Madeira News Blog

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Elize … Funchal, after the flood had gone. I have received loads of photos, many thanks.

Please bear in mind that I am on ‘catch up’ at the moment, 4 days behind, so if anything is posted that no longer seems so relevant, I probably didn’t know … I apologise.

Tess did a piece on her blog about Funchal – ‘An Island in Shock’. "I’m sure you’ll be inundated with pictures – but this is just a written piece". And another : ‘Indomitable spirit’

Paul asked me to post this :

MADEIRA DISASTER COLLECTION : Dioceses Cáritas of Funchal is collecting clothing and other goods to help those most affected by floods in Madeira. They will also inform the local population where the donations can be delivered. However, monetary donations can now be made.

Cáritas Funchal : Address: Calçada do Pico,59 9000-206 – Funchal
Phone:(+351) 291743331
Fax: (+351) 291745714 By sending a fax to this number a receipt will be sent out to you
E-mail: caritasfunchal@netmadeira.com WEBSITE

Needs: Clothes, Diapers and baby food needed, Appliances, School Material, Furniture

Donations: Financial Institution: Banif A/c no 1626371377 or NIB no. 003800011626371377113

This from Don re Madeira disaster donations : Attention here is some extra information that is important :
- (BANIF) IBAN PT 50003800011986711677151 and SWIFT CODE (BIC) BNLFPTPL
- If you use this BANIF bank account, then it gives tax benefits to taxpayers, in accordance with Articles 61 and 62 of the Statute of Tax Benefits.
- There are NO officials of the Regional Administration or City Council that are collecting funds for solidarity among the population. Official source SRTT. Thanks a lot Don

This contribution also from Paul :

VIVA MADEIRA! Coverage of Madeira’s unceasing clean-up

The clean-up operation is being documented & filmed by a BBC team led by the reporter Robert Hall on the BBC news website: HERE

Photos of key Funchal city streets that have already been cleaned in 72 hours! HERE

Videos of key Funchal city streets that have already been cleaned in 72 hours! HERE

Outside the famous ‘Apolo Restaurant’ 72 hours after the flooding: Source: FLICKR

As a benchmark for all visitor accommodation in Madeira: “the hotel industry of Madeira was not affected and maintains all operating conditions safely.”

Statement on the floods from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation: HERE

As for the tourism sector, according to the information provided by the regional government, the hotel industry of Madeira was not affected and maintains all operating conditions safely. Hotel establishments, in general, are operational and there were not reported any difficulties or problems. The Madeira International Airport is also operational. "I am confident that Madeira will continue to count on its solid tourism infrastructure and services, which have made it the destination of excellence it is today." Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the United Nations World Tourism Organization

Viva Madeira! (long live Madeira)

[Just to change the mood a little] Pete though these links might be of interest :
DINAS DESERTS AZORES FOOD "I have been there a few times. I think they make the best food I have come across, if I was a condemned man my final wish would be one last meal there then you can do what you like ha ha". Thanks Pete.

Tom emailed and said : "Today [last Friday], the brand new dealership of Toyota was officially open in Funchal. I’ve been there. So was Mr. President uncle Bertie. He is a very good talker. His Speech was good and lasted around 15 min. without any prompter or note. During Toyota President speech the lights went off. all was kaput and dark. Fuses could not keep so much power taken from the electrical system. There were two TV stations and maybe four Radios. After we have a very nice reception, including lots of booze and finger food. During radio interview the President was visibly upset about the lack of funds from Lisbon and City staying behind with payments to subcontractors".

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

Difficult situations in the high zones of Funchal. There are suspicions of people buried in the Luso-Brasileira, as a consequence of a movement of an illegal dump in Babosas.

In the road Travessa dos Poços (Monte) residents are evacuated. Many thanks to Ellen for this : Wall at risk of collapse forces evacuation at Monte – Residents of the Travessa dos Poços relocated to homes of relatives. About two dozen people had to leave their homes, on Wednesday,  in Travessa dos Poços, parish of Monte. Due to the forecast of rain and a wall at risk of collapse the area was evacuated and the residents relocated to homes of relatives. Speaking to TSF, Duarte Pereira, president of the Parish of Monte hopes that next week a study will be done on the support of the wall to allow the return of residents of Travessa dos Poços to their homes.

Forecasts now admit that the water discharge from Saturday  may pass to the side of Madeira.

‘Calamity’ would prevent construction in affected areas.

Today’s main news headline : Solidarity in force – The determination of the Madeirans in the recovery after the storm is having a notable benefit : in the solidarity [fund raising] accounts alone there are €2 million. But groups such as ‘Pingo Doce’ are making their own contributions. The Madeira Beer Company is also restocking outlets in the worst affected areas in Funchal and Ribeira Brava ‘on the house’.

"There is only one Madeira" The president of the Republic thought highly of the recovery effort in Funchal and visited problem areas such as Tabua. He needed to tread in the mud and wander around in the rain, but Cavaco Silva didn’t avoid the problems. "Shoes are plentiful, but there is only one Madeira" he declared. The main picture shows Cavaco in Ribeira Brava, inspecting the remains of the old bridge. The popular view is that the bridge was damaged, probably beyond repair, purely by the force of the water, but that isn’t the full story.  One of many stories yet to be told when the dust settles, unless someone can enlighten us beforehand?

500 vehicles damaged – The damage calculations in the ‘car park Madeira’ suggests as much as €7.5 million.

The main sport / football headline today : Solidarity [fund raising] match may be in Madrid – The Spanish football federation forgives the ‘highlighting’ of "Madeira" by CR9 [Cristiano Ronaldo]. Referring to the t-shirt incident of the Madeiran footballer during a Real Madrid match, as mentioned yesterday. It would be shame, but given the low level of support for football matches on Madeira, the potential for fund raising would probably be much greater in Spain, bizarre as it seems.  

Ellen has kindly covered some of these stories in the ‘blog comments’ … many thanks.

On the TV news (RTP) this morning, the cost of repairing the flood damage in Funchal has been estimated at €200 million. I guess that is just for public property, and the city businesses will have to claim through their insurance policies.

There has also been a warning on the radio about the quality of water, where supplies were affected by the floods. The advice is to boil water, or add bleach, depending what the water is to be used for.

Just announced at 12.20 pm today by the Regional Government the reinstatement, some with alterations, of many of the bus routes cancelled since Saturday. It was a lot of information, probably best obtained from the website(s) of Horários and Rodoeste.

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. 

Many thanks to Paul for sending this in :

Friendship and support from Jersey – My homeland has launched an urgent appeal for the victims of the Madeiran floods. The overseas aid charity Jersey Side By Side is urging Islanders to co-ordinate any fundraising efforts into one larger appeal which Side By Side will run and endorse.

It is hoped that as much money as possible can be raised, but also that the appeal will act as a symbol of friendship and support to the Madeiran community both in Jersey and Madeira. Jersey Side By Side chairman Mike Wavell said that Jersey’s close relationship to Madeira meant it was important for Islanders to show their support.

A concert in aid of the appeal is already being organised by a group of young Jersey musicians currently in Madeira. It is hoped the event will take place on Saturday 6 March at St Thomas’ Church. LINK 

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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.

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TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to ‘CD’ … who spotted President Jardim performing an inauguration in Santa Cruz on Monday, and from this shot it looks like he is still getting his ‘dutch courage’ even after the event (story to follow later).

Every day the Diário newspaper seems to have more and more problems with it’s website, and it is taking longer and longer to get through it each day. It doesn’t often disappear altogether, but sometime it can take a minute or more to get between one page and the next, and that’s a lot of time altogether. Then pages disappear altogether for short periods so you just can’t get them, and you know when there is a blank space on the blog instead of a photo that there are problems. I am tempted at times to go over to the ‘dark side’ (Jornal da Madeira), but the Diário website always seems to recover just in time.

I feel I ought to apologise for yesterday’s downpour. With blazing sunshine I thought the rain had probably finished in Rib. Bra. for 3 or 4 months at least, so I dared to do out and wash the windows and clean the balcony from the last lot of rain a few weeks ago. That was a big mistake, as within half a hour the sky was black and the heavens opened. Still within a hour the sun was back (and the windows and balcony no doubt need washing again).

There is a letter to the Irish Independent here, asking about visiting Madeira. Whilst I wouldn’t quite agree with the temperature range, I suppose it depends where you are based on the island. IRISH INDEPENDENT

Another short article here that gives advice on Madeira as a tax blessed haven, and the interest for UK businesses. As nothing has changed in the recent past, I am not sure why it would now be making a buzz. WEALTH BULLETIN

Please don’t forget that news articles will now be posted at various times during the day – Check back regularly and keep yourself up to date.

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

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions or comments.

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(29th May). In politics, and the main news headline of today : ‘Mendonça Launches Jardim Until 2015′. ‘The announcement of Albuquerque (president of CMF), about his candidacy for the leadership of the social democrats of Madeira (PSD-M), and the reaction of his adversary Coito Pita, served as a motive to eternize Jardim, that in a first move ‘promoted’ Manuel António to calm the pretenders. Now comes Miguel Mendonça saying that the internal divisions and the crisis require that Jardim continues in post after 2011. As always, there follows a period where the leader will show some reluctancy, even up until the completion of the current term’. In a nutshell, Miguel Mendonça who is leader of the legislative assembly (ALM) and a senior member of the PSD-M, is calling for President Jardim to serve another term as party leader and Madeira president, until 2015, despite Jardim saying he was finishing in 2011. Mendonça agrees that "nobody is irreplaceable", but adds that "there are those more difficult to replace, especially in times of great difficulties". Asked to comment on the physical shape of Jardim in taking on the load another four years Mendonça said "I am his doctor, and I am of the free will to to say that he is in shape to do this". The plot thickens … the leader of the ALM now also turns out to be Jardim’s doctor! Anyway, that’s a story for another day perhaps, but another 4 years of Uncle Bertie … I think I need a doctor!!!!!

Madeira News :

(29th May). ‘Baby Still-Born In An Ambulance – The birth happened 3 hours after the mother was released from the health centre in Porto Santo’. The 25 year old woman was at the end of her pregnancy and having contractions of 10 in 10 minutes, but was advised to go home and rest by the emergency clinic on Porto Santo, much to her surprise, deemed to be having a normal pregnancy. She was expecting to be sent to Funchal, as she felt was normal at this stage. The Diário reporter contacted the Health Centre on Porto Santo, but the director is absent because of illness. The clinical director of hospitals, health centres and a midwife with 30 years of experience, does not want to comment on the case now. "I do not know what circumstances occurred, many things can go wrong during a delivery, with many causes possible for the death of the baby. The only normal births are the ones that end well" he said.

‘Disused School In Curral Passed To Become The Shooters Lounge – It is a nightmare for the population of Seara Velha. The council of Câmara de Lobos promises a solution’. The school, disused since last year, has become a refuge for drug addicts, and as well as the usual filthy habits, windows and doors have been forced open and ripped off, glass broke, and even the toilets have been vandalised. The intruder alarm is deactivated, and does not discourage anyone who chooses to enter the old school in Curral das Freiras (Valley of the Nuns). The locals are understandably upset. but is this just a case of ‘not in my back yard’. These junkies are better off the streets than on. Anyway, rather in your back yard than my back yard.

‘Police tackle Prostitution – Many women aged between 17 and 45, of various nationalities, were identified’. The crack-down has been ongoing over 3 days, with police (PSP) using preventative measures against deviant behaviour, that might encourage crimes of sexual exploitation of minors, and prostitution. The focus has been on urban and sensitive tourist areas, where a larger than normal police presence has been visible.

(28th May). ‘Sea Front Of São Vicente In Works This Year – President of the council presents a project of €3 million’. He had promised that one day he would silence his critics, being the traders near the sea front, and Wednesday that day finally arrived. The work will start at the end of year to transform and upgrade the ‘downtown’ area. Poor conditions generally dissatisfied many, especially the lack of car parking, health and safety issues with customers, and exiting problems, to name a few. At the start of the meeting, some showed up reticent about what they expected to see. However, in the end everyone left the meeting in the Town Hall extremely satisfied. The work will take around one year to complete. The commercial area will be expanded, and the sea walks will take on "another dimension". Landscaped areas of leisure will also be added, and the number of parking places along the sea front increased. One detail of the improvement will be to mark the identity of the commercial units, with everybody having a different colour in order to distinguish their space, plus all the shopping esplanades will gain ‘comforts’. The sloping area will have sets of night lights, providing an interesting effect for visitors after dark.