Madeira News Blog

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Tom … that odd looking ship again leaving Funchal Port.

Many thanks to Becky again for finding a couple more ‘web snippets’ :

Interesting blog, part photo-journal around Madeira, part travel guide… by Tommy, who lives in London and "likes beautiful things". TOMMY BLOG

Blog (in English) by two Danish cyclists:  "today we got up at around 9 and decided to take a short and easy bike ride of about 45 km with approx. 1500 vertical meters". Rather them than me!  [Start at the end of the blog to read about their week in Madeira in chronological order.... ] BLOG

Tobi, who been laid up with back problems, has used his time to come up with a new website. Very eye-catching Tobi. Good luck with it. TOBI IN MADEIRA

Many thanks to Elaine (out East) for these web snippets :

Europe Watches as Portugal’s Economy Struggles. A good article in New York Times last Friday explaining Portugal’s economic difficulties and shows that the government’s in denial. NYT

Becky found a site on cruise ships that call at Madeira. Now plane spotters at the Airport of Madeira upload their photos.  PLANES AND STUFF & MADEIRA SPOTTERS

Many thanks to Paul in Paul do Mar for this latest feature :

Windsurfing in Madeira: some serious (all-be-it mast breaking) wave potential!

Madeira is a world class surfing venue but would it work for a two week windsurfing trip? Olympic sailor, Hugh Sims Williams came out to Madeira to train on his RS:X but also sneaked in his wave board.

Why Madeira? Because in the peak summer season you will be the only one on the water! They only saw two other windsurfers in their two week stay in August. That would tell you that the island is not renowned for its windsurfing and the high cliffs of Madeira make a lot of beaches unsailable unless you’re on big kit and prepared to sail offshore. However, they did find some serious (all-be-it mast breaking) wave potential!

Madeira’s windsurfing world champion: João RODRIGUES. In 2008 at the RS:X European Championships João RODRIGUES stepped onto the top step of the podium at an Olympic windsurfing class European Championship. He did so in 1996 and 1997 following up his World Championship gold medal in Port Elizabeth in 1995.

Madeira windsurf spots : Besides the most well-known Caniço, Funchal, Achadas da Cruz try …

Paul do Mar: faces south-west, long pebble/stone beach, gets some of the biggest waves on the island. Good luck!

Caniçal: launch from the beach next to the harbour. Only suitable for Formula or big board sailing as offshore winds are standard during the summer trades. It is very windy here and provides good access to sail around to the north side of the island, where the swell is massive. This is where we launched to train on the Olympic RSX kit.

Cabo Girão: Vidar Jenson sailed here a few times when he visited the island in the spring of 2006. He’s quite good though!

Link to source boardseeker.com       Blog site: Madeira Windsurfing with films

One of Madeira’s Windsurfing clubs: ‘Forca 5’

Pete says "thought you might like this as this ship did dock in Funchal …". CAMERA FOUND

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

DIÁRIO 11/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

132 cases of parental neglect. Every year the Commission for the Protection of Children and Youth handles hundreds of cases of parental neglect, many ending up in the Family and Juvenile Court. At present, there are 132 cases pending. Over 90% are cases of parental neglect and the services protect children who are in danger of being threatened or harmed. Some cases are very serious. The number of prosecutions increase each year and a significant number include children between the ages of 6 – 10 years. The danger can be to the child’s safety, health, moral training, education or development. The options are: child kept with the parents with appropriate support; live with another family member or trusted person; foster care; institutional care or adoption. The crime of abandonment can lead to a prison sentence of between 2 – 5 years, physical impairment from 2 – 8 years and in the case of death, 3 – 10 years.

MADEIRA

No one takes responsibility for the pond. Continuation of Tuesday’s story of the polluted state of the Lagoa do Lugar de Baixo. The SDPO rejects the blame for the state of conservation of the pond. They are responsible for the two buildings and recuperation of the coastal area to the east of the pond but the pond itself is in the public domain. The pond is under the public maritime domain but the Port of Funchal said the area is the responsibility of the Regional Government. The SRES of the Regional Government and the Mayor of Ponta do Sol refused to discuss the issue. The Regional Director of the Environment said there are no projects for conservation or maintenance of the space. It is not known if the Quercus report for the SDPO has been recognized.

Carnival increases in Câmara de Lobos. More than a thousand participants in this year’s Carnival Parade on Monday 15th at 21.30. At present, there are 1,200 people in 18 groups.Two popular dance troupes from the Madeira Carnival will perform: Geringonça  and Malta do Furor, and the Carnival ends with Kontraband playing in the Municipal Market. On the previous day, Sunday, the Trapalhão Carnaval is at the Estreito de Câmara de Lobos. This parade is devoted to humour and social criticism, where anyone can take part for free.

Victims claim to have been persecuted. Two women living in Caminho Velho da Igreja in São Roque claim they have been assaulted in the street and on the bus. In the last seven months, they have reported five of the most serious cases to the police. The neighbouring couple who have been allegedly threatening and assaulting them, blame them for their son being taken into care by social workers. This was because of illegal drug taking and they say they will continue the harassment until the son is returned.

ECONOMY

Cruise ships call at Porto Santo next year. There have been no visits by cruise ships during the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 but in 2011, three will call at Porto Santo. These have a capacity of 2,300 tourists and 1,000 crew members. The first ship calls on May 1 2011, the British Amadea, and it is the inaugural visit of this ship. On 26 July 26th, the Artanis calls and on August 10, the Amadea returns. The busiest year was 1999 when 10 cruise ships visited Porto Santo and there have been 42 mooring between 1999 – 2007.

CULTURE

Theme Park gives discounts in museums. The Madeira Theme Park in partnership with DRAC, allow holders of annual passes for the Theme Park to visit museums more frequently and cheaply. Discounts are for holders of  the Normal Pass (costs 30 Euros) and Junior and Senior Passes (cost 24 Euros). Entry to selected museums will vary from free entry to a maximum cost of 2 Euros.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

CARNIVAL 2010

Fura Samba associates fado to samba. Fura Samba honours Fernando Pessoa (Portuguese poet) as this year celebrates his birth 120 years ago. Tributes also paid to the Portuguese Maritime Expansion and the fado singer Amalia Rodrigues. Their anthem links fado and samba, evoking the poetry of Fernando Pessoa. The project’s theme is "Samba-Enredo – Mar Português”. It describes a colourful world which goes from: the white foam of waves breaking on the beach and the wind in the sand …. Portugal where there was once a dream that we would be owners of the world ….. The dark blue of the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, the turquoise beaches of Brazil and the green waters of the seas surrounding India. Gold and silver colours represent gold and silver items, pearls and precious stones; wealth brought to Portuguese territory. In the two floats there will be orange tones of the sun setting over Cabo do Bojador and Cabo do Medo. Fura Samba utilize 5,000 ostrich feathers, 15,000 ‘rabos de galo’ (rooster tails) and 250 pheasant feathers. The ‘queen’ is a former Miss Madeira and Miss Tourism Portugal. Fura Samba will take part in the Porto Moniz Carnival on Sunday at 15.30.

João Egídio unveils “Os Encantos do Mar”. The theme this year is ‘The Charms of the Sea’. The float will carry five people; three in the front tractor and two in the trailer. They will be dressed as elements of the deep, such as mermaids, corals, reefs, anemones, plants and other underwater creatures. The dancers will be dressed as starfish and conch shells. João Egídio said, "The mysteries of our fantasy about the secrets of the sea, mean that humans throughout history imagine non-existent beings that become wonderful, splendid and colourful."

Many thanks to Vanessa Swesnik for this complete translation :

Quality and Food Safety : Seminar brought together close to 100 within the hotel sector.

Best practices in the hotel sector were the focus of a seminar organized by SGS Portugal (the auditing and certifying company) and the Commercial and Industrial Association of Funchal (Associação Comercial e Industrial do Funchal- ACIF) that took place in Funchal yesterday. The seminar, entitled “From Quality to Food Safety- a Responsible Destination”, had close to 100 participants from diverse regional hotel and restoration businesses.

Cristina Silva, coordinator from the SGS Portugal delegation, told the DIÁRIO that this initiative met the expectations of the organization insofar as it managed to get a group that is interested in and motivated by the issue of sustainability (which is more and more in demand for tourist destinations like Madeira) into the auditorium of the Regional Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais).

For Cristina Silva, a destination is only totally sustainable when it meets internationally recognized best practices, as the majority of tourists to the Autonomous Region are foreigners. However, she thinks Madeira has made important steps towards this aspiration which is now a requirement of tour operators, international organizations, and to become certified or have a good reputation as a tourist destination. The SGS delegate believes we are moving closer towards sustainability, but that it is necessary to meet and exceed the expectations of clients. “We have taken significant steps in Portugal and the Region, and we are not the exception,” she added.

Best practices were the focus of the seminar yesterday through the voices of diverse speakers covering everything from how to receive guests at hotels to food safety and control. Director of Quality and Food Safety of the Regional Government of Madeira, Celeste Bento, emphasized the regularity present with which standards are met in the Region- something that places regional restoration on a high level of quality. “Madeira is a responsible destination in terms of food safety; it’s well controlled and there is increasing sensitivity to the issue,” says Cristina Silva.

The seminar was well attended and had presentations given by regional specialists from ACIF and the organizing company. Brit Adrian Evans spoke of the “Hygiene Monitored” mark, a seal from SGS Group which attests to the existence of food safety best practices in the establishments audited by the group. In Madeira, this seal is assigned by SGS in conjunction with the ACIF.                       SOURCE : Diário de Notícias

In her email to me, Vanessa, who has recently qualified in Portuguese, said "Aside from being helpful, translating for your blog has planted a travel bug in my heart to come see Madeira. I would really love to travel to the Laurissilva Forest!!". You must come Vanessa, you must come and see our wonderful island and meet our wonderful people.

Many thanks to Paul for these two important economy news links :

Portugal ‘will not’ quit the euro. Portugal will not leave the euro, Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos has told the BBC : MORE

Portuguese budget vote yesterday Thursday was a victory for Prime Minister Jose Socrates’ government, which has warned of serious political consequences if the budget is not passed.

-Budget bill passes first hurdle in parliament

-Opposition party PSD helps passage with abstention

-Socialists seek to cut 2010 deficit to 8.3 pct / GDP (Updates with more quotes, measures)

Source Reuters : MORE

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

Guide book for five nights of Carnival in the discos – Madeira and Porto Santo are going to samba [?] from today until Tuesday. See the suggestions p.37. Yes you can actually click that link, and it will take you to the list of dates and events, and that saves me a job.

Today’s main news headline :  Court leaking – The storms flood achieves, Justice Police and stairways. Works are needed. The Palácio da Justiça in Funchal has sprung a leak(s), and in the latest downpours water found it’s way down the stairs. The water not only affected current files, but also affected the offices of the Justice Police who are located in the basement. It’s an old problem, in a prestigious building from the 1960′s, that has received the praise of many visiting dignitaries over the years, especially for the use of historic tiles. It is well known for becoming a ‘swimming’ pool in Winter, and an ‘oven’ in Summer. The roof leaks all over the show, the walls are sprouting mould, all  in a flagship building that doesn’t even have a visitors bathroom.

‘Forestry’ de-authorized Câmara – The landfill site  in Landeiros (Machico) has a municipal license. But the GR seized the truck. Also today’s main front page photo, showing a small plot of land, with a digger and a Scania truck, which may or may not be in the process of being seized … it’s hard to tell from a photo.

Celebrating the joining of the Europe Union ‘with Rome burning’ – In a time of crisis, Socialist Party Leader Serrão criticises commemorations of the 25th anniversary of Madeira in the EU. It’s like the story of Nero and the harp [wasn't it a fiddle?].

There is also another lead story about Miguel Alburquerque, President of Funchal Council (who makes Uncle Bertie seem like Cristiano Ronaldo). Câmara Municipal of Funchal takes action against the state  – It relates to the delayed transfer of funds from the IRS. The action had been threatened, and now it has actually started, in the Court dealing with Financial and Administrative matters. The action against central government relates to a delay in the payment of tax funding valued at over €5 million, that had been claimed by the council in March 2009. Alburquerque says he will not give up on the funds … "Funchal Câmara can not be penalized by the failure of the Government of the Republic". I am going to regret that comment above I am sure, as Sr. Miguel is a red-hot favourite to succeed Uncle Bertie as president in 2011.

The main sport / football headline today : Promotion doesn’t excite in the Regional [league] of football. This is about the small league below the newly formed Série Madeira, and the fact that some of the teams are not so keen on the idea of going up to the next rung.

I really can’t find anything that interests me much in today’s news, so I am off early downtown on the off chance that the weather will improve and the children’s carnival will take place. Don’t forget to send me in some carnival photos this weekend please.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated. 

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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. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

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.

(more…)

(29th September). The last of today’s headlines : ‘Half [of the ?] Regional Commission Asks Congress – The petition was delivered last week. But the leader Gouveia himself had the idea’. The PS-M socialist leader João Carlos Gouveia has pre-empted critics about the poor showing on Madeira in the elections, and 28 members of the Regional Commission of the Socialist Party last week signed a document asking the chairman of this body to urgently schedule a Congress meeting, with elections to choose new party leader. The initiative was not disclosed, as it was not considered appropriate, being in full campaign for the elections. Various other candidates are discussed. Well, the last two election results already proved what a shambles the PS-M are, and with 2 out of 3 seats lost in the Assembly in Portugal on Sunday, is the hope now that this news will improve matters for the local elections on 11th October? Is the logic there that people are more likely to vote for a PS with a unknown future leader than a poor current leader?

‘Madeira will submit the proposed amendment to the Law of Regional Finance – Jardim counts on the new composition of the parliament and coherence of the parties for the adoption of the revision’. President Jardim announced yesterday that the amendments, proposed by the PSD-M social democrats will be submitted to the Assembly of the Republic. Jardim says that the current law has choked Madeira’s state funding. He was of course hoping that his own PSD party would be be in government, as he had already reached agreement on what would happen, but he will now have to bank on a reduced majority government being out-voted.

The local election campaigns officially restarted today. The PSD-M noise car has already passed my house at least 4 times today.

‘Albuquerque Beats Jardim – Albuquerque has an advantage of nearly 4,000 votes compared to the leader of the PSD-M’. Within 15 days the social democrats will get to know who is worth more in Funchal, the PSD-M president of the câmara or the PSD-M president of Madeira. The two will not be competing head to head, but the comparison of results between legislative (national) and local elections is compulsory, and the same has happened in previous regional elections. Miguel Albuquerque’s support for re-election to Funchal council will have more meaning than ever before, as he is the pretender to the throne of Alberto João Jardim, who is rumoured to be bowing out in 2011. In Sunday’s election Jardim achieved 25,511 votes in Funchal, as top-of-the-list for a seat in the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, or 43.7% of the vote, a fairly low achievement, whereas four years ago, Albuquerque managed 29,395, or 50.3% of the Funchal vote. What a useless comparison, with people not only voting for different people, but for different things. What would be more useful and entertaining is to give them both a pistol, and have a crack of dawn winner-takes-all duel, on top of a grassy knoll (a contingency plan, just in case they both miss). Not wishing to be politically incorrect (before the blog snipers come along), it would of course all be in fun using paint ball pistols.

The high level of abstention in Funchal is a bit of a concern in Funchal. One of the reasons is explained in today’s Diário : "As reported, Portugal has a huge number of voters who are unable to vote. Because they are dead, or because they live in a foreign country". The latter case gives us some cause for forgiveness, as ballot papers get lost and delayed when sent abroad, as happened in Venezuela at the weekend, but as for the dead voters, do they really have excuses, if so I would like to hear them. And there was me thinking, that in this terminal stage of life, one automatically qualified for an important position in the PSD-M, so does that in fact mean that our current rulers do still have some blood movement in their veins, or is that just afterlife twitching we see?

‘In the series ‘Through Madeira’ : ‘Porto Moniz : ‘People’s tribunals’ still decide’. Residents discuss life in the towns two cafes. They analyse and pass ‘sentences’. The Portuguese Justice System doesn’t know, but in the region of Porto Moniz, two courts exist (‘Relação’ & ‘Supremo’), curiously both quite near the town hall. It is in these two places that the common life and politics of the town are discussed, and ‘sentences’ given out. They article says that if the president of the câmara kept his office window open he would be able to hear what was being said from his desk. The  power of the ‘Supremo’ is sufficient to change the political scene in the area, and the Diário hints that if the outgoing câmara president might have listened more closely, he would still be around to serve another political mandate next month (another Jardim ‘casualty’). The two courts fall into the categories of regular and supreme, and there is a protocol between the two. Rui Nelson, is one of the youngest ‘judges’ of the ‘Relação : "When we do not agree on a certain subject, we take the matter to the Supremo", he said. The Diário, having hyped up the story, then takes it back to reality, a powerless discussion forum … but is it?

(22nd August). Today’s main news story : ‘Wind Enables Saving Of €5 Million – Wind turbines already create 6.5% of the energy produced on Madeira, supplying the equivalent of 27,500 houses in 6 regions of the island’. It is predicted that by 2012, wind power will represent 9.8% of electricity needs, and take up to 22% (of total electricity needs) the output of the renewable sources of generation on Madeira. The new wind turbines will generate 71 GWh per year, enough to supply all the domestic needs of Machico, Calheta, Ponta do Sol, Santana, São Vicente and Porto Moniz. By the end of next year it is planned to have two new wind farms, one an expansion of the site at Loiral (project of EEM), the other a private initiative. The current capacity saves the importation of 13,700 tons of fuel to Madeira, and eliminates the emission 43,000 of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In theory there is no limit to the number of wind farms that could be built here, but there are restrictions that prevent this purely for technical reasons. Renewable resources could provide as much as 30% of electricity production by 2016/17. In theory, anyone can apply for a licence to generate electricity from wind power, by applying to the Regional Directorate for Trade, Industry and Energy, although the guarantee that all such energy produced can be sold into the grid in the future is not quite so clear.

The main front page photo today today is an eye-catching colourful shot inside the farmers market : ‘Bosses Annoyed With Market opening – Lack of information fell badly for the traders that preferred to relax on the Day of the City of Funchal’. The majority of traders only knew from the newspapers that Funchal Council had decided that the market (Mercado dos Lavradores) would be open, and those contacted by the Diário said they did not want to work on that public holiday, preferring to relax along with everyone else from Funchal. The stalls were open from 7 am until 4 pm, and trade was weak. One flower seller said she had just €20 in the cash till at the end of the day. The shops of downtown Funchal were also running on ‘half gas’, but bars and some restaurants were full of customers.

‘Rescued From The Sea Of The North With A Tragedy Imminent – SANAS, the Navy and FA undertook an operation together that finished in a difficult rescue, at night, of a 20 year old man in the high seas of São Vicente’. A helicopter, lifeboat, and the launch ‘da capitania’ fought for 4 hours against bad weather. The 20 year old man who was catching ‘lapas’ (limpets) on the reefs of São Vicente was rescued in the dark by a combination of rescue teams, and survived thanks to being in good shape physically, the diving suit he was wearing, and his rescuers of course. He was seen as it was getting dark, and a surfer bravely tried a rescue and had to be rescued himself, but as darkness fell the fisherman was lost from sight. The alert was raised about 7.30 pm and the authorities rushed to attend, along with the Merlin Helicopter stationed on Porto Santo. The rescue was achieved around 11 pm. A spokesman breathed a sigh of relief, saying these night time operations don’t always go so well.

’5 Dead In Rock Fall On A Beach Of Albufeira’. 4 women and a man died after a huge rockfall on the beach of Maria Luísa in the Algarve. 6 more were injured, one seriously. One expert believed that the cliff face, which was already identified as ‘at risk’, fell after a slight seismic activity. Four of the dead were women, killed just after midday yesterday. 8 people were rescued, including the injured mentioned. Work is still underway to clear the location, but there will not be any more survivors found.

‘SPAD Received 184 Animals Up Until 19th August’. The number has been less this year according to a spokesman for the Society for the Protection of Domestic Animals. Of the 184 animals received in just 19 days, 57 have already been adopted. The SPAD adoption campaign held in May will probably be repeated at the end of the Summer.

The emergency landing of the SATA shuttle service at Porto Santo yesterday, resulted in one injury, a man with a light fracture to his left foot, after a drop of around 3 metres on exiting the aircraft. He said he was pushed by another passenger in panic. The escape chute on the rear exit was not put in place until after all the passengers had left the plane. A vice president of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal was amongst the passengers.

‘Parents Deal With Purchase Of School Books’. It’s just a month to the start of the new academic year, but this year this year the sale of school text books has gone very quiet, in complete contrast with previous years, and especially last year. Large queues formed from late buyers, and supply problems from the publishers, have always caused a large headache with parents, not to mention the unwanted expense. This year, "Parents are being more responsible," says Agostinho Gonçalves, of Anny & Jhonny’s Bookstore, which sells textbooks for all subjects and levels, and to all parts of the Madeira and abroad. "There is much concern for purchasing the text books earlier", he stressed. This book shop alone orders more than 100,000 books a year. The text books needed are chosen by each school, so a wide variety are needed, although each book selected has to be adopted for a period of six years. For younger children, parents will have to find €60 – €75 for each child this year. In the secondary school this rises to €250 – €300 a year.

The sports headline today : ‘Nacional Prepares For FC Porto Thinking About Russia : Alvinegros (Nacional nickname) guaranteed a minimum of €900,000 if they eliminate Zenit St. Petersburg. But before that there is the game tomorrow in the Dragon’.

This weekend football : Marítimo are at home to Leixões on Sunday at 4 pm, and later on Nacional play away at the ‘Dragon’ against league champions Porto. (8.15 pm SportTV 1). There are currently 14 teams (out of 16) tied in second position in the league table, and I will stick my neck out and predict that will change significantly this weekend.

And from the political pages :

‘Solemn Session : Albuquerque says that the political class lives wrapped in cotton wool’. At the ‘Solene’ (solemn or serious) session yesterday in Funchal on the ‘Dia da Cidade’, in a 25 minute speech, one of the longest in 15 years, the President of Funchal Câmara Miguel Albuquerque accused the state of being "controlling, arrogant, and inefficient". The PSD politician was using a public engagement for political purposes, saying that politicians in the republic live in a glass dome. The last time I looked sr. Albuquerque you were one of the political class.

‘PND Help Jardim’. The New Democratic party launched a campaign yesterday afternoon, during Funchal 501, to help president Jardim pay the rent on the holiday home he is using on Porto Santo. The government owned property, reserved for the most deserved holidays for politicians and their cronies requires that a daily rent of €10 is paid by users, including Madeira’s president. According to José Manuel Coelho of the PND (aka The Rabbit), through a megaphone, Jardim does not deserve to be subjected to such "ingratitude", because despite being "retired", he still "cannot rest day or night, as he is always thinking about the welfare of Madeira and Porto-Santo". For everything that he has done for Madeira, especially "roads and concrete", and for being a "great world leader", at the level of Obama or Putin, he (The Rabbit) can not agree that Jardim has "to pay from his own pocket", for the holiday that he enjoys every year on Porto Santo. The money collected will be given to president Jardim. Yet another great wheeze from The Rabbit, the entertainment just doesn’t stop coming! Lettuce wait and see how much he raised for Uncle Bertie.

‘Candidate Denies Coming Together Of MPT (Earth Party) And The Orange Power – Lícia Agrela aspires in counting on the disenchanted PS supporters’. This is the next in the series of Diário interviews with the top candidates (head-of-list) for the national elections. The first question posed is about a ‘proximity between the MPT and the PSD, which she says is not correct and is just criticism made because of the MPT support shown for good policies (regardless of the political party responsible). As for the rest of the interview, I can’t be bothered. 

‘Santos Silva says that Ferreira Leite, in ‘democratic asphyxiation’, confuses the Republic with Madeira’. The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in Portugal, Augusto Santos Silva, said yesterday that Manuela Ferreira Leite (PSD Leader) is confusing Portugal with Madeira, "where they don’t follow the main democratic principles". He was reacting to a radio interview given by the social democrat national leader in which she said that the main problem of Portuguese society is a "very complex democratic asphyxia", and that "people are afraid to speak out against the government because they have fear of retaliation". I can’t speak for Portugal, but yup, that’s definitely Madeira.

‘BE does not participate in the Day of the City – Left Block challenges Funchal to "think" about the city’. Left Block councillors did not participate in the formal session of the 501st anniversary of the city of Funchal yesterday, because they contest the fact that only the PSD speeches were permitted. A situation which has been repeated for several years. Only Miguel Albquerque, president of CMF and Alberto João Jardim, president of the regional government, were allowed to speak. Rodrigo Trancoso, candidate of the BE for the forthcoming council elections on 11th October, believes this is a clear trampling of democracy and challenges Funchal to think about the future of the city. That must have spoiled the day for everyone then, and it certainly got me thinking about Funchal, particularly on how to avoid going there during election time.