Madeira News Blog

Today’s Photo : Thanks to Jon … Another ancient picture postcard from his collection

Thanks once again to Elaine for keeping the blog going with yesterday’s main news stories :

40% couples live together before getting married. There are more couples experiencing life together before getting married. According to the 2008 Demographic Statistics, 40% of couples who married in 2008 in the region had already lived together. In 2003, the percentage was 19% and this has increased each year to 31.9% in 2007 and 40% in 2008. In Portugal, the trend is from 20.6% in 2003 to 35.4% last year. There has been a decrease in the number of marriages both nationally and regionally and the upward trend of cohabiting couples is a reflection of social instability, according to a Sociologist. The number of divorces is increasing, 27% more in 2007 than 2006. Second marriages are also increasing, up from 15.9% in 2003 to 24.1% last year. The tendency to marry more than once is also up, from 16.3% to 23.4% and more couples, 27.6%, have children from previous marriages. The mean age of first marriage has increased to 28.1 years for women and 29.6 years for men.

Armistice Day ceremony on Saturday. A morning Mass at 9 am in Carmo Church followed by a military ceremony at 10.00 at the Monument To The Dead From All The Wars in the Avenida do Mar. There will be a tribute to soldiers who died in World War I, the War in Africa and also Afghanistan.

Santana Council promote vacation holidays in the area. The Council want both travel agents and the locals to identify the most attractive features of the county for visitors, in the areas of culture, sport, landscape and recreation. They want to be able to offer stays lasting 1, 3 or 7 days during which visitors can travel the county from end to end, spending nights in tourist facilities and dining in the local restaurants. The Mayor wants public-private partnerships. He highlights the following features. Arco de São Jorge has a roseiral (rose garden) and local museum. São Jorge has a bathing zone, church, traditional houses and ethnology museum. Archada do Marques is an excellent area for walking. Attractions in the area are Madeira Theme Park, traditional A frame thatched houses, Pico das Pedras leisure area leading to the Caldeirão Verde (Green Cauldron), Rocha do Navio cable car and Pico Ruivo. The promenade area at Faial is being redeveloped and at São Roque do Faial there are levada walks to Portela, Balcas and Ribeiro Frio. Animation will be better marketed, for example the Festival 24 Hours of Dancing.

SESARAM denies any discontent among Health Professionals. The Health Service counteracts yesterday’s allegations in the Diário. They say there have only been 95 complaints from a total of 547 doctors, there is no career vacuum and recruitment occurs nationally. There will be no changes at the Health Centres as regards doctor’s  lists.

Luxury yacht in port today for refuelling. As well as 3,700 tourists in port from two cruise ships, the MSC Fantasia and the Grand Mistral, the mega-yacht Odessa expected at 13.00. After refuelling, the boat departs around 17.00 for Antigua. The last time this yacht called was on the 25th April on a repositioning cruise from the Caribbean to Europe. The five luxurious cabins can accommodate ten guests.

Marítimo owes 5 million euros to construction firm. Construction of Marítimo Sports Club Complex might end up in court over 5 million euros. During the construction, Marítimo decided to make alterations to the project, which the construction company carried out. These alterations were due to Government amendments and they said they would support the work. This work cost an additional 5 million which is 150% more than the Government promised. The Government now says it will pay €2 million leaving the club to find the other €3 million.The construction firm is threatening court action and the €5 million has accumulated €1 million in interest, also still to be paid. There are complex legal issues about the legality of the amendment to the original contract, and whether the work is unauthorized, and who is responsible for paying. The construction firm originally invested €8 million for the main building.

Airport paid for by RAM. The Regional Government cannot change the airport charges, as did the Azores, because it is paying in full for the construction work. The Government is paying back the loan from the European Investment Bank. "The Portuguese Republic has not put a penny into Madeira airport," stressed The President of the Regional Government. The Regional Government cannot decrease the airport taxes as there is not enough money in the budget.

MEP worried about European funding after 2013. The European Commission is working on guidelines for distribution of cohesion funds which will adversely affect 2/3 of European regions, including Madeira losing funding. Access to funds will be dependent on when the country joined the EU, (old or new countries), and on their competitive advantages. The Commission also want to centralize the management of funds at either a national level or at Brussels, rather than regionally.

Suspicious fire threatens a family. In Piornais, a fire caused by a gas cylinder broke out in a structure built over a house. The man living in this annexe has previously threatened arson and is thought to have started the fire, endangering other members of his family below. The police are investigating the case and had already visited the family that afternoon.

Fire in offices at the top of a building in Funchal. The building was in the street in between the Rua dos Aranhas and Avenida da Arriaga. A large response of firefighters was required due to the built-up area. The cause is unknown, possibly an electrical short-circuit.

Santa Claus is coming to town. Arrives at Forum Madeira on Saturday 14 November at 12.00. There is also a collection area for used and new books and toys, to be distributed to various charities.

There will be money to pay the Regional debt. Reassurances from President Jardim about public properties used as guarantees for debt. He said the process was legal, a normal operation for all sovereign states and is properly supervised by the Court of Auditors. "There is no drama." "The critical stage will be 2009 / 2011, because they will be taken to finalize and pay for large investments in Madeira, which will be practically completed by the end of 2011. From next term, the Region has no major capital expenditures to make and there will be more money available to pay off the debt." "From 2011, public spending will be lower."

Porto Bay hotel chain wins 12 awards. This hotel chain previously won awards from tourists travelling with the TUI group. Three new hotels have won awards from the German operator Thomas Cook / Neckermann; Suite Hotel Eden Mar, The Residence and Porto Bay Falesia. In London at the World Travel Market, the group earned nine gold awards from the tour operators Thomson and First Choice.

Madeira is prepared for predictable epidemic of influenza A. The Regional Secretary for Social Affairs said that Madeira is ready for the foreseeable epidemic and stressed the importance of preventative measures to minimize the effects of the rapid increase in the number of cases, particularly among children. There have been cases of infection in three schools, for the first time in the region, and contingency plans have been activated. The Director General of Health in Portugal has called for the Health Professionals who have refused to be vaccinated to protect themselves, as the epidemic activity will intensify and the risk after the vaccine is virtually nil.

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If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. 

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

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

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TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Eiryl … Sunset over Funchal, taken from São Gonçalo

"My first impression of Funchal is very favorable.  It is a charming and fashionably upscale city with a definite European flavor.  It is also a very clean city.  Shopkeepers sweep the sidewalks in front of their stores (most US cities could learn from this) everyday.  There are lots of sidewalk cafes with tables with tablecloths and waiters in formal attire.  The food has been very good and the selection excellent". SAILORS STORY

"Madeira – Going off the surf map / Surf Madeira – Hawaii of Europe". Great video here, but whether it was taken before concretization, I don’t know for sure, but judging by the final few seconds I suspect it was. SURFERS DREAM

Don’t forget that today is a public holiday for Portugal, and public transport will be affected. Known as Implantação da República. It commemorates the proclamation of the Portuguese First Republic in 1910.

Tobi sent in this video of a drive through foggy Cancela :

Rock Fall Makes Circulation Difficult On The Access Road To Jardim do Mar – The size of the object is impeding the movement of heavy vehicles. The large rock was obstructing the road yesterday morning in the district of Calheta, and buses and other large vehicles had to turn back. It was pretty chunky I must say, and right in the middle of the road. There is no photo, but there is a video on this page HERE … somebody tied red stripped warning ribbon around it, but I don’t think it really made much difference. Photo taken later shown below.

A similar problem at Lugar de Baixo, near the tunnel to Ponta do Sol, where torrents of water carried mud and stones, blocking off the marina main access.

UPDATES :

Today’s main news story : ‘Government Diverts ‘Polis’ To The Stadium Of Barreiros – A programme of urban rehabilitation was contemplating the construction of a ‘multipurpose building’ (polis) in the Barreiros for parking and to interface with public transport. The government of Madeira abandoned the idea and instead channelled the funding of the ‘polis’ for the remodelling and improvements of the football stadium of Marítimo’. The ‘polis’ projects were created in 2000 to generate environmental and urban recovery in 39 Portuguese cities, with a total budget of €1.17 billion of state, local authority, community and private funding. The original plan, approved by the government here in 2004, for this particular ‘polis’ would have provided 531 public parking places, a ‘park & ride scheme’, day care centre, and trade and commercial premises amounting to 36 thousand square metres. I wonder if this was saved for this election week by the Diário, as it’s a pretty embarrassing story for the government and PSD social democrats, especially as we all know the Marítimo football club is one of Uncle Bertie’s great passions. So a building that would have provided jobs and services for the people of Funchal, and improved public transport and traffic flow in the area, was traded in for a super-duper new look stadium for a small football club of little interest to the majority, who not only got given a stadium that belonged to the people, but another €45 million on top of that to make it into a showpiece.

‘Human skull found on beach’. A human skull was found yesterday in the early afternoon, in the middle of the beach at the Bathing Complex of Ribeira Brava, more precisely in front of the channel of a small stream that flows into the area. Nearby some bones were also found, that are also presumed to be human. It seems that the bones would have been swept down by torrents of the stream, whose flow has increased due to heavy rainfalls during the night and Sunday morning. Due to the location, any theory of the remains being deposited by the sea have been ruled out, as the location is far from the reach of the waves. In an area upstream of the beach there is a cemetery, but it is unclear is the stream runs close to the cemetery. Police are investigating the matter. The gruesome find was made by two young couples from the mainland, as they strolled along the beach. They promptly asked for help from a restaurant in the area to alert the PSP. You can imagine, this was talk of the town last night, but the story was that it was a human head! I suppose I felt some relief this morning to find out that it was a skull and bones, not for any reason other than it doesn’t sound as nearly as gruesome.  

And Elaine from Garajau has very kindly provided news stories again :

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Rain causes more landslides. In Nun’s Valley, the rain caused a landslide near the entrance of the tunnel. Most roads were only temporarily closed. People driving too fast on the slippery roads led to at least four accidents.

A motorist’s car overturned in 2001, after hitting fallen rubble and mud on the road 101, which they said should have had warning signs up, having been reported earlier to the Control Centre. They originally sued Vialitoral and were awarded 20,849.75 Euros but the company appealed, stating that road conditions were not its responsibility and that the driver was at fault. This appeal was partially dismissed and compensation  reduced to 15,000 Euros.

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CDS/PP leader says people must vote according to their conscience. Usual political electioneering in São Vicente. The CDS/PP leader ironically and critically said, "We must be sympathetic to Dr. Alberto Joao Jardim. He looses his head often. He also complained about Jardim’s criticism of the PSP, saying that Jardim is "creating a climate of intolerance in Madeira." "We asked him to be more tolerant, respectful of the opposition, political freedom, religious freedom and civil liberty that I still think there is in the region."

Porto Santo launches project to revitalize the city. The municipality are still implementing the plan to revitalize the city area. There have already been areas defined where the nightlife clubs and bars can exist, to try and reduce noise in residential areas, with complaints from some owners whose premises are now not in the permitted areas. The plan is to include an urban park, recovery of derelict buildings and make them re-habitable, and general upgrading. The project is called ‘Building with art and quality’. There is also going to be improvement to the municipal green areas, viewpoints, land acquisition and landscaping, and recovery of the church surrounds, graveyard, chapel and fountains. Better wireless access and IT implementation, scholarships, environmental education and implementing the Eco-schools project. They are going to create a bird observatory and encourage the increased use of renewable energy and agriculture production, especially organic farming. They are trying to attract tourism by better quality Feasts of St John, art, a mobile bandstand, a new Promotional department and increase international conference tourism.

In another article, young people have little future on the island due to a slowdown in tourism and the construction industry, and flights are a worry.

Warning if you visit Porto Santo, rabbit shooting season starts today!

Elderly should be with their families. Jardim inaugurated a new residential home in Porto Moniz, which has 30 residential places, 20 for day care and 14 rooms especially for Alzheimer’s patients. He insists that the elderly should be the responsibility of the family and homes/hospital care a last resort. The grandparents also have a role in the upbringing of grandchildren, especially with parents often having to work, whereas the modern lifestyle in Portugal of sitting them in front of the television  is an educational disaster. There should also be implemented a network of help with meals and laundry facilities for people in their own homes. The building has four floors, with medical and nursing services, social room, activity room, gym, cafe and kitchen. Investment over 2 million Euros.

Camacha market upgrade. There is to be an improved auditorium and covered agricultural market in Camacha.

Historical pieces mysteriously disappear. Jose Manual Coelho, PND, accused the PPD/PSD council of removing a  Henry Costa bronze commemorating Churchill’s visit after the Second World War for renovation eight years ago, and it has not been returned. Also, a disappearance of a valuable stone fountain dated 1920 when a road was being widened. He accuses Social Democrat Arlindo Gomes of knowledge of their whereabouts.

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If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. 

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions or comments and photos / videos, or if you can contribute regularly, I can give you a special account that allows you to create your own blog postings.
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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

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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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(17th July). Today’s main front page photo : A picture of the Marítimo football stadium, with heavy machinery digging up the pitch : ‘Start Of The Stadium In The hands Of IDRAM’. Funchal Council is waiting for an opinion from IDRAM (Sporting Institute of Madeira) on the stadium remodelling project before giving the go ahead for work to start at the stadium. However, work started last Monday on removing the football pitch at the Barreiros Stadium, with the official reason being given that the grass had been attacked by a fungus, a fungus that is not a major problem apparently. But the pitch is being re-laid in a position 7 meters away, leaving the necessary space to the south for the renovation of the stadium, for the construction works to begin, technically with the project unapproved.

‘Continent Closes Lists To Teachers Of The Islands – Teachers that teach on Madeira can’t find a way to get themselves transferred to Portugal’. The transfers have been blocked, and Madeira’s teachers will have some difficulties in obtaining teaching jobs in mainland schools, after they were informed they will be removed from the selection lists by the Ministry of Education. The jobs up for grabs for the new academic year are the reward from a huge recruitment process that happens once every 4 years, selecting firstly from teachers already in post. The first phase of the exercise has already appointed 417 teachers, the next phase in August aims to fill a massive 38 thousand places. Teachers here are talking about legal action, and the trade union is talking about discrimination against our teachers.

‘Police Investigate The Kidnapping Of A Porto Santo Businessman’. The man aged 78 went missing yesterday on Madeira, and the family have received a ransom demand’. The man, Guilherme Alves Bernardino, yesterday went to Madeira to work and should have returned home on a flight around 8 pm, but did not. About an hour later his wife received a phone call from a stranger who asked for a ransom to free the businessman. Bernardino is a well known businessman on Porto Santo. He is the owner of a Galp petrol station in the main town, has an electrical store in the same area, and has interests in a quarry and quarry machinery. His wife was receiving medical treatment this morning, as the news made her ill. Just when you think it could never happen here … it happens here!

‘University of Madeira And Live Science Launch Programme ‘Geology Of Summer 2009′ – Field trips to discover the evolution of Madeira and Porto Santo’. The initiative aims to inform about geological sites of interest on the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo. The first trip is about volcanic origins and takes place tomorrow, with the aim of seeing some evidence of the evolution of geology and the environment of Madeira. The second trip on Porto Santo is scheduled for 2nd August. If you want to go you can subscribe on LIVE SCIENCE – the website is available in English and it’s free to go on the trips.

There is a story today that is not news of worthy note, but it is about a collision between two cars inside a tunnel on Monday morning, that highlighted a failure to observe three safety laws, and could have had much more severe consequences. In this breakdown situation, the drivers didn’t: 1). activate the car indicators (blinkers), 2). Put on their reflective yellow jackets when leaving their vehicles, 3). Place the red warning triangle in the road to warn other drivers. 

(16th July). ‘TAP Launches Campaign For Madeira And Porto Santo – Flights from Lisbon to Funchal for €36 and to Porto Santo for €48′. The same prices are also available for flights from / to Porto. The campaign is national, and aimed to have a big impact, and has already started through the website  www.flytap.com, and is valid for journeys taken between 7th October and 17th December. The campaign was developed in collaboration with Madeira’s secretary for tourism, and ANAM, the airport operator, but applies to a limited number of seats. The prices in the promotion are also exempt from the fuel surcharges announced last week by Portugal’s main airline. There are also package holidays with 3 night stays in the hotels of ‘Porto Bay’, with "very interesting prices". The campaign is aimed at bringing tourists to Madeira, but the benefits are also there for Madeirans wishing to go the other way.

‘Costa Europa chartered – The cruise ship makes its 84th appearance in Funchal on Saturday’. The liner ‘Costa Europa’ owned by the Italian company Costa Crociere is to be chartered by Thomson Cruises for a period of 10 years. By April 2010 it will bear the new name ‘Thomson Dream’. The German built ship, constructed in 1986, has already changed names twice.

Another thin newspaper today, so unusually I can have the rest of the day off … lucky me!