objective of preventing the parking abuse that proliferates in this area, located near the end of the east tunnel, aiming to serve short term parking and facilitate more rotation of clients for nearby businesses. Currently many drivers park there for long periods. A council spokesman said he wants to hear from local business owners before making a decision.

Police are trying to track down a car and driver that ran down a 33 year old man on Sunday near Lugar de Baixo, and fled the scene. The car was a VW Golf, the colour is silver-grey, and it now lacks part of the front grille and the wing mirror on the passenger side. The victim is still in hospital with 4 fractures and other injuries.

UPDATES / POLITICS :

The last of today’s front page headlines : ‘Zaragata’ Takes Police To A Party Gathering’. Police were called to a meeting in Ponta do Sol, arranged to discuss the manning of voting tables in forthcoming elections. The meeting that started at 7 pm yesterday evening, was still going on at 10.30 pm, with two police officers waiting outside. The Diário said "Due to the lateness of the hour, we were unable to ascertain the reasons that motivated the likely ‘disagreement’ between the delegates, and the consequent call to the police". Hardly front page news then is it.

‘Equality Doesn’t Come At The Top Of The Lists – Teachers make up a third of the head-of-list for local elections’. The political parties have little trust in women to preside in the municipal authorities. The local elections scheduled for 11th October will have just 9 women, from around 60 candidates, at the top of the candidate lists submitted by seven parties. The law of parity is there with the aim of ensuring at least a third of candidates are women, by saying that there cannot be more than 2 consecutive same sex candidates on the lists. With 7 parties jostling for the presidency in Madeira’s 11 councils, just 9 women appear as the number one candidate. The PSD social democrats don’t have any, and have not had any in the top spot for the last 33 years. 

After a few tough days on the receiving end of criticism from all directions, president Jardim made an appeal yesterday for separatism from the central state, saying that if we bother you "you may see yourself free of us", because "we also don’t care". I care, and I am sure many tens of thousands more also care. If Uncle Bertie is implying we can survive as a small island without state support, then he is so so wrong.

(31st August). Today’s main news headline : ‘Regional Produce Hardly Used In The Hotels – The appeals for the preference of fruit and vegetables from Madeira only amounts to 5% of the consumption of tourists’. ‘Qualifrutas, which supplies the hotels and restaurants, calls for greater use of regional production’. Hard to believe I know, but 95% of what a tourist gets fed in terms of fruit and vegetables is imported, that’s in the hotels, with the restaurants equally guilty. That of course applies to Madeirans eating out as well. Qualifrutas is one of the leading suppliers to the trade on Madeira, and it says it has good suppliers here, and only resorts to importing when there is insufficient product locally, a particular problem with fruit, although ‘greens’ are 30 to 40% sourced on Madeira. Lettuce and tomatoes are mainly sourced and supplied here, with little need to import, unlike green beans, cauliflower or broccoli, which require "importation in large quantities", says the company. Even the banana is imported, and the spokesman says it is just necessary to look in the supermarkets to see how little representation there is from Madeira in the greengrocery ranges.

‘Passenger With Gripe A Prevented From Boarding – The tourist was already in the airport when he received internment orders from Marmeleiros Hospital’. The tourist spent the night in hospital. Confirmation that the person had swine flu resulted in him being prevented from travelling to Lisbon and infecting other passengers on the flight. His three travelling companions also spent the night in the hospital to be screened, but at the time showed no symptoms. The tourist was on the list of suspected cases, having had symptoms, and attended Funchal Central Hospital for checks. Whilst the analysis was being done he took the medications, but his condition developed rapidly as he prepared to return home, and the confirmation of Gripe A changed his plans. The firemen of Santa Cruz were sent to the airport to pick up the group in a vehicle equipped for such cases. One of the sick patients already in hospital with pneumonia (and gripe A) has improved in health and is no longer connected to the ventilator. That patient, probably the most serious case so far, from Câmara de Lobos, no longer needs breathing assistance. They should put warnings signs up in the airports and on check-in desks to tell people that if they know they have Gripe A, and continue to fly, they could go to prison for knowingly infecting others on board – 5 years inside if I recall correctly.

‘Port Without Space Is Losing Cruise Ship Visits – A shipping agency alerts to the need to increase the posts for mooring’. This is an article in the series ‘The top 100 Companies’. This one is called Agência Ferraz, specialising in the ‘shipping’ sector, and founded 80 years ago. It deals with some of the big players in the international market, and includes tourism. Carlos Santos of the company believes that Funchal Port needs upgrading works, and although the new port building is very welcome, the real need is to increase the number of berths, particularly as ships are now getting larger. He said that the port has already lost business for not responding to the call for more capacity, and this will continue to happen. "We can not think that docking a liner in Funchal is the same as in the Mediterranean, in Greece or the Caribbean. We can not allow ourselves the luxury of refusing scales or influencing the choices of companies" he said. 

‘He Lived The High Life And Left Debts Of €20,000′. A 27 year old man is under investigation by police after a series of frauds. The man from Castelo Branco in Portugal used scams to live the life of a lord on Madeira, leaving debts in hotels, shops, and restaurants in Funchal and surrounding areas. For almost a year he used stolen cheques and faked bank transfers to ‘live the life’. In one Funchal jewellery shop he brought gold worth €1,500, paying with a stolen cheque. New complaints are coming to light, and the extent of the fraud is mounting up, and the Diário has totted up more than €20,000 so far. The case goes back to December last year, when the young man, with a criminal record as a con man in Portugal, stayed at a hotel for a few days in Funchal, leaving behind a debt of €1,200. Several other hotels also fell victim, including the Carlton Hotel, again for €1,200. The con man is no longer on Madeira, and his whereabouts at present is unknown.

Today’s main photo and sports story : ‘Marítimo Uninspired In Leiria – Goalless draw justified in weak offensive performance of the ‘Verde-Rubros’. Nacional play this evening.

That’s everything from the front page today. Normally there are at least 7 headlines, sometimes as many as 9, but today just 5.

UPDATES :

‘Lugar de Baixo Undergoes More Works’. The controversial marina at Lugar de Baixo is again the subject of repairs. This time the work addresses the damage caused as a result of securing the overlooking cliff face, as well as some damage, caused by the strength of the waves, to the wall of the jetty that protects the marina. Also the construction that houses the car park, that was also badly damaged by rock falls, is being completely demolished, as that is was deemed to be the cheaper and most appropriate option. A new parking facility will not be built for now. "At this stage there is no justification, because we have enough parking in the area for the immediate needs", said a spokesman, adding that even if there was a need, it is intended in the future to consider other enterprises planned inside the marina complex.

‘Festival of Curral Finishes With Drunks and Brawls’. A young man was left unconscious after an assault in a bar, and several men were suffering with severe alcohol intoxication, during Saturday night in the festa in Curral das Freiras (Valley of the Nuns). Ambulance services were called on six times between midnight on Saturday and 8 am Sunday morning. Also during the weekend festival in São Vicente the fire department was called upon to rescue several people worse the wear from excess drinking. "But this, as they say, is normal when there are festivals in the parish". It might be normal, but it’s certainly not acceptable!

‘Searches are continuing along the coast’. Despite having been officially suspended for four days, the search operations for the 78 year old fisherman who may have fallen in the sea in the area of Lakota, Porto Santo, have continued with searches along the coast of the island. "Once or twice a day, we carry out searches along the coast", said the commander of the Maritime Zone of Madeira, adding that after so much time having passed since the disappearance, there is little chance of the body appearing along the coast.

‘Cimber Sterling Connects Madeira And Copenhagen’. The Denmark based airline flies today to Madeira’. The first of the weekly flights was due to land at Madeira Airport at 12.50 pm, returning to Denmark one hour later. The journey each way is around 5 hours.

‘CEB should maintain interest rates’. The Central European Bank should maintain its interest rates on Thursday, waiting to see if the signs of recovery in the euro zone will extend further. The main rate by the CEB should continue at its lowest historical level of one percent, where it has been since May, according to financial analysts.

FINALLY A FEW POLITICAL BITS & PIECES :

‘Jardim Responds To César – The number of islands is not an argument for positive discrimination’. "On this, one doesn’t count the number of islands, one counts the population, and Madeira has a higher population than the Azores" he said. He was responding to the president of the Azores, who said that the autonomous regions of Portugal should not be treated equally in terms of state financing, and that the Azores should have more than Madeira because it has more islands (9). "The density of population of the Azores is 110 people per square kilometre, and on Madeira it is 330", said Jardim, who also argued that Madeira has to import from abroad more than 80 percent of what it consumes, while the Azores have "a primary sector of agriculture, fisheries and livestock" with which they have little need to import. "If he is to play with the arguments, then, I also demand a positive discrimination in relation to the Azores", he said.

The best news today is that president Jardim returns to work after 20 days of holidays on Porto Santo. Over the last few weeks his day started with a game of tennis, then its was off for a stroll with his buddies along the golden beach as far as the famous ‘Bar do Henrique’. He also took some work with him to keep busy, as well as having some official duties arranged to coincide with his stay on Porto Santo, including inaugurations. He also read a book whilst there, the latest offering by Fernando Dacosta, and returned to Funchal for the 501 year celebrations. He also had other books with him, including one I mentioned the other day ‘The Mysteries of the Islands’, which he highly recommends we should all read. That summary of Uncle Bertie’s holiday, which cost him just €200 in accommodation charges, was from the Jornal da Madeira today, just in case anyone thought I was writing my own ‘soft’ account of our presidents exploits, which included insulting half the political forces and personalities of Portugal. Is there such a thing as ‘holiday rage’, ‘cos I think he caught a dose. I for one am pleased to have you back Bertie, as it will get Porto Santo out of the newspapers, having had more coverage than Funchal over the last 3 weeks.

From the Jornal da Madeira yesterday : ‘Ferreira Leite On Madeira On 8th September – A day for contact with candidates and the population of Madeira’. The PSD party leader, president Jardim’s boss in political terms, will visit some streets in Funchal to talk to people.

She’s the one on the left. I have no idea who the other bloke is.

(5th August). ‘PSD Delivers Lists For The Câmaras Of São Vicente And Porto Moniz – Jorge Romeira selects social matters and quality of life as his priorities’. The social democrats of Madeira yesterday gave in their candidates lists for the two regions, with Jorge Romeira for São Vicente and Valter Correia in Porto Moniz at the top to be presidents.

‘PSD-M Asks 54 to Zero To Thank Jardim – "Thank and repay" all that Jardim did for Madeira with absolute victory’. The achievement of one more historic result would make a great parting gift for Alberto João Jardim, by winning in all of Madeira’s 54 Freguesias (parishes), according to Rui Coelho of the social democrats. The party wants to achieve the result with humility and not send Madeira into euphoria. In the previous local elections the PSD-M won 50 of the 54 majorities, with just Gaula, Água de Pena, Achadas da Cruz and Prazeres bucking the trend.

In anticipation of the visit of president Jardim to the expansion zone in Ponta do Sol town, the PS-M socialist party had a large sarcastic poster made and displayed, that one couldn’t fail to see. It headlined "€42.5 million thrown overboard – what happened to the 80 jobs promised", with other highlights of the government flagship disaster project … Lugar de Baixo marina. That was in the Diário.

The ‘response’ was in the Jornal da Madeira : "The People Know What They Have To Do" – The president of Madeira referred to the embargos placed on works’. President Jardim yesterday pointed the finger at those who suspend works, accusing them of preventing development and the creation of jobs. At the inauguration of the road in Ponta do Sol and other new infrastructures, Alberto João Jardim mentioned the project in the area of Lugar de Baixo. "As you know, there is a great work that someone has stopped because of an embargo", continuing "the people know who embargoed that work", and "who caused that years ago …  not creating the jobs that should have been created, and the lack of economic activity that should already exist. "The people know who did it, and therefore, the people also know what they have to do" said the president. By this time I was feeling a little unwell, so I set the Jornal on fire and threw it off the balcony (metaphorically speaking of course). Uncle Bertie passing the buck is of course not a novel phenomenon for most of us, but in this case his arrogance is breathcurdling. Rumour has it that it was him who commanded the building of marina in the somewhat rougher seas of Lugar de Baixo, when it was all set to safely go in the more sheltered waters of Ribeira Brava. On another subject, where is António Lobo, the ex-president of Ponta do Sol these days?

Enough of politics …

‘Port Taxes Could Rise After Completion Of The New ‘Port Structures’ – Conceição Estudante believes that services and costs should be covered’. The Government may consider an increase in port fees charged in the port of Funchal after the completion of the works. The issue was raised by the Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport yesterday morning during a visit to the works in the port of Funchal. She said that the prices update will reflect economic developments, in order not to jeopardize the level of use by making the port too expensive. She added that the current rates in the port of Funchal are among the lowest on the Atlantic circuit. The new infrastructure is costing €12.8 million, and should be completed in December.

’8 Visits In August – Pacific Dream, Aurora, Costa Europa And Black Prince Are Expected’. Eight cruise ship visits are expected this month, in line with previous years, but 4 of those are from ‘Pacific Dream’.

(4th August). This is another one from the dark side : ‘More Hotels Are Likely To Close During The Winter – A meeting to be held between hotels this week could be conclusive’. With the Summer peak still flowing, some hotels on Porto Santo are already thinking ahead to the coming Winter. The strategy adopted last year is certain to last, with hotels that include the Praia Dourada and Pestana Dunas, again closing for 4 months to cope with the high running costs and strong seasonality of tourism. Rumours are that in addition the Hotel Vila Baleira and Torre Praia are considering the same solution. This would be a great challenge for a great marketing mind, to overcome the stupid notion that Winter is not beach time, when you have a beautiful island, a 9km golden beach, cheap top hotels, and great weather nearly all year around. Porto Santo is a ready made success story, that continues to fail, probably because it is just too small to survive alone and too under sourced to market itself. I stayed there at the beginning of February a couple of years ago, and the beach and sea were great, and it was plenty warm enough when the sun was out … but when it is not, there is little to do for the average holiday maker, so you do need to have plan for that eventuality.

(3rd August). This from the Norwich Evening News (UK) : ‘New Destination For Norwich Airport Passengers’. Holidaymakers can now enjoy the destination of Madeira from Norwich airport on two special dates next year. The flights will depart on Wednesday, April 14 2010 and April 21, 2010, courtesy of Newmarket Holidays, with following departures likely to be announced at a later date. Elliott Summers, managing director of Norwich Airport said: “Newmarket Holidays has long been offering our passengers a selection of destinations to the local population and we are very pleased they have picked up on the local demand for Madeira”.