Madeira News Blog

(16th September). ‘Bank Complaints Rise 27%’. The number of customers complaining about their banks rose 27% in the first 6 months of this year.

The government of Madeira will compensate farmers whose grapes do not reach the minimum standards (grade). The weather conditions have hampered the ripening of the grape crop, worrying farmers that their produce may not reach the ‘minimum degree of alcohol’ needed for Madeira Wine and table wine. The compensation will be between €0.50 and €0.60 a kilo, depending on the destination for use. Another type of grape ‘Arnsburger’ will attract less compensation.

‘Building project thinking about the foreign investor – ‘Monumental Residence’ cost €10.5 million. The 2nd phase was inaugurated yesterday’. It looks like many other buildings in Amparo, Pilar and even Ajuda, but this new building near the Rotunda da Assicom, in Funchal, is built with the aim of selling the 55 apartments to external investors, foreigners, or even emigrants that want a second home on Madeira. Sales are going well according to a spokesman for the building, which also includes 9 commercial units. An average T2 apartment there will be in the price range of €175,000 to €200,000. "In relation to what is normal, these apartments are 25 or 30% more expensive than market prices". Why? And who chose that silly name?

The last of today’s headlines (for today) : ‘Siram Win Tender – End of year illuminations are judged. The lowest price was worth nothing, as proposed by ‘Inductora’. The Siram consortium ‘Luzosfera’, who have had the contract for Christmas and new year lighting and decorations in Funchal for many years, have been reawarded the contract, despite the entrance of an under bidder in the tender contest. The Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport assessed the two proposals using a points system, and awarded the contract once again to Siram, who have been in the chair for 20 years unopposed. The two areas that swung the deal were experience, and creativity in the new proposal. The two year contract, worth €6.5 million, also includes the Carnival and Flower Festival. The Siram consortium is made up of six sub-holdings, being Luzosfera, Art of Sound, ‘Festival Factory’, Stage Madeira, Kevents, and Full Zoom. Original blog article with more detail HERE

Duarte Ferreira, Director at Madeira Airport, said: “The launch of this new scheduled route is extremely positive news for Madeira and will open up this beautiful region to many more visitors. The creation of this brand new link, especially at a time when other operators are looking to cut costs and services, plays such an important role for tourism in the region, benefiting the local economy and people working and living on the island. We hope that this partnership with Jet2.com will result in the opening of several new routes from the UK in the near future”. Talking about the Jet2 announcement that it is to commence a weekly scheduled flight from Manchester to Madeira May next year.

The cruise ship ‘Pacific Dream’ will be making its last visit here on Friday. At least there is no agreement made that signifies that it will be returning.

(17th May) ‘Plan Of Castanheiro Foresees Grand Square – Project reserves 50% of the construction for housing and 450 parking spaces’. The new development of Castanheiro (Chestnut Tree) will be bigger than ‘Largo do Colégio’ (College Square), but requires the keeping of the facades, which will be renovated and painted. 5 buildings will need to be demolished, with 5 new buildings to be constructed, up to 5 storeys high. Under the new development will be a car park and a commercial space, that will connect Rua das Pretas to the Rua do Castanheiro. The five buildings to be demolished have no great architectural quality and are those more run-down in the Rua do Castanheiro and the Rua de São Pedro. The local authority requires that around 50% of the construction area is for housing. The other half will be divided between trade, services, tourism and hotels. The square itself will be 1,700 square metres. The detailed plan, which will be valid for ten years, will presented to the public shortly.

(17th May) ‘Ponta do Pargo Suffers With Loss Of Works’. The featured town this week in the Diário series is Ponta do Pargo. The lack of construction work in the area is one of the main reasons for high unemployment, affecting many families. The area of the parish is 2,200 hectares, and is home to 1,145 inhabitants (2001 census), less than half the number of 2,546 recorded in the 1911 census. Nobody knows exactly when the parish was formed, but historians believe it was prior to 1560.  It has a health centre, a civic centre, post office, social security centre, and two banks.  It gets its name from a giant fish that was caught there, similar to a pargo. Aside from religious festivals, it is also known for its pear festival that draws in many outsiders. Like most of Madeira’s rural towns, it has an ageing population, with many youngsters leaving the parish to find work, often in England.

(17th May). ‘Homophobic Region’. Madeira is one of the regions “more complicated” when it comes to homosexuality. The president of the association Opus Gay, António Serzedelo, goes further, stressing that this is because “there is a homophobic slant” by the rulers in power, and because of “the great weight of the Catholic Church”. “Nobody is prepared to give them support” he said to the Diário, with the gay community having to live in hiding, keeping silent and lying. He also said that he believes that there is “deep domestic violence between same sex couples on Madeira, but the matter is kept hidden”. He also warned of the fact that there is a high rate of suicide in young people, motivated by finding that their sexual orientation is not acceptable to the majority in a community dominated by intolerance. He makes his comments on the World day For The Fight Against Homophobia.