Madeira News Blog

Today’s photos – Many thanks to Pete … "Tail of 3 Ribeiras of Funchal. Are they trying to tell us something, about land erosion and the environment? 1st pic Ribeira de São João   2nd Ribeira de Santa Luzia,  3rd Ribeira de João Gomes. Der – Would a Ribeira campaign of asking people for photos help to make thing more aware in the blog help?". It might do Pete, but please don’t look to me to run it or publicise, as I have more than enough on my plate … any volunteers?

Ken emailed me with this story, thank you : Unfortunate Experience. Having met our family who are on a visit to Madeira, at the airport last night (Saturday, 27th March), we were driving home in Tandem, myself leading my son who was driving a hired car, to go to our home in Estreito da Calheta. Going down the long decline on the Expressway after the exit to Madeira shopping, we were in the right hand lane as we didn’t want to drive faster than about 80 km per hour. Cars were obviously passing us as usual in the left hand passing lane, going down the hill towards the big bridge in the valley. Suddenly we noticed that the flow of passing cars had slowed to our pace, and in fact the pace of cars ahead of us in the right hand lane had also slowed to below 70 kph. The reason soon became clear as we saw a small car ahead in our lane weaving dangerously from side to side. It sometimes went right across the middle line of the road and then back again. The car we saw later was an older model Ford Fiesta, dark blue/black. Both lanes of traffic were reduced to the speed of the offending car, the driver of which seemed to be under the influence of alcohol or perhaps something else.

One or two cars tried to overtake the weaving car, but were forced back by the erratic track of the offender. With the number of cars backed up behind us, my son who is a driver with years of experience of driving on the freeways in and around Los Angeles, who was in the hired Ford Focus, decided to lead the way in overtaking the offender, which he did but for his troubles received a slight side swipe from the inebriate driven vehicle. This was as we were going through Câmara do Lobos at about 20H10. Once my son had overtaken him, the driver of the offending car seemed to get a grip on himself, and stick more to the right hand side of the road than he had previously, and the backlog of cars then followed my son’s example, and went past the offending car. After the rush petered out, we too were able to pass the car. It was driven by a sole occupant. Prior to our overtaking him , whilst he was going through a tunnel, he was in fact so far over to the right that he ran against the walkway curb.

I wonder if any of your other readers were perhaps involved in this incident and can perhaps tell us what the final outcome was. We unfortunately didn’t take the registration of the car. We just hope that no disaster happened either to the stupid driver, or any innocent bystander.

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

Madeira appeal could top 100,000 pounds. Jersey Appeal

PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD WITH OUR GUIDE TO HIKING HOLS More calorie-based incentives – do the walk, you get to have your Madeira cake and eat it. NEWS OF THE WORLD

Many thanks to Becky for this video and web snippet :

Madeira Island – as beautiful as ever

A comprehensive travel blog from 2008:  "Funchal itself clusters in a valley around a pleasant bay but, as I said, don’t expect a beach. The sea-shore offers only dingy pebbles, and you won’t see anyone bathing. I only saw a few kids on the pebbles and one of the few homeless to be found there. This particular chap was dressed as if for the Arctic, wore the traditional woollen hat with side-flaps – the story has it that these are so the men can let them down to block out nagging wives – they’re considering it for export – and he wore a huge gold chain and medallion around his neck along the lines of a mayor. (Unless he was, indeed, the mayor of Funchal, I would have thought that the police should have taken a closer look at his regalia than I did.)" TRAVEL BLOG

"A nice balanced piece I thought" – Adrian. Bargains to bag as Madeira gets back to normal – Places that rely on tourism for their livelihood develop the ability to bounce back from disaster.  Madeira hit the news in February when a month’s worth of rain fell in just one hour, triggering appalling landslides that temporarily paralysed the island’s capital, Funchal. It was a cataclysmic event that claimed 42 lives and made 200 homeless. Yet within days, the Portuguese island in the Atlantic, famous for its mild climate, was attempting to convince travellers that it was back in business. Previous experience of such disasters suggests that people are inevitably affected by the negative news stories. The TV cameras reveal awful pictures of destruction yet there is no follow-up which shows that things have returned to normal. The Madeira tourist office has vociferously appealed to people not to cancel planned holidays to the island – with limited success. The result is that, in the words of one UK Madeira specialist: "Bookings have fallen off a cliff." In these situations the way to recovery usually lies through cut-price deals. For anyone planning to travel in April, for example, there are extraordinarily good buys to Funchal. Teletext Holidays WEBSITE is offering a seven-night package to a three star hotel for just £186 including a return flight from Gatwick – seven nights’ half-board at a top-grade hotel costs £444. While there are still signs of damage, the message is that Madeira is almost completely back to normal. At the prices currently available, it’s a prospect too good to miss. Frank Barrett.  (Mail on Sunday Travel 28/03/10). Many thanks Adrian.

‘Cheetahs of the Deep’ and other whales off the Calheta Coast! The blog site of the whale & dolphin watching boat ‘Lobosonda’ is reporting with photos impressive sightings in the last few days. Among them are Pilot Whales. The North Atlantic Ocean population runs, in a band that runs from South Carolina in the United States across to Madeira, the Azores and Morocco.

Length (metres): Adults are 3.5 – 6.5 metres in length. When they are born short-finned pilot whales are about 1.4-1.9 metres long.

Weight: At birth, Short-finned Pilot Whales weigh about 60kg (135lb). A fully grown adult will weigh between 1 and 4 tonnes.

Diet: Fish, Squid, Octopus

Life span is about 45 years in males and 60 years in females for both species. Image caption: Globicephala macrorhynchus, The Short-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus)

Logging, lobtailing, slapping flukes, porpoise and spyhopping. Short-finned Pilot Whales are very sociable and are rarely seen alone. They are found in groups of ten to thirty, though some pods are as large as sixty. They are sometimes seen logging and will allow boats to get quite close. They rarely breach, but may be seen lobtailing (slapping their flukes on the water surface) and spyhopping (poking their heads above the surface). Before diving, they arch their tails and raise them above the surface. When coming to the surface to breathe, adults tend to show only the top of their head, whereas calves will throw their entire head out of the water. Adults occasionally porpoise (lift most of the body out of the water) when swimming particularly quickly. They are known as the ‘Cheetahs of the Deep’ for the high speed pursuits of squids at depths of hundreds of metres.

Fin whales off the Calheta Coast! Also, Lobosonda has sighted Fin whales. “In the morning there were 4 fin whales that rushed very fast to the east, in the afternoon there were 3 fin whales which went for a while just beside our boat.” They are the second largest whales and the second largest living animal after the blue whale growing to nearly 27 metres long. They live to 94 years of age. Its food consists of small schooling fish, squid, and crustaceans including mysids and krill. Image caption: Fin whale off the Calheta Coast, Madeira.

Image : Fin whale size.  Wiki pages: FIN WHALE PILOT WHALE Link to Lobosonda’s blog:

Many thanks to Paul for all that information on our oversized neighbours. 

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

To purchase a house on Madeira is more expensive – A bank assessment in the Region comes up with values superior to the national average by almost 25%. The price of construction is higher, and the consequent bank evaluations even more so. Madeira has the highest rating in Portugal. According to a study by the National Institute of Statistics, the average bank evaluation on housing in Portugal, during the month of February, stood at 1,183 Euros per square meter, or 0.5% less than in January, but more than 4.5% higher compared to February last year. However the banks have evaluated the value per square metre on Madeira to be €1,470, 24.2% higher than the average for Portugal.

Today’s main news headline : Storm already caused three lawsuits – There are two criminal complaints lodged by relatives of victims (crane and landfill) and an investigation initiated by the MP (Babosas). One of the cases (pictured) is of a crane that fell in Laranjal killing people. One of the lawsuits has actually been instigated by the Prosecution Service (MP) itself, after hearing news and complaints about the situation in Babosas, something that the MP has the power to do. There will be other such cases for sure, as 6 months are allowed from the date of the incident to formalise complaints.

Diocese doesn’t comment on the suspicions of paedophilia – There are cases of two padres on Madeira. But Paço says to the Diário that doesn’t talk "based on conjecture". And that "if there are cases being investigated, they should be investigated, proved, and that each one  assume their own responsibilities". The Diocese ignores investigations of members of the clergy suspected of sexually abusing minors that occurred in 2008 and 2009, according to church spokesman, Father Marcos Gonçalves. The Justice Police are investigating cases following the receipt of anonymous letters.

Free calls to South Africa and Venezuela. Almost old news really, as Cable TV company Zon offers free calls to fixed phones in those two countries between 9 pm and 9 am, from next month. That’s using the telephone package that costs €9.99 per month. The change has happened as Zon increased the list of free-to-call countries from 20 to 30. They now include Austria, Germany, Andorra, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, Chile, Peru, Australia, China, Japan, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Canada and USA. With Canada and the USA  you can also make free calls to mobile networks, no doubt subject to some restrictions or conditions, before someone finds out otherwise and sues me.

Social Democrat Party conditions representative of the Socialist Party on the table of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira – Ramos only accepts Serrão.

PP [Peoples Party] criticises deputies on holiday with support, when there are matters from the storm to be dealt with.  Had to guess that one a bit, seemed an impossible headline to translate, but even the Diário often makes errors, even on the front page.

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. 

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
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 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 other material.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

(more…)

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Vic … The inbound flight from Caracas, Venezuela

I have never seen this website before, but it has some nice photos to which it seems you can add your own FOTOPEDIA

I was reading a website yesterday about property prices, that claimed that Madeira property prices "survived the downturn relatively unscathed and is (are) already looking at some growth now things are recovering". It also says that "Madeira offers a unique opportunity to buy property in the safety of an established property market, amidst the climate, growth potential and low living costs of an African nation". What absolute BS. I won’t even put a link to the article on the site as I usually do. Whether that is a foreigners perspective of the property market here, or just marketing BS I don’t know, but anyone considering buying here should be aware that the island economy and property market is still in recession. As for an African nation cost of living, generally speaking, that would explain the starvation, poverty and poor health suffered by many in Africa if they have to  pay Madeiran prices with African wages (I am of course referring to the underdeveloped parts of Africa).

"Fancy pan-fried frogs legs with chervil sauce or steamed wild sea bass with oyster tartar? These are just two of the creations Chef Antoine Westermann spoils his guests with at The Vine, Design Hotels™’ newest member hotel in Madeira. At UVA, the hotel’s gourmet restaurant, the award-winning chef creates fusion cuisine at its best. Locals have also discovered this gem – for its culinary delights as well as the spectacular views". According to the article they have a dog cooking the restaurant specialities, and I wondered if they are also serving any Korean dishes to the "Locals (who) have also discovered this gem". Bit out of my price range I suspect, and I certainly suspect its prices put it out of the reach of the vast vast majority of the local population. FROG LEGS A LA WOOF

Trindade reappointed as Secretary of State for Tourism – Socrates rewards work done in the last mandate. Prime Minister José Sócrates will bring in Madeira’s Bernardo Trindade as Secretary of State for Tourism. The Daily News of Lisbon says that the reappointment is the recognition of work done during the last legislative term. Trinidade currently occupies his place in the National Assembly as a deputy elected by the PS-M socialists in September, and will be replaced next week by Miguel França, number two on the election list submitted by the PS-M. The ‘swearing in’ of Secretaries of State is scheduled for next Saturday. That can only be good news for Madeira, it’s just a great pity that president Jardim gives the impression that he hates his guts. Welcome back Bernie-the-Bolt.

Many thanks to Elaine for this huge news contribution from yesterday :

Road construction in São Vicente begins with the police and a shot in the air. There was no official notification by the municipality that the construction of the road  between Feiteiras and Levada do Poio in Sao Vicente would begin. Confusion started at 14.30 when Jose Mendes was informed that his land was being "invaded by strangers". He went to the land but was too late as the bulldozer had already started and he has lodged an injunction for an immediate halt. He heard a shot but does not know who fired the bullet. The construction workers gave an alternative story, that they were warned via their mobile phones that locals were heading their way. This was collaborated by locals who said the owner of the land, enraged, left his car and was in possession of a firearm. João José Mendes says he does not know who the contractor is as there are no identifying signs. The council, annoyed, later tried to contact the president and executive of the services department but everybody was in a meeting. There was criticism about the time the police took to respond and it is for the bulldozer driver to decide whether to make a complaint against the person who fired the shot. The Diário could not get a reply from the mayor of the council, Humberto Vasconcelos.

Government is considering privatizing the Professional School of Hospitality and Tourism. Of the 4.5 million Euros a year, €2.5 million are for staff costs and €1.8 million for goods and services. The Department of Education and Culture is considering a public tender for privatization as many firms provide similar qualifications at less cost. The school has 460 students, 318 in residence and 50 staff. It was founded in 1967 and became under the Regional Educational Department in 1983 and a new building inaugurated in 1997. The building contains a 4 star hotel with 20 rooms for training purposes, and the qualifications are recognized by local businesses.

Controversy over Portugal’s new Government legalizing same-sex ‘marriages’. The Catholic Church and some people representing Madeira in Parliament disagree with the new law, especially as it is to be a priority when they think there are other more pressing concerns, e.g. economic difficulties. Regarding the possibility of a referendum, a representative of the Diocese of Funchal said, "If it is tabled in Parliament, it will be presented many times until they approve." The legislation was proposed by the BE (Left Block) on grounds of non-discrimination and freedom. The Socialist Party said it would be debated at the ‘"appropriate time", especially as the Socialist Government in Portugal has a relative majority, which means dialogue. The CDS-PP think a legal safeguard of rights is needed but not the term ‘marriage’. The Social Democrats think prioritizing it is "scandalous" and "an insult" when the "country is in crisis" and that the term ‘marriage’ is inappropriate in a secular society.

Collision at Quinta Grande damaged two parked cars. A car damaged two vans at dawn, about 04.15 on the 15th October and did not stop. Surveillance video (shown) has been released and it is thought to be a metallic grey Polo. The police and owners are appealing for information.

Nurses unhappy. Regarding the recent changes in management and the way nurses are not consulted about changes, a petition is circulating the health service. They worry that what has happened with doctors (sudden dismissal via phone) and now with nurses will spread to other health professionals. A meeting of the Union of Nurses representatives with the Regional Secretary for Social Affairs is set for October 30th, when career changes will also be discussed. —- Usual internal politics and management making all the decisions. More strikes?

An "environmental attack" in the construction of the promenade in the zone of Soccoridos.  The Municipal Council of Funchal have complained about the amount of gravel put down, needed for construction machines, which they think will wash into the sea and cause pollution. They say the level is higher than the contractor SMD originally stated and have sent a report to the Regional Department of the Environment and Maritime Police.

Collision between three cars and a motorcycle. No casualties but damage to the vehicles. It occurred at rush hour yesterday afternoon at the entrance to the Funchal – Machico expressway at Santo António and a 15 km queue formed.

The post of the Representative of the Republic is in jeopardy. Monteiro Diniz is the Representative, and a lawyer and has made comments about legalities of some actions of the Regional Government, in the newspaper Expresso. After such comments and his distance from the present Regional Government, the PSD-M and Jardim now want to end his position. His comments about the legality of the removal of the Socialist  Victor Freitas from the Legislative Assembly have not helped. (It depends on which parts of two conflicting laws you apply). Victor Freitas said, "What happens in the Legislative Assembly of Madeira is that democracy is suspended, the PSD does what it wants, does not comply with the Constitution or the Regulations of the Region." He said that the rules were subverted illegally, "This must be one of the worst situations that has attended the Regional Assembly." Diniz is not commenting publically, responding to Jardim’s letter in private, which accused him and the Portuguese Government of outrageous colonial imposition and dividing the people of Madeira.

Cunha e Silva meets with Barroso and urges his support for the region. The Vice President of the Region presented Barroso with an 80-page memorandum highlighting the importance of maintaining European Union support for the production of tradable goods, agricultural production, fisheries, energy, tourism and transport. "I tried to raise with the President of the European Commission the need to simplify the procedures and rules of access to funds."  The other Presidents of the Autonomous Regions at the meeting in Brussels were also optimistic about  Barroso’s support as he is knowledgeable about the issues surrounding the Portuguese autonomous regions. I know what I would do with an 80 page memorandum, and it wouldn’t involve any reading. As for simplifying the access to European funding Cunha e Silva must be joking. The rules are there to make sure European taxpayers money is allocated fairly and properly where most needed, and with Madeira’s record in bogus applications for funds and misusing them, the EU should make Madeira a special case and tighten the rules even more. Der

Jardim just wants justice. In the official reception to the Committee on Regional Development of the European Parliament, Jardim also re-iterated the need for continuity of funding, especially in the transport sector and specific legislation for the Free Zone. "We do not want privileges, we just want justice. We have reached a good level of development, but we need continuity. Just because the GDP has reached a high level, it does not mean that we do not need more." In response, the Greek delegation member praised the projects they had visited and saw their positive impact on the development of the island, although he had some reservations about the future allotment of funds. The airport, wind farm and water distribution network were seen to be good implementation of EU funds. —- They are worried as Madeira has exceeded 75% of GDP (gross domestic product) per capita of the EU average. This means it is no longer eligible for continuation of the present EU support after 2014. The Free Zone ends in 2011 (tax haven).

Easyjet carried 25% more passengers than expected on the Lisbon – Funchal route. In October 2008, they predicted 152,000 in the first year but flew 190,000 people. An average of 16,000 a month and an occupancy rate of 86%. It is in the second position in numbers of passengers flown via Madeira Airport, increasing its market quota from 7.5% to 13.4%.

Madeira invited to join Medicruise, the largest association of Mediterranean cruise ports. Formal entry will be at the 35th General Assembly in Monaco. This is important for the growth of the industry in Madeira and as a seasonal tourist destination. The 72  most important ports of the Mediterranean and surrounding areas are in the organization. Madeira joining will help maintain the sustainable growth of the cruise ships and passenger port, and break the summer seasonality. It will help promotion, and influencing regulation and monitoring by the European Council. Lisbon, Portimão and the Azores are already members.

Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport wants subsidies to residents for travel between the autonomous regions and the continent. Wants the new Government of the Republic to give a more fairer subsidy to people travelling by either air or boat. Also need to resolve issues about maintaining the investments in the fishing port at Caniçal and Madeira Airport.

Santa Cruz Council wants more police in Nogueira. The council is assessing the situation and has spoken to the Regional Command of the PSP, especially after the attack on a fireman. Want to be able to resolve issues before violence occurs. The mayor did not deny a drug trafficking problem and gang fights, but also spoke of the work done by the Community Centre and that it is generally a good neighbourhood with some situations arising giving it a bad image. —- No motive for the attack on the fireman given. I do not know if the police have any information about who was involved.

More about the Gerontology Plan. The idea is to promote autonomy and independence to keep people in their own homes, rather than residential care. Admits there is not enough resources and this is only the beginning. One major part of the plan is to make health care more easily accessible through the regional health centres by determining present limitations. Early diagnosis of elderly-related illnesses and health education about them, and priority treatment for chronic illnesses to prevent future complications. Opportunities for both paid and unpaid voluntary work. The elderly will have a right to choice in the context of the end of life. There will also be creation of legal representation for the elderly, and a hotline in case of abuse. More social facilities and the re-structuring of help services. There will be community-based care and informal carers will be trained and regulated by law, at present there are 72. Small local residential units will be created and support networks developed for dementia and dependence.

Anyone recognise this from 16 years ago, exactly to the day?

Eight people died as a result of the floods of 29th October 1993.

Mud, debris, and rubble ‘todo o lado’. Heavy rains made rivers overflow, and eight people were carried away by the force of the waters.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
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 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.
—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

(more…)

(12th August). Today’s main front page story : ‘Searches Of Suitcases Destroy Luggage – Passengers coming from Venezuela complain that at the Airport of Maiquetia the suitcases searched were punctured with ‘ice picks’ that damaged the luggage. Travel Agents were yesterday in the Venezuelan consulate in Funchal to condemn the situation. The consul Félix Mendez Correa confirms the complaints and has already asked the ambassador in Lisbon to intercede’. The passengers from Venezuela, whether travelling with TAP or SB Airlines, are finding a nasty surprise when leaving Madeira Airport, with their property damaged with an ice pick. There is some half-cocked theory that this is done to detect drugs, though nobody is quite sure why it is happening. As the origin of the problem is in Venezuela I am not clear why the good people at the Diário thought this should be today’s top story, but to be fair there isn’t much else of excitement. Anyway having selected it, I think they lost an opportunity to sell more newspapers today with that limp headline. I think I would have gone with ‘Madmen run amuck in airport with ice picks’.

‘Crisis Affects The Property Sector On Porto Santo – The purchases and sales of homes and lands on Porto Santo fall to levels that many have never seen on the island’. Somehow I doubt that latter part of the headline is true for anyone out of infancy, but the only public notary on Porto Santo does reckon that everything was 20 to 30% overpriced anyway. The Jornal da Madeira covered exactly the same story on Sunday, so I decided to turn to that one instead (believe it or not!).

From the Jornal da Madeira (9th August) : ‘Property Market Is Stagnant – Pedro Leandro says that the Madeirans and continentals are still buying, but …’. Porto Santo is still feeling the effects of not just the economic crisis, but also the lack of international flights. Last year flights from London and Italy gave estate agents some hope, but since those were cancelled everything stagnated. Pedro Leandro, vice president of ACIPS and president of the board of the real estate sector, confirmed that the slowdown is general and Porto Santo is no exception to the rule. "Especially as much of the building investment that has been done in recent years – we are talking about houses – was done mainly by continental and Madeirans (builders’)". Residents are also feeling the pinch, with increased difficultly in accessing bank funds to buy, despite of interest rates falling to record low levels. They used to lend 100%, but now there are few who lend over 80% of the purchase price, and they want guarantees to protect themselves against what happened in the past. English buyers have disappeared now, thanks to the drop in the value of the Pound against the Euro, and some are now trying to disinvest. Construction of course has also slowed, with so little demand, and with the price of materials so expensive (with increased transport costs) "it really is expensive to build here" he adds. Talk about a turn around of fortunes, up to around two years ago it was the ‘in’ place to buy for foreigners, exotic and exclusive, but it’s a sad situation now with such a glut of unsold properties and nothing foreseeable that might remedy the situation, short term at least.

‘São Gonçalo Doesn’t Seem A Community Of The Capital – Not even in the Diário series (Through Madeira) did one find a parish without a health centre, supermarket, and public conveniences. S. Gonçalo has a pharmacy, some grocery stores … and little more‘. Santa Maria Maior it turns out was not the weekly featured location in the Diário, it is in fact São Gonçalo in Funchal. In a parish that lacks almost everything, the list of aspirations of the people is very extensive and begins with the promised health centre. "This is of course the parish of Funchal where more things are lacking", the observation of Paulina Silva who works in the pharmacy. "It is easier for people to go to Funchal to live their lives" she adds, recalling that there is no supermarket, the biggest one nearby being in Cancela. When the only multibanco (ATM), situated in a restaurant, breaks down (as it often does) then one needs to travel, and there is not even a public garden for people to pass some time. It does have a crèche, and a day centre for old people, but still lacks the health centre promised for so long, that even has a site allocated. In the meantime if one is sick, they have to travel to the health centre in Bom Jesus. As for the public toilets, they used to exist but they "Closed the wc’s in the area and made into the headquarters of the scouts" says 64 year old housewife Margarida do Rosário. There is no police presence in São Gonçalo she says, though they do make patrols which does help, though the assaults are rising along with drug problems.

Today’s football headline : ‘Criticisms At Real Before Liechtenstein – Portugal plays tonight (7.30 pm) without Cristiano Ronaldo’. The Madeiran superstar was not released by his club, Real Madrid, because he has flu. The criticisms are about the way Real handled the matter. I don’t wish to be disrespectful to Liechtenstein, or upset it’s fine platoon of bin men, but I don’t think the absence of CR737 is really going to change the result, although the Portugal manager seems to think they are similar to Denmark … let’s hope they got on the right plane then.

During July the Portuguese Navy carried out 9 search and rescue missions around Madeira, and three support missions in the Parque Natural da Madeira.

‘Jardim Inaugurated The New Terminal Of The Port Of Porto Santo – The structure provides shelter before embarking’. The president of Madeira opened yesterday the ferry terminal which has a covered waiting and boarding area, and a ticket sales and administrative area, for passengers of the Porto Santo Line Ferry, the ‘Lobo Marinho’. BTW : The Porto Santo ferry is running behind schedule today due to an earlier fuel problem. Why has the news been taken over by Porto Santo so much in the last week? Is it ‘cos Uncle Bertie is off there very very soon for his freebie holidays?

Onto politics and the economy :

(12th August). The day’s top political story ‘PS Has The PSD Ex-President Of The Parish Council Of São Vicente As A Candidate’. Humberto Freitas was elected  president of the Junta de Freguesia in São Vicente in 1997 as a social democrat, but he has now changed his colours from orange to ?????, to stand for the socialists instead.

(11th August). ‘CDU Manages To Be In All The Parishes’. For the first time the coalition PCP/Verdes (Communists / Greens) are going to have candidates in all the local authorities on Madeira (câmara and parish levels). The CDU (also communists) will also have candidates in the 11 councils and 54 parishes. The effort requires an army of 800 candidates, more than half independents and people standing for the first time. The lists were delivered Monday in the various authorities around Madeira. A PCP spokesman stressed the importance of having "complete coverage of the coalition presence in the region", as in the rest of the country. The objective being to "end the promiscuity of the regional power in local government" to help end the "Jardim power". No doubt seeing the increase in the popularity of communism from the results of the European elections has encouraged the extra effort and the appearance of new candidates. 

(11th August). The final front page article from yesterday : ‘To Close Hotels On Porto Santo Costs €1 Million – When the prospects of closing hotels during the Winter is hanging in the air, the sums force one to think’. To close the hotels of Porto Santo during the Winter would cost a million Euros, in ‘lay off’ costs. The idea is not new, but unprecedented. It was first discussed in 2000, with the closures used to give staff holidays, training staff, and to undertake maintenance work. In the Azores it is done, with a state subsidy system that helps with 30% of the costs, and social security paying 70% of staff salaries. In the Greek, Italian and even Spanish Islands, there are schemes to ensure hotel workers are paid in low season. On Porto Santo, if the hotels were closed for 4 months from December to March, social security would have to pay out €1 million to workers, whilst businesses (or the government in the case of the Azores), would pay the remaining €433,000.

(8th August). ‘Banif Group Made €15.7 Million Profit In The First half Of 2008 – The result was positive but represents a fall of 64.6% compared to the same period in 2008′.

Tonight is the second of two nights for the ‘rain of meteors’, that happens this time every year. Last night was due to be cloudy so I didn’t mention it, but tonight should be better. The fireballs are actually dust particles (pea to tennis ball in size) from the comet Swift-Tutle burning up in the atmosphere. The event starts well before dark, and the moonlight may also interfere, but they should appear at an average of around one per minute. The article doesn’t mention where to look, so I asked the blog astronomy research team (thanks Alberto) to look into it and the answer is to look north, with the naked eye.

’32% Of Children Born Are To Singles – The number of children born outside of marriage increases year after year’. That includes unmarried couples and single parents. Figures released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) show an increasing trend in recent years and throughout the country. On Madeira in 2000, the total number of live births outside marriage, were no more than 20%, when the birth rate was quite high. In eight years, the total number of children born has decreased, but grown 12% to single and unmarried parents. Also in Portugal and the Azores there has been an increase of children born outside marriage. In 2000 there were only 22.5% in Portugal and 13.1% on the Azores, in that same situation, but by last year that had increased to 36.6% and 26.4% respectively. This is one of those stories that does the rounds every few months, usually accompanied by a statement from a church spokesman saying that family values are disintegrating, but not this time.

I was just talking last week about the ex-president of the Câmara of Ponta do Sol, António Lobo, wondering where he was, and today there is an article saying he is being transferred to a prison in Sintra in Portugal. The reason is unknown. The former president was sentenced on 7 March 2007, in Ponta do Sol, to serve six years in prison for corruption and related crimes. He has another case still outstanding, again for corruption and fraud. Did I mention that he was/is a PSD-M politician?

Yet another Madeiran has been kidnapped in Venezuela. The 55 year old man from Serra d’Água was taken on Sunday.

‘Balloon Registers Record Of 3.88′. A 41 year old driver arrested in Santa Cruz on Sunday, registered a 3.88 blood-alcohol count when stopped by police, beating the previous record this year. I repeated this because I was chatting about this in town last night, and we reckoned the guy was dead and the police haven’t yet noticed. I have tried several blood alcohol simulators on the internet, including the one at www.rupissed.com, and have been unable to create the same level of alcohol in the blood.

In a national politics story : ‘PSD gives citizenship to grandchildren of emigrants – The leader of the ‘orange’ accused the government of having mistreated the PS Portuguese emigrants’. (If the PSD gets into power) It wants to widen the net of nationality to the grandchildren of emigrants, i.e. to the second generation. Manuela Ferreira Leite, PSD leader, says her party "has always given great importance throughout it’s history to emigrants, with a fundamental concern of keeping together all those who are Portuguese". Smacks of something strange, but not sure what … world domination perhaps?

The minister for health in the republic was talking to journalists about cases of people deliberately trying to spread the swine flu, Gripe A. She specifically referred to adults who, at the emergency services, refused to wear a protective mask, and mothers who said they would take their children to hospitals in the emergency departments to infect other people, since their children were already infected. She refused to name those responsible, saying it was not her role to do so, and the police could not arrest such people. Even without an official complaint, the Attorney General is considering the possibility of investigating the cases mentioned by the Health Minister, of persons who refuse to comply with the control measures for Gripe A, or express the intention to spread the disease. Spreading a disease is a crime in Portugal, and can be punished with a prison term from 1 to 8 years if it is deliberate, and by up to five years in the case of negligence.