Madeira News Blog

(31st August). Today’s main news headline : ‘Regional Produce Hardly Used In The Hotels – The appeals for the preference of fruit and vegetables from Madeira only amounts to 5% of the consumption of tourists’. ‘Qualifrutas, which supplies the hotels and restaurants, calls for greater use of regional production’. Hard to believe I know, but 95% of what a tourist gets fed in terms of fruit and vegetables is imported, that’s in the hotels, with the restaurants equally guilty. That of course applies to Madeirans eating out as well. Qualifrutas is one of the leading suppliers to the trade on Madeira, and it says it has good suppliers here, and only resorts to importing when there is insufficient product locally, a particular problem with fruit, although ‘greens’ are 30 to 40% sourced on Madeira. Lettuce and tomatoes are mainly sourced and supplied here, with little need to import, unlike green beans, cauliflower or broccoli, which require "importation in large quantities", says the company. Even the banana is imported, and the spokesman says it is just necessary to look in the supermarkets to see how little representation there is from Madeira in the greengrocery ranges.

‘Passenger With Gripe A Prevented From Boarding – The tourist was already in the airport when he received internment orders from Marmeleiros Hospital’. The tourist spent the night in hospital. Confirmation that the person had swine flu resulted in him being prevented from travelling to Lisbon and infecting other passengers on the flight. His three travelling companions also spent the night in the hospital to be screened, but at the time showed no symptoms. The tourist was on the list of suspected cases, having had symptoms, and attended Funchal Central Hospital for checks. Whilst the analysis was being done he took the medications, but his condition developed rapidly as he prepared to return home, and the confirmation of Gripe A changed his plans. The firemen of Santa Cruz were sent to the airport to pick up the group in a vehicle equipped for such cases. One of the sick patients already in hospital with pneumonia (and gripe A) has improved in health and is no longer connected to the ventilator. That patient, probably the most serious case so far, from Câmara de Lobos, no longer needs breathing assistance. They should put warnings signs up in the airports and on check-in desks to tell people that if they know they have Gripe A, and continue to fly, they could go to prison for knowingly infecting others on board – 5 years inside if I recall correctly.

‘Port Without Space Is Losing Cruise Ship Visits – A shipping agency alerts to the need to increase the posts for mooring’. This is an article in the series ‘The top 100 Companies’. This one is called Agência Ferraz, specialising in the ‘shipping’ sector, and founded 80 years ago. It deals with some of the big players in the international market, and includes tourism. Carlos Santos of the company believes that Funchal Port needs upgrading works, and although the new port building is very welcome, the real need is to increase the number of berths, particularly as ships are now getting larger. He said that the port has already lost business for not responding to the call for more capacity, and this will continue to happen. "We can not think that docking a liner in Funchal is the same as in the Mediterranean, in Greece or the Caribbean. We can not allow ourselves the luxury of refusing scales or influencing the choices of companies" he said. 

‘He Lived The High Life And Left Debts Of €20,000′. A 27 year old man is under investigation by police after a series of frauds. The man from Castelo Branco in Portugal used scams to live the life of a lord on Madeira, leaving debts in hotels, shops, and restaurants in Funchal and surrounding areas. For almost a year he used stolen cheques and faked bank transfers to ‘live the life’. In one Funchal jewellery shop he brought gold worth €1,500, paying with a stolen cheque. New complaints are coming to light, and the extent of the fraud is mounting up, and the Diário has totted up more than €20,000 so far. The case goes back to December last year, when the young man, with a criminal record as a con man in Portugal, stayed at a hotel for a few days in Funchal, leaving behind a debt of €1,200. Several other hotels also fell victim, including the Carlton Hotel, again for €1,200. The con man is no longer on Madeira, and his whereabouts at present is unknown.

Today’s main photo and sports story : ‘Marítimo Uninspired In Leiria – Goalless draw justified in weak offensive performance of the ‘Verde-Rubros’. Nacional play this evening.

That’s everything from the front page today. Normally there are at least 7 headlines, sometimes as many as 9, but today just 5.

UPDATES :

‘Lugar de Baixo Undergoes More Works’. The controversial marina at Lugar de Baixo is again the subject of repairs. This time the work addresses the damage caused as a result of securing the overlooking cliff face, as well as some damage, caused by the strength of the waves, to the wall of the jetty that protects the marina. Also the construction that houses the car park, that was also badly damaged by rock falls, is being completely demolished, as that is was deemed to be the cheaper and most appropriate option. A new parking facility will not be built for now. "At this stage there is no justification, because we have enough parking in the area for the immediate needs", said a spokesman, adding that even if there was a need, it is intended in the future to consider other enterprises planned inside the marina complex.

‘Festival of Curral Finishes With Drunks and Brawls’. A young man was left unconscious after an assault in a bar, and several men were suffering with severe alcohol intoxication, during Saturday night in the festa in Curral das Freiras (Valley of the Nuns). Ambulance services were called on six times between midnight on Saturday and 8 am Sunday morning. Also during the weekend festival in São Vicente the fire department was called upon to rescue several people worse the wear from excess drinking. "But this, as they say, is normal when there are festivals in the parish". It might be normal, but it’s certainly not acceptable!

‘Searches are continuing along the coast’. Despite having been officially suspended for four days, the search operations for the 78 year old fisherman who may have fallen in the sea in the area of Lakota, Porto Santo, have continued with searches along the coast of the island. "Once or twice a day, we carry out searches along the coast", said the commander of the Maritime Zone of Madeira, adding that after so much time having passed since the disappearance, there is little chance of the body appearing along the coast.

‘Cimber Sterling Connects Madeira And Copenhagen’. The Denmark based airline flies today to Madeira’. The first of the weekly flights was due to land at Madeira Airport at 12.50 pm, returning to Denmark one hour later. The journey each way is around 5 hours.

‘CEB should maintain interest rates’. The Central European Bank should maintain its interest rates on Thursday, waiting to see if the signs of recovery in the euro zone will extend further. The main rate by the CEB should continue at its lowest historical level of one percent, where it has been since May, according to financial analysts.

FINALLY A FEW POLITICAL BITS & PIECES :

‘Jardim Responds To César – The number of islands is not an argument for positive discrimination’. "On this, one doesn’t count the number of islands, one counts the population, and Madeira has a higher population than the Azores" he said. He was responding to the president of the Azores, who said that the autonomous regions of Portugal should not be treated equally in terms of state financing, and that the Azores should have more than Madeira because it has more islands (9). "The density of population of the Azores is 110 people per square kilometre, and on Madeira it is 330", said Jardim, who also argued that Madeira has to import from abroad more than 80 percent of what it consumes, while the Azores have "a primary sector of agriculture, fisheries and livestock" with which they have little need to import. "If he is to play with the arguments, then, I also demand a positive discrimination in relation to the Azores", he said.

The best news today is that president Jardim returns to work after 20 days of holidays on Porto Santo. Over the last few weeks his day started with a game of tennis, then its was off for a stroll with his buddies along the golden beach as far as the famous ‘Bar do Henrique’. He also took some work with him to keep busy, as well as having some official duties arranged to coincide with his stay on Porto Santo, including inaugurations. He also read a book whilst there, the latest offering by Fernando Dacosta, and returned to Funchal for the 501 year celebrations. He also had other books with him, including one I mentioned the other day ‘The Mysteries of the Islands’, which he highly recommends we should all read. That summary of Uncle Bertie’s holiday, which cost him just €200 in accommodation charges, was from the Jornal da Madeira today, just in case anyone thought I was writing my own ‘soft’ account of our presidents exploits, which included insulting half the political forces and personalities of Portugal. Is there such a thing as ‘holiday rage’, ‘cos I think he caught a dose. I for one am pleased to have you back Bertie, as it will get Porto Santo out of the newspapers, having had more coverage than Funchal over the last 3 weeks.

From the Jornal da Madeira yesterday : ‘Ferreira Leite On Madeira On 8th September – A day for contact with candidates and the population of Madeira’. The PSD party leader, president Jardim’s boss in political terms, will visit some streets in Funchal to talk to people.

She’s the one on the left. I have no idea who the other bloke is.

The wheat threshing demonstration in Prazeres yesterday. The tradition continued despite the overnight rain.

(20th July). Today’s main news headline : ‘Hotels Close Restaurants – The low in the prices in good hotels and promotional flights are not managing to bring in tourists in satisfactory numbers. There are already hotels who have taken their restaurants out of service’. A nice picture accompanies the story with two tourists sat on a Funchal promenade, the relevance perhaps being that they are the only two tourists in sight? A second headline says that it is the hotels with more stars that are feeling the impact more of the reducing purchasing power of tourists. It’s a silly article based on unfounded and unrealistic principles. The fact is that for most tourists here the purchasing power has not reduced and it is quite likely in many cases the opposite is true, but there is a reluctance to spend, due to a lack of confidence, partly due to media rubbish like this article. Couple that with the blatant overpricing of hotel restaurants generally, particularly up towards the 5 star hotels, then isn’t the problem and solution blatantly obvious. Why is it that so many people know the price of the ingredients they are eating, and have some idea of what it costs to make and serve the meal, and yet are prepared to pay a very high price for a good standard restaurant … because they can.

The main photo today just shows a picture of a of fir tree, which I believe is in the abandoned brick factory where the murder occurred : ‘Kidnapping: Neighbours Of The Scene Of The Tragedy Still In A State Of Shock’. Yesterday it was about Porto Santo being in shock, and today the article talks of the neighbours of the abandoned factory in Vale Paraíso in Camacha. The site is pretty much deserted, and 250 metres from the road, and so the kidnappers had unnoticed access. There is some lack of clarity in the number of arrests made initially, but four are mentioned, but the suspected ringleader of the plot, a contractor aged around 45, is known to have flown to Lisbon on Friday morning, and efforts are being made to trace him. It seems that this man actually knew his victim, and had brought a business from him but had failed to pay.
I was pretty shocked when I heard the news yesterday, but the Diário didn’t give the story top billing, and readers comments on the blog yesterday focused on the Madeira Mandolin Orchestra. Of course this is just a blog and no nobody has any obligations whatsoever, but do people feel that they have no right to comment on such a horrible crime, as there must have been others shocked by the event? Or maybe people from outside of Madeira are just hardened to such events?

‘Third Ferry In Funchal Port – The ship visits Madeira because the transport of all the cars etc. for the Rally Vinho Madeira is the responsibility of Armas’. The ‘Volcán de Tauce’, a vessel built in 1995, also property of Naviera Armas, that normally travels direct between Portimão and the Canary Islands, will be used to deliver everything for the Madeira Wine Rally, given that it is too much for the ‘Volcán de Tijarafe’ to manage on top of its normal load. It is programmed to arrive Sunday evening.

‘Loss Of Values Is Hitting the Madeirans – The Canon Of Sé Cathedral refers to the murder of the Porto Santo businessman in his sermon’. He used the murder to illustrate the loss of values in society here. "The devil is entering a corner of heaven" he said (or something like that).

‘Jehovah’s Witnesses congress to be held at the stadium of Nacional – ‘Be vigilant’ is the theme to be addressed’. It starts next Friday at the Choupana, and there are around 1,200 active members on Madeira and Porto Santo, and about 1,500 people in total are expected to attend the event. The group believe that we are nearing the end of things as they are, through biblical prophecies.

‘The thunderstorms, rain and hailstones surprised those in the high zones – Hail during a Summer night surprised many people’. Storms and rain happen, but hailstones are a rare occurrence this time of year. Very early Sunday morning many people awoke with the sounds of ice hitting their roofs, with some pieces quite large. Even the Meteorological Office didn’t predict that.

The Diário runs a short article suggesting that people try camping to avoid the financial crises and Gripe A, something that in the past has not really appealed to the Madeirans. It says that as long as people clean up and respect the camping rules, it is a cheap alternative for taking holidays.

In sports news the headline is ‘Victory In The First Day Of The Stage – Baba scores the goal that defeats Merelinense’, with a picture of a game involving Marítimo.

(19th July). This story originated in the Jornal da Madeira, so I can’t vouch for it’s accuracy : ‘Amparo Will Have A Garden Of 15 Thousand Square Metres’. The new garden will be called the ‘Jardim Público do Amparo’, and (the project) will be presented on Wednesday by the President of Funchal Council. The facilities will include a children’s area, and a cafeteria, and the gardens will form part of the urbanisation project for Amparo, which is a huge area over on the far west side of Funchal. The floral theme of the gardens will be international, with species from all over the world, with South America, Australia, and Madagascar getting specific mentions.

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PHOTO : Martinho, the unwanted Husky, has found sanctuary in Germany.

Placing unwanted dogs and cats in good homes with new owners is a vital part of the work undertaken by the staff of SPAD (the local Society for the Protection of Domestic Animals). This year, however, Veterinary Doctor Carolina Margarido of SPAD has noticed a worrying increase in the number of dogs being returned to the Society after adoption by local families. She explains: "There are many reasons why dogs (and the problem predominantly affects canines) lose their homes after being with their owners for a short time. In the case of 12 Huskies, which are now enjoying new lives in a German sanctuary, set up especially for the breed, they just did not fit into the Madeiran way of life. The climate did not suit them; as working dogs, inactivity bored them and often they barked a lot and got up to mischief, such as destroying garden flowers. Their ‘stand-offish’ natures often disappointed their owners, too, if they had been expecting their Huskies to be affectionate pets. Consequently, many Huskies were abandoned on our streets"

Carolina gives the example of Martinho, a beautiful, two-year-old Husky. He was found dumped in a stream with a broken rib and other less serious injuries. Rescued by firemen, he was taken to SPAD, where he was treated and he quickly recovered from his ordeal. Recently, he was accompanied to Germany by Thelma Brown of the local charity, SOS Animal, and he has now settled happily in the Sanctuary with the other Huskies from Madeira.
Contribution from Sheila Toney … thank you.

(3rd July). ‘PS proposes commission against corruption in municipal councils – Rui Caetano requires greater transparency in administrative deeds’. The proposal for the creation of anti-corruption commissions in all the 11 councils on Madeira, was made by a representative of the Socialist Party, PS-M. Caetano clarifies that these bodies should be adapted to the ‘real life’ operations in each of the councils, while maintaining a direct connection with the higher authorities. The objective is for greater transparency in administration, especially in the areas most susceptible to corruption, urban planning and licensing. Uncle Bertie is rumoured to be considering the proposal, but the brown envelope containing the necessary bits of paper has not yet been handed over.

Just for information and amusement really, as the Minister for the Economy was sacked by Prime Minister José Socrates yesterday. Sorry no I am wrong, he actually resigned. Manuel Pinho was spotted making a gesture at opposition members … see photo below.

All the boring political stuff we have to put up with, and then a gem like this makes it all worthwhile. It has even made the international press, and is all over the TV today. Very silly really, if Uncle Bertie was punished each time he made an indiscretion, he would be black and blue and fed to the fish by now.

A couple of days ago it was reported that regional red wine (vinho seco) was facing extinction, due to new laws and controls imposed by Madeira’s government. Well, starting yesterday, the whole scheme was revoked, and vinho seco is back on the menu as before. A government spokesman justified the u-turn decision by saying that the changes were needing a good “reponder”. Tell me again, when are the next elections?

(2nd July). "Only the crazy vote for their executioner" – Jardim criticized the "wickedness" of the Government of the Republic and declared himself "troubled" with the rise in unemployment. President Jardim was referring to the prime minister of Portugal, José Sócrates, who lacked respect and used his power for partisan purposes, to attack, and for revenge, against the people of Madeira. He said that "Sócrates has put Portugal in a more vulnerable position, which has more negative consequences for this country than any other democracy in Europe". OK, its official then I am crazy, or more accurately I would be crazy, but I cannot vote in national elections. Love the photo though (the duh! look), he really does look troubled.

On matters of the economy :

(2nd July). ‘Government Admits Lower Taxes For Tourism – IVA / VAT and special payment budgets could be changed’. The government of Portugal admits to changing taxes applicable to hotels and restaurants, especially concerning IVA / VAT and another, as apart of a plan of development and competitiveness in the tourism sector. That news comes a few days after the Treasury denied any intention to change IVA / VAT rates, but it has since had a meeting with a body that represents that sector. Under changes passed by the EU recently, EU countries are now permitted, as a temporary measure, to lower purchase taxes down to 5% in the restaurant and catering industry. France, for example, has just reduced its IVA rate from 19.6% to 5% in restaurants. According to a source, the decision to proceed with the initiative is about "the need to conduct a comprehensive study of applicable taxes in the sector of hotels, catering and tourism, taking into account the importance of the sector to the national economy, in an environment of healthy competition and to minimize fraud and tax evasion".

(1st July). ‘Small Fruit Returns To The Market’. The market for fruit and vegetables that do not meet the exacting standards imposed by the European Union has been relaxed. The calibration requirements for 26 types of fruits and vegetables finished yesterday, and opens the way for farmers and anyone else to sell produce of any size and shape. The 26 fruits and vegetables that will be sold regardless of the shape and size include apricots, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cherries, cucumbers, garlic, hazelnuts in shells, and cabbages. These products only represent 25% of the market, the other 75% are still bound by the old rules. Shame that, as regrettably I will still have to buy lettuces that are three times the size that I need.

(30th June). ‘Loss In Importations – Madeira registers in the first 6 months a fall of 12.4% in merchandise and 14.2% in shipping containers’. It was on the front page again, the second time in a month, so I will just cover briefly. Both the Madeirans and companies here are buying less produce that comes from outside. In particular the import of cement and related products has fallen by 22.7%. However, the figures could have been lower if it wasn’t for the Armas ferry which brings in cargo to Funchal.

Zon Multimedia SGPS SA, a Portuguese pay-television company, plans to start offering a subscription television service in Angola in November. Zon is awaiting the launch of the satellite that will broadcast its programming and also has to wait for licenses that will be awarded by Angolan authorities, the Portuguese Diário newspaper said.