Madeira News Blog » madeira debt

Carnival videos ; Fuel shortage on Porto Santo ; Dumping at Porto da Cruz ; Banana debt

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Pete … "pride of Madeira"

Many thanks to Becky for these videos :

A little snippet of this year’s Funchal Carnaval, it’s marked "Parte 1", so I’m guessing more will follow on youtube. No sign of Bertie, but some people on floats doing their best to wiggle in the rain.

And Ribeira Brava Carnaval… which one are you, Der? I wasn’t on camera Becky, but I must have been stood right next to the man who took this (and he is a man, agreed!) without noticing on Sunday afternoon. Der

Many thanks to Elaine once again some web snippets and yesterday’s top news stories :

Funchal City Guide. Latest news, weather, accommodation and tips. HERE

Madeira Camping. Details and online booking of the camp sites on Madeira and Porto Santo. GET YER TENT OUT

Radar station in Madeira threatens Zino’s Petrel. After many years of uncertainty and inaction, the Portuguese Government has finally started building a military radar on top of Pico do Areeiro, one of Madeira’s most popular tourist destinations and the only home of Zino’s Petrel Pterodroma madeira, a rare endemic seabird ….. ….. "This is the only known breeding site in the world of Zino’s Petrel, [...] the rarest seabird in Europe and one of the rarest birds in the world" —Dr Ian Burfield, European Research and Database Manager at BirdLife International … HERE

Madeira Atlantic Festival Programme, 5th June – 26th June. The Madeira Atlantic Festival is held in June and it is becoming one of the most important events in Madeira Island. The programme includes a wide number of events, such as: fireworks and musical displays on Saturday nights in Funchal harbour, the Classic Car Rally, a special race where classic cars ride around the island; street entertainment with philharmonic bands and other performances; the traditional popular saints festivities like the “Festa de São João”; and the Madeira Festival Music, with several classical music and dance concerts in Funchal city. 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th June 2010 – Fireworks Contests. POSTER (Original link removed as incorrect – I can’t find the actual 2010 programme on line yet, so I don’t think it is available. Der).

DIÁRIO 16/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Government delays for 2 years paying 7 million Euros. Almost two years after the Regional Government made an agreement with the two banana growers cooperatives, to assume their liabilities through the formation of the management firm GESBA, the Government has not paid their creditors any money. The Government owes 7 million Euros to the former creditors of the cooperatives. Under the agreement, the transfer of this debt would only be made when the creditors were certified by the Monitoring Committee. The management of one of the cooperatives was considered illegal by the Tribunal and this has been used by the Government to refuse to pay creditors of either cooperatives. This newly formed Government management firm, GESBA, made 3.4 million Euros profit in 2009 but still the companies that previously provided services or goods to the cooperatives were not paid. The majority of all creditors to the Regional Government dare not complain for fear of reprisal and have to support more than 300,000 Euros a year in operational costs, a substantial part of their turnover. This amounts to the Regional Government owing them more than half a million Euros a year. 2008 was a good year for banana production. In 2008, GESBA had an operating profit of 606,000 Euros and had received a subsidy of 1.9 million Euros, but still owed over half a million Euros to customers and 1.1 million Euros to shareholders.

Fuel rationing in Porto Santo. A fuel shortage, irregular working hours and a lack of payment terminals requiring all transactions to be made in cash. Last weekend the main petrol station ran dry and the only other smaller one has a limited supply and is closed on Sundays. There are 4,000 vehicles on the island and an additional 200 at the weekend via the Lobo Marinho ferry link. The main petrol station running out has happened several times in recent months. It is due to a conflict between the petrol station owners and the supplier, Galp. Galp insists the firm owes money and will not provide any further supply until the debt is paid. The owners say they would be paying for fuel they might not sell, if they pay when they put in the order. The current contract ends in April and to renew it, the owners want new equipment installed so the supply of fuel can be better monitored as they say they have paid for petrol that has not been received. This investment is expensive for the size of the market.

MADEIRA

Weather radar needed in Madeira. The President of the National Institute of Meteorology said that the Institute will try to alert the Government of the Republic to the need for a meteorological radar to be constructed in Madeira. The design would be similar to those that exist in mainland Portugal and the Azores. Although the region is already well covered by meteorological stations, each covering about 50 square kilometres, when the ones on the continent are 60 square metres, radars address other needs in the region.

Land discharged into the sea at Porto da Cruz. This is the second time a large amount of earth has been dumped into the sea in the region, authorized by the Council of São Vicente. This debris is from the clearance of landslides and floods after the storm on February 2nd. Tens of tons of earth were bulldozed into the sea causing a large brown stain, putting the Government on a war footing with the environmentalists. The President of Porto da Cruz said it was better to dump into the sea rather than on the serras, where it might undermine property when it eventually washes down into the sea. It was necessary to clear the landslides as soon as possible as they have isolated populations. He does not see any problem with this action and the environmentalists do not say anything about the earth deposited by streams during storms. The Mayor of Machico, a former councillor for the environment, also says there is nothing wrong with dumping land into the sea, an opinion opposed by the present councillor for the environment. The environmental association Quercus says that this shows, along with other statements by the Government, that they are not sufficiently concerned about the environment or the population. The region has several sites where the land could be deposited but the authorities do what is easiest. The dumping into the sea yesterday causes problems with visual impact, destruction of the biodiversity of that area of the coast and destroys fish stocks.

Falling pine tree causes two injuries. Yesterday morning, a pine tree fell onto a car on the road between Adega and Boa Morte, in the parish of Campanário. The driver lost consciousness momentarily when the tree hit the car roof and the car crashed into a wall. When the Fire Brigade of Ribeira Brava arrived on the scene, the driver had regained consciousness and all three occupants had got out of the car. More stunned than injured, two of the victims were then transported to hospital and discharged in the afternoon.

ECONOMY

Government takes out a new bank loan for 30.8 million Euros. The Regional Government is to take out a new bank loan for 30.8 million Euros to pay existing debt, so the Regional debt will not change as this new loan must be paid back in 5 years time. At the end of 2008 there were six loans, three to be paid over 5, 10 and 15 years, totalling 554.2 million Euros and three over 10 and 25 years, totalling 180.6 million Euros. According to the 2010 Regional Budget, the Government is allowed to take out bank loans of 230 million Euros, while the Regional Finance Law allows it to increase the debt by 50 million Euros. The Region can take out new loans to pay existing debt but the debt must not exceed 864 million Euros at the end of the year. With Portugal allowing this additional 50 million Euros loan, the direct debt at the end of the year can now reach 914 million Euros.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

REGIONAL

Notaries complain. It has been five years since the Government of the Republic allowed the privatization of the service. The notaries say the State has made unfair competition and call for a change in legislation. The formation of ‘Casa Pronta’ (where legal transactions involved when buying real estate can be done in one place) means that the notaries cannot compete on price and they form unfair competition. The notaries also cannot compete on speed, efficiency and legal certainty. The notaries want new powers, for example presiding over wedding ceremonies, providing arbitration and mediation services and debt collection.

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

Armas passengers wither for 4 hours with the dock in view – The improvement in the weather allowed the entrance of the ferry ship without the delay anticipated. But the Port had another option.

Today’s main news headline : Madeira loses 117 thousand tourist in just one year – From 2008 to 2009 there were 693 thousand less ‘dormidas’ [one occupied night in a hotel room]. Amongst other negative indicators, the highlight is the reduction in income in the considerable value of 42 million Euros. Worrying numbers, but being a bit provocative, the ‘considerable value’ is actually €3 million less than the Madeira Government are happily spending on doing up Marítimo’s football stadium, that will host a total of around 50,000 spectators … FOR THE WHOLE SEASON!

On the RTP TV news this morning there was a report on another impact of the financial crisis in Funchal … over 400 shops and restaurants etc. closed in the last 18 months.

Crisis and bad weather cool-off the ‘Trapalhão’ [Free-for-all carnival parade]. The back-end of the carnival parades yesterday, that were open to all comers, were hit by the bad weather. But for those that did turn up, politics and ‘gay marriage’ were the dominant themes this year. "When [prime minister] Sócrates has no common sense, it is the Madeirans that pay" . One of many expressions exhibited during the ‘cortejo Trapalhão in Funchal yesterday. The organiser of the parade said that if the turn-out was affected by the rain, the difference was very small. The president of the Regional Government of Madeira, Alberto João Jardim, was nearby to see numerous other ‘Uncle Bertie’s’ filing by, but he says he is not bothered by the satire based on himself, and said that "the more Albertos Joões that exist, the better". Watching the coverage on TV this morning, I did see a poster referring to the great man as ‘Uncle Bertie’, in Portuguese of course, so it is true that this blog reaches places that other blogs cannot reach.

Tobacco Law produces its first court case – The Inspection [body] fined cafes and restaurants of the Centro ‘Europa’, for having customers smoking. But the penalty is contested on the argument that the terraces are an open space, so are outside of the legislation. The judge will decide.

The main sport / football headline today : The human side of Ronaldo in documentary – TeleMadrid broadcasts tonight a TV documentary about the little known facets of Cristiano Ronaldo. Real Madrid was defeated in the first leg of the ‘oitavos’ of the Champions League. They lost 1 – 0 to Lyon. In the Europa League, Sporting of Lisbon lost 2 –1 away at Everton last night. If anyone is interested … the first leg of the Porto v Arsenal match in the same competition is on RTP tonight at 7.45 pm.

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.

Something a bit different … any takers, please email me and I will pass on Nigel’s details :

Hi, Would you be able to print my details I am looking for a Madeira penfriend.

My name is Nigel XXXXXX I am 30 years old and I live on the North East coast of England . I am collecting postcards / covers from around the world with beautiful stamps on and as many as possible for a charity, Marie Curie Cancer Research, it is such a good charity as cancer affects everybody no matter what age, race, country, gender or religion, and would love one from your beautiful country. When I have collected a lot I will be auctioning them off for the charity. My address is SUPPLIED, in England. I would also like a penfriend and hope we can become good friends. I like sports football, surfing, walking, mountain biking and skiing, friendships, history, culture and travel and music and movies. I love writing. I am a lot of fun and single and am looking for penfriends worldwide. I hope you would like to write to me. Age and gender not important only true friendship. My email address is SUPPLIED

And finally from Tobi : "The rain didn’t hold off for the carnival in Caniço, but everyone seemed happy and I have a few photos HERE".

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

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February events ; Invest in trees ; Car Boot Sale washed out ; The point of acupuncture?

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:00:00 +0000

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.

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.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Porto thrash Nacional ; Funchal buses technically bankrupt ; Egg self sufficiency for the future

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Becky … "Some beautiful shimmery sea taken from Cabo Girão at the beginning of January".

And also the last two web links that Becky sent me are below. Many thanks Becky, there has been some really interesting stuff.

Great collection of old photographs of Funchal

Travel journal of Kezia Payne DePelchin 1881-1882

A 2 and a half minute diving video filmed in Funchal :

I recall a short while ago we had a discussion about bandolins, ukuleles and such musical instruments, and I came across this article that mentions Madeira being responsible for the ukulele coming to Hawaii … "Coleman says the biggest surprise was the wealth of ukulele music created in Hawaii in the late 19th century. Many of the instrument’s signature tunes were written by members of the Hawaiian royal family, who embraced the uke after an earlier version of the instrument was introduced to the islands by Portuguese sailors from Madeira". FULL ARTICLE

Nacional took a bit of a home thrashing yesterday afternoon, losing 0 – 4 at home to FC Porto. Even worse than the 3 – 0 defeat they suffered in the Dragão earlier in the season. Despite being in a European position, our lads have the leakiest defence in the Liga Sagres, having conceded 33 goals in 17 matches.

Anyone else watch that Futsal (5-a-side court football) match on RTP last night. It was the final of the European Championship in Hungary. Spain had it all wrapped up with a 3 goal advantage with just a few minutes to go. Then Portugal scored twice, and missed another chance to tie the game. It finished 4 – 2. Shame about the result but a fantastic ending.

Vanessa Swesnik very kindly sent in this article (an exact translation of the original HERE for any Portuguese language students) :

Vila Porto Mare Distinguished among the Nation’s Resorts

Hotel complex received the highest certification of food security and management

The hotel complex, Vila Porto Mare, received the Foresee Gold Certificate of Excellent Food Hygiene Standards from LusoCristal Consulting, a prestigious international consulting firm, for its food security systems.

This is the first time a Portuguese resort has received the Gold Certificate which is rewarded to units that score above 80% in three consecutive surprise reviews to assess four key concepts of food hygiene and best practices: cross-contamination, preparation, storage, and proper cleaning.

The Vila Porto Mare, owned by Madeira’s Porto Bay Hotels and Resorts, consists of three hotels (The Eden Mar, The Porto Mare, and The Residence), four restaurants, five bars, various pools, sports fields, and a spa.

“This recognition reflects the excellent levels of food safety control, for both food and drink, in all of its restaurants, kitchens, and bars,” emphasizes a press release distributed yesterday by the hotel group.

Located in the Lido region, Vila Porto Mare houses a lush 13,400 square meter botanical garden with a collection of 43 palm species- a very significant diversity.

The parent company announced yesterday that, “Vila Porto Mare Resort has finished an initiative to identify and tag at least 365 unique species that reside in its gardens which places it among the Exceptional Class of the Floral Diversity Index.”

Sugarcane, grapevines, and banana trees, the three most important plants of the Madeira landscape, combine harmoniously with ornamentals to evoke the economic history of the Island.

To carry out the ecologically sustainable management style adopted, water is used from the Levada dos Piornais to drastically reduce consumption and equipment was installed to compost leaves, coffee grounds, eggshells, and leftover produce to reduce the need for chemical fertilizer.

They recently added flower beds with vegetables, aromatic plants, and medicinal plants to provide guests with new smells and flavours. Endemic species were also added to the property’s vegetation.

Tours are given to explain this botanical abundance of Vila Porto Mare as part of the resort’s entertainment offerings.

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

DIÁRIO 30/01/2010 – FRONT PAGE NEWS

Horários do Funchal is technically bankrupt. At the end of 2008, the firm that runs the local buses in Funchal (yellow buses) had a negative equity of 1.6 million Euros and liabilities of 30.3 million Euros, 32.8% more than the previous year. This is despite 3.5 million Euros from the Regional Government. The company generated 24.5 million Euros in business but this did not cover the 28.1 million Euros operating costs, an operating loss 36% worse than the previous year. 21.6% of the expenses were for fuel and 41.1% for labour costs. The company has short, medium and long term debts to banks and debts to suppliers. During the year, an investment of 4.8 million Euros purchased 20 new buses.

INDICATORS

The firm had 277 vehicles and 621 employees (375 drivers);
The average fleet age was 14.9 years;
The company had 1.3 drivers per vehicle;
This year the company transported 27 million passengers …
… in 66 routes in a network of 189 kilometres;
1,009,909 trips were carried out and covered 7.4 million kilometres;
The occupancy rate stood at 18% and the average capacity was 80 passengers;
The average speed was 18 kilometres per hour;
The cost per km was 3.81 and the gain only 3.33 Euros;
The buses consumed an average of 64.22 litres per 100 km
Each bus has consumed 26,550 Euros per year;
The company acquired 4.773 million litres of diesel
The cost per km with fuel was 0.63 and 0.17 per passenger
GVA per employee (19,327 Euros) in 2008 was 2.4% lower;
The personnel costs represent an annual cost of 18,518 Euros per employee.

Opposition parties want an investigation into the Regional debt. The parliamentary group of the PS (socialists) will be supported by the PCP (communists) and CDS-PP (Christian democrats) if they want an inquiry into the size of the Regional debt. This would be sufficient support required for an investigation; a minimum of ten signatures. A previous proposal was rejected by the PSD. The PCP want a clarification of the extent and consequences of the debt of the region, including both direct and indirect debt. A bank study pointed to a debt of 4.6 billion Euros or 92% GDP. The socialists estimate the debt as 6 billion Euros. Interest charges and expenses on the debt are over 250 million Euros annually.

MADEIRA

20% suffer from anxiety disorders. Today is the final day of a two-day conference at Pestana Casino Park bringing together 800 mental health specialists, a meeting held every two years. Results from a survey of the prevalence of mental illness in the region will be published soon, indicating that 20% Madeirans suffer from anxiety disorders which can occur more frequently at times of crisis. Psychotic illnesses are less prevalent and 5% of regional mental illness result from the consumption of alcohol. A bipolar disorder specialist stated that recent surveys showed this disorder occurs in four times more patients than diagnosed if the usual criteria for the manic phase are used.

Association of Casas do Povo da Madeira without money leads to resignations. Five officials resigned last month because they have five months of salaries in arrears. The company ACAPORAMA has a liability of 265,000 Euros. The financial difficulties make the association ineligible for future Regional Government subsidies as they cannot fulfil the present contract. Last year, the subsidy was 57,000 Euros to cover the cost of different activities. 36 of the 40 Casas do Povo in the region are in this association.

Exotic species in the wild. Although Madeira is an island and there is close monitoring at the airport and animals for sale, it is difficult to prevent the illegal entry of exotic animals or plants into the region. The biggest problem is the maritime link, species entering from a yacht or a car travelling from Europe on the ferry. The import of exotic species has been regulated since 1999, especially for those endangering the ecosystem or dangerous to humans. The major threat is from species accidentally introduced through imported materials, like sand or wood. Such materials, for example the Moroccan sand for the beaches, is subject to a quarantine period. The photo shows a 2 metre long python found recently in the area of Pináculo in São Gonçalo. It was dead, presumably after a road accident, and was either abandoned in the region or had escaped from the owner.

Youth assaulted outside a bar. A 20 year old went to a bar at 11 am on Sunday morning, in the area of Palheiro Ferreiro, to buy tobacco. The establishment was closed but seeing a light on and hearing voices inside, he knocked at the door. He was told the bar was closed but explained he just wanted to buy tobacco. Suddenly, the owner emerged and attacked the man, punching and kicking him, but he managed to escape to his house. His brother took him for medical attention and he has a broken arm, cuts and bruises. The police are investigating his allegations.

Bombeiros had to help two elderly tourists. On the levada do Curral dos Romeiros, two British tourists aged 79 and 87, had to be helped to the end of the levada. They had mobility difficulties associated with old age and were found by locals at 7 pm.

ECONOMY

An unusual ship. Next week, this unusual ship named the Monge, will visit the Port of Funchal to allow the crew a rest period. The A 601- Monge belongs to the French Navy and carries 232 crew members. The ship is the only one operating in Europe with the role of supporting combat missions involving missiles. There are two Super Hornet helicopters on deck. The ship arrives at 9 am on 3 February and departs at 9 am on 6 February.

Madeira self-sufficient in eggs. The Girão Group opened a new poultry centre yesterday, enabling Madeira to be self-sufficient in egg production for domestic and industrial use. The investment was one million Euros, 50% from institutional funds. This company accounts for 60% of the regional distribution and presently only imports 20% of its eggs. The new centre in Campanário in Ribeira Brava has a capacity of 90,000 birds. Each year, 25 million eggs are produced earning the firm 4 million Euros. The company started 35 years ago in Quinta Grande in Câmara de Lobos.

POLITICS

Madeira Wine interests South Korea. The Ambassador of South Korea, Kang Dae-Hyun, visited the region and was impressed by Madeira in general and in particular by Madeira Wine. He thought the 50 million South Koreans would also enjoy the wine. Promotion of the wine would have to be studied and the free trade agreement between the EU and South Korea, which comes into force this year, will make this traditional product a tax-free import.

PND accuse construction company. In Caniço, Edifício Assomada Park has various building flaws and failures. José Manuel Coelho blames the firm responsible for constructing the building, ‘Só Trabalho’. Faults listed were: leaking roof, poor quality painting, many cracks on the lower floor, and pumps for the sewerage tanks not functioning so the tanks are overflowing. The residents have complained to the company as the building is under guarantee but have had no reply. Coelho also criticized Santa Cruz Council and government departments.

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

New cities continue as towns – The fever of changing to city status didn’t bring more people or business. Accompanied by a nice photo of the ‘A Frame’ houses in Santana, with a few tourists milling around. A phenomenon over the last few decades saw several towns (or even villages in my opinion!) apply for and obtain city status, because they (the politicians) thought the grass would grow greener. Silly! Just because you have a shoe-shine booth and a fresh water drinking fountain doesn’t make you any better than anywhere else, and does not improve the quality of life or bring trade flooding in. Caniço, Machico and Santana are such examples of Madeira’s ‘cities’. Silly cities!

Today’s main news headline : Majority of the deputies [MPs] amass jobs – The case is blatant on the benches of the majority party : almost all of the 33 Social Democrat deputies in the Regional Assembly work on a part-time basis. On the side of the opposition, few have other such extra activities. The teachers dominate. So what. It’s not against the law, and all over the world politicians supplement their miserly political salaries, using their status to get top part-time jobs, and short change the voters who put their faith in them. Of course the ruling party politicians can attract the best paid jobs, as they are the ones with power and influence that their employers need, and not their powerless political opponents. To suggest that Madeira is any different to anywhere else is not the case, and Madeira’s PSD politicians deserve a pat on the back for being as morally corrupt as many other politicians worldwide without being seen to break any laws or ethical obligations. Silly story!

Doctors slow the addiction of turning to plastic surgery – There are already two thousand surgical procedures of reconstruction and for cosmetic reasons per year. There are already cases of Madeirans addicted to plastic surgery. The situation is not very common, but the specialist in Cosmetic Surgery and Reconstruction, Manuel Figueiroa, admits that some people who fall into this group have passed through his office. He says that he has refused surgery several times because there was no necessity, a decision that doesn’t normally go down well with the patients, who often go elsewhere, sometimes abroad, to get what they want. Silly people!

Estêvão Neves studies a new investment in Brazil. I don’t really care what this bloke is doing in Brazil, but how dare he have two accents on his first name. I have only ever come across this before with the name Cristóvão, and vowed to never have nothing to do with any person with this name, nor the parents. If life isn’t tough enough already, putting stress on a word in two places needs a skill in linguistic gymnastics that I just don’t possess. Silly name!

Another main story, off the front page : Carlos César thinks they are "completely ridiculous" the justifications of Alberto João Jardim – The president of the Azores government advises Jardim to save on the current expenditure. Referring of course to the alterations to the Regional Finance Law proposed by President Jardim and his Social Democrat Party on Madeira, and the attempt to squeeze out more funding from the state budget. "I don’t want to offend AJJ, but some of the arguments are completely ridiculous" said César in comments to journalists in the Azores. Referring in particular to the justification that Madeira needs more money because of the geographical features of the archipelago, because Jardim has already bored through mountains and made tunnels all over the place. In the Azores, the problem is quite different with many ports and airports on the islands that cost a huge amount to maintain. "Also nothing is comparable between the current expenditure in Madeira and the Azores" he said. Quite right Sr. César, and why one archipelago has to use the other to justify its own financial needs is totally absurd, and any justifications should be made on the merits of the case in question. Silly Bertie!

The main sport / football headline today, as mentioned above, has the lions share of the limited space : Referee ‘pushes’ FC Porto for the goal feast – The return of Rúben Micael to the Choupana was notable by the controversial refereeing of Carlos Xistra. [Nacional Coach] Machado didn’t hold back his refereeing criticisms. Jesualdo Ferreira [Porto Coach] praised the Madeiran reinforcement [Micael] : "He is a top notch player". Silly referee!

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.

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.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

TAP doubles flights to Madrid ; 5 star luxury for under €58 ; Golf threatens bird refuge

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Becky … Sunrise from Quinta das Vistas last Saturday morning

If you live in the South West of England, and enjoy cruises that takes in Madeira, you will be pleased to know that from December 2010 cruises will be available starting from Falmouth, on the Ocean Countess. MORE

TAP Portugal from 3rd July 2010 to 18th September 2010 is operating 2 weekly flights Funchal – Madrid with a seasonal service using an Airbus A319. In the Summer of 2009, it operated the flight once a week.

The Top 10 Five Star Hotels for under 50 pounds Compiled by trivago.co.uk

Hesperia Fira Suites, Barcelona, Spain
Radisson Blu Centrum Hotel, Warsaw, Poland
Royal Mare, Crete, Greece
Meliá Mare Madeira Resort & Spa, Funchal, Portugal
Bristol Kempinski, Berlin, Germany
Swissôtel Tallinn, Estonia
Hospes Amérigo, Alicante, Spain
Vincci Selección Estrella del Mar, Marbella, Spain
Hotel Excelsior, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Hilton Helsinki Strand, Helsinki, Finland

"Tunisia, Gran Canaria, Kos and Madeira are set to be amongst 2010’s holiday hotspots according to leading package holiday provider, Jet2holidays. These new destinations feature in Jet2holidays brand new Summer 2010 brochure for the very first time, with the tour operator predicting a huge demand for the new destinations as families look to combine value for money with the ultimate holiday experience in 2010. With great value offers available including ‘kids stay free’ places and £30 per person deposit deals Jet2holidays is doing their best to get UK holidaymakers away for less this year". FULL ARTICLE

The UK Daily Telegraph newspaper has published a guide to finding accommodation in Portugal and the archipelagos HERE. Of course our sponsor Madeira Island Direct will normally be the first point of call.

And the last of today’s web snippets came in from Becky … many thanks :

Batista in exile from Cuba, living in a Madeira hotel (1959)

Blog by Executive Purser of P&O Cruises ARCADIA

It will be an action packed weekend in the Liga Sagres as Braga host Sporting to open the round tonight (RTP 20h45), and Porto travel to Madeira to face Nacional on Saturday (SportTV 17h00). Marítimo make a visit to struggling Leixões on Monday night (SportTV 20h15).

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

DIÁRIO DE NOTÍCIAS 28/01/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

CMF allows urbanization of Socorridos. There is strong political pressure by the Social Democrats to pass this plan. This vast area is north of PIZO – Industrial Park of the West Zone, and includes an area where two people were killed in 2008, after reaching the installations of Tâmega. This private firm is used in this development project and own land there. In the PDM (Municipal Plan) of Funchal, the area is classified as urban green zone for recreation and leisure, although it has never been used as such. The Urbanization Plan includes an industrial area, as presently exists, and it could lead to a new residential area being constructed. There is strong political pressure as people in high positions in the PSD have indirect and direct interests. The area around Ribeira dos Socorridos is protected in the PDM as it includes an area for the public water supply and an ecological reserve.

MADEIRA NEWS

Golf threatens bird refuge. The construction of the golf course in Ponta do Pargo might jeopardize the continuity of an Area Important to Birds (IBA) and the habitat of various species. This alert was issued yesterday by SPEA. "The Regional Government starts the destruction of one of the last places of low population on the island, where there are several species of birds," some unique in the world. The start of the construction work coincides with the breeding season and all the nests in that area will be lost. In a previous plan, POTRAM, this area has been defined for agricultural or livestock use and this potential is not allowed to be reduced or destroyed.

International recruitment company in UMa. The company ‘Best Personnel’ specializes in recruiting graduates of Nursing, Dentistry, Mental Health and Pharmaceutical Science for work abroad. In Portugal, nurses have difficulty finding work whereas there are serious shortcomings in countries like Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. Many nursing graduates want to work in the United Kingdom and it is easy to register with the Board of Nursing and Midwives. They fill in an on-line form then within 10 days receive an application package and submit this with copies of their passport, birth certificate, criminal records check, certificate in nursing and a statement from the Order of Nursing. They then just wait for their registration number. — English language test?

Police identify six for theft and receiving stolen goods. The police collected enough clues from crimes carried out earlier this month in São Roque to arrest six people in Funchal. They arrested two people for theft and retrieved gold jewellery, phones, audio equipment and a replica gun. They then identified a third person who bought stolen items. The police located and retrieved a high-end car (Mercedes-Benz) that had been stolen in Santa Cruz and was to be sold later on a stand. It was returned to the owner and the three individuals responsible were arrested. The six defendants were aged between 25 and 31 years old.

Rubble in place for more than a month. 80 year old Angelina Candida Pereira has difficulty entering or leaving her house. The collapse of part of a supporting boundary wall in Travessa do Papagaio Verde in São Martinho during the December rains is the cause. Other residents in this area have difficulties due to these stones on the pathway. São Martinho Parish Council have been notified and in turn, have informed the land owner and hope the debris will be cleared away soon.

ECONOMY SECTION

New navigation guide. The Transatlantic Crossing Guide will be published in summer 2011. 20 pages are devoted to the marinas, ports, boatyards and harbours of Porto Santo and Madeira. The information was collected by an American, Donald Street, who has met the administrators and visited these areas and on Saturday, will visit Porto Santo. The data will also be used to update nautical charts to be published in January 2011. This American has many publications and works for Lloyd’s of London insurance agency. His visit to the region was supported by Quinta do Lorde and with the co-operation of the Association of Promotion of Madeira.

UPDATES

Transavia launch Madeira-Nantes for 74 Euros. Promotional trips between March 28 and June 30. This fare is for only the outward journey and tickets must be bought before 31 January. This low-cost carrier will fly four times a week between Porto and Madeira at an introductory price of 40 Euros. The trip at the promotional price to Nantes is via Porto.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

More help for IPS. The Parliamentary Group of the PSD visited the Lar Intergeracional da Santíssima Trindade in Tabua to assess the conditions in the institute which has a capacity for 35 elderly and 19 children. They praised the excellent work and conditions in terms of support services, health services, rehabilitation and integration. The centre will soon have accommodation for four young women to help them become independent. This institute is supported by Ribeira Brava Council and Social Security but still needs private businesses and volunteers to help.

Nymph Fantasies at the Carnival Parade. The Associação Geringonça has taken this as its theme and has about 160 participants and two floats. The floats will carry mythical figures: sea gods, nymphs and of course, a ‘queen of bateria’. The band will consist of 18 musicians and for the first time, there will be 8 disabled people participating. As in previous years, an original song will be sung, this year by Sofia Relva from the ‘Funchal a Cantar’ competition. The overall carnival theme is Seas and Oceans and the predominant colours will be blue, green, silver, white, orange and pink – colours of the bottom of the sea. Geringonça bought the materials last October and rehearsals began at the beginning of this month. The Carnival Parade is on the evening of 13 February in Funchal. Associação Geringonça has participated the past 23 years and also participates in carnivals in Machico and Câmara de Lobos.

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

Convention to discuss the language brings Soares - José Eduardo Agualusa is going to take the lead to lecture about Portuguese, in February.

Today’s main news headline : The real debt of the Region is alarming. Madeira : 4.6 billion Euros ; Azores 917 million Euros. Since the pardon of António Guterres, the debt of the Region to the bank shot off into unthinkable numbers. A bank report, that the Regional Government contests, says that we owe five times more than the Azores. Also in a separate article, Portugal’s Finance Minister Teixeira dos Santos says that "the numbers speak for themselves", and that between 2006 and 2009 the direct debt of Madeira doubled. He also pointed out that 10 years ago, Portugal took on Madeira’s existing debt and left us with a clean slate. The report mentioned is from the bank BPI, so no doubt it has some errors, but it claims that Madeira’s debt equates to 92% of its PIB (Gross Domestic Product). The debt belongs to all elements and levels of government, including the public companies and partnerships. I don’t know why this has suddenly hit the headlines again, as that is nothing new except probably an escalation of the figures. I make that around €18,400 of debt for every man woman and child living on Madeira, around 3 times the minimum (and most common) wage, and nobody seems the least bit concerned, least of all the politicians in charge. Somebody will have to pay for it sometime, and all the wonders that President Jardim has brought to the island will most certainly still be stinging us long after Uncle Bertie has expired with his reputation almost intact.

Snow slows today ready to increase tomorrow – The weather station sensor of Areeiro broke down and the Observatory is unable to say officially that it snowed. But yesterday the temperature was at zero and there was a white cloak on the serra. The snow fell in the highest zones of Madeira yesterday, but with the equipment broken it is not possible to say officially whether it is snow or hail up there above 1,500 metres. During the night sub-zero temperatures were registered, that were still there after daybreak. Despite the wind and low temperatures, some enthusiasts were out there making snowmen on top of their cars, as is traditional. And just to prove the point the main front page photo today shows a snowy landscape, though it looks like that fine powdery snow variety.

Jewellers forced to to night rounds – The traders are scared by the wave of robberies and appalled with the lack of police. Already there have been two robberies in downtown Funchal this month, and the owners are scared and doing their own patrols. There is a really surprising fact in this article, but I don’t have time for any more, so it’s over to somebody else I’m afraid.

The main sport / football headline today : Nacional – Porto opens diabolical round – The firstly classified in the League play each other. Yes I know it doesn’t make much sense, but I don’t write it, I just translate. Perhaps someone will delve into the article and clarify matters, but I won’t be holding my breath.

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.

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.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

All about presepios ; Electricity to rise 2.5% ; Santa Cruz Market night ; Nacional score 5

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Eiryl … another photo of a lava cave in São Vicente

"Madeira: land of the zimmer frame. God’s waiting room, where pensioners sunbathe in their overcoats. Madeira, like the sticky bottle of wine named after it, sweet, old-fashioned, lingering in the back of the cupboard. Why would any youngish person want to spend their winter holiday in a place that shares its name with their granny’s favourite cake?" … "It’s reputation as a haven for the elderly is just not fair". SUNDAY TRIBUNE

"On a visit to that little fishing village [Câmara de Lobos], I stopped off at one of the fisherman’s bars on the right hand side of the bay. One old sea dog there emptied pint glass after pint glass while filling my head with fantastical stories about the island. According to him, there are very short, ancient-looking creatures living here that are not actually human. ODD BUT INTERESTING – THE PEQUENINOS

“Madeira is the seventh destination in the world, after the Douro Valley in Portugal, the City of Mexico and Riviera Maya in Mexico, the Principality of Andorra, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and the Eastern Townships in Quebec, Canada, to recognize the value of a measurement system like the SMED and to sign a partnership agreement with the CED. As in these destinations, the Madeiran authorities will set up a working group whose objective will be to implement the recommendations made in the official SMED report” IT’S OFFICIAL … MADEIRA HAS BEEN SMED’ed

Thousands stranded abroad as Scots airline Flyglobespan goes into administration. SCOTLAND’S biggest airline Flyglobespan collapsed tonight as a last-gasp multi-million pound rescue package failed – leaving hundreds of employees facing the axe and thousands of holidaymakers stranded abroad. Up to 1000 jobs could be lost and all of the company’s plans have been grounded, leaving as many as 10,000 tourists stranded overseas. More than 5000 more holidaymakers face losing Christmas and New Year holidays as a result of the firm going in to voluntary administration. Edinburgh-based Flyglobespan had been trying to secure a s10million cash injection to carry on operating. But talks finally broke down today after three months. Bill Munro of Barrhead Travel, Scotland’s biggest independent travel firm, said: "This is a grim day for the industry and we will do everything we can to help. MORE – DAILY RECORD This was announced last night, and as the airline flies from Edinburgh to Madeira on Mondays, it will be bad news for many.

Elaine (East) kindly sent in another article from the Jornal da Madeira in the Xmas Traditions series :

CHRISTMAS 2009 – Living Christmas with the joy of the presépios

Since the year 1223, when Sao Francisco decided to represent the time and occasion of the birth of Jesus, and celebrate Christmas Eve with his brothers and citizens of Assisi in the forest of Greccio, presepios have been the essence of Christmas throughout the world.

The word presépio means ‘a place where they collect livestock, corral, stable ‘. However, this is also the name given to the artistic representation of the birth of Jesus in a stable. In Madeira and Porto Santo, the presepios always mark the presence of the Christmas season. Made of various materials, they continue to be one of the attractions both in private dwellings, as in churches and more recently in public places. At the time when plastic was not yet part of the everyday life of the population, the presepios and Madeiran lapinhas were constructed from paper, painted with vioxene, the sheets stuck with gum arabic (glue), or maize or flour paste. In early December, the sellers or grocery stores had a large quantity of vioxene, powders of several bright colours and glue that would serve to make the lapinha. After acquiring these products, it was time to get down to work and join the family for the construction of the lapinha. Once the structure was made, which may be of wood, trunks or scallop cane, the paper was put on, painted and before it had time to dry, the powders of various colours were applied, with emphasis on gold and silver.

The shepherds and various images of regional motifs were placed with great care, between the scene of the killing of the pig and the Madeiran arraiais with the representation of the procession, and the philharmonic band in the bandstand. These objects had already been acquired in previous years, or were renewed with purchases from the speciality house in Funchal. To make the streams they used cotton, and the ponds with fish were placed on small mirrors which gave the aspect of bright water. The cardboard templates could also have been purchased ready-made from the sellers or other commercial establishments, or cut out, because they had cardboard sheets with drawings of houses, churches and castles that were used for this purpose. After skillful gluing at the edges, these produced beautiful buildings.

The image of Baby Jesus was placed in the cave, Mary and Joseph were in the centre of the lapinha and they always had the prominent place with the oil lamp that would illuminate the scene during the Christmas season. Vegetation like the typical ‘goatlings’ and moss gave colour to the presépio. Depending on the space in the houses, the presepios were of different sizes and were the cause of admiration by visitors in rooms adorned with cheerful themes, where visitors were offered a glass of liqueur, honey cake or broas. For those who had less space at home, the solution was the ‘rochinha’. With socas made of scallop cane artistically arranged in the form of a pyramid, at the base was left a space for the cave in which to put the images of the Birth of Jesus. The paper that could be extracted from bags of cement, and others, was also painted with vioxene which gave it a brownish tinge, and glued to the socas and then painted with brilliant powders.

At present there are still many people who are faithful to the tradition of the presépio of the ‘old style’, and in many locations competitions are organized for the presepios and lapinhas, showing a lot of creativity.

Many thanks Elaine … I remember translating a story last Christmas on the subject of presépios and lapinhas, which implied that the construction of these was often very much a matter of social status, with the wealthy deliberately spending more money to have bigger and grander exhibits than their less well off neighbours, who they would then invite around to show off their ‘wealth’. The poorer families would often use items of fruit to make their displays more attractive, as well as costing less of course, but would make a lot of effort all the same to ensure that they were not the laughing stock of their village. LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Madeira-web has been back to Câmara de Lobos for today’s photo.

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

Speed limit remains at 40 km. In 15 districts on the continent, Portugal has decided to limit the speed to 30 km per hour in some areas. The deputy mayor of Funchal, Bruno Pereira said there is no legal support to implement this change in Madeira. The areas in Funchal where accidents happen most are limited; Estrada Monumental, Camacho de Freitas and Rotunda D. Francisco Santana. Limiting the speed is not the answer, it would be better to utilize traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. "The reality of Funchal is different from a city like Lisbon since due to characteristics of the streets, even if the speed limit is 50 km/h, it is a value difficult to achieve." The Police Commissioner said, "The Region has done much in the area of road safety." Examples are pedestrianization of areas, and other ways to reduce accidents involve education, improvement of roads by lighting and road surfaces, police surveillance and radar monitoring.

Complaint against the BIR. (More details after Der’s headlines yesterday). The father of a 17 year old boy is accusing a member of the BIR (Rapid Intervention Brigade) of assaulting his son in the early hours of Sunday. The Public Ministry is investigation his complaint. "My son and two friends went out at night, as do the young, and were preparing to return home when they were approached by the BIR." He said the three were on the Caminho da Achada at five o’clock in the morning, near the house of one of them, and talking about the possibility of the alleged victim returning to his home by motorbike. "His friends were saying that he’d better take a taxi home because he had been drinking." The BIR arrived and wondered what they were doing there. They asked the boy if he had been drinking and he replied, "What matters if I drank or not?" A member of the BIR slapped him across the face and his friends were advised to run or they would also be hit. He took his son to a private clinic for treatment for a cut lip and marks to the eye and face. The police cannot comment at present while ascertaining the facts for any criminal charges.

Fall of nine metres leaves man seriously ill. A 40 year old man is seriously ill in hospital after an accident yesterday on the fly-over on the highway at São Martinho. The Opel driven by him was negotiating a curve and went through the safety barriers, ended up falling about ten metres. It is not known what caused the accident but it was raining heavily at the time. In a separate accident, a 50 year old man died immediately after falling only a few metres down the stairs in his apartment block.

Madeira lost tourists and Euros. More about the Oriana being unable to stay yesterday. The port was full with the MSC Fantasia and the Costa Marina, so there was no room for the Oriana to moor. The schedule depends on the order of arrival of the ships, and the owners, P & O, decided that the Oriana would still visit and rely on the lifeboats to ferry passengers to the shore. The ship stayed for a little over an hour for replacement of crew members but then left for Southampton, due to the bad weather. APRAM lost 10,000 Euros in port fees and other services. 22 buses had been hired, 10 as shuttle buses to the city centre and 12 to take 600 tourists to visit various attractions around the island. The failing to land 1,700 tourists had an impact on; Monte, where the ‘carrinhos de cesto’ men were waiting – expecting more than 200 tourists, the cable car, Botanical Gardens, Madeira Wine Cellars, 14 tourists had booked on the whale watching catamaran, others had booked jeep safari trips, and also the shops and cafes. An estimated loss of 30,000 Euros in revenue.

—- Sad photo of Oriana returning to the UK without staying. Yesterday, the complaints highlighted that it was a loss of older UK tourists. They need to find a solution as cruise ships are getting larger and becoming more popular. The port is increasing passenger numbers whereas today there is yet another article about a fall in hotel revenue. Average October room rates were 29.1 Euros, a fall from 35.1 Euros last year, a fall of 15.4% in room revenue and the total income of the hotel industry fell by 13.1%. Occupancy rate in October was 51.4% (57.7% last year) and so far this year, an overall fall of 11% from last year.

Debt varies with the pleasure of the political colour. Government and opposition have very different calculations with regard to the debt of the region. According to the Socialists and Christian Democrats, the debt by mid – 2010 could reach more than six billion Euros. Whereas Ventura Garces, the Secretary of Planning and Finance and Filipe Ramos, the PSD spokesman, say the debt is less than a third of that value. The Secretary offered to "Teach the opposition to count." Ventura Garcia noted that the direct debt is only 18% GDP and according to Filipe Ramos, the current expenditure has been reduced by 5.2%. The debt will grow by more than 180 million Euros in 2010 to ensure the use of all funds. Garces acknowledged that the unemployment level is presently 13,000 and he will support some companies that will create jobs. Garces said that the State in the last legislature, cut off all possibilities for the Region to borrow. The opposition read the numbers differently. The PS accuse the Government of disguising the total disarray of public accounts. The PS spokesman listed, in a long speech, the various portions of the debt, which already exceeds the value of the regional GDP. "We walked into the abyss which leads to the governance of the PSD." The PCP said that already the Government cannot hide the scale of the financial disaster and that, "The reality shows that Madeira has reached the point of collapse." A BE member alerted the possibility of a new jump in debt because "Madeira would have to invent 500 million," to meet all commitments. The PS reckon the debt is worth 5 billion; direct and indirect debt, debt of public sector business, securitization of credits, operations of PATRIRAM (Ownership and Management of Public Assets), the unpaid burden and operations of Via Litoral and Via Expresso. The reduction of debt authorization from 129 million to 79 million is why, according to Ventura Garces, debt to suppliers remains above 85 million Euros, which will increase in 2010.

Electricity tariff increases by 2.5% in 2010. Around one euro on the average monthly bill of 40 Euros.

Saturday is Market Night in Santa Cruz. Saturday December 19 from 22.00 hours. Fair of Traditional Sweets and Liqueurs produced by the Casas do Povo, between 13 and 20 December from 18.00 to 22.00 in the Praça do Municipio, where the presépio is being constructed. Evening entertainment form 20.00 on the stage erected in the Praça do Municipio. Friday, the entertainment will be traditional Christmas carols. Saturday, dancing to Latin sounds and karaoke. Sunday, the groups from the Casa do Povo de Santa Cruz.

Conventual sweets sold in Rua da Carreira until January 6. ‘Smells and flavours of Christmas to the Kings’ theme. Promoted by Funchal Council, and the Association of Gastronomic Memories. The kiosks selling the conventual sweets close between 19.00 – 20.00 hours. Selling, torroes de Santa Clara, papas-de-anjo, barrigas de freira, sericaias and encharacadas. The Association sells two types of bolo-de-mel (Madeiran honey cake), according to a recipe from the XV – XIX century and one from the XIX – XX century. They differ due to the use of soda. They are also relaunching a sweet called ‘negritos’.

From Martin L & Paul (Paul do Mar), some more news on the Flyglobespan situation :

Airline Takes a Dive – Some news from Scotland that has a Madeiran slant to it and could be worth a space on the blog.

Flyglobespan the Scottish travel agent and airline went into receivership yesterday with all flights being cancelled immediately. They flew to Madeira every Monday direct from Edinburgh and the Madeiran flights were usually fully booked, although in the past few months there were flights with several unsold seats. They have been in operation since 2002 and flew to several destinations in Europe, Canada, Florida, and Egypt. The airline had experienced cash flow problems and was trying to re-negotiate its finances but the deal did not proceed and they were unable to continue in business. It seems a few thousand passengers are stranded at various destinations, and although some them will be covered through the travel agency insurance arrangements, many will be unprotected as they booked the flights direct. Madeira is totally dependent on air traffic for its tourism and this demonstrates the precarious nature of the airline business and although Flyglobespan’s input to Madeiran tourism was probably minimal, it is nevertheless a loss of revenue to the island. Another event that could affect tourism income over Christmas is a threatened strike by British Airways staff across the entire Christmas holiday of 11 days.

You can get more details on the BBC news website. (in the Scottish section for Flyglobespan if you need clarification). BBC LINK

Article title: Flyglobespan, Scotland’s biggest airline has collapsed (Source: BBC News) :

“An operation is under way to fly back to the UK thousands of people left stranded after Flyglobespan, Scotland’s biggest airline, collapsed. Its parent company, Globespan, entered administration on Wednesday, with all flights cancelled and 800 jobs going. About 4,500 passengers are stranded – mostly in Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Egypt. The Civil Aviation Authority will be repatriating about 1,100.” LINK

The Labour MP for Edinburgh North Leith Mark Lazarowicz said: “It will potentially be a massive problem to those who have booked their Christmas holidays with the airline, or who are overseas now.” Source including film: STV SCOTLAND

Helpline: Flyglobespan passengers are advised to call a helpline from 10 am on Thursday and visit the website for further information in the meantime (see the link below). The call centre number is 0871 271 9000 for UK calls and +44 141 332 3233 for people calling from Europe.

‘Information for Customers’: official notice on the appointment of joint administrators to the Scottish travel firm, The Globespan Group plc and Alba Ground Handling Ltd including ‘Information for Customers’ FLYGLOBESPAN

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

Debt of €10 million surprises Porto Moniz – The debt increased 84% in 2008.

ANAM in technical insolvency. I have been through the newspaper and can’t find this article, so maybe it is just in the printed edition of the Diário? I will have a look tonight. But ANAM, who operate the airports of Madeira and Porto Santo, have been in a ‘technical insolvency situation’ for eternity, because of the huge debts they have to service through the last airport expansion.

It is Madeira that has more growth in the PIB (GDP). In 1995 Madeira had GDP / PIB growth 11% lower than the national average. In 2008 it was 28% higher.

Charge interest on delayed payments is the answer – Companies fed-up with a government that doesn’t pay on time. Companies that do work for the Madeira government that have not been paid are looking for both settlement, and interest on the outstanding debt relative to the delay in settlement. Madeira, over the last 12 years, has already paid €103 million in interest charges on delayed payments, and that excludes banks and credit institutions. Many of these companies are in financial difficulties, and news of authorisation for the Regional Government to borrow €79 million to pay suppliers (even though a much larger sum was requested and rejected) has left some anxiety in the air, as no one knows who will be at the front of the queue for the €79 m payouts. The ‘shareout’ will save some businesses, but with the total supplier debt standing at around €200 million, others will be left out in the cold. This does not include those on ‘payment arrangements’ (contractual arrangements to spread costs), who don’t know whether the next instalments will be paid or not. The legal recourse to recover such debts are not often used by companies for government debt, as there may be repercussions of course. One person interviewed, from the Association of Commerce and Services, believes that the €79 million will be used exclusively to pay the hundreds of small and medium sized companies.

Today’s main news headline : Justice Police catch Madeiran paedophiles - Suspects were made defendants after a sequence of home searches made on Tuesday throughout Portugal. "Second life" also happens on Madeira. The JP police took part in a national operation on Tuesday to combat paedophilia on the internet. At least two locations in Funchal were searched, but there could have been more. The national operation named ‘Second life’ resulted in the identification of 13 suspects, some of them Madeiran, who have been caught with computers and equipments used to store pornographic material involving children and hence committing criminal acts.

‘Crociere’ already has five ships registered in the ‘Mar’ – The biggest European cruise company opts for Registro Internacional of Madeira.

‘Jig’ and historic thrashing in the hour of farewell – Nacional is the first Madeiran club to score five goals in one game in European competitions. Ruben Micael shone on another perfect night. The final game of the Europa League for Nacional, until then without a win. But, what results lacked in the 5 earlier games, were soon forgotten. Not quite a perfect night as described, as the Austrian opponents actually scored first in the 5 – 1 result. In the other match of Portuguese interest, Sporting lost to a single goal by Hertha Berlim, a result that doesn’t affect Sporting’s guaranteed passage to the next phase of the competition.

Paul (Paul do Mar) has kindly come up with a ‘match report’ :

Nacional blow lightweight Austria away

CD Nacional bid farewell to the UEFA Europa League with their biggest ever European win, thrashing FK Austria Wien 5-1 in Funchal as slack defending consigned the visitors to bottom place in Group L.

From behind
With coach Manuel Machado still too ill to perform his duties, Predrag Jokanović captained Nacional’s sinking ship, but soon had reason to regret stepping into the breach. Schumacher gave Austria the lead on 21 minutes but, from then on, it was all Nacional. Rúben Micael and Mateus gave them the lead by half-time, the former doubling their advantage after the break before Darko Tomašević and Felipe Lopes pumelled the visitors into submission.

Sloppy opening
Nacional started slowly, Leandro Salinas screwing a seemingly unmissable chance woefully wide before a ducking defender allowed Milenko Ačimovič’s cross to come to Schumacher, whose first-time shot arrowed through Rafael Bracali’s legs and in. Then the tide turned. The hosts levelled two minutes later, the unmarked Rúben Micael completing a languid one-two with Mateus by stroking home from inside the box. The latter saw the Austria defence part invitingly again on 33 minutes; his run from midfield met no challenge before he flicked deftly inside the undefended Robert Almer’s right-hand post.

Classy saves
Having been afforded little chance to do so earlier, Almer showed his skills between the posts by pushing Nejc Pečnik’s goalbound downward header on to the crossbar before the interval, and his opposite number proved no less agile as the second half kicked off, with Bracali brilliantly denying Schumacher a second.

Resistance crumbles
Austria then gave up the ghost. A swift break through midfield on 57 minutes saw Rúben Micael breeze through for Nacional’s third, and it was 4-1 four minutes later, Tomašević rising unmarked to head in a sweeping Rúben Micael free-kick. Felipe Lopes made similarly light work of heading Nacional’s fifth from Mateus’ cross.

UEFA report with video – first success in the Europa League group stage

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 Thank you in anticipation.

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.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

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Cabo Girao viewpoint redevelopment ; Security guards to watch Funchal, Fashionable Madeira

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Derek … Jardim do Mar coast

A CRUISE PASSENGER’S ASSESSMENT (Prinsendam cruise in November 2009) : "Madeira (Funchal) – Our last stop before the transatlantic journey, this lush island is such a paradise … I was there at the end of November and the sun was shining, many flowers in bloom and everything was just so green. I did the hop on/hop off here too – be sure to get off and wander. This was my favorite port – the sloping mountainside covered in red roofed homes was quite a sight as I made my way up in the cable car … another activity everyone must try. It’s all just so picturesque. I didn’t try the Madeira wine – mistake! The food was good – lovely soft local cheese blended with al dente pasta, a small salad, chocolate mousse pie and wine for only 10 Euro. I also bought a bottle of local port and a nice big bag of local sea salt to take home to friends – such a nice touch. jmk171′s Rating: 5+". Never heard of anyone taking sea salt as a present for friends … won’t break the bank, that’s for sure.

"They originated as purely experimental devices, but small satellites are now taking on a growing number of operational roles alongside their full-sized counterparts. A conference next year will discuss how the evolution of small satellites is spurring a radical increase in data availability and knowledge-based services. The event is the latest in a series covering Small Satellite Systems and Services – the 4S Symposium. Taking place every two years, the 4S Symposium has enjoyed progressively greater international participation since it began in 1992, with 25 nations represented at the 2008 event in Rhodes, Greece. The next 4S Symposium will take place from 31 May to 4 June on the Portuguese island of Madeira". FASCINATING STUFF … WHERE IS THE PLAIN ENGLISH VERSION?

Portugal’s capital city, Lisbon, has, according to the findings of an international study published this week, surpassed London on the ‘World’s Most Expensive Cities’ list regarding the purchasing of common goods, like food. Based on the differences between prices of goods as simple as milk, a coffee or a hamburger, it has been established that all of the afore-mentioned and many other consumables are now more expensive to buy in Lisbon than in London. A study by international price-comparing company PriceRunner International has ranked Lisbon as the 14th most expensive capital city in the world, one place above London, which this year fell one position from 14th to 15th. MORE ON THE PORTUGAL NEWS (thanks to them, and thanks Elaine for the tip-off).

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

Paid night watchmen in Funchal. Funchal Council presented last week a proposal for licensing the legal activity of night watchmen in the city of Funchal. The intention is that from 2010, they can be paid by voluntary contributions from people in areas where they will be working. This activity will start in the city centre and later extended to other areas where their intervention is needed. The night guards will be a link between the population and the PSP. Regulation will allow direct action in areas for trade and tourism and in residential areas. Candidates need to be Portuguese, between the ages of 21 and 65, have compulsory education, be very fit and hold no administrative post. To prevent confusion between their work and the police, the role of the night watchman is to patrol and conduct surveillance in the area for the protection of people and goods. They cannot use a weapon but later may be licensed to use dogs. They will wear a uniform and the only financial support from the Council will be for their training.

Cabo Girão redevelopment. The present redevelopment of the viewpoint at Cabo Girão should take a year and a half to complete (first quarter of 2011), costing over 2 million Euros. There will be a glass floor suspended over the cliff and the entire area renovated to enhance the panoramic view. Until then, there will be limited access, both on foot and by car, especially for the next six months. There will be new pedestrian and vehicle access, landscaping, a tourist information centre, exhibition centre, cafeteria, shops and toilets. The viewpoint itself will extend over the cliff, by a steel structure with a glass floor that accentuates the feeling of height above the sea (580 metres). The cafe will have a terrace suspended above the ravine, where you can enjoy the spectacular scenery that attracts many tourists to one of the finest views of Madeira.

PSP hold aggressor. A man has been identified and detained by the police early this afternoon following a warning by the public that a man was assaulting a taxi driver, and might even have the possession of a firearm. The man who was driving a truck carrying pine wood, placed the truck across the road to block the path of the taxi which had a client inside. The taxi driver was pulled from the car and shaken by the neck and threatened several times. Several motorists and residents witnessed the incident in São Matinho, near Edificio Varzea Park. After the scene, the assailant left the area and the taxi driver whose shirt was completely torn, also left. The police later intercepted and detained the van driver and a machete was found inside but no gun.

New luxury mega-yacht. The Northern Star, one of the most luxurious and modern mega-yachts in the world, anchored today in the Port of Funchal for six hours. Coming from Falmouth, en route to the Caribbean (Antigua), where it will operate for the coming months then return to Europe in late March 2010. Built in Germany in 2009, it became operational in July and ranks 67th on the list of today’s largest yachts, the first position belonging to the imposing Dubai with a length of 162 metres. The Northern Star is 75.6 metres long and 13.5 metres wide, it caters for 12 guests and 22 crew and has a maximum speed of 17 knots.

Mundovip Madeira prepares new destinations for Summer. SATA will continue to be the major partner. The new destinations in next Summer’s schedule are ones that are served by direct flights from Madeira. Negotiations with SATA about more flights to the Canary Islands, one of the main destinations for the past eight years. It might be possible to fly directly to Cabo Verde and better links to Canada.

Orchestra launches Symphonies of Mozart. Four years after accepting an invitation from EMI Classics to record five albums for the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart, the OCM launches tomorrow at FNAC five albums of Mozart’s symphonies. Both national and regional soloists were involved and some will be at FNAC tomorrow with the conductor Rui Massena at 15.00. The discs have been on sale since November.

Madeira in Autumn / Winter 2010 catalogue of Pierre Cardin. The French designer has chosen Madeira as background for the catalogue for the Autumn collection. Ponta de Sao Lourenco, Quinta da Eira in Santo da Serra, Paul da Serra, Chão da Ribeira (photo) in Porto Moniz and The Vine Hotel were chosen. He hired a German production team with the well-known Hamilton R. Pereira who is responsible for Fiat Punto, BMW, Jaguar, Zara, Nike, Air France and KLM adverts. They came for a week and brought international models including the English top model Ryan Thomas. Two days were spent at Chão da Ribeira. The photographer taking part, Tim Peterson, covered a top editorial piece in Vanity Fair about Michael Jackson. Pierre Cardin is 87 years old and founded his design house in 1950 and is responsible for unisex pieces, avant-garde and designing for men. One of his most famous ploys was the 1954 ‘bubble dress’. This year, he has been named global ambassador for the UN Organisation for Agriculture and Food.

More companies cancel Christmas gatherings. Restaurants show a 30 – 40% loss in demand since 2008. Due to the credit crisis, many companies are suspending traditional Christmas gatherings. Interview with Jose Brito, the manager of A Lareira in Caniço. In the first quarter of the year there was a drop in tourism, numbers increasing during the summer months but a decrease in customers again since then. Their main business is at the weekend and this Christmas is also looking poor, so far 30% less bookings than last year. Restaurants are traditionally visited at the end of Midnight Mass when families go for soup or hot chocolate. In Machico, the restaurant Escondidinho has 40% less bookings for Christmas lunch and dinner. The Council of Machico has cancelled its reservation there. To try to attract customers, the As Vides in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos is offering a digestive aguardente and the possibility of using a photography service on festival days upon payment for photos. The owner said, "In times of crisis, it’s time to innovate".

PSP pay the bill of the Finance Law. The Regional Command of the PSP is the only one in the country without funding because only in Madeira, the fines levied contribute to the Regional Budget. This limits the operation of the PSP. The Regional and Republic Governments have not decided on who takes the initiative for funding: the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the holder of the source of revenue from fines (Executive of Madeira). The PSP has paid the bill for litigation between the State and the Autonomy, since the Law of Regional Finance was announced with a cut in funds for Madeira. In Ponta do Sol, the Council has financed repairs to the dilapidated local police station and a new one is urgently required. New stations are required in other areas and new police vehicles are also needed.

Offended trader receives compensation. Four individuals who were aggressive towards a trader in Banda d’Alem in Machico three years ago, have been ordered by the Court to pay compensation. They were verbally and physically assaultive against the 53 year old haberdashery owner. The shop owner asked a woman driver not to park on a yellow line outside his premises as it was causing damage to his business. The four from the same family heard later on about the incident and thought he had used insulting terms and entered the shop for an explanation. A conflict occurred and local residents had to assist the shop owner and the police arrived. The aggressors had threatened to "take justice into their own hands" and said the proprietor failed to have the same view for every vehicle that stopped outside his shop, especially when it belonged to a relative. The trader is relieved they have been found guilty, as he has found it psychologically difficult when coming across these four in the street and his 15 year old son refused to attend the school in Funchal where one of the aggressors taught, (two of the four were teachers). The money will be donated to an institution which helps victims of domestic abuse.

Cribs in São Roque and Nun’s Valley. On Friday evening, the large manger at São Roque was inaugurated and can be visited between 15.00 to 22.00. It is at the Associação Cultural do Galeão. The theme is ‘Environment and Traditions’ and includes a wide range of figures typical of the region and religion. Every year a new crib is presented to captivate audiences, especially children. At Nun’s Valley, the Associação Refugio da Freira will present the crib on December 19 in the car park of the Civic Centre. It will stay until January 17 and can be visited between 09.00 to 20.00. The crib is larger than previous years as the space for it is larger and there will be a raffle on the final day. The Casa do Povo in Ponta do Sol is having a Christmas nativity scene contest for all three parishes in that area. Their large public crib will be inaugurated between December 18 and December 20.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias. Lots of them today! Far too many for one person to manage …

Fishing with losses of €2 million – The earnings and the catches register further decreases in the third quarter. The losses compared to last year have already reached €1.95 million according the the latest report form the National Institute of Statistics. The first 9 months of 2009 have seen revenues fall to €11.9 million. The drop in revenues is partly due to the reduction in the Madeira catch, with September this year for example registering a 29% lower catch than in 2008. In the first 9 months of this year 957 thousand less kilos of fish have been landed. Tuna fish have been the exception, with 142 more tons caught so far this year.

Today’s main news headline : Debt is going to duplicate – Loans and other means increase by 125% the direct debt of Madeira that, at the end of 2010 will surpass the thousand million Euros. There is a shortage of funds to meet the budget for 2010, and tomorrow the ‘chancellor’ Ventura Garcês has to explain how the government will cope with the situation, the most difficult in recent years. This link to a webpage will enable you to see where the money is going MADEIRA BUDGET 2010 (you will need to enlarge the tables – bottom right corner of Windows Explorer 8).

Budget obliges government to make up €500 million.

Debate gets underway tomorrow in the Legislative Assembly of Madeira and favours monologue of Jardim.

Pregnancy terminations increase 46% in the Region – Single women, aged from 20 to 29, are the group with the most abortions. In the first 10 months of this year there were 210 voluntary pregnancies terminations, compared to 174 in the whole of 2008. Data collected since the new abortion law came into force on 1st January 2008 shows that 58% of the women are single, 36% are married, and 6% were divorced. 40% of the total are aged between 20 and 29, 6% are aged 40 to 49, and 20% are less than 20. The youngest of them all was a 13 year old girl. 16% of the total were foreigners living here. The increase in abortions is reflected nationally, but not nearly to the same extent according to the examples given in the article.

There are increasing numbers of students with scholarships. 1,470 young people receive government support for their further education, and €250,000 has already been spent on support. In the 2008 / 2009 academic year the number of such students was 1,372, and number that has already been exceeded in the current academic year, with a few more already waiting to be added to the list. One reason for the increase is the "global crisis that affects all families and that causes more students to seek this kind of support", says João Costa e Silva, Director of the Office of Education. Those students who study outside of Madeira receive monthly support of €170, and that amount also applies to those students from Porto Santo who come to Madeira for higher education. The total monthly cost to the Madeira government will work out at around €250,000.

Marítimo lose the game and fifth place – Rio Ave effectively impose the first defeat of Mitchel. Today’s rather pointless main front page photo shows some players milling around on the pitch. Marítimo missed a chance to go 4th in the league, and climb above Nacional who lost on Friday night. They lost 0 – 1 at home to Rio Ave yesterday afternoon, the first [league?] defeat under new manager Mitchel van der Gaag.

Jokanovic takes charge of coaching of Nacional.

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 … Thank you in anticipation.

Elaine has very kindly sent in a second contribution today: "Jornal da Madeira is having a series of articles on Madeiran Christmas traditions".

CHRISTMAS 2009 – The tradition of Christmas with the taste of honey – HONEY CAKE

Appeared in the heyday of sugar production in Madeira, honey cake, and through the centuries until today, remains as a symbol of Madeiran cuisine. The tradition dictates that this cake is prepared on December 8, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which marks the beginning of Christmas in our region.

Although the honey cake is baked in industrial moulds to meet the demands of the business, there are still many people who prefer to do it at home, as with Rita Freitas who from a young age became accustomed to this art that has its secrets, because as she stated "there are many recipes for honey cake and each one has a special feature. What causes it to be tasty and look great are the amount of products that arise and the cooking time."

To make a honey cake at home is a task that requires much effort. It starts the day before the day to prepare the cake, when you buy the bread dough at the bakery in preparation for the baking at home. After a day of "rest" the dough is ready to receive the condiments, warm honey, grated orange or lemon, spices, almonds, walnuts, Cidrão and Madeira wine. Kneading is also a demanding job, as Rita Freitas said, emphasizing that "the person must have some strength in order to be a long time leaning over the bowl to knead, as tradition, but now there are machines that make this service quicker, but never as they did it before. Before then, It seems that the cake was better. But it is with joy knowing that then we will have a honey cake that will please many people."

The next step may be effected only three or four days after mixing, since in this work "we have to cover the dough with a cloth or blanket and let it rise in a warm place at a constant temperature. Then divide the dough into portions of 250, 500 or 750 grams depending on the size of the cakes. Put these portions of dough into round shapes, low and level and well oiled and take to bake in a hot oven, after having decorated the surface with half walnuts or almonds or pieces of Cidrão." When finished, honey cake is ready to be served at home visits of family and friends, or typical gatherings particularly those that are after the Mass do Parto. A lament of our speaker is that "the younger generation is no longer interested in making honey cake at home and thus this tradition will be lost. I still remember the time when in all the houses honey cakes were made and the joy that lived with so many people to help in making this cake. So then it seemed that Christmas was more joyful. But while I can I will continue to make homemade honey cake, not only to maintain the tradition but also that many can enjoy a real Madeiran treat."

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.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Ponta do Pargo development ; Underwater Xmas tree video ; Manuel Machado on the mend

admin — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Tobi … a sunset from his balcony

"Today we were exploring some of Madiera’s fertile and mountainous interior, passing by steep slopes of banana plantations, and roadsides of the colourful flowers that the island’s famous for. Madeira is renowned for being locked in an "eternal spring", with consistently warm weather that rarely deviates from 20 degrees centigrade, and almost-constantly blooming flowers". PRIVATE TRAVELOGUE

For those who like silly things, here is the video of the ‘planting’ of the underwater Christmas tree as mentioned the other day, by the Madeira Diving School.

A 200º panoramic view of Ponta de São Lourenço, made up of 8 shots stitched together and then some tone mapping. PHOTO

Six days after being placed in an induced coma after contracting an infection following surgery, Manuel Machado, Nacional da Madeira’s coach, is on the road to recovery as he was brought out of it earlier this week. Doctors at the Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital have said the highest risk period has passed and they are optimistic the manager will make a full recovery. Manuel Machado became ill after abdominal surgery in a clinic in Oporto around two weeks ago. After suffering terrible pains for four days, the Nacional da Madeira coach was put in an induced coma for just under a week. On Monday, doctors announced “The highest risk period is over. He has woken up and is in a good mood. Things are evolving in a positive manner and, if things continue as they are, hopefully we can turn off his assisted ventilation next week, keeping him only on medication to control some of the pain he is still feeling.” The cause of the infection is still not know, with the manager’s wife saying he was operated on a hernia, despite several sources claiming it was due to a liposuction. Thanks to PORTUGAL NEWS ONLINE for that story.

One for the diary : 8-11 April 2010 – Men’s golf, European PGA, Madeira Island Open.

Many thanks to Paul in Paul do Mar for the following articles :

The first two are from an article on the Ministry of Economy & Innovation Site: 26 Nov 2009

1. ‘Paul do Mar’. Quote: "The ISA World Surf championships have been hosted on the islands which are better known to be held in areas such as Hawaii. Paul do Mar region of the island is respected throughout the surf community as it offers eight metre high waves and fantastic tubular tunnels."

2. Ponta do Pargo five-star Hotel. Michael Nascimento, the Director of Morgan Forbes is developing a five-star Hotel in the Ponto do Pargo region of the Island. Morgan Forbes, a low risk commissionable broker ship that specialises in asset backed investments, has already been given permission to build a high-end apart-hotel scheme, with off-plan units, available on a share certificate basis, offered for a deposit of as little as £5,750, with a low total investment of just £15,620. These prices will increase on the Monday the 30^th of November 09 with the official Launch of Phase 3, locking in now would be a shrewd move.

Morgan Forbes five-star project could offer the perfect mix, with a forecasted return on investment of 142.7%, taking advantage of the Islands buoyant tourism trade and stable property market. Official Government statistics reported that in 2008 the average occupancy for five-star hotel developments across the island was 91.1% and in some parts as high as 99%.

Following on from the success of the recently constructed Palheiro Golf resort on the island, planning consent has been award for the construction of a new Nick Faldo designed 27-hole golf resort in the Ponta do Pargo Construction of the golf course, which will be built to PGA standards, will commence in just two weeks time.

Dr. Paulo Sousa who is the minister of Madeira has indicated that there are no plans in the near future for any other hotel or apartment projects around the golf course other than the Morgan Forbes project making this a highly attractable investment.

Madeira is also supported by the extension of its airport to allow more flights and larger planes to land on a daily basis. Easy Jet land a minimum of three flights a day and other airlines are extending their routes to cater for the ever growing demand for the island.

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

Mega Park now not open until Wednesday. Delays in signing the contract meant that the equipment could not begin to be assembled until yesterday, the day when it was advertised to open. It should now open on Wednesday December 16 and on that day, as other Wednesdays, the 14 entertainments will cost 1 euro each.

Public Prosecutor calls for 3 years in prison for Lobo. The Public Prosecutor asked for three years in prison for the former mayor of Ponta do Sol, António Lobo. He called for the acquittal of the four co-defendants, all accused of bribery. António Lobo was accused of serious fraud and bribery but the prosecutor decided the facts fit the crime of malfeasance (2 to 8 years in prison) due to violation of official duties. The defence called for the acquittal of the former mayor because he was tried and convicted of malfeasance in the previous proceedings. In the Constitution and law, no one can be tried and convicted twice for ‘factos contemporaneous’ (non bis in idem). Besides, no prevarication can be associated with António Lobo but with the ‘schoolboy government institution’ that approved the project. In terms of prevarication, 52 of the 271 urban development projects were approved by the Council of Ponta do Sol in 2001 (52 when the PDM was suspended). The prosecutor said the ‘smell of corruption’ came from the fact that the land for the controversial construction of 29 apartments was co-owned by a council valuer familiar to António Lobo. The links political, construction and football complement the ‘odour’. Minimum standards have not been met; the defendants had not entered any initial investment, there was no technical input to the draft amendments and the PDM (public discussion) was suspended at the time of project approval. The Public Prosecutor also asked for the Directorate of Finance to investigate the suspicion of tax evasion by the property promoters by ‘skilled’ accounting. The defence lawyer said that the property had been approved in the average time span so it could not be viewed as favouritism. The verdict will be known on January 8 2010.

GPS mapping of the seabed around the Selvagens. The structure of an extensive area (70 x 70 km) of the seabed around the Ilhas Selvagens is to be mapped via the GPS system. This area is the real link between the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo. The contract between the Government and the Navy was signed aboard the Navy’s NRP Almirante Gago Coutinho, berthed on the north quay of the Port of Funchal. The most significant act of the protocol is the placing of a GPS antenna on Salvagem Grande, allowing the territory to be geo-referenced accurately. Using the Navy ship, eight GPS stations will be placed at sea, (5 at Selvagem Grande, 3 at Salvagem Pequena, Madeira and Porto Santo, respectively). The seabed elevations and submerged rocks can then be located, some known from old charts. There have been an accumulation of 888 days at sea for scientific research projects and an area of 1,700,000 square kilometres probed. The Gago Coutinho has a crew of 34 sailors and can accommodate 15 researchers at sea for up to 60 days.

Attempted murder – 10 years in prison. A young man accused of trying to stab his wife to death in Caniço. The Court of Santa Cruz sentenced a 25 year old man, J. M. Santos, to 10 years in prison for attempted homicide (a crime punishable by between 28 months and 16.5 years). On 13 March 2009, he attempted to kill his 22 year old wife by stabbing her, in front of their 5 year old son. They had lived in Caniço for five years. The cause was a bad relationship and the wife intended to divorce him. She suffered more than a dozen cuts and due to the amount of anger the man felt, he kept picking up different knives and it is unknown how many were used or how many times he stabbed her. His intention was, "If you’re not for me, are also not for anyone." The woman’s life was saved only by prompt intervention of a social worker and hospital doctors. The defendant was also ordered to pay the Health Service 10,460 Euros and the Social Security Centre 2,111 Euros for services rendered that night. The defence council may consider an appeal. On the night of the crime, the wife informed her husband that she was leaving with the son to live with her mother and intended to proceed with a divorce. They were in the kitchen at the time and he rejected the separation and refused to allow the wife to leave with the son. She then went to the computer to ask a friend for help when he stabbed her in the back, she began to faint and fell to the floor where he continued to stab her. A neighbour entered the house, faced with a ‘Dantesque scenario’ in the presence of the boy. The assailant was arrested the following morning and taken to Ribeira Brava police station. At the trial, the defendant declared repentance and despite no criminal record, the Court did not believe he was truly sorry but had a possessive personality. Justified by the high probability of guilt and that the crime was so treacherous, especially in the presence of the child, it required a prison sentence. In 2009, there were 26 deaths in Portugal resulting from disputes between men and women, and 42 attempted murders.

Division in PS gives €79 million to Madeira. The PS gave the authorization of a loan in order to postpone the ultimate test of the Regional Finance Law. The PS offered yesterday, contradictorily, the possibility of Madeira having a loan of 79 million Euros to pay debts to suppliers in exchange for the Law of Regional Finances going down to the Committee of Budget and Finance of the Assembly of the Republic without a general vote. With this, the PS managed to avoid the embarrassment of the approval of the Law of Madeira, which yesterday was challenged by the Minister of Finance, with the deciding vote by the socialist deputy, the Madeiran Luis Miguel França. There was a ‘tug-of-war’ between the leader of the socialist parliamentary group, Francisco Assis, and the Madeiran socialist deputy Luis Miguel Franca. Assis did not want to give the vote to a Madeiran and França did not want to abdicate a vote that would differ from the election manifesto of the PS-M. In view of this opposition, the leader of the socialist parliamentary group was forced to give a ‘gift’ to the PSD, to hide the fact that he could not control the dissent which would be difficult to explain to José Sócrates and the general public. The PSD-M Guilherme Silva made a victory speech although he could not have the original 129 million Euros loan the Regional Government needed to pay suppliers. He said this method was a redistribution of resources. The socialists risked this scenario. The proposed Madeiran revision to the Finance Law has 20 days to be scrutinized by the members of the Budget and Finance Committee. One of the issues that Alberto João Jardim is not going to get the green light for is to increase the indebtedness of Madeira as he wanted. CDS-PP, PCP and BE emphasized the injustice of the law and criticized the expenditure of the Regional Government. They did not want to give a blank cheque to Jardim and the communist said the law was against the people of Madeira. The CDS-PP defended the law saying it was necessary to prevent even more imbalances in public finances. The Madeirans dominated this debate and it left them in a strong position. The Finance Minister Texeira dos Santos strongly criticized the revision of the law and noted that Madeira had been authorized to incur debts in 2008 amounting to 256.7 million Euros under the plan Pay on Time and €50 million in 2009. He accused the Regional Government of expenditure and being irresponsible in the management of public accounts. "There are clear signs of indiscipline and lack of control." The Madeiran deputy Hugo Velosa countered saying that the Government of Madeira has less expenditure as a proportion of gross domestic product than on the mainland. Teixeira dos Santos said that, "The Continent has to pay for the folly of the Government of Madeira." The approved €79 million loan will only pay a few suppliers to the Regional Government. The leader of the regional CDS-PP estimates the debt already amounts to 200 million Euros. The figure of €79 million instead of €129 million was because the Regional Government had already taken out a €50 million loan, however this was used for projects co-financed by the EU. The authorization for borrowing €79 million will be discussed on Monday by the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, the eve of the discussion of the Budget for 2010.

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

Today’s main news headline : Region produces a thousand million tons of CO2 – Energy billing on Madeira already costs €500 million per annum. A value that will climb in 2013 if there is no reduction in current emissions. Also the main front page photo, with a very large and smokey industrial chimney in full action. Theoretically the word ‘billion’ in continental Portuguese means a million million, but for English speakers, a billion tons of carbon dioxide gas are created on Madeira (yearly?), the main culprits being transport, waste management, and electricity production. Their emission licences are going to cost more than €20 million. Madeira has 3 years in which to reduce it’s dependence on fossil fuels. For the sake of the environment and public accounts, as from 2013 the permits to emit CO2 will be paid in full by the companies that produce electricity, while the industrial units will have to pay a third of their value. Electricity production (59%) and the 130,000 vehicles that are active on the streets (35.4%) are by far the greatest polluters, with garbage treatment responsible for 5%. The average emission per inhabitant of the island is 4,337 kilograms. If Madeira is obliged to pay the carbon emission licences, they would add up to €25.8 million per annum. A long and interesting article on the cause and effects of CO2 emissions, and the bottom line is that domestic consumers will have to pay pollution taxes somewhere along the line. Personally, I find the figures staggering and unbelievable, and reckon that an extra zero at least has crept into the figures.

Funchal council requires €250,000 – Marítimo has to pay €250,000 to CMF to obtain the license for the works in Barreiros. The redevelopment of the stadium in Funchal is currently stuck on account of this issue. The club has also reacted to a statement made by one Funchal counsellor (PND – New democrats) claiming that there are possible illegalities in the construction of the new stadium. Marítimo have denied the accusations, saying that all the development works meet current legislation and the requirements of the licences issued, and it has nothing to fear. However the Diário was able to confirm that the club does not in fact have in its possession the required construction license, because it is in dispute with Funchal council on the matter. The club refused to pay the amount asked, claiming that the sum of €600,000 was exorbitant, and that other sporting clubs were exempt from such charges. Last week at a council meeting the sum was reduced to €250,000, and that amount has not yet been paid, and so the redevelopment work is as such still unlicensed. The matter could be resolved tomorrow if Marítimo agree to the new lower charge. The PND counsellor claims that the club are also doing works that are not included on the licence(s) in question. Of course Marítimo hold the trump card in the situation … their number one fan ‘Uncle Bertie’, and no doubt with the current president of Funchal council being a key contender to Uncle Bertie’s throne in 2011 … well, anything is possible. Marítimo football club at one time may have been a sports club of the people, but these days it is first and foremost a business … a very fortunate business that has been given a prime land stadium that belonged to the people of Madeira, and €45 million of taxpayers money to develop it. Yet it complains about paying a relatively small fee for a redevelopment licence, and continues with the work regardless. Disgraceful attitude and behaviour!

Water more expensive – New tax law dictates the size of price increases in monthly bills. The ‘Law of taxes’ requires a revision of taxes applied on water supply, waste water, rubbish, and markets / fair permits. Until now the councils (câmaras) of Madeira haven’t yet increased prices charged in their areas, but the new law means they will have to update them in the short term. The reason there have been no increases so far is down to uncertainty surrounding the subject, as the law was adopted in 2006 but has faced repeated delays, and the lack of price increases was not to protect household economies. Water prices for one will rise in 2010, but even though the law is effective on 1st January, the effects are unlikely to be felt until mid-year. There will also be reductions for some, where they are found to paying over the correct rates.

Refuse collection in Funchal stops between 25th and 27th of December. Nice Xmas party for the rats then!

Government treats the PSP police badly – The Regional Command is the only one in the country without access to the funds from the fines ; Council helps the police in Ponta do Sol.

30% less – Not even the traditional Christmas dinners allow restaurants to recover in a year of crisis.

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 Thank you in anticipation.

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

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Regional Finance Law in the balance ; Underwater Xmas tree ; SWAT on Madeira

admin — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Derek … Monte Palace

This weekends football : Nacional visit Paços de Ferreira tonight. 8.15 pm on SportTV1. Marítimo host Rio Ave on Sunday. 4 pm, but not televised.

Parliament: Law regulating financing of autonomous regions under national scrutiny. The Azorean Parliament’s Economy Committee is studying the legislation that regulates the financing of the autonomous regions to determine whether the new proposal put forward by Madeira may cause the Azorean archipelago to lose the positive discrimination it currently enjoys. Madeira president Alberto João Jardim never accepted the changes to the calculations of State revenues apportioned to the Autonomous Regions, despite those being passed by the Assembly of the Republic in 2007. Until these changes were made, Madeira had always received more money than the Azores, a situation that Prime Minister José Sócrates rectified in order to redress uneven development in the nine island of the Azores. Now that the PS has lost its absolute majority at national level, the Madeira PSD brought out an old proposal which could restore the pre-2007 legislation setting out financing for the autonomous regions. MORE ON RTP AZORES

The new Regional Finance Law is due to be voted on in Lisbon tomorrow, and it is going to be very tight, with the governing socialists voting against, the social democrats voting for, and various smaller parties sitting on the fence because of the situation in the Azores. It may even be a 97 – 97 tie.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterdays top news stories :

A classic in port. The Port of Funchal hosts since the beginning of yesterday afternoon, one of the most emblematic mega yachts ever on a routine visit and allowing medical treatment of a member of the crew. The Talitha G sailed from Gibraltar and is bound for Antigua. It will moor until 12.00 on Friday. The mega yacht was built in 1927 and named Reveler until 1937 when it was renamed Chalen. It served with the USA Navy during the second world war under the title USS Beaumont. After the war, the boat was privately owned and renamed Elpetal and was a favourite of Winston Churchill. In 1983, due to a change of owner, it became the Zezebel. There was a serious breakdown in the main engine during a crossing from the USA to Europe in 1993 and it had to be towed to Lisbon where it was repaired and refurbished and renamed the Talitha G. It has a crew of 18 and can host up to 20 people.

Santa Cruz will have a ‘low-cost’ petrol station. A new petrol filling station will open at Tendeira in Caniço next year. It will be the third low-cost station in the country and the first in the region. The group of companies (AECCP) who run these stations want to try to combat rising fuel prices. The station is placed in Santa Cruz as "The county offers strategic conditions so they can offer Madeiran businessmen fuel at a lower price than they currently have." The proposals will only benefit members of ACIF (Association of Commerce and Industry) who must be associated with AECCP whose membership costs ten Euros. The Mayor of Santa Cruz is pleased with this project as the Council is a strategic partner and will benefit from more competitive prices.

Wild globalization responsible for crisis. Conference at Machico yesterday, The Wild Invasion of the Commercial Area of Madeira by Trade of the ‘Rising Sun’. The President of the Union of Businessmen of Small and Medium Businesses in Portugal, Pedro Fernandes, made the accusation that globalization and public policy makers are responsible for the current global crisis. These two are responsible for widespread unemployment, the debt of the country, ruin and poverty, family imbalances, social exclusion, desertification and imbalance of public accounts. He discussed the unfair competition of the Chinese market and the impact it may have on Machico. The conference was attended by some of the top businessmen who have invested in the city, including Jorge de Sã. The speaker had been a textile firm manager for 50 years and said his factory closed due to lack of government support. Machico does not require the installation of a large area of Asian trade and the opening of the Chinese store will ruin traditional trade. The Chinese stores are exempt from taxes for 5 years.

Arrested alleged drug dealer was attempting to escape justice. A 20 year old man was arrested on Monday at the airport while attempting to fly to England. He was trying to escape the Autonomous Region and Portuguese Justice. He was involved in several cases under investigation relating to seizures of hashish this year, amounting to 7,000 doses. That was why the police were at the airport to prevent him leaving. He is now on remand in prison.

Police seize more than 1 kg of heroin. 900 grams or enough for 10.500 doses if left unprepared, was seized last weekend in Livramento in Funchal. A 35 year old man from Guinea-Bissau was arrested. The police action was after over two months of investigative work which had led to two other arrests for drug trafficking. These two were also of Guinean nationality and had in their possession 2,100 doses of heroin. The third man was a cousin of the first two arrested and the heroin was found in the carcass of a television set in the house which the other two had previously rented. He initially argued that the television did not belong to him but was eventually charged. The drug has a high state of purity and the number of doses could be increased by cutting and processing to increase profits but make it less harmful to the consumer. The police think the heroin was destined for consumption over the holiday season at several locations in Madeira.

Pinheiro adorns the sea. Since last Saturday, the divers near the Hotel Pestana Palms have been surprised by an underwater Christmas tree. The new initiative came from the Madeira Diving School, ‘Tubarão Madeira Mergulho’. The manager said, "Funchal is already decorated and we wanted to do something fun for all customers when they come to dive." They placed the tree on the sea bed then decorated it, not a long or difficult operation because the tree was already prepared and the Christmas balls filled with water so they do not drift off. To secure the tree, they took a wooden ladder down and braced the tree until the decorating was finished. In the past few days, the tree has remained unaltered and until the fish became accustomed to the decoration, they tried to eat the balls. They will keep the tree on the sea bed until the New Year and if still in good condition, it will be put back in the same site next year. —- Plenty of photos and a video on Diário site. (The type of story I love to read).

SWAT training in Madeira. Eight elements of the Marine Police Force, 4 from the Azores and 4 from Madeira, are this week attending a Special Weapons and Tactics training course. Yesterday’s training at Caniçal was successful; they approached a suspected vessel at speed to test entry into the vessel, the control of suspects, searching and seizure of materials. The course also involves weapons training, situations and risk assessment and decision making. The Marine Police are responsible for maritime safety, preservation of the marine eco-system and the fight against crime at sea, especially trafficking.

PS unhappy about ‘fantasy’ budget figures. The Socialist Party have criticized the budget planned for 2010. The budget is unrealistic with inflated revenues and excess indebtedness, direct and indirect. They say 40% of the budget revenue comes from unproven sources and only 60% can be accounted for, leading to more debt. Their figures indicate 1,200 million Euros of direct debt and 1,500 million Euros of indirect debt (not the stated 1,100 million) and with other debt, the total will reach 5,000 million Euros which exceeds the GDP of 4,700 million Euros, (125% GDP). It is difficult to see how Madeira can pay these debts without jeopardizing quality of life. —- There is at present political panic in Madeira over the vote on the budget amendment to the Law of Regional Finances in Lisbon tomorrow, which will allow a 129 million loan needed to pay suppliers. If only the PSD and PCP vote in favour, the PS vote against and the CDS-PP and BE refrain, there will be a tie with 97 against and 97 in favour.

Christmas news. From today until January 6 in the streets of Funchal, there will be 8 people dressed as Santa Claus selling balloons and 8 food / drink vendors. Between 14 – 24 December, 3 toy sellers and 15 vendors of seasonal foliage. Christmas Market opened yesterday at the Regional Directorate of Youth, Rua 31 de Janeiro in Funchal. 15 youth associations have combined forces and there will be on sale until December 11, cribs, liqueurs, bolos de mel, handicrafts and embroidery. An exhibition of ‘ecological cribs’ opened today in the lobby of Funchal Town Hall and will be there until 7 January. The cribs are made from recyclable materials by members of 26 institutions, from schools to community centres and homes. SATA announced today that it will increase flights from Madeira between December 29 – January 4. More than 28 flights corresponding to over 5,300 seats. TAP has already announced an increase in flights to Lisbon (96 flights, 14,248 seats) and 54 flights between Madeira and Porto (7,318 seats). SATA will operate another 120 flights (10,500 seats) to the Azores. TAP increases flights to the island of Horta, Pico and Terceira.

Radical Laurissilva plan. The Municipality of Porto Moniz is to promote the Laurissilva in relation to tourism. To promote walking activities, tourist paths will be recovered and signposted. Areas for canyoning, paragliding and surfing, waterfalls, ponds, viewpoints and levadas will be indicated on a comprehensive route map.

Casa d’Avo Beatriz. Jardim inaugurated the new unit for Rural Tourism in Gaula yesterday. The Casa d’Avo Beatriz resulted from an investment by one of Beatriz’s grandchildren, António Rodrigues, with additional funding. The house has seven double rooms and will open on January 1 2010. It is a traditional country house adapted for tourism, including a swimming pool, while keeping the original features. The house is situated in Rua D. Felicidade, no 12, in Achada de Gaula de Cima.

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

PSD social democrats try to avoid two failures in São Bento – Luís Miguel França could be decisive in the approving of the Regional Finances Law. The negotiations continue today itself. The story has already been covered in part above, and no doubt later today we will know how the voting went.

Today’s main news headline : Bad debt triples – The debts to the banks grew in the last year. On Madeira they already represent €180 million and confirm that individuals and companies are living in stressful situations. They are the more prominent numbers during the crisis. In September the bad debt situation hit the highest level on Madeira in recent years, hitting 3.7%. A year ago the percentage of bad debt was 1.25%. The disturbing figure remains below the figure nationally of 4.4%, but in the last two quarters alone the figures have galloped on by 0.9 and 0.8%. According to statistics from the Bank of Portugal, loans granted on Madeira amounted to €8.06 billion, but applications are slowing. That final figure seems to be just for company and individual loans, but it is not made absolutely clear that regional and local government borrowings are excluded.

The main photo on today’s front page shows children and teachers looking through a high fence at a sports court : It has been ready four years but was never used – A disagreement between the Madeira government and Metropolitana impeded the use of the enclosed court in Porto da Cruz. The children in the adjoining schools (pre-school and basic) were never given the all-clear to use the sports facility built by the Sociedade Metropolitana de Desenvolvimento (SMD), and in fact no one has ever used it. The SMD says that it is now trying to negotiate with the Secretary for Education to change that, so the school children can use it, and it can stop being a ‘deposit’ for various types of rubbish. A spokesman for SMD wouldn’t go into reasons for the long delay, but no doubt someone somewhere will add this to the long and growing list of Uncle Bertie’s ‘white elephants’.

‘Market Night’ expanded into more streets - Requirements to accommodate street sellers soar. The base area for ‘Night Market’ in Funchal will be extended this year. The news was announced by counsellor, Rubina Leal, who justified the council decision with the growing number of applications for trading spaces on the night of 23rd December. Details are not all available yet, but as well as the usual streets and locations (the area surrounding the farmers’ market, and also Rua Dr. Fernão de Ornelas, Rua de Oudinot and Anadia, Pelourinho, Praça da Autonomy, Rua D. Carlos I, etc.) the area around the EEM / Electricity Museum will also be utilised. Discussions also have to be completed with the emergency services to ensure the safety of the expanded event.

In the market of Penteada there are licenses that expired a year ago. The council decides to exempt payment of rent for three months.

Cinema inspires ”New Year ‘ in the IVM.

Platini wants more referees on the pitch – The president of UEFA football dined in the Quinta Vigia. Platini’s comments come prompted by the famous handball that saw his nation France qualify for the world Cup at the expense of Ireland. Platini says he was embarrassed by the referee, who didn’t see the deliberate handball by the French attacker Thierry Henry. "I am doing my best to put more eyes to assess the game", he said, referring to some new measures of UEFA, like the placing of more officials to improve the work of the refereeing team. There will be more refs than players soon! I used to cope years ago with just one referee on the pitch, no linesmen, and the honesty of the players. No doubt Uncle Bertie was giving football’s top man some advice on how the game should be run, from his immense experience as Marítimo’s number one fan and benefactor (with taxpayers money of course). No doubt we will be hearing soon that Marítimo have qualified automatically for next year’s Champions League, but that will be after Platini will have been spotted leaving at Madeira airport, with several crates of Madeira Wine and boxes of bolo de mel … just gifts of course

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 . On a wet and windy day like today, surely someone has some time on their hands?

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.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

William Reid & his hotel ; 2 new pharmacies in 2010 ; New flights Porto – Madeira

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo and article : Thanks to Jon … Reid’s Palace Hotel, which opened in Funchal in 1891, although the date of this photograph (taken from a book) is not known, it certainly is not long after the opening date. (I have spent about an hour cleaning it up, so hopefully it is something like the original, which didn’t copy so well. Der).

A young William Reid first landed on Madeira in 1836 as a 14 year old cabin boy with just £5 in his pocket. He worked his way to vast wealth in the burgeoning Madeira wine trade then set about letting property to visiting Europeans and bought several hotels, namely the Santa Clara, the Carmo (formerly Miles’s) and the Mount.

The first hotel to bear his name was started in 1887, designed by George Somers Clarke and called "Reid’s New Hotel". However William Reid died before it was completed, and his son’s William and Alfred opened the Hotel in 1891.

The book I have is by William and Alfred Reid and provides reference to all manner of things "past" in Madeira, not least of all an extract from a speech delivered by The Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (H.R.H. Duke of Edinburgh), at Trinity House Banquet, July 5th 1897:

"I hope that when you are drinking this toast you will pay special attention to the 1837 Madeira. It is Diamond Jubilee Madeira, and I procured it for the Trinity House in the year 1867, half way between the Jubilee".

The wine was bought from William Reid and enjoyed some 30 years later when his son’s still held the appointment as Wine Merchants, etc., to H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh.

My book is the fourth issue and contains the above reference thereby dating it post 1897.

At this time (1897) the name of Reid’s had been changed to "Reid’s Palace Hotel" and the Reid’s Family no longer owned the Santa Clara Hotel which I believe was renamed "The Monte Carlo".

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

500,000 Euros well spent. The opening of the ‘Works of Reference of the Museums of Madeira – 500 Years of History of an Archipelago’ at the Palacio da Ajuda in Lisbon. The event was attended by several notable people, such as the new Minister of Culture Gabriela Canavilhas, the Azorean President, former Bishop of Funchal, members of the Assembly of the Republic and the Regional Secretary for Tourism Bernardo Trindade. Alberto João Jardim was the Master of Ceremonies. They were satisfied with the quality and richness of the collection and Jardim was surprised by the wealth of the exhibits and some parts he could not remember having seen in Madeira. He outlined a new museum for the region, The Convent of Santa Clara. "I usually go there to weddings but I had no idea of this wealth," he said. The commissioner of the exhibition, Francisco Clode de Sousa seized the opportunity, "It has to be transformed into a museum. We have to think about it." The Flemish paintings were the most surprising and Jardim said, "They are what we take to Europe, the Belgians were astounded." The Azorean President said, "It is a work that should be coveted by major museums of the world." In the room devoted to religious art, Gabriela Canavilhas was impressed by the sheer size of the silver pieces. "How much was spent on insurance?" Jardim replied, "Not telling you." He said it was worth it, as the continentals deserve to know of these works. Gabriela Canavilhas said, "The only thing against the embroidery of Madeira is the price." Jardim replied that, "It is good, so you pay for it." Jardim wanted to know if they would recoup the 500,000 Euros expenditure through catalogue and ticket sales and Francisco Clode de Sousa said they hoped to do so. The exhibition can be seen until February 2010.

Suspect ship prevented from approaching. Since November 9, the ship has harboured off Madeira, as it does not have permission to enter. It has a ‘black flag’ because of the conditions under which it was registered in Togo, and the certificate is not recognized within the EU. The ‘Newhope’ approached the island for medical aid for an injured crewman. A SANAS boat transferred the Syrian sailor to the hospital in Funchal where he was treated then returned to the ship. He was accompanied by two Maritime Police officers and an immigration officer. Safety certificates for the ship have expired so the Maritime Authority will not allow it to approach as it is a safety threat. The ship crew have requested fuel, food and water and other supplies as they say there are not enough for travel to the Canary Islands or Morocco. The Portuguese authorities have refused as they are suspicious that for the intended trip from Brazil to India, the ship did not carry enough reserve fuel and supplies. The Maritime Authority has prohibited it to enter the 12 mile restricted area and the navy is monitoring its position.

New pharmacies in 2010. IASAÚDE (Administration of Health and Social Affairs) are opening tenders for one in Monte and one in São Roque. They will replace the ones that have closed to re-open in other areas. Judging by the requests for information, there are a lot of candidates to open the pharmacies. There are strict rules for the positioning of pharmacies, for example they must serve a minimum of 3,500 inhabitants in the municipality unless there is not one within 2 kilometres, or the locality has fewer than 4,000 inhabitants.

Armed man walked around Funchal. A man armed with two knives walked around Funchal yesterday afternoon, menacing the public until arrested by the PSP. He was tall, bare-chested with a chain around his neck and appeared mentally unstable. He was first detected in Rua do Comboio and finally arrested in Rua do Aljube and he was taken to the Regional Command Centre.

Funeral 35 years later. Funeral of Gabriel Ferreira Telo who died 35 years ago, aged 23, while serving in the army. He died at the siege of the garrison at Guidage in Guinea. Most of the dead were buried there. His remains were recovered by the League of Soldiers. The casket containing his remains will be taken today to the Monument to the Madeiran Combatants Overseas, at Nazaré. It will stay there overnight then be transported to Paul do Mar for a Mass, and buried in the cemetery at the same place as his father, with military honours.

Chapel transformed into a drug den. PND councillor Gil Canha asks for the urgent restoration of the Capela da Nazaré. It is used by drug abusers, the roof is in danger of collapse and local householders also use it to dump rubbish. He says it has the same fate as the Capela de Nossa Senhora do Rosário in Fundão, which is completely in ruins. He condemned the Government’s priorities of investing millions of Euros in new churches instead of preserving the religious heritage.

Transavia confirm air route Porto to Madeira. Transavia.com a low-cost carrier, part of the Air France – KLM consortium, will offer four weekly flights between Porto and Madeira from March 2010. Next winter, they hope to increase flights to six a week.

41% more Dutch tourists via KRAS. This Dutch operator has increased the number of tourists travelling here by 41% this year to 4,500. The Dutch stay on average for 11 nights due to the flights schedule. The firm are hoping to double the number they bring here next year. In 2008, 33,278 Dutch visited the region and represent 3.2% of the tourists.

Nematode threatens 6,000 hectares of pine. The nematode worm which attacks pine wood is carried by an insect vector and damages the trees leaving them subject to attack by other pests. Of the 52,000 hectares of forestry, 6,000 are occupied by pine trees. They are fragmented and scattered around the island and only the older and vulnerable trees would die. Pine trees are not endemic and are not of economic importance. The nematode has been detected in trees in Palheiro Ferreiro and the infected trees felled and burnt. The Directorate of Forestry have drawn up a plan for approval by the Government in case there is an increase in the nematode numbers.

Hospitalized children will have GPS bracelets. For protection against child abduction, especially those at risk, as has occurred in Portugal.

Socialist Party ask for explanations about the company formed by Santos Costa. After yesterday’s report in the Diário that Santos Costa formed a firm while he was part of the Regional Executive, responsible for a related area. They want a Commission of Inquiry set up. The CDU (Communists) want the Regional Government to submit to the Regional Parliament all the details of any contractual and/or other connections of the Regional Public Administration with the company which Santos Costa was a partner of and which currently belongs to his family.

Driver hits lamp post then flees. On Friday night at 22.30 in the Estrada João Paulo II. A green Land Rover mounted the pavement and hit a lamp post, dragging if for a dozen metres then came to a halt. The driver left the scene before the PSP arrived around 23.15. Both the car and the lamp post were damaged and there was a mini blackout of other street lamps along the road.

Rehabilitation Centre for children with mental disabilities receives Government funding. The new unit was inaugurated in September and is to receive Government funding. It is a short stay unit with eleven beds. —- One of a few projects inaugurated pre-election, before operational or funded.

Jorge Ferreira has died. The former parliamentary leader of the CDS-PP and founder of the New Democracy Party (PND) has died in Lisbon at the age of 48, after a long illness.

Future of the only auction room in Funchal is seriously compromised. Article in Friday’s Diário da Cidade. Due to the economic crisis and the failure of people to appreciate antiques. The father and son who run the auction rooms also criticize the law for failing to protect them. The octogenarian said that they used to have 4 or 5 sales running simultaneously. Now the rooms are in their hour of death. People are ‘idiots’ as they buy modern articles which are more expensive than similar older ones they sell. They also have no legal protection when people bid for items and then fail to collect them and pay, after getting ‘auction fever’ then when they go back home they realise they do not have enough money. They often contact the local museums with pieces of cultural heritage value but they do not have enough funds to purchase them, as the Government prefers to spend money on a football stadium and other projects.

The front page news stories from today’s Diário :

Budget 2010 focuses on tourism and employment – The proposal is delivered tomorrow in the Madeira Assembly. According to the predictions, the debt hits a new record. The budget leans towards incentives for companies to create employment, and boosting promotion of tourism. By the end of this year Madeira will have the biggest debt ever in the history of autonomy … €1.9 billion. The guaranteed income for the new budget (tax revenues, state and EU funding) will only cover 86% of projected expenditure, so the rest of the money will have to be borrowed, and that needs to authorised by the Republic. If my maths is correct, that’s around €7,600 for every man, woman and child on Madeira, an absolutely staggering sum for such a small economy with such limited means of generating income. When you think that that is the debt after all the state and European funding that Madeira has received over recent years, funding which is now in increasingly short supply, how on earth are we going continue to survive (let alone grow) and repay our debts under the leadership of this Madeira government that lives for today and worries about the consequences tomorrow. President Jardim may think he will retire in 2011, leaving a legacy to be proud of, but the true legacy he will leave will be a millstone around the neck for all of us living here for many many years to come. This €1.9 billion is not just a figure on paper, it is real debt that has to be repaid to lending institutions.

Crisis and alcohol associated to suicide – Psychiatrist Ricardo Alves is alert to the virtual life of young people and to the access to weed-killers. This is an interview with the head psychiatrist in the health service, who talks of the role of alcoholism in suicides, and the fight to reduce the rate of 10 suicides per 100,000 people, of which probably 80 to 90% have alcohol problems. He condemns the sale of alcohol to minors, psychotic patients and intoxicated individuals. He also recommends legislation to control the sale of weed-killers through ‘responsible traders’, and talks about the ‘virtual world’ that many youngsters live in and the dangers they face through the internet and online ‘chat’. Many suicides stem from the depression and stress, caused by situations such as unemployment and loss of financial standing. Currently there are four psychiatrists in the hospital, all alert for the signs of suicidal individuals, and by 2011 there will be two more in the team. At present there are between 300 and 350 adult consultations per month.

Accident Saturday causes five injuries on the roads. Three road accidents yesterday injured five people, including a mother and her two children, injured in an accident in Santa Rita and taken to hospital. A 25 year lady was also hospitalised after a road accident in Santa Cruz, and also a 55 year old women in the area of Cabo Girão.

Three teams from Madeira attempt to progress in the ‘Cup’ – Nacional, União SAD, and AD Camacha have strong possibilities of passing to the 5th round. Camacha host Vigor da Mocidade this afternoon (3 pm), and are clear favourites to win. Nacional are also at home this afternoon against CD Fátima from the league below, and though obviously favourites, Nacional struggled a bit in the previous round against lesser opposition from that same division. União kick off at 2 pm against 2nd division Mafra.

The top headline today : Irregular list makes a botch-up in the ACIF (Funchal Chamber of Commerce) – Unhappy associates with the only list say that there are candidates that the regulations don’t contemplate and they prepare the refutation. That’s all I have time for today, but if someone feels the urge to put some meat on this story, you will find it through this link : ACIF

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

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

8 new Gripe A cases ; Flor do Mar ends ; Firearms ignorance ; Madeira debt surge challenged

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo : Thanks to Jon … another one from his collection of old postcards.

Tobi found this Madeira online radio station MIRADOURO I had a listen when I was reading through the Diário yesterday, It’s was all pre-recorded music early morning, although there was some talking around 8 am.

Tobi, also said : "A friend of mine Luis Filipe Pessoa e Costa has an exhibition on in the Electricity museum of paintings and some other artwork on the theme of Africa, they are there till the 14th November, and its free to enter, just ask to see the Africa Exhibition. I have added a link to the photos I have". AFRICA ART

Don has updated his blog with a preview of a Madeira Christmas FUNCHAL’S EVENING DRESS

"Portas do Mar in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel (Azores), has unveiled a New Year’s Eve program set to rival that of Funchal, Madeira". I DON’T THINK SO!

It’s the day of São Martinho tomorrow, a special saint’s day for bacalhau, castanhas, wine and good deeds. The Roman soldier died in 397 AD, and his first and most famous good deed was to cut his cape in half with his sword to help keep a half naked beggar warm.

And talking of good deeds, I’m in a better mood today, particularly cheered up by a kind soul that used the PayPal button (just down there on the right hand side of this page). How he got through the rust I don’t know, but he managed, and it is now loosened and working OK. Anyone else encouraged by this act of kindness, please bear in mind that without volunteers to contribute to this blog there are no guarantees as to how long it will keep going. At the moment it’s just a few regulars, and in particular Elaine, who has been providing the daily news, keeping this going.

The rumours last week were true, with the TVI series set on Madeira, Flor do Mar, coming to an end after nearly 300 episodes. Anyone wants to know who shot Ana-Maria, I’m your man. It finished in an action packed fashion, with yet another murder, and the suicide of the baddy (of the feminine type). That should save the government here a few Eurobucks in hotel bills.

There were 8 new cases of Gripe A swine flue on Madeira last week, half of the victims were aged 15 or under. Two cases of the virus were caught here. 27 suspect cases were tested.

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

Delays in Santa Cruz Court. People in Santa Cruz are having problems obtaining compensation due to delays in court hearings, now taking three years. Both cases cited were against Vialitoral for damage to cars when hitting loose stones on the motorway at Porto Novo and near the airport. One case was dismissed and another is still awaiting a trial date. One person sent a letter to the President of the Supreme Court of Justice asking him to intervene to make the court enforce the Civil Procedure Code and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, so there would be justice without delay.

"The worst is yet to come." Unemployed immigrants from Eastern Europe are going in increasing numbers to the Presbyterian Church for social assistance to help pay their utility bills. The Church has limited funds. Employment is increasingly scarce whereas in the past, unemployed workers could obtain temporary work in agriculture, e.g. banana cultivation. People can not see a way out of the crisis and often become alcoholics and both men and women turn up drunk when they go to ask for help. The Pastor stated, "The most serious are the middle class in poverty, feeling embarrassment and shame. This has not yet appeared in force, but I believe it will appear. They are hoping the problem is resolved. The worst is yet to come." Many of the other 200 Presbyterian population are also experiencing hardship, pensioners needing help with obtaining medication. At one stage, there were 4,000 Ukrainians resident in Madeira, and now are less than half, but they are having problems getting their permits renewed if they cannot provide evidence they can support themselves and their families. They do not want to return to the Ukraine where the economic situation is worse and they have families here with children in the education system. As well as the Catholic Church, the Presbyterian Church receives Government aid and the Pastor thinks there could be better social assistance by a united effort of all the Christian religions.

Criminal Register Certificates. These are for criminal convictions handed down by Portuguese courts and foreign courts for both Portuguese and foreign residents. The Criminal Register Certificate can be obtained from judicial offices, Loja do Cidadão and representatives of Foreign Consulates or Embassies and costs 3.5 Euros. It should take no more than three days to obtain and the content depends on the purpose it is intended for. It can be used for employment, licence, permit or registration of a public nature. It is required to obtain Portuguese nationality, change of name, taxi drivers, children transport services, freight forwarding businesses, public service workers etc. There is also a certificate for public companies, organisations and institutions. Misuse is punishable by either a fine or imprisonment of up to one year.

Diocese of Funchal held vocational meetings for young people. For people interested in entering seminaries for the Priesthood. About 20 boys of year seven or above at school attended the meetings where there was a screening of an American video about the life of a priest, called ‘Fishers of Men’ and is available on YouTube. They also learnt about the three components of seminary life; prayer, relationship and living and study. In the 96 parishes of the Diocese of Funchal, there are 76 priests and 22 are more than 70 years old, and 4 between 50 and 60 years. There has been 10 years with no ordinations and there will be 3 new Priests in Madeira next year. On average, there are 2 ordinations a year.

Socialists call for an inquiry into RAM debt. The "rampant debt" and the "illegal debt" the Madeira Government has been mounting up, could lead to a 100 million Euros penalty in State transfers in 2010. The 150 million Euros in loans which "violated zero indebtedness" under applicable laws could result in a penalty of more than 50% of transfers in 2010. The Socialists justify the initiative as follows: "The need for the commission of inquiry stems from the fact that the Government of the PSD shows a great sense of irresponsibility and makes politics a weapon against the Madeirans since launching a state siege with the loss of two million per year in the Regional Finance Act (between 2007 and 2009), and calls into question more than 100 million Euros in transfers in 2010, with the bad governance it practices." They also accuse the Government of the "obvious inability to act" with incentives to overcome the crisis that have proved "clearly insufficient". They proposed seven initiatives to help the crisis.

‘Almanaque PEF’ celebrates 150 years of existence. The cover picture is a reproduction by a forgotten artist from Madeira, Jayme de Sa. This yearbook has 200 pages of regional events, religion, agriculture, history and cuisine and in addition to the tributes each month, a chapter on the British participation in the economic, social and cultural Madeira. —– I assume there is not an English translation. It sounds interesting.

‘Delights of Israel’ in Reid’s Palace Hotel. The Embassy of Israel in Funchal is promoting the cultural event to be held on the 7th and 8th December. Specialities in ‘Les Faunes’ restaurant will be provided by the Executive Chef of the Sheraton Plaza Hotel Jerusalem with music provided by the singer Ya’ara Olchik.

Mission Recycle short of expectations. After three days in Funchal and Machico, only 72 used coffee machines deposited, enough to represent the planting of only 18 trees. No one showed up later on at Ribeira Brava after the initial queue at 7.15 am for the offers of 10 coffee machines at 10 Euros. .

PS Rui Caetano warns of illegal container park. He was at the entrance of the food market in São Martinho yesterday morning to highlight the fact that the illegal parking of trucks and containers has occurred for four years. The problem starts when it rains and the mud floods the road and obstructs access for residents and customers of the food market. There is also the issue of unfair competition as there are some companies with the same activity which conform to the payment of taxes. The land is a public space and is not licensed by the Council and taxes are not paid to either the Council or the Government.

Another container site in between Machico and Santa Casa de Misericordia has been complained about to the police and the Council of Machico, as the container has been placed there without prior written permission of the owner since 2006. Manuel Franco Santos told the Diário, "I went to the Council of Machico, where I was told it was illegal and they would notify the owner of the container to remove it within 15 days." So far, nothing has happened. The President of the Council says he will send an inspector to investigate as the situation is illegal and an invasion of private property, so justifies informing the police. In 2007, Manuel Franco Santos filed a complaint with the police but they said they could do nothing as it was private property.

Habitat restoration projects are important. 10th November is the anniversary of the Natural Park of Madeira becoming the second protected area in Madeira in 1982. (Interview with the Director). The objective of the Park is to improve the quality of life of the people of Madeira for the long-term. The Director of the Natural Park said, "The mission is to contribute to the sparing use of our unique natural heritage, preserving our cultural identity and landscape, three elements crucial to creating wealth and employment interests of sustainable tourism." The Natural Park occupies 70% of the island, includes several different habitation areas and some species in danger of extinction. One of the many projects being developed is the recovery of the habitat of the Freira da Madeira (Zino’s Petrel) to help its survival. Another project is to minimize the impact of wood pigeons on agricultural fields. Surveys are looking at the use of natural plants in the everyday life in the rural parishes and in Fajã da Ovelho, and cultural and heritage uses of natural materials. The Marine Reserves are an asset to the island; Garajau, Rocha do Navio, Ilhas Desertas and Selvagens and around Porto Santo.

Almost half of the olive oil consumed in Portugal comes from Spain. Between 40 and 50 thousand tons imported per year but within four years Portugal will be self-sufficient. This is when the recently planted olive groves will be in full production. Spain is the main investor in Portugal in this sector, especially in the regions Alentejo, Beja, Serpa and Ferreira do Alentejo. The price has almost increased 50% worldwide in two months. Portugal exports 32.3% of its olive oil production, mainly to Brazil. This year, Tras-de-Montes predicts a fall in production, Alentejo region estimates a 20% increase in production and Beira Interior promises to be the best harvest in recent years.

SATA and TAP reinforce code-sharing agreement. The Azorean airline increased the agreement it has with TAP to destinations linking Porta Delagada and Funchal to northern Europe and Lisbon-Zurich. —- Details given but I haven’t a clue what code-sharing means. It just means they share the same plane, but from a passenger point of view they are separate flights … until they board that is. Der

Cristiano Ronaldo receives compensation from the Daily Mirror. The British tabloid newspaper accused him of drinking excess alcohol and dancing while recovering from a foot operation in Los Angeles in July 2008. He received an apology and an unspecified amount of damages.

Madeira nurses are better leaving the region in search of better working conditions. The complaint of the President of the Order of Nurses, due to motivation and difficulties in finding employment. Nurses have left due to recent changes made by the Regional Health Service for nurses with more years of service and difficulties for recent graduates in finding work. The President said that the future is black and within six or seven years, Madeira will have to import nurses from less developed countries. For these reasons he calls on the Government to reverse the health policies in the region. He said the health service lacks human resources and the 75 nurses who qualified this year are not enough to make up the shortfall.

Of the six patients in Portugal who had severe problems after eye injections at Santa Maria Hospital, two have just been told they are permanently blind. The hospital later denied that the blindness is irreversible.

Interest rates threaten to double by the end of next year. Opinion of many analysts that the Euribor rate will settle at around 2% in 12 months time, i.e.. late 2010. At present the rates are at a historic low at 1% and there has been a downward trend since October 2008. Last September mortgage rates reached the lowest value at 2.361%.

Holders of firearms unaware of amendments to the law. The Regional Command of the PSP has found irregularities in the supervision of individuals with firearms due to amendments of the act in May 2009. Failure to comply with standards of conduct leads to fines, forfeiture of licences and confiscation of weapons. There is "frequent confusion" between liability insurance policies, and safe storage of firearms to ensure against loss, theft and accidents.

Praça do Município in Funchal illuminated blue. From last night until Sunday the three most important buildings in the square, the Town Hall, Sacred Art Museum and the Church of the College, are illuminated due to an initiative of the International Diabetes Federation. 10.9% of the population of Madeira suffer from diabetes. 26% of those aged from 60 – 79 years suffer from the illness.

A quick peek at the front page of today’s Diário newspaper :

Today’s main news headline : Alcohol sends 600 a year to hospital. Liver cirrhosis problems account for 95% of the hospitalizations in the Service of Gastroenterology. The Nucleus of professionals of that sector, who celebrate 25 years, meets Friday and Saturday in Funchal. Too many medical terms in this one to make sense to me, but the 600 alcohol related admissions mentioned in the headline, would be higher, but the unit is limited to just 15 beds.

São Martinho : Bacalhau without music – The celebrations today on Madeira are the initiatives of the traders. And, with the exception of São Roque in Faial, new wine and cod fish is served without music. Even in São Martinho. There will be less barracas than usual in São Martinho tonight on the eve of it’s patron saints day, but the urge to mark the tradition will be the same as always.

Minister says that Madeira received €10 million more – Office of Portugal’s Finance Minister insists in the advantages of the current Finance Law. The PSD-M social democrats say that the Regional Finance Law loses Madeira €200 million, the PS-M socialists say it amounts to just €6 million, and now the chancellor of the Republic says it benefits Madeira with an extra €10 million. As the Diário correctly points out, analysing the Finance Law is like analysing the election results, with each party having a different angle on the subject. They all agree that Madeira has lost out however, and there seems to be no doubt that the Azores receive more than Madeira from the State Budget. And why shouldn’t they, if the need is greater.

Golf of Ponta do Pargo already awarded – It just lacks the money. The €40 million needed has not yet been secured, even though the consortium of Somaque and Zagope has already been awarded the €16.4 million construction contract for the new golf course. The 100 hectare site has already been acquired at a cost of around €20 million. With an area of around 1 million square meters, the design conceived by Nick Faldo will include an 18 hole course, a 9 hole ‘pitch and putt’, a driving range, and a club house. The work will not start whilst the finances are unresolved, and the banks are tightening their lending criteria, and will not now lend against the original concept of the project to minimise their risk. So big deal … we need another golf course here about as much as we need Uncle Bertie’s debt management skills. I have been living here since before the concept of this new golf course, and despite the picture, I swear that there has never been a report of Nick Faldo ever coming here, so maybe his kids designed the complex with some coloured crayons when they were like 6 years old.

Ronaldo provokes ‘Iberic war’ – Portuguese Football Federation pressures, but Real Madrid won’t back down. Portugal want to call up Ronaldo for the game against Bosnia, but Real Madrid say he is injured and won’t be ready to play. But the Portugal manager reckons that Real are pulling a fast one, and said send him anyway and we will get our own doctors to check him out, and if there is any risk we won’t play him. Ronaldo himself when asked said he just wants to play football, so he is keeping out of the politics.

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

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’