Madeira News Blog

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Tobi … An accident on the motorway 31 Dec 10.30 pm just after the Cançela junction heading to Funchal.

This weekends football : I know for sure that most of you will be so pleased to see the return of top league football, after a couple of weeks off … me too! The top game this weekend in Portugal is tonight, when our lads (Nacional) visit league leaders Braga. It’s on SportTV1 at 8.15 pm, and I fancy our lads to shock the host team. If I am wrong, then my second chance is tomorrow, when Marítimo host Guimarães, 5 pm on SportTV1, where a home win is out of the question.

"The Queen Elizabeth is the third Cunard vessel to bear the name, following the original Queen Elizabeth, retired in 1969, and the Queen Elizabeth II (QE2), the world’s most iconic cruise liner, which retired in 2008. She will be the second-largest Cunard liner ever built (following the Queen Mary 2), and is due to depart on her maiden voyage, now sold out, on October 12, 2010". THE QE3 COMES TO MADEIRA OCTOBER 2010 Tickets for the maiden voyage sold out in 29 minutes. Also, a more factual review HERE

"We were surprised to find Madeira so completely different from Porto Santo – cooler, wetter and with very lush vegetation. Funchal itself is very busy and its old town is particularly attractive. There’s very little flat land so bus rides were along hair-raising roads up the sides of mountains, along narrow ridges and bridges across valleys. In many places the roof of one house would be level with the floor of the next". Jim and Anne’s Travels

"Botanical Garden – More than 2,000 exotic plants from all over the world are quite at home in the 35,000 square metres of grounds. In view of the increasing destruction of biodiversity and habitats all over the world, the garden has also become known as a centre of science and culture in the defence of endangered species of plants. Whether you are a nature lover, botanist or just a visitor, come to the garden for a world tour of the plant kingdom and a visit to the Natural History Museum and the Herbarium". A USEFUL REVIEW OF MADEIRA’S PUBLIC GARDENS

From Elaine : "not strictly Madeira-related but noted in the Jornal da Madeira Economy section, (Madeira Airport this year?)".

TAP and ANA Christmas flash mob celebrations at Lisbon Airport are a success on YouTube These videos were recorded on December 23 at 06.45 and December 30 at Lisbon Airport and placed on YouTube by the companies themselves. The dancing was choreographed by the marketing department of TAP and the repeat on December 30 involved far more people. The first has been seen over 840,000 times and the second over 64,000 times. TAKE 2 tomorrow! Der

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

Christmas Outreach project collected more than 200 toys The region has 243 children in homes, care centres and with foster families. Yesterday afternoon, the Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport delivered the toys collected under the first Christmas Outreach project to representatives of various charities for distribution. She thought that many toys collected in the toy chest by the giant Father Christmas in Avenida Arriaga were from tourists on holiday. The institutions which will receive the presents are: Centro de Acolhimento Aconchego de São Tiago, Abrigo Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Patronato de Nossa Senhora das Dores, Lar da Tabua and foster families. These are children from dysfunctional families, victims of abuse and neglect and children who need foster care. The photo shows the Cantar os Reis groups at the ceremony.

3,823 bone marrow donors On December 31 2008, there were only 82 donors in the region, therefore the number has now increased 46 times. The register includes donors of bone marrow cells, stem cells and blood from umbilical cords. The region has 2% of national donors. The rapid increase in numbers last year came after appeals for donors to find a match for the Madeiran baby Rodrigo who had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. A similar campaign in Portugal last year when a donor was needed for a young girl who had leukaemia also swelled the number of donors. Twitter and Facebook campaigns are also successful and one of the objectives is to increase the number of donors from ethnic minorities particularly of African or Asian descent, whose numbers are increasing in Portugal. CEDACE is the second largest European register of bone marrow donors and has a total of 142,691 in Portugal. Last year, the register was used during the treatment of 37 foreign patients and 18 Portuguese patients, mainly adults with leukaemia. To volunteer for the first time, a person has to be between 18 and 45 years, as long as they do not have an incompatible illness and donation can be made up to the age of 55 years. Forms are on the website www.chsul.pt.

Firefighters rescue man 20 metres below the Miradouro do Pinaculo A 38 year old was rescued from the cliffs below the Pinaculo viewpoint in São Gonçalo. The mountain rescue team of the Volunteer Firemen of Madeira was called out to reach the man who had fallen down the cliff and was located 20 metres below the road. A woman had heard his calls for help and he was conscious throughout the rescue but was suspected of having suffered fractures during the fall. He was lucky that his fall was broken by landing in the middle of tabaibeiras (Prickly pear cactus) otherwise he would have died after a free fall of a hundred metres.

The Ribeira da Nora overflowed and the tunnel of Cota 40 was flooded The heavy rainfall yesterday morning caused flooding in several areas of Funchal. The Ribeira da Nora overflowed especially in the area of Rua Luis Figueroa. A resident on that street could not leave her house at 7.30 am but her rooms were not affected this year due to the installation of a better sewerage system. The tunnel of Cota 40 was flooded and a stranded car had to be removed. The flooding of this tunnel, which occurs frequently, caused major traffic jams in the area of Cruz Vermelha. Due to the heavy rain, firemen had to go to a residence in Rua Conego Urbino Matos in Santa Luzia and a shop in the Commercial Centre of São Pedro.

Government approves the dumping of sludge into the sea To legitimize the deposition of sludge formed by the heavy rains into the sea at São Vicente, as reported yesterday, the explanation was, "Due to the uncertain weather, cannot deposit sludge on the land." The Regional Secretary for Social Infrastructure, Luis Santos Costa also explained that time is short and we must act quickly. "The safety of property and life are more important than ‘possible’ environmental impacts, which in practice are no larger than those arising from the natural discharge of water from the streams into the sea." "In normal situations, there is willingness to consider and be able to find alternatives. Right now, we have no time." A spokesperson for the environmental organization Quercas was in no doubt about the illegality of the act, saying they were considering whether or not to lodge a criminal prosecution. There are alternatives immediately available without deposition into the sea. The Socialist Party’s present leader, Joao Carlos Gouveia, believes that what is happening at the Passo da Areia and above Ginjas is a crime and an attack on the public. A criminal case will be lodged against both the Mayor of São Vicente and the Regional Secretary for Social Infrastructure as they are both responsible for this action and need to explain it. — The readers’ comments to this article are all against the action as the politicians have no right to pollute the sea, which impacts on tourism and fishing etc. Gouveia’s comments are not liked as they accuse him of just making political mileage instead of finding solutions.

Military museum to be created in Palacio de São Lourenço There are currently two museums, one in the Palacio de São Lourenço and the other in Forte de São Tiago. They will now both be combined and there will be three themes depicted in different rooms: Madeira in the Context of Portuguese Expansion, Military History of Madeira, and Fortifications and Military Infrastructure in the Region. The entrance to the museum will be made through a recessed area in relation to the Largo da Restauração, decorated with a new banner with the logo and coat of arms of the army.  — No dates of opening/closing of present museums given.

Aigle Azur increases flights to Paris from the end of March The number of flights will be increased to two a week from the end of March and are now bookable through Travel Agents or the Internet: www.aigle-azur.fr. Since the end of last October, this low-cost carrier has flown on Saturdays and due to demand, is starting a second weekly flight. From the end of March, another French carrier Transavia.com (KLM-Air France consortium), will fly twice weekly between Paris Orly / Madeira and Nantes / Madeira. In combination with two weekly SATA flights to France, there will be a total of eight weekly flights for the summer season March to October.

TAP stops free Aerobus The contract with the bus firm SAM for the past nine years has just ended and the Aerobus now costs 5 Euros. Aerobus is promoted as a fast connection between Madeira Airport and Funchal city centre and the main hotels in the hotel zone. The service was free on production of a TAP boarding pass until 01/01/2010. A manager of SAM explained that although TAP flew more than 2.6 million passengers to Madeira in recent years, most Aerobus passengers were from the low-cost airlines, including EasyJet. A taxi would cost 25 – 35 Euros, the taxi meter starting at 3.95 Euros plus 1.50 for luggage, during the week.

Russian tourist died in Porto Santo A Russian tourist died when he fell into the sea while taking photographs in the area of Calheta in Porto Santo. The accident occurred at 11.30 on Thursday morning and the Navy was hampered in the rescue operation by heavy seas. The tourist had travelled that morning to Porto Santo accompanied by a woman, who is hospitalized in the Health Centre in a state of shock.

Madeira wins over the Azores The domestic tourism market increased 20% in Madeira but fell 10% in the Azores last year. Some hotels in the Azores have had to close this winter due to a lack of demand. The Azorean Islands are penalized by fewer air connections than Madeira and their airport policy will have to be reviewed.

Individual throws stones at cars A 35 year old caused serious problems for vehicles on the highway in Nazaré, near the tunnel, in the early hours of New Year. He decided to throw stones at passing cars and some larger stones rolled down the slope to fall onto the road. A nine year old was hit in the arm when leaving a car and a car dented. Residents at the nearby housing estate warned drivers of the danger. The  event ended with the arrival of the BIR (Rapid Intervention Brigade) who tried to decide if the man was responsible for his actions. This is not the first time such an event has happened, often bottles and stones are thrown onto the road from the top of the tunnel and the residents have asked for a protective wall to be built.

Emergencies attended to more than 135,000 patients The Emergency Department at the Hospital Dr. Nelio Mendonca in Funchal had 141,487 patients attending last year. Of these, only 135,494 were treated as the rest were either non-emergencies or were assigned as not urgent and would not wait (up to 4 hours). Using the Manchester triage ‘traffic-light’ system, there were 773 emergency (red) patients, 21,554 very urgent (orange) patients and 64,092 urgent (yellow) patients. In Madeira in 2009, there were 16 fatalities on the roads and 101 seriously injured with a 27% decrease in accidents compared to 2008. These figures do not include those who were involved in a car accident and died after being in hospital for more than 30 days. This discrepancy will be addressed by creating a computer database, so sites of accidents and treatment methods can be studied.

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

Vânia launches herself with a CD ‘Alma Marinheira’. Her first CD will be released next month, and two singles are already getting radio airplay, the title track ‘Alma Marinheira’ and ‘Trova do Vento que Passa’ (quite appropriate at the moment). The voice that sang ‘Senhora do Mar’ in the Eurovision in 2008, as well as winning Portugal’s Pop Idol, has realized a dream in releasing the CD, and she is preparing a performance for the official launch of the CD. A bit tricky to ascertain the exact translation of the title but the nearest I can get is ‘Soul of a Seawoman’. Vânia Fernandes of course, Madeira’s current favourite daughter, or is she? Nini Andrade Silva, the designer seems to be riding high at the moment. No I think it is still Vânia, as a contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest a couple of years ago, that’s pretty hard to beat for at least a few years afterwards.

PSD-M gives-in in order to speed up the money.

Moisés charges tax that Pereira pardoned – The new president of Santana ordered the charging of taxes regarding the advertising posted in the establishments. The traders complain. The new broom Moisés is treading on more toes already, so soon after taking command after the October elections. His predecessor, Carlos Pereira, turned a blind eye to the advertising, but Moisés has told traders that the choice is simple: either pay or withdraw the advertisements. "People like it or not, I was elected to enforce the law. This is how it goes", he said. This is a strange law if I recall correctly, that to advertise your own business, on or around the outside of your business, you must pay annual taxes that are based on the size (and maybe positioning too) of the signs you choose to erect.

Today’s main news headline, and also the main photo, which shows 3 JCB diggers rapidly eating away at a beach, seemingly to ease the flow of a river into the sea : Stone from the storm puts Ponta do Sol against the Regional Government – construction companies have already taken 700 lorry loads of ‘inert materials’ [gravel etc.] back to their storage yards, that was piled up in the river and on the beach at Madalena after the storms. Council president Rui Marques wanted to see it "put back before taking it away" and contests the authorization given by the Madeira government, which besides could still mean paying 100 thousand Euros for the operation. The article says that 10,500 cubic metres have already been taken from the river at Madalena do Mar to the yards of the two companies (AFA is one of them) contracted for the clean up, and fine building material is seems to be from the photographs. I thought the latest fad was ‘if you don’t want it, chuck it in the sea’, and then I remembered a story from the last elections about certain senior political figures, who I cannot name for my own well-being, who have the ‘stone’ market of Madeira pretty much monopolised, with all sorts of less than transparent practices involved. Obviously the dumping at sea in São Vicente indicates that the material is not of adequate quality to line someone’s pockets, or even for the construction industry, but it looks like in Ponta do Sol, someone can make some easy money, and then make some more by sending the ‘clean up’ bill to the taxpayers. Call me a cynic if you like!

Today’s main sport / football headline : CD Nacional plays tonight in the home of the league leader – Madeirans arrive at Braga with the status of the 4th [best] ranking for a Portuguese club from IFFHS.

Manual Machado released from hospital today. The manager of Nacional has been in hospital, at one time close to death, since last November. He contracted an infection after a surgical procedure, and spent some time in a coma. Earlier reports say that he is not expected to return to work this season.

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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