Many thanks to Becky for sending in this snippet and video :

"The Jersey Football Association Capita Centre of Excellence Year-9 age group is to play four matches in Madeira next month." HERE

Many thanks to Elaine (East) for these website links :

Links with Gibraltar – Madeira Disaster Collection.  HERE

Informative blog about Madeira Wine. HERE

Many thanks to Elaine [West] for this :

SPAD receives help from a German institution. Anima – Hilfe für Tiere (Help for Animals) has donated 10 large kennels for animals. The German institution for the protection of animals ‘Anima – Hilfe für Tiere’ ( ‘Help For Animals’) has given SPAD ten large kennels that will be placed in the Vasco Gil Kennel Site.

The request for help from SPAD came just days after the storm of 20 February, when some animals were brought to the institution because they had lost both owners and their home. At the time, SPAD asked all those wishing to contribute to the work of the association to help supply plastic cages (used or new) for animals to be properly collected. The appeal reached Germany and ‘Anima’ quickly dealt with the deployment of 10 large kennels. Next Thursday, March 25, from 14.30, the kennels will be handed over. On site, a group of five volunteers will be available to unpack and prepare them so they can be finally used by SPAD.

It should be recalled that several years ago ‘Anima’ collaborated with initiatives in Madeira. Recently the German institution has financed free sterilization campaigns in Porto Santo and a number of stray animals (dogs and cats) are sent to Germany each year to homes and families that ‘Anima’ has found for them. In 2008 ‘Anima’ received a total of 28 dogs which were then sterilized and delivered to new owners. Last year various animals from Madeira were received by the them, many of them Huskies. These dogs, although pedigree animals, do not adapt to Madeira’s climate and are often abandoned.

Many thanks to Paul for this :

‘Sisi’ Elisabeth, Empress of Austria & Queen of Hungary (1837-1898) & Madeira. In the 1860′s Elisabeth was considered the world’s most beautiful monarch. In the 1870′s she became the most famous, and probably also the world’s best, female equestrian but, in 1859 left her husband and small children to live in seclusion on Madeira, Corfu, and in Venice. “The Empress had exchanged a carefree country life with the strict etiquette of the Imperial Court and could hardly adapt to it. Francis Joseph loved his wife dearly, but he ruled over an empire of 50 million people and had little time to be with "Sisi" who felt lonely. "I wish he were no emperor", she confided her former governess.”

Sisi likened to Princess Diana. “Little wonder then that following her tragic death Princess Diana was often likened in obituaries to Sisi: Both were women of extraordinary beauty and represented their countries with dignity and elegance. Both succeeded in winning a special place in people’s hearts even amidst the ceremony and protocol of ancient dynasties. Both were dedicated to social causes. And both died tragically before their time.”

Photo : Memorial of Elisabeth (Österreich-Ungarn), also named Sisi, in Funchal, Madeira closed to the Casino. At this location a hotel was located, where Sisi was on holiday.

Sisi Film & Musical. “The romantic legend of how Sisi and Franz Joseph met has been immortalized in the wonderfully romantic and melodramatic Austrian "Sisi" Films starring Romy Schneider as young Sisi. The musical "Elisabeth", which has attracted tourists from all over the world to Vienna for more than five years, is much more realistic.”

In 1998 a hundred years after she died from wounds inflicted during an assassination attempt exhibitions throughout Austria commemorated her life. They documented the intriguing life story of a woman who was an "empress against her will", who was at once fairy-tale princess and liberated woman, a dieting fanatic and expert equestrian, a poet and inveterate traveller.

Photo : Empress Elisabeth of Austria, 1864

Video compilation of the Austrian trilogy "SISSI-The Young Empress"

Sisi’s hold on the popular imagination remains undiminished. “Sisi was already a legend in her lifetime. And especially in Budapest (Hungary) many buildings or institutions are named after her, and Elisabeth is still the most often given girl name in Hungary. Even a century after her death, Sisi’s hold on the popular imagination remains undiminished. This can be seen in the popularity of Sisi films and the musical "Elisabeth", which has run for years in Vienna. The sites where the empress lived continue to draw tourists from the world over. Among these are her apartments in Schönbrunn Palace, the Hofburg, and the Hermes Villa in Vienna, her tomb in the imperial burial vault of the capital’s Capuchin Church, and the imperial villa in Bad Ischl, as well as many other places throughout Austria.” Link to full article

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

DIÁRIO 23/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

PEC threatens the solvency of public enterprises. Compliance with the rules contained in the Stability and Growth Pact (PEC), which the Regional Government had no objection to, may be disastrous for the Regional accounts as the State will limit borrowing for all public sector companies. The Government of the Republic, in addition to maintaining the rule of zero net debt to the entities of the Regional and Local Administrations, unless in response to emergencies, will also constrain new financial liabilities when public companies use community funding. Thus, public companies will have lower limits for liabilities as neither Governments can risk having to input capital into these companies. Also, the higher the corporate debt, the worse the country’s external debt. According to Diário, public enterprises have increased their bank liabilities seven fold in six years. Some of these debts are to suppliers and if they cannot resort to credit, the inability to invest and make payments will worsen. Madeira’s contribution to the Portuguese deficit is zero. In 2007, Madeira had not reached the borrowing limit that the EU imposed on the State in the PEC. In 2008, Madeira made a positive contribution to the implementation of the PEC as it still had a net lending capacity of one million Euros, helping to balance the public accounts. — An expert in financial affairs commented that the reason that the 4.1 million Euros subsidy to the Jornal da Madeira stays the same as last year, is probably because no bank will lend to the company. The case is to be heard in the EU Court and if they rule the subsidy is illegal and fine the company, who pays and what happens about any debts?

30,000 pensioners below the minimum wage. Most are women on survivor’s pension of 180 Euros per month. The minimum wage for 2010 is 475 Euros. A similar petition was sent last year, with half the present number of signatures, to the Legislative Assembly of Madeira. This year, the petition will also be sent to the Assembly of the Republic as last year, the two government argued that it was each other’s responsibility.

Public Ministry accuses gang of using children in drug trafficking. A trial started yesterday in Funchal with 19 defendants, including two Italians. 16 attended the hearing, all from social housing estates in Câmara de Lobos, two will be tried in abstentia and one is on the Continent. Six defendants are in prison custody, including two Italians and two Guineans, one is electronically tagged and seven are women. The drugs were imported from Guinea, Senegal and the Netherlands via three couriers, two of them Italian and a child who was detained at Madeira Airport in October 2008 carrying 572 grams of heroin. The drugs were stored in the home of one of the defendants in Bairro da Torre, mainly for local distribution. Many of the children/families of the accused have been used to deliver/collect drugs and money. There is wiretapping evidence to support this allegation. The largest haul was in November 2008 when 12,549 individual doses of heroin (1,045 grams) were detected inside the bodies of the two Italians.The heroin was to be transferred to the Guinean who has spent five years in prison for a previous trafficking offence. The drug gang is suspected of operating from at least mid-2007 to August 2009 and the drugs brought into the country were cocaine and heroin. The Guinean is suspected to be the ringleader. Two of the defendants fabricated a construction company to try to justify the origin of the drug money. Items were seized during house searches, for example mobile phones, home-cinemas and LCDs. Large deposits into the bank accounts of the defendants, especially the ringleader, were traced between January and December 2008 (29,500 +11,570 + 41,915 Euros).

MADEIRA

Revive the neighbourhood by planting trees. 300 school children in the county of Ribeira Brava congregated at the school at Serra de Água as part of the celebrations of World Tree Day. The best way to mark the day was to plant trees. The mayor and a school delegate planted a tree then each school followed suit. This location was chosen as it was the area most devastated by the storm, to plant a symbol of hope and to highlight the rebirth of the parish. The tree planting was followed by entertainment, games and a lunch courtesy of the municipality.

London sends 2,500 kilos of donations. The Portuguese Catholic community attending the Scalabrini Church in Oval, South London, collected 2,500 kilos of donated goods over the past three weeks. The collection was begun on the 21st February and includes infant and children’s clothing, underwear, shoes and linens. During the Masses, 1,500 pounds sterling was collected and the amount was made up to 1,800 pounds from church funds to send the 100 boxes to Madeira. It would normally cost 5,000 pounds to send the container but for the generosity of the haulage firm C. R. Trans/Service, where a Portuguese immigrant works. The container left England last week and arrives in Madeira within a week. It will be forwarded to the Association for Community Development in Funchal/Community Centre of Santo Amaro.

New marine protected areas. Several proposals for the establishment of marine protected areas in waters beyond national jurisdiction will be discussed informally between today and Thursday in Funchal. Attending will be representatives from six countries that signed up to the OSPAR Convention (Germany, France, UK, Netherlands, Spain and Portugal), and NGOs such as the Worldwide Fund for Wildlife, Northeast Atlantic Ocean Fisheries Commission, International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the Institution for Conservation of Marine Biology.

ECONOMY

Demolition of the Savoy Hotel is ahead of deadline. The demolition of the Savoy Hotel started in January with a deadline of ten months. The main building is already in ruins and the reception area, gardens, shopping area and car parks are unrecognizable. This is despite the effects of the storms in February. Demolition by implosion was ruled out and the work has to comply with noise and environmental laws. A significant amount of the material will be reused. The firm responsible for the demolition and building of the new hotel is CASAIS. The project architect João Francisco Caires said the new hotel will include classical and traditional Madeiran architecture in proximity to English colonial architecture. The entire project is scheduled to take 36 months at an estimated 120 million Euros. Completion is aimed to be in time for the New Year’s Eve celebrations in 2012.

POLITICS

Tough measures to prevent exploitation. The Regional Government has decided to submit to the Legislative Assembly a proposed law to ensure all entities benefit, and to prevent exploitation of funds for the renovation of Madeira. Careful prioritization will help people and areas affected by the storm and to avoid duplication, the Government will find out who has benefited from other mechanisms such as insurance. The final relocation is underway and 400 new homes are needed and another 400 require renovation. At present, 53 families are still in public establishments, a situation the Executive wants resolving before Easter. The government said any aggregates that are being collected are authorized. The Marine Police is monitoring the situation and has found one case of illegal dumping of flood deposits at the mouth of the stream at Madelena do Mar.

CULTURE

Santa Cruz is still the City of Culture. It was previously reported that Santa Cruz Council had given up the project City of Culture 2010 as it had to redirect finances to storm damage repair work. The council now ensures that the project will go ahead with updates to the cultural program. The mayor has met Rui Massena, the conductor of the OCM, about the possibility of the classical orchestra opening the program but cannot confirm if this will occur. The county has the advantage that the mayor, José Alberto Gonçalves, is the president of the Madeira Classic Foundation that manages the OCM.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

REGIONAL

Gaia calls to Porto to help Madeira. The municipalities of Funchal and Gaia will launch a series of meetings before Easter with businesses in Porto to obtain building materials and furniture for 291 houses. The Vice-mayor of Gaia is impressed with the recovery effort in Funchal and will appeal to businesses in the region of Porto where there is a tradition of furniture manufacture. These 291 houses are outside the risk area and are partially damaged. Other councils in Portugal have pledged help, for example 100,000 Euros from Amadora.

Coração da Madeira helps Serra d’Água. Now this voluntary organization has finished its work in RG3, the volunteers went to Serra d’Água with 74 boxes of donated clothing collected at the church at Nazaré over the past month. In partnership with the English Church, the volunteers will begin to distribute bed linen and clothing to various locations of need.

EVENTS

Two vehicles seized. Since the beginning of the year, there have been four cases of illegal dumping in the serras of Madeira. Last week, a Forest Ranger found two private cars were being used to dump material in Campanário, which came from the excavations for a house. The two cars have been seized as evidence and the case has been reported to the Directorate for the Environment. To recover the cars, the owners will have to first pay the fine for the breach. For dumping light material, fines for private individuals range from 1,500 – 3,740 Euros and for firms from 7,500 – 44,890 Euros. For heavier more damaging material, fines range from 25,000 – 37,500 Euros and for a firm, can go up to 60,000 Euros.

Guides and tourists still use footpaths. The Regional Directorate of Forestry is concerned about the number of people still walking along pedestrian paths despite the warnings, often encouraged by guides. Examples are the Caldeirão Verde and the Boca da Corrida/Encumeada. Eight pathways are closed at present: PR 7 Levada do Moínho (Ribeira da Cruz – Lamaceiros); PR 09 Levada do Caldeirão Verde (Queimadas – Caldeirão Verde), PR 10 Levada do Furado (Ribeiro Frio – Lamaceiros – Portela); PR 12 Caminho Real da Encumeada (Boca da Corrida – Encumeada); PR 14 Levada dos Cedros (Fanal – Curral Falso); PR 16 Levada da Fajã do Rodrigues (Fajã da Ama – Ribeira do Inferno); PR 17 Caminho do Pináculo e Folhadal (Lombo do Mouro – Caramulo – Folhadal – Encumeada); PR 18 Levada do Rei (Quebradas – Ribeiro Bonito); Levada do Norte and Levada dos Tornos.

ECONOMY

Mercado de Oportunidades from 25 – 31 March. The erection of 51 tents on the Avenida Arriaga started yesterday. The Opportunities Market is for the selling of old stock at discounted prices, specifically shoes, decorations, clothing, jewellery, domestic electrical appliances, linen, crafts, toys and perfume. Opening hours will be 10.00 – 20.00. The demand has exceeded supply, 80 traders expressing interest but only 60 can participate, so the remaining 20 have places reserved in the second phase in the second half of the year. There will be eight cruise ships in port during this period, especially on the 31st when there will be five.

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

ERC wants to know more names for RTP-Madeira TV – The regulatory entity says it has asked more explanations. RTP received nothing. And already three weeks have passed.

Today’s main news headline : Bureaucracy ties-up traders – The owners of shops badly hit by the storms of February are "fragile, frail and living in financial difficulties because the financial support is delayed in coming". The words are from Lino Abreu, from the Association of Commerce and Services, in disagreement with the excessive ‘red tape’. Whilst waiting for support, traders are just having to do what they can to recuperate what they lost, and are feeling pretty let down because the route to obtain support is complex and long-winded. Abreu says that some traders are so deflated by what has gone on, he fears that they will opt to close down rather than try and reopen their businesses. He says the process needs to be simplified because the traders need support right now. They need to provide strict evidence for their losses, and some of the documentation needed takes a long time to obtain.

Fountains of João Dinis return to see the light of day – The post-storm clean up has returned to view the old fountains, buried 70 years ago during works in the zone of the Palácio. They are going to return to provide drinking water and maybe inspire some old political jibes.

The Government is going to construct 25 homes in Ribeira Brava – The houses will be built in different communities. According to the Housing Association of Madeira [IHM] housing is still lacking for 17 families in the area, made homeless after the floods. IHM already have two or three locations in mind and is out and about looking for more land to built premises that will house several families. The decision to spread the housing is being taken to minimise the impact of the construction work, and also because there is a shortage of land with sufficient capacity for everything. 17 families still live in temporary accommodation, around 40 people. 

SITAM denounces late payment of salaries – The trade union met with the Regional Secretary for Human Resources. Due to the storm on 20 February, there are people who have still not received their salary from February.

Solidarity parade on the eve of the Flower Festival. Madeira’s favourite fashion designer, Fátima Lopes, is organising the event to take place on 17th April, in conjunction with Funchal Council. "I am preparing a solidarity event in April, that will revert to those who need it most," said Fátima. "It will be a big fashion show, open to everyone, with mannequins of the Face Models and many national public figures".

The main sport / football headline today : União SAD ‘half way there’ [?] – Jaime Lucas hopes that the ‘Ruben Micael case’ works out well.

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.

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please don’t send in copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2010 All Rights Reserved

Many thanks to Elaine (East) for that cartoon, and this web snippet :

Oceans of Wine: Madeira and the Emergence of American Trade and Taste by David Hancock. New Haven: Yale, 2009. This engaging and thoroughly researched (150 pages of endnotes) work delves into all aspects of Madeira from the growing of the grapes on the Portuguese island of Madeira to the merchants, shippers, and consumers. The often complex and changing transatlantic trade was not restricted to the British colonies, but among many nations. HERE

Becky kindly send in this link to a video of fantastic nature photography HERE

How our islands are made … Pete HERE                                      Thank you both.

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

DIÁRIO 16/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Government builds walls on the beach.  To protect illegal small villas that were originally ‘casas da lancha’, the Regional Government is building walls in the middle of the beach of Porto Santo. These buildings were for storing boats and have been transformed into holiday homes over the past 20 years. Porto Santo Council has made a complaint to the government. The target of the main complaint was the house belonging to Carlos Machado, the ‘Posto Avançado da Democracia’ (shown). Carlos Machado is associated with Alberto Jardim and the first wall built was to protect his holiday home. These artificial barriers impede the natural movement of the sand and sediments and will have a significant impact on the size of the beach. The Regional Government has also allowed the sand dunes to be destroyed by the replacement of wooden boat houses, with the installation of septic tanks that are emptied at night time onto the beach. The width of the beach is now less than 40 metres in areas and some areas are completely submerged at high tide. Over the last three decades, it has been estimated that 350,000 cubic metres of sand have disappeared, equivalent to 23,000 lorry loads. 13,000 cubic metres per year are lost. There are also less sediments transported to the beach by streams, the flow lessened by constructions designed to control storm water. The houses impede the circulation of sand from the north to the south. To remedy the problem, the Regional Government need to dredge the sea bed to replace the lost sand. These holiday homes are illegal yet other structures have been demolished, for example the Bar do Henrique because it was not a wooden construction. The Ports Administration has identified a number of houses in an attempt to prevent their proliferation. Santos Costa, the Regional Secretary for Social Infrastructure has rejected replenishing the sand. He has also allowed the removal of large stones and pebbles that dissipate wave energy and prevent coastal erosion.

Santa Cruz terminate the contract of a firm dumping earth in the ribeira. An ironic situation arose. A construction firm in Santo da Serra was contracted by Santa Cruz Council to clean the estrada do Ribeiro Serrão (Camacha), that had become impassable after the storms on February 20th. The firm deposited the debris from the road into the Ribeiro Serrão, resulting in the council terminating their employment. The council already have a very rigid policy against individuals and companies that harm the county. The debris was being removed from the site of the Ponte de Pau and the action destroyed pipelines that carry drinking water to Camacha. This area had been without a drinking water supply for one week and the pipes had been repaired that very same day. The firm’s manager denied they had worked for the council but instead for ‘Estradas da Madeira’, and did not understand the accusation. The councillor backed his initial statement, adding that the firm dumped the earth into the stream to prevent having to transport it to temporary landfill sites.

MADEIRA

Expenses paid only when there is a conviction. Clarification of a previous report that the police have to pay for injuries sustained to the attacker, whilst defending themselves. Payments for medical treatment and social security contributions after aggressive incidents are paid by the perpetrators only if they are tried and convicted. The decision rests with the courts and not the health service. If the accused is innocent, the costs are paid by those who lose the court case. These procedures apply to both civilians and the police.

Social Security pays 15 million Euros to institutions.  In 2009, the Centre for Social Security transferred 15 million Euros to Social Security institutions and other not-for-profit institutions. This is 25% higher than in 2008. The number of institutions has not increased and they are mainly for children and the elderly, the latter increasingly in need of support.

ECONOMY

Two more dredges and the Zenith in port today. Two regional dredges started to clear the Port of Funchal after the storm of February 20th. Two more from Lisbon and Setubal will help them. One dredger, the Varosa, arrived yesterday morning with the aid of the Comandante Águas tug. It is 55 metres long, 11 metres wide and can hold about 670 toneladas (tonnage/tonnes ?) of inerts. The second dredger, the Gruamar, is transported from Setubal by the tug Monfort and arrives today. This vessel has a length of 39.4 metres and a width of 11.5 metres. Today is the inaugural visit of the cruise ship called the Zenith. Coming from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands with 220 tourists on board then sailing on to Lisbon. The ship was built in 1992 in Germany and is 208 metres long, 29 metres wide and can receive 1,374 passengers served by a crew of 657 personnel. 

Jorge Sá complains to the police about a dark campaign. A few days after the disaster of February 20th, an e-mail was circulated claiming that the Sá supermarket chain was taking advantage of the break in the drinking water network by raising the price of bottled water in some municipalities. Thousands of people in Madeira received this e-mail. The sender was identified as a former employee who is currently employed by a rival firm. A second e-mail was sent suggesting that people shopped at Pingo Doce supermarkets, mentioning that the owners of this chain were donating one million Euros to help the reconstruction effort, as opposed to the Sá Group not offering any financial help. The e-mail also alleged that Jorge Sá demanded that employees worked overtime without being paid to do so. Jorge Sá denies these accusations.

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

Today’s main news headline : Renovation of Serra de Água at the cost of privates [companies] – RTP Television and Sonae have clubbed together €1.5 million with the €1.2 million of Mota Engil, in order to guarantee the construction of 26 new houses.

The joint committee starts work tomorrow on the evaluation of Madeira [damage].

A mysterious ‘Crater’ disturbs Achadas da Cruz – The people are suspicious of something that the scientific community have promised to investigate.  The hole that is causing restlessness in Achadas has a diameter of one metre and a depth of 1.8 centimetres [yes I have double checked], and locals believe that it was caused by a meteorite. The hole appeared at the beginning of the month, a few days after the extreme rainfall, but the locals don’t believe that the two matters are related. Maria Pestana, owner of the land which took the hit, says that she can now laugh at the situation. However, in the beginning she was not amused at all, and even prayed about the event. She swears that in 78 years of life that she has never seen anything like it, and refuses to cover it up or peek into the hole. "It’s the power of God," she says. As for a reasonable explanation for the event, she refers to the fall of a "lightning bolt", or at worst, for "something more sumen" striking. What is ‘sumen’, and how can someone peak into a hole that is 1.8 cm deep? Sr. Diário reporter, I think you need to go back an remeasure the depth of that hole.

Undercover officer compromises ‘Caso da Mala’ [The case of the case] – An operation of the PSP [Public Security Police] raises a request of invalidity in a case under judgement.

Madeira promoted in Porto and in Vigo – ‘Tourism’ develops a promotional action following the new route of Transavia. The new air link between Funchal and Porto, by the French ‘low cost’ airline, has prompted the Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport to promote Madeira in those two cities. Workshops have been organised with tour operators and travel agents.

Carlos Costa sings in the School Sports festival – The Madeiran ‘pop idol’ participates in the opening session of the event, on the 27th April.

The main sports / football headline today : Councillor condemns "blackmail" of the clubs – Arlindo Gomes [council president] criticises the leaders of Câmara de Lobos and Estreito and warns that he will reduce the support for sport. "Nowhere is there any commitment to continuity of support and the council is going to decide what will be allocated and how much it will allocate, within its capabilities." This is the response of the president of Câmara de Lobos facing the criticism he has suffered, because it has not yet been decided what support to give to sport.

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 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 other material.

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2010 All Rights Reserved

Cherimoyas. Some consider the cherimoya one of the most delicious fruits available, but its commercial production is limited by a short growing season and shelf life. The cherimoya is native to the valleys of Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia, spreading to Chile and Brazil during ancient times. The United States Department of Agriculture imported cherimoya seeds from the Madeira Islands in 1907.  ARTICLE Thanks Elaine, looks like a Anona to me, and if so is one of my favourite fruits and just coming into season now I think, and quite cheap too.

German submarine U-68 near sunk near Madeira Island … Pete ARTICLE     Thanks Pete

Jon kindly sent in a write up on progress in the clean up and repairs needed in Santa Cruz. Hover over a photo for a brief description, click on a photo for full size. Many thanks Jon …

23 Days After … "Partly in response to the (removed) query about the Vila Gale Hotel in Santa Cruz the other day but mainly as a small follow on to your report, I attach some photos of our local area, taken over the weekend and today. All our mains services are fully restored but clean up ongoing. All roads passable but some still without "edge" walls and undermined or with tarmac missing in parts and potholes. The landscape and forest area around and above us is deeply scarred with the water run off channels, trees and rock debris etc. – the face of the land changed forever. All local houses O.K. but I don’t know about those in the higher areas of Gaula and Santa Cruz. Ribeira bridges repaired in Santa Cruz and promenade now fully open but walk with care; damaged walkways, loose rocks and unstable cliff face ….. Hotel Gale seems to be operating normally although the public pebble beach that fronts it is not, somewhat bashed. All cafes/bars and restaurants fully up and running in Santa Cruz (town) itself and some tourists out and about spending money….the daily fruit/veg/fish/flower market is also open as normal and is as quaint as ever!"

Marítimo lost their league game last night at Paços de Ferreira 1 – 0, following on from Sunday night when Nacional were defeated at home by Benfica, again by a single goal.

If anyone should see a summary of the government budget cuts and changes, please let me know. So far over the last few days changes to taxes (increases for high earners), I have heard of restraints in public  services, including pay restrictions for public service workers, a cut in unemployment benefit (new ceiling imposed), and also reductions in allowable tax expenses (deductions for 2010) have been announced. It would be useful for many to have a summary. Thanks.

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

DIÁRIO 15/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Criminal activity in 2009. Last year, Public Ministry investigations were for: 3,875 crimes against property, 1,264 against inheritance, 301 against the state and 80 unpaid cheques. Highlighted in the figures was the 42.5% increase in drug trafficking (285). There were the highest number of cases of domestic violence ever (1,025). Other prosecutions were: 597 for driving without authorization, under the influence of alcohol or other traffic offences, 46 charges of corruption, 33 cases of coercion and resisting arrest, 71 against sexual freedom and empowerment of children, 31 cases of violence against children and 6 cases of violence against the elderly. In the past 8 years, 11 men and 1 woman have been arrested for rape. Half were in their 20s and the two youngest were 17 years of age. More than half of the victims were aged between 40 and 65, and eight of the crimes were committed in the residence of the victim. 

Two families tried to take advantage of the storm. Two families from a social housing complex in Santo Amaro in Santo António attempted to take advantage of the bad weather of February 20th to get a better house from IHM. The eight people involved spent one night at RG3 but were detected immediately as false applicants.

MADEIRA

Stopped work obstructs stream. Residents living in the vicinity of the Ribeiro do Moreno in Santa Cruz are worried by debris from the floods of February 20th blocking the water course. The stream runs beneath the airport and is obstructed between the bridge linking Rua de São Sebastião to the placa do aeroporto (?).  Flooding closed the Rua de São Sebastião and Rua de Santa Catarina for three days. The cause of the blockage is a seven year old concrete and iron remnant from when a petrol filling station began to be constructed. The construction was stopped when there was a dispute over inheritance of the land. The injunction has not been lifted and the structure still stands in the stream. The case is under review.

‘Clean Portugal’ (‘Limpar Portugal’) has 121 volunteers in Madeira. The volunteers will try to clean the forests in one day – next Saturday. This is a nationwide campaign based on an initial event in Estonia in 2008. The event coincides with the Day of the Forest. So far, they have no offers of help from residents in São Vicente and Porto Moniz. Instead, the movement has volunteers from Funchal to Ribeira Brava and from Machico to Porto Santo. Posters advertising the ‘L’ day have the slogan: ‘We’ll do it. And you? You’ll stay at home’. To adhere: CLICK HERE

Boy injured in explosion. A nine-year old boy was injured on Saturday afternoon after finding a ‘bottle bomb’ while playing at his home in Lombo dos Aguiares in Santo António. This exploded in his hand and he has had minor surgery for hand injuries and facial burns. He will require plastic surgery later on.

Wettest winter since 1865. December – February 2009 / 10 was the wettest season since records began in 1865. The amount of rainfall was three times the normal rate between 1971 – 2000. During February, Funchal was the wettest area and had seven times the average amount of rain. This was also the most since 1865. Porto Santo had the third wettest winter since records began in 1940.

ECONOMY

Porto Santo Line solidarity with victims. Porto Santo Line will donate 50,000 Euros to two charities. The company’s revenue from ticket sales for last weekend’s six trips between Funchal and Port Santo is to be donated to the victims of the storm of February 20th. Previously, the firm had promised to make the donation up to the sum of 50,000 Euros, so they had to add a few thousand Euros. The ferry transported 673 passengers to Porto Santo and 700 to Funchal.

POLITICS

Region wasting funds for poverty reduction. The leader of the Socialist Party, Jacinto Serrão accused the Regional Government of not utilizing funds made available by the Government of the Republic for social intervention. "The social fragility of the region is deliberately hidden by the Madeiran Government." The government has not divulged the serious situation linked to Social Security, growing debts of businesses. Part of this hidden reality is the low rate of allocation of social benefits, much lower than given by the State, contradictory to the regional reality. One of the political consequences of new information the party has gained from the former president of Social Security, is that the Socialist Party request a parliamentary debate on the state of Social Security.

UPDATES

Swan Lake ballet in Funchal on April 1st. The Moscow Tchaikovsky Ballet, accompanied by the OCM, will perform Swan Lake at 21.00 at the Congress Centre of Madeira. This is the first big event in the program celebrating the centenary of the Clube Desportivo Nacional.

Compensation rises to 133 million Euros. The Portuguese Association of Insurers estimates the amount of compensation claimed after the storm of February 20th will reach 150 million Euros. Already, 1,532 claims have been recorded. Originally, they estimated a loss of 60 million Euros. This is the worst event in the history of Portuguese insurance.

Storms cause 40 million Euros losses in agriculture and forestry. The losses have been sustained by bad weather since December. 2,300 farmers have applied for grants for damage and they can claim for 85% of damage. The extraordinary storm of February 20th has led to the Regional Government to ask the EU to increase the support to 95%.

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

Council accuses company of filling the river with rubbish – Santa Cruz suppresses contract because of the dumping in Camacha. The company boss concerned denies everything.

‘The law of the stoppers’ with opposing interpretations – Prohibiting internal criticisms within the Social Democrat Part [national level] is ‘fascism’ for Filipe Malheiro, and an ‘act of courage’ for Rafaela Fernandes. This has been a main headline in the national media for several days now, when a resolution was passed in the PSD party conference that enables party leaders to expel members who openly criticise the party. Watch out Uncle Bertie, as it seems to be your favourite pastime! Somehow I don’t think any PSD party leader would have the guts to expel him, as it would just make the situation even worse. UB at the conference was treated as a hero by friends and foes at the conference, as he rides a high tide of public opinion due to the sympathy and the following reaction to the disaster of 20th February.

Today’s main news headline : Government raises [constructs] walls on the sandy areas – Gradually the houses on the beach front of Porto Santo have become holiday homes for the more powerful leaders. The Regional Government turned a blind eye, but prohibited new units. Now the fierceness of the ocean has led the government itself to the beach to protect these homes, starting through one of Jardim’s helpers. The sand dunes suffer. Even the Council of Porto Santo protests.

Storm : Santa Cruz quits from the ‘City Of Culture 2010′. The decision was taken by council president José Alberto Gonçalves, who considered it more important to focus on the need to rehome people and recuperate the area after the storm of 20th February.

More than two hundred put to work in zones affected by the storm. The exercise repeats at the month end. Two hundred and forty-two people will be put to work in local institutions and charities in the areas most affected by the storms of 20th February. The program of recruitment of workers was set up by the Government, and is aimed at the unemployed receiving unemployment benefits. The deadline for applications ended on Monday, but at the end of the month the recruitment drive will be reopened for another wave of applications.  The placement program for unemployed does not have any cost to local authorities or to social institutions that provide support to victims of the storm. Workers continue to receive unemployment benefits increased by 25% of the regional minimum wages, in addition to allowances for transportation.

Nacional tourists feel the urge to visit Madeira – President of the Executive Commission of Mundovip is convinced that the national market is going to grow this year in the Region. Those responsible for the major tour operators are on Madeira today.

Boost in the promotion of the Flower festival in the internal market. Trinidade and Estudante [national and regional tourism bosses] discuss campaign for the winning and promotion of air routes.

Storms cause €40 million of damage in Madeiran agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture is available to support proposals in Brussels.

The main sports / football headline today : Bad luck brings defeat and distances Marítimo from the Europa League – Lack of effectiveness and a great goalkeeping performance were the foundation of the defeat (1 – 0) in Paços de Ferreira.

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 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 other material.

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2010 All Rights Reserved

Many thanks to Becky for these two videos :

I’m sure you must have seen this footage of a base jumper hurling himself off Cabo Girão on a motorbike, as it’s from 2006, but I hadn’t seen it before and having recently stood at the viewing point of Cabo Girão, it has made me feel a little queasy …  just the thought of it  (and what a waste of a motorbike, too!)

Some great footage of someone’s day trip to Madeira (hang on, a day trip?!) in January 2010, with a Levada walk to Queimadas, Caldeirão Verde.

Thanks a lot to Paul for these three pieces :

Should we go to Madeira? The UK Daily Telegraph, 12 March 2010: Pat Dawson, from Bath, writes : "We have booked a week’s holiday in Funchal, Madeira, starting on March 23 but it’s difficult to discover what the situation is after the terrible floods. We are reluctant to cancel as we know how much the island depends on tourism, but if the centre of Funchal is cordoned off and most of the excursions aren’t running, is it worth going? We have booked independently so we can cancel our hotel up to seven days beforehand, but we would forfeit the flight".

Gill Charlton replies : In response to the many emails we have received from readers, Telegraph Travel sent Louise Roddon to Madeira this week to assess the damage. Link to Louise Roddon article. She discovered that the capital, Funchal, has recovered remarkably quickly, while areas in the interior, such as Ribeira Brava, have borne the brunt of the landslides. The island’s famous gardens and levada walks are almost all open, as the clean-up effort continues in earnest." The Telegraph, 12 March 2010

Support for Madeira from the American Senate, Washington. “Senator Kerry said the state of Massachusetts stands proud of its long-standing historical ties to the people of Madeira. "With their seafaring and cultural traditions, Portuguese-Americans have en-riched the Bay State beyond measure," he said. "I am fortunate to be married to a woman who takes great pride in her Portuguese heritage. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Madeira as they work to overcome this disaster and rebuild their island paradise."

Photo : Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts

Sen. Brown reminded how a tragedy like the one occurred in Madeira can reveal the strength of the bonds that exist within communities.

"In this case, the bonds are very strong as Massachusetts owes a good deal of its history to the contributions of Portuguese-Americans," he said. "We offer thoughts and prayers for the victims and their families, and our full support in their time of need."

Sen. Reed said U.S. officials continue to work to ensure the safety and well being of about 400 U.S. citizens on the island.” Link to full article

Archaeologists declare nail a ‘fantasy’ crucifixion-relic. "AN ARCHAEOLOGIST who identified a first-century Roman nail, which has been claimed as a possible holy relic kept by the Knights Templar in Madeira, said last week that it could not possibly have been used in a crucifixion."

Elaine found a couple of articles in The Portugal News Online:

Government measures welcomed. Prime Minister José Sócrates was this week the recipient of unprecedented praise as he unveiled a host of measures to quell fears Portugal could follow in Greece’s footsteps and further undermine confidence in the financial stability of the Euro Zone and its members. HERE

Guess what? It was a wet February, says Met Office. Data from the IM shows that large quantities of rain fell last month, particularly in Madeira, where average daily quotas of rain were between 144.3 millilitres (on February 20th) and 129 millilitres (February 2nd), in Funchal. HERE

Diário today repeated this article but added that Funchal had 3% more visits and 8% more passengers in transit (yearly total of 435,821). Portugal sets new record for number of cruise ship visitors. Last year cruise ships brought a record-breaking number of passengers to Portugal, setting a new high after more than 940,000 tourists disembarked from their liners at a Portuguese port. HERE 

Tess emailed with this, thanks : "A few days back you had a feature on the blog about UK company ‘Naturetrek’ promoting a whale-watching holiday to Madeira.  This was also featured in the Travel Section of last Saturday’s UK Guardian under recommended family activity breaks in Europe.  A 5-day holiday joining a team of marine biologists for daily whale & dolphin watching trips on a privately chartered vessel costing from £895 inclusive of flights, transfers, accommodation, most meals, boat trips & guiding.  Seems that the UK papers are doing their bit to get the tourists coming back.  Fantastic!" TESS’S BLOG

Many thanks for those  Elaine and once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 13/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Police officers have to pay hospital charges for treating offenders. Police officers are being notified by the Hospital of Funchal to pay the cost of medical care of individuals with whom they have engaged in physical confrontation while working for the police service. The president of their union said this is unique in the country and is "absurd and unacceptable". The bill for medical treatment is sent to those whom the victim perceives to be the perpetrator of the aggression. 98% of notifications are not paid and the health service resorts to litigation procedures. The police are taking their case to the national director of the police force.

MADEIRA

Santa Cruz seeks justice in resettlement. Delays in the relocation of 51 homeless families in Santa Cruz is intentional and designed to avoid situations of injustice among the population in need. This is the conclusion drawn from words spoken by the Deputy Mayor of Santa Cruz. "We could have already relocated all the families but they would be more satisfied if they were in other areas. We have talked to the homeless on the situation and they all prefer to be resettled in their parish of residence. We do not rehouse the families from Santo da Serra in Funchal." "The Council has made every effort so people can return to their homes, but this was only possible in cases that just required clearing the access or the threat of landslides." In total, 12 families have been resettled and the five who remain in shelters should be relocated next week. The number of homeless families in Santa Cruz decreased from 83 to 63 this past week. 12 of these are related to the housing recovery project, leaving a total of 51 requiring permanent accommodation.

Caracas reunion of 600 people for Madeira. More than 600 people attended the Thursday evening party of solidarity (vinhada) in Caracas for the victims of the storms in Madeira. The organizers are counting on the support of the Venezuelan authorities, taking into account the system of exchange controls in force in the country that prevent freely obtaining foreign currency. If the money is transferred at the official exchange rate, it will be worth three times as much (in Euros) than at the unofficial market rate. It helps that the Venezuelan Government understands the great need of Madeira at the moment. —Hugo Chavez offered help to the Regional Government but I never found out if they took up the offer, so I presume they did not.

AJAMPS gave a homeless baby a surprise. The Young Entrepreneurs of Madeira and Porto Santo (AJAMPS) surprised Letícia Oriana on her first birthday with birthday cakes and a performance by clowns. The family were made homeless after the storm of February 20th and are staying at a Youth Hostel. They lived with their grandmother near Trapice in Santo António, Funchal. The house accommodated six people and sustained considerable damage and the ceilings are at risk of falling down. The 57 displaced people staying in the hostel were invited to lunch and dinner paid for by AJAMPS. Contributions were from members, friends and businesses and the vice president said it was rewarding to see these people smile.

Penalties in civil service affect region. Government employees in Madeira did not join the nationwide strike on March 4th, due to the recent disaster that hit the region. The Stability and Growth Pact passed by the Portuguese Government applies to civil servants in Madeira. Measures introduced to decrease the budget deficit are: freezing of wages; increased taxes on income over 150,000 Euros; retirement age increased from 62.5 to 63 and to 65 in 2012/2013; for early retirement the penalty increases from 4.5% to 6% of pension for each year. The latter measure was envisaged for 2015 but has been brought forward to 2010. The autonomies have some power to mitigate some of the points in question but the regional governments have not expressed an intention to reverse these national rules.

Madeirans complain more. The Serviço de Defesa do Consumidor (SDC) has been in greater demand by local people. Last year they received 624 complaints, far more than the 467 in 2008. In 2009, SDC responded to 4,398 requests, of which 3,774 were for information. The remaining 624 cases were complaints that centred around: movable property (208), real estate (108), banks and finance companies (93), essential services (90), transport (47), tourism and leisure (22), distance selling (21) and insurance (16). More people (1,068) needed debt counselling and information before using credit. 104 cases involved arbitration. They can also resolve complaints from citizens of other European countries who purchase goods or services from entities located in the region.

POLITICS

Solidarity in London unites mayor and Albuquerque. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London and Miguel Albuquerque, the Mayor of Funchal are the leading players in a day of solidarity for Madeira, which takes place on Saturday March 27th in London. A fundraising dinner for 800 diners in Earls Court is the primary activity of a day that will also have other events with a single objective; raising money for authorities and institutions that are spearheading the reconstruction of affected areas and supporting people affected by the floods. The dinner is in the Ibis Hotel in Earls Court, one of the most prestigious in London. The Madeiran businessman José Silva has organized the events after being contacted by a group of friends in London. All the local Portuguese community organizations and the Ambassador and Consulate of Portugal in London have been directly involved. Other fundraising events are: raffles, auctions and other similar activities; contributions from individuals and large companies; contact with the media and exclusive interviews with Sky News and Sky Sports are being negotiated to highlight the cause. The President of CS Marítimo will be present, along with other sporting personalities who will be announced soon. Entertainment at the dinner event is provided by Maria Aurora from the program ‘Atlântida’ presented by RTP-Internacional, and possibly Madeira’s celebrity singer Vânia Fernandes will attend.

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

Users want Lido ready for Summer – Even without the swimming pool, the bathing complex is in the Summer projects. But Funchal Council does not guarantee reopening, even partial. Come rain or shine, Summer or Winter, the weekends are not the same without a trip to the Lido bathing complex. The destruction caused by the storm does not deter the regulars at the Lido complex, remaining faithful to the location, at least whilst the beach remains open. The restoration works needed will mean the closure of the complex, which is not going down well with some regulars, who want the sea access to remain open, and other spaces left open, with just the pool closed. I have to say that this ‘statement’ from the Diário took opinions from just a handful of people who frequent the facility at Lido, and is hardly representative of many thousands of people who at the moment have far more important and complex priorities.

Today’s main news headline : Stone of the storms causes row – Santa Costa ordered the taking of stones from the storm torrents to the marina at Lugar de Baixo. Then, he retreated, the president of Ribeira Brava appearing in the confusion. The question persists : the stone is being given or sold?

One doesn’t mess with nature – The alert comes from Segadães Tavares, an engineer that has received awards, by the way of the destruction of February, for example with the bridges. "That what is cheap ends up expensive", he reminds. Accompanied by a picture of the bridge over the Ribeira Brava, in the process of being pulled down after the February stone damage. It’s about time someone with credibility came along and said this. A few days after the storm that caused so much death and destruction, President Jardim was quoted in the media [I can't remember the exact words, but this is close enough] … "We have been hit by nature before, and come back to win, and we will do so again". What sort of message does that send to a population who look to Jardim for leadership, and even sensible advice? Everyone with their head screwed on knows that you don’t mess with nature, you work in harmony and within constraints … that is if you want to avoid problems in the future of course.

Beneficiaries of social integration growing – In just one year, the social security payments increased to take in another 1,277 claimants. Today the total is 8,122.  The beneficiaries of this social support received, on average, just €92.81 in January, a little below the national average. The growth in the claimants shown is from December 2008 to December 2009. The number of claimants has been growing since 2005, except for a slight exception in 2008. The true number of poor people who need this support is not discussed, as not everybody qualifies of course, but there are I know many many more worthy cases than stated in the headline figure from the Social Security report.

Storm confuses the strategy of [Jacinto] Serrão – Leader of the socialist party of Madeira believes that it is possible to beat Jardim.

Jardim considers that the extraordinary convention "is not going to get anywhere". In the week that precedes the direct [leadership] elections Jardim is going to get together with the PSD party activists in all the regions of Madeira.

The main sports / football headline today : Wave of red invades the Choupana [the stadium of Nacional] this afternoon – Nacional hosts the league leaders in a stadium where one foresees a clear majority of Benfica supporters. L.F. Vieira promises housing to some families made homeless by the bad weather.

Many thanks to Elaine (West) for this piece from today’s Jornal da Madeira:

“Help for Madeira” in Machico Forum. On Saturday, April 20 there will be a solidarity show entitled "Help Madeira” in Machico Forum. The event, organized by the Council of Machico, is aimed at raising revenue to help in the reconstruction of Madeira. Beginning at 20.30, the show will feature several figures and prominent guests in the field of regional music and, in particular, of the county.

The programme includes performances by Vânia Fernandes (closing the show), Pedro Garcia and Sara Cooper, former competitors from "A Song For You", the group Flores de Maio, Claudia Nobrega, São de Leste, the Grupo de Fados de Machico, the “tuna” of the Banda Municipal de Machico / Casa do Povo of Machico, Amigos da Música/De Passagem, Prestige Dance, Metamorfose, Nuno Nicolau, Folk Group of Machico, among others. The show is expected to last about three hours.Tickets are on sale from the Freguesia in Machico and at the Machico Forum priced ten Euros.

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 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 other material.

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2010 All Rights Reserved

Many thanks to Elaine (East) for this web snippet :

The next few decades? 10 Species We’ve Lost Forever in Past Few Decades. 4. Madeiran Large White (2007) HERE

Many thanks to Becky for this video and two web snippets :

If my life took an eventful turn and I found myself requesting my last meal, it would probably be Filete de Espada com banana.  Here’s a recipe to try next time I’m in Funchal … or maybe I’ll just save the mess in the kitchen and head to a restaurant instead …

"There is a large brewery on the island, Coral, that makes some very acceptable beer. They brew a golden lager and a tonic (a sort of porter or stout) plus some light and low alcohol beers as well. The taste of both their lager and tonic are infinitely much more pleasing that mainland beers like Sagres and the insipid Super Bock – which is neither super or bock." BEERBLOG – WHAT A GREAT IDEA!

"It (therefore) continues to be the perfect place for a rejuvenating getaway right now, with wonderful hotels offering breathtaking views and special pampering services. Here are a few of the best." HERE

Paul very kindly sent these two articles in :

No singing and dancing orchids! Are you a flower lover? Have you explored the magical world of orchids in Madeira?

Jardim Orquídea. “Pregetter`s Orchid Garden is dedicated to all those who love nature and plants, so don’t expect to find just another garden. Neither will you find “tourist attractions” such as singing and dancing orchids. On the contrary, we devote our efforts to presenting everything in surroundings which are as natural as possible.

Jardim Orquídea is a genuine exhibition. We have built a miniature forest where you will have the opportunity to admire a wide variety of orchids, both in their original form and hybrids, as well as other tropical plants.

We have also built up a symbiosis of plants, birds and fish in the tropical biotope. The Garden’s small coffee shop on the terrace has breathtaking views over Funchal and serves Austrian and Madeira specialities.

The firm was founded in Austria during the time of the Imperial monarchy and since then four generations of the family have been dedicated to the research and development of new species of a wide variety of plants.

The Garden claims that visitors will find plants from every continent and be able to see blossoming plants throughout the year. And add that anyone who tells you that there are no plants in bloom at this time of year or that the Garden is closed to the public, is simply not familiar with Jardim Orquídea.

Great SLIDESHOW of the ‘Jardim Orquídea’ Rua Pita da Silva 37, Funchal, next to the Jardim Botanico. Jardim Orquidea website homepage

Madeira Top 10 for family activity holidays! Madeira is in the Top 10 pick of ‘the Guardian’ Newspaper’s for new family activity holidays in Europe whether it’s cooking, caving, dolphin-watching or riding donkeys!

Nicola Iseard writes there are plenty of opportunities for family adventure holidays in Europe and “wildlife lovers may be interested in travelling to Madeira in Portugal for a spot of dolphin and whale-watching. "You’ll also get a chance to spot some of Madeira’s sea birds"

Stunning walking routes

Photo from official tourism website

Visitors to the region can take advantage of the mountainous terrain by following stunning walking routes at Pousada Dos Vinhaticos, Quinta do Monte or Quinta do Estreito.

Link to The UK Guardian article

Also from Paul …

Optimism on Portugal’s austerity budget: “the Socialist government has cut a huge budget deficit before, when it soared beyond the EU limit in 2005”

“Trade union leaders in Portugal have called for a nationwide protest in May, following what they say was a successful strike on Thursday by public sector workers over pay cuts.

But politicians have vowed to rein in spending lest the country default on its debt, says the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford in Lisbon”.

Photo : Prime Minister Jose Socrates has some unpleasant medicine to administer : Link to BBC Article 

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

DIÁRIO 10/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

ON Fusion Art by Porto Bay, 16 – 18 July. The third edition in the Old Zone of Funchal arrives earlier this year, normally held in September. The exhibitions bring together painting, photography, craft shows, multimedia design, fashion, dance, street theatre and other forms of expression. Events are held at: Largo do Corpo Santo, Rua de Santa Maria, Jardim do Almirante Reis and the Hotel Porto Santa Maria. The Porto Bay Group’s "duty" is to boost private enterprise in Funchal and accept its share of social and cultural responsibility. ON in the name is from the fusion of Old and New and means to activate, connect and energize. The revival and revitalization of the historic area is in mind during the three days of intense activities, including live performances. ON is a biennial event and the works of art are auctioned at a formal dinner for not-for-profit institutions. The first two events in 2006 and 2008 raised a total of 65,000 Euros for social services institutions, particularly the Associação de Paralisia Cerebral da Madeira (Association for Cerebral Palsy) and the Centro de Acolhimento de São Tiago (Shelter). Money raised this year is for the Associação dos Amigos da Arte Inclusiva – Dançando com a Diferença (Association of the Friends of Inclusive Arts – Dancing with a Difference) and the Associação de Desenvolvimento Comunitário do Funchal (Community Development Association).

Marina do Lugar de Baixo will get new protection. Technicians and government officials consider the best solution for the stones and other inert materials removed from the stream between Serra de Água and Ribeira Brava, and the stream at Tabua, is to use them to protect the marina. A Dutch study had suggested a stone breakwater with a width of 30/50 metres, 400 metres long and parallel to the quays, to protect the marina. The solution did not progress any further as it required 450,000 cubic metres of stone, at a cost of 40 million Euros. This is more than the investment made for the construction of the marina. The authorities at an emergency meeting were not all in agreement, although it resolves several problems in one foul swoop. The fact that it creates hundreds of jobs is enough to persuade the initially resistant mayor. Santos Costa ensures this solution is of no additional cost to the construction firm ‘Ponta Oeste’, and the Region will not have to take out a 40 million Euros bank loan. It is still not known if the stones should be deposited directly into the sea or stored on land for later use. Builders would prefer the stones to be used in construction work in the future. Technicians responsible for the study are trying to persuade the Regional Government that it would be quicker and cheaper to deposit directly into the sea. If the protection of the marina is guaranteed, the hotel and accommodation project of the Pestana Group will be one step closer. The amount of stones and inerts removed from the streams of Ribeira Brava and Tabua exceeds the amount removed from all three streams in Funchal. There is an estimated 400,000 cubic metres or 26,000 lorry loads.

MADEIRA

Region submitting 16 applications for the Blue Flag. The Blue Flag status indicates that the beach meets a set of criteria for the natural environment and the safety and comfort of users. Last year, a record of 20 beaches were entered for the Blue Flag. In Funchal Municipality, Praias Nova and Areeiro (near to Praia Formosa) will not be entered this year because of the work at the promenade. The application for the Complexo Balnear do Lido has been withdrawn after recent storm damage. The beach at São Roque in Machico had the Blue Flag status suspended last year and an application was not submitted this year. None of the beaches in the Municipality of Ponta do Sol have been entered as the results of tests on the bathing water quality, leading to the withdrawal of the award in 2008. Also in 2008, the beach at Calheta had poor quality water and for the same reason, an application cannot be submitted this year. Of the 16 candidates submitted this year, 15 hoisted the Blue Flag last year. This year is the first time the Praia da Calheta in Porto Santo has been an applicant, bringing the number of possible flags on Porto Santo to three; the other two beaches at Fontinha and Ribeiro Salgado. In Madeira, the applicants are: Funchal – balneares da Barreirinha, Ponta Gorda/Poças do Governador, Doca do Cavacas/Poças do Gomes, Clube Naval do Funchal and Praia Formosa; Santa Cruz – Palmeiras, Roca Mar, Galo Mar and Garajau; São Vicente – praia da Ponta Delgada, and local beaches at Porto Moniz and Ribeira Brava. The authorities hope the beach and complex at Ribeira Brava will be fit with everything working by the start of the season (June 1). The National Blue Flag Commission starts to assess candidates from Friday 12th March and the results will be announced in May. — Have I lost a beach, as I count only 15 here? Even worse Elaine, in a press announcement by the president of Ribeira Brava, says that with so much muck and so little time it is very unlikely that an application will be made, although he says that he thinks the water quality will be good enough regardless. Better not to apply than be refused.Oh bugger I just read the next article! Der

Candidature of Ribeira Brava might be suspended. Following on from the last item, the Mayor of Ribeira Brava thinks the application for the beach at Ribeira Brava to gain Blue Flag status should be withdrawn. The council has not discussed the suspension. He thinks this precaution is needed as there is a lot of work to be done, particularly in Tabua and Serra de Água. During the flooding on February 20th, the entire sea front and the basin inside the breakwater were completely littered with debris. The area surrounding the beach is still strewn with waste despite the removal of a large amount of material. Some of the mud removed during the clean-up was discharged directly into the sea near the beach front and into the river, whose flow has taken it to the shore. The mayor, Ismael Fernandes, believes the quality of sea water will be good during the summer season even if the Blue Flag is not raised.

Marginal serves as a dump for rubble. The coastal road between Ribeira Brava and Tabua is used for storing the debris removed after the flood of February 20th. Since last week, lorry loads of inerts mixed with rubbish, washed ashore during the flooding, have been deposited in the section beneath the parish cemetery. The Chairman of the Council assures that the situation is temporary, allowing a quick recovery back to normal life and an attractive county. The mayor is convinced there is no risk to Public Health as the area is safe and away from the populated area.

Landslide in marginal. Part of the coastal road connecting Ribeira Brava and Tabua has been impassable since May 2007, after a landslide. The Regional Laboratory of Civil Engineering predicted the area was in imminent danger of further landslides. The road remained closed and the mayor declared there were safer alternatives, particularly through the tunnel. During the recent storm, a large amount of earth and stones falling onto the road have ruled out the reopening of this section.

Lagoa do Lugar de Baixo should be fully restored within a month. This pond is a vital nesting site for sea birds in spring. The Regional Director of the Environment says the storm of 20th February destroyed this breeding ground, as the pond is now a "deposit" of gravel and debris. The clean up will start immediately but some problems will need to be solved, as there are many  tons of debris. The material will be screened for either usability or transport to secure sites. Just a large duck pond is it not? Der

5,000 pounds in solidarity from London.  A solidarity dinner on Sunday night at Brixton Recreation Centre raised 5,000 pounds for Madeira. The event was attended by both Madeirans and British. 500 tickets at 10 pounds a head were sold within two weeks. The Ambassador of Portugal in London and his wife attended and he provided information on the situation of people in Madeira. Lambeth Life newspaper published a report of the storm with details of a solidarity bank account. The dinner was accompanied by two folk groups and a variety act.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

REGIONAL

Funchal has relocated 168 people. Seven council teams are surveying 804 homes hit by the bad weather. 168 people belonging to 45 families have been rehoused. 254 of these 804 cases emerged after March 1st. This is related to the fact that some people were staying with family and friends, and there have been problems identified by other organizations that have now been relayed to the council. The teams will distinguish the situations which require an urgent solution and detect any opportunism. Some residents are resistant to returning as they are still traumatized and fearful of further landslides.

Dolce Vita reopens Friday. The Dolce Vita mall reopens this Friday, 12th March. It is a partial reopening and at present, there are no more details. It won’t include Pingo Doce for sure. Der

Health Centre of Gaula completed this year.  The parliamentary group of the PSD visited the expansion and improvement of the Health Centre of Gaula, in the municipality of Santa Cruz. This is an investment of 600,000 Euros. There are 4,000 inhabitants in Gaula, of which 3,700 are voters. There has been a considerable increase in the local population in recent years, requiring a more than doubling of the existing facilities. Currently, the health service is working temporarily in former offices of the parish council.

ECONOMY

The Port of Funchal receives more passengers. The Port of Funchal received 6.5% more passengers this January and February than in 2009. There were 41 calls with 81,709 passengers, of which 79,078 were in transit – the rest were embarking / disembarking. This was the same number of cruise ships as last year but they have more capacity. This is despite cancellations in February due to the floods. — From March 8th Diário, my translation of their article on port movements did not make sense – not unusual with their difficult statistics. I understood they stated a 3.1% decrease in cruise ship passengers since 2009. Don’t worry Elaine, there were two conflicting articles just yesterday, and I only scanned the newspaper. Der

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

The national Socialist Party rediscover the charms of Madeira – Jorge Lacão and Francisco Assis are the socialists that come next. They come to the daily parliamentary work. Wow … gripping headline stuff to  get started with! Couldn’t possibly be a jolly I suppose?

Solidarity shows (concert) continue – UHF play today in Coimbra in an event for Madeira. Can’t say I have heard of them, but they look like a bunch of rockers from the photo. Thanks lads!

Today’s main news headline : University has means to forecast the weather – Researcher at the University of Madeira defends the cross-over [overlap?] of the various meteorological forecasts and the coordination between several entities as a way of predicting catastrophes.

Landslides generate outrage and fear in Jardim do Mar.

Tunnel between Meia Légua and Serra de Água cannot proceed sooner because it is "expensive".

Road cleaning finishes off the agricultural exploration [farm?] in Arco de São Jorge. 

Accounts of the Câmara without comment from the TC [Auditors]. The 2008 accounts of Funchal Council passed the ‘court of auditors’ scrutiny without a single criticism. Not a single irregularity, financial or in process. A rare event indeed apparently, sufficient to make the front page of Madeira’s top independent newspaper. I should be patting Miguel Albuquerque, president of the Câmara, on the back, with my hearty congratulations, but too many other unexplainable thoughts are swimming around my head preventing my hands coming out of my pockets.

TAP pilots strike doesn’t hit Madeira – Operation to and from Madeira keeps going during the six days of labour withdrawal. The announcement was made by the pilots union SPAC, saying that Madeira would be excluded from the industrial action scheduled between 26th and 31st of March.   Shrewd move there Srs. TAP pilots, ‘cos solidarity for Madeira is currently running much much stronger than solidarity for TAPs undernourished pilots.

The main sports / football headline today : Real Madrid is out of the Champions league – Cristiano Ronaldo scored but doesn’t avoid the elimination against Lyon.

20 clubs contest the billiards [pool] association.

Bernardo Sousa comes to the rally on Porto Santo.

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 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 other material.

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2010 All Rights Reserved

Many thanks to Elaine (East) for this web snippet :

Did they have camels here? This is totally worth spending all of Saturday working, and still working at half-past midnight: I’m transcribing the 1825 journal of someone sailing from Scotland to Australia in 1825. The journey takes about four months. It is fascinating and awesome, and at one point there are sharks.

- Santa Cruz, Madeira, in the mid-1820s:
"The natives of Santa Cruz are very indolent, & Greedy as soon as we went on shore they ran after us begging. The dress of the women is very peculiar; they have a blanket that covers the head & hangs down their back & on their head over the blanket is a hat, the same hat as is worn by the men. Camels are very common there instead of draught horses, they carry very heavily burdens on their back; the ass also in Santa Cruz is very plenty & a small kind of horse, there are no Carts there. Oxen are also in great abundance & instead of dragging by the neck they drag by the horns a sort of sledge without wheels, & upon this machine they drag their wine & water; the natives drive the horses & oxen into the sea & swim along with them to wash them." SOURCE

Many thanks to Becky for this video and snippet : Fado "A Júlia Florista" na Ilha da Madeira

Brilliant old ITN programme called ‘Roving Report’ presented by Sandy Gall in January 1964.  "Report on the island of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean which can only be reached by sea. However the sedate traditional way of life is likely to change as the airport under construction is nearly finished."  Sadly, ITN archive won’t let you hear the audio of clips 1, 2 and 7 (of 8 clips in total) unless you pay a fee to licence it, but there’s enough here for a very worthwhile watch even if some of it is without sound.   Fascinating to see how the island has changed in the last 46 years and strange to think of a time when there was no airport. HERE

"I noticed in today’s (Monday) blog there was a mention about a tsunami  from a Canary Island. I was doing some studying the other day about the Lisbon Earth quake in 1755 and there is a small mention about how it affected Madeira as well as many other parts of the world. Thought the link here be of interest" … Pete  LISBON EARTHQUAKE

‘PIGS’ – article adapted from BBC articles. Links below.

The BBC wants comments and information from people who live in these countries: Portugal, Ireland, Greece or Spain? “PIGS is a horrible acronym. But this is how the financial markets refer to the troubled and heavily-indebted countries of Europe – Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain.(Some analysts use PIIGS to include Italy – Europe’s longstanding biggest debtor.)” The BBC is after answers to these questions:

How bad is the economic situation in your country?

How has it affected you and your family?

What measures have you taken to cope with the economic crisis?

“Greece has dominated the concerns of investors since late last year, when concerns over whether it will be able to pay off the 300bn Euros ($419bn; £259bn) in government debt it currently owes. The euro has been battered over the past month as some even started to fear the break-up of the eurozone.Now the European Union has agreed a deal to rescue Greece – with perhaps other wrecked economies to be helped at a later date.”

Just how bad a situation are the PIGS in, and how does that compare with the UK for example?

GREECE – Economy, in European Union : Thirteenth-largest

Latest GDP figure: -0.3% (Third quarter of 2009) ; Gross debt in 2010, forecast : 125% of GDP ; Gross debt in 2007 : 94.5% of GDP ; Jobless rate : 9.7% ; Population : 11,260,402 Stocks performance in 2010 : -10.5% (to 11 February)

IRELAND – Economy, in European Union : Fifteenth-largest

Latest GDP figure: 0.3% (Third quarter of 2009) ; Gross debt in 2010, forecast : 82.9% of GDP ; Gross debt in 2007 : 25.4% of GDP ; Jobless rate : 13.3% ; Population : 4,450,014 Stocks performance in 2010 : -1.5% (to 11 February)

SPAIN – Economy, in European Union : Fifth-largest

Latest GDP figure : -0.1% (Fourth quarter of 2009) ; Gross debt in 2010, forecast : 66.3% of GDP ; Gross debt in 2007 : 36.2% of GDP ; Jobless rate : 19.5% ; Population : 45,828,172 ; Stocks performance in 2010 : -13% (to 11 February)

PORTUGAL – Economy, in European Union : Seventeenth-largest

Latest GDP figure: 0.9% (Third quarter of 2009) ; Gross debt in 2010, forecast : 84.6% of GDP ; Gross debt in 2007 : 63.6% of GDP ; Jobless rate : 10.4% ; Population : 10,627,250 ; Stocks performance in 2010 : -9.7% (to 11 February)

Portugal – with its high borrowing and sudden reversal in economic fortunes – has been lumped in the same category as its Mediterranean neighbours.

The country has vowed not to leave the eurozone, with its finance minister telling the BBC that it faced "an extraordinary and exceptional situation, due to a major financial and economic crisis without precedent in our recent history".

UNITED KINGDOM – Economy, in European Union : Third-largest

Latest GDP figure: 0.1% (Fourth quarter of 2009) ; Gross debt in 2010, forecast : 80.3% of GDP ; Gross debt in 2007 : 43.8% of GDP ; Jobless rate : 7.8% ; Population : 61,634,599 ; Stocks performance in 2010 : -4.2% (to 11 February)

Although the UK did officially come out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2009 – ending six consecutive quarters of economic decline – the growth was just 0.1%, much less than expected.

The UK government spent £85.5bn last year on bailing out the banks. Now, Chancellor Alistair Darling is predicting a record £178bn of borrowing in the current fiscal year.

With an election this year, Labour and the Conservatives have been sparring over the exact size of spending cuts and many economists have raised concerns that the UK could have its credit rating cut.”

Links: To send your experiences to the BBC click HERE    SOURCE

Financial crisis: IMF boss says there’s no reason why the spillover to Portugal or to Spain will take place. "No one knows what’s going to happen tomorrow morning but there’s no reason why the spillover to Portugal or to Spain will take place"

Image:  from wikimedia

"there’s no reason" to expect that Spain and Portugal would also need to call for external support, says IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn     Link to BBC article

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

DIÁRIO 09/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Available for all. "I am available at any hour and any moment, as I always have been and I always am wherever I go." That is the message of the rally driver Bernardo Sousa. Diário asked him if he would be associated with any tourism promotion campaign carried out by the Regional Government. He said that no one has contacted him but he would be willing, not only abroad but also in Portugal. Three days ago, he won the Rally Torrié and soon will be competing in countries where the residents choose to spend their vacations in Madeira. Bernardo is taking part in the World Rally and says Madeira could draw dividends form the media attention. He will be in France, Germany and England and the events will be covered by television, newspapers and the radio. Bernardo will be going next to Jordan in early April. The events are usually covered by 200 journalists and the organization has its own TV channel and radio and their website is visited by many millions of enthusiasts. The photo shows the Flag of Madeira raised on the podium when he was in first position in the Campeonato de Portugal de Ralis de 2010. It was placed on the roof of his Ford S2000, in solidarity with the victims of the storm.

"We make a point not to put debris into the sea." Funchal Council will transfer the storm debris from Praia Formosa to a licensed landfill at Carreiras. Costa Neves, the Councillor for the Environment, said they would not deposit the debris and sludge into the sea, learning from past mistakes. The material is being separated; metal is sent for recycling and the sludge, stones, sand and wood are sent to landfill. The Regional Government was considering dumping the deposits by the Avenida do Mar into the sea. A portion of the landfill is being buried as it contains food from the supermarket in Anadia and other organic substances, which are rotting and affect nearby hotels. The cars damaged by the flood are being sent for scrapping, either to the area previously used for this purpose or to land in Fundoa. The owners have to decide whether to send them for recycling, depending on their insurance. Yesterday, the Armas ferry brought to Funchal a machine to clean the sewerage network, which is full of rubble which has also damaged the pipe work. The machine has been rented for a week at a cost of 20,000 Euros, and can clear the debris, check the pipes for breaks and repair them. It will operate in the Avenida do Mar and Market areas, then go to the outer regions of Santo António, especially to clear the pumping station at Trapiche. It will also be used at the Estação de Tratamento de Águas Residuais do Funchal. The inventory of houses damaged in Santo António is still being finished but roof tiles are being sent to home owners. The council will also assist owners in rebuilding their homes where the land has been assessed to be safe from further landslides. Each case will be individually evaluated and the home owners will also have to financially contribute.

MADEIRA

Marote case opens with exchange of accusations. Two of four accused of embezzlement (the abuse of power and economic participation in business negotiations) were in court yesterday. The ex-vice-president of Funchal Council, Rui Marote, is one of those accused. The Public Ministry has scrutinized the process of providing cleaning supplies to Funchal Council and concluded there had been collusion to promote three companies that supply chemicals to the council.  In court, there were the environmental engineer and former head of the Division of the council, and the technical engineer who was the Director of the Department of the Environment. The former head of the Division is accused of using council services to clean a house in Santo da Serra. He replied the work was out-of-hours, unpaid and council products were not used. The former Director of the Department of the Environment said it was standard practice for products to be directly purchased, with a ceiling of 2,500 Euros per requisition. The purchase of only three supplies passed this limit. A warehouse employee told the council there was over-consumption of products by the Division headed by the engineer. The defendant then blocked new acquisitions, so only external ordering was allowed. The stress involved caused his admittance to the Casa de Saúde São João de Deus.

South Africa in solidarity. Casa da Madeira de Joanesburgo, Club Sport Marítimo de Joanesburgo, Red Skins and Madeira Golfe have helped to collect 72,000 rands for Madeira. They used the African NGO (non-government organization) called ‘Gift of the Givers’, which has recently distributed more than 360 million rands in aid throughout 27 countries. In South Africa, it has 20 units which treat 40,000 patients each month. By Saturday, it had received 10 tons of clothing, food, bottled water, baby food, nappies, medicines and other products intended for Madeira. The organization was still busy helping Haiti when it received a phone call informing of what had happened in Madeira. After 48 hours of assessing the situation, the organization decided to appeal for help. The goods should be delivered within three weeks. The Casa Social da Madeira in Pretória has raised 125,000 rands.

Weather forecasting model not implemented for 7 years. The Centre for Geophysical Sciences in Lisbon University proposed to the Institute of Meteorology in 2003, a project for high resolution, more detailed forecasting of weather conditions in the Azores and Madeira, 48 hours in advance. The Institute of Meteorology agreed to participate but only the Azores progressed with the project; Madeira lacking partners. For the weather forecast for Madeira, the Institute uses a European model, which is the best global model but it does not have enough spatial resolution to represent the topography of Madeira sufficiently. To compensate for the island’s physical characteristics, additional regional data is collected from remote radars and satellites. The installation of the high resolution model would cost no more than 100,000 Euros. The diagram shows the model used by the Centre for Geophysics in Lisbon to allow more detailed forecasts, thanks to high resolution orographics (how hills and mountains affect the weather – BBC website).

Cruelty to animals not reported. Few cases of animal cruelty actually reach the authorities. Complaints to the police about mistreatment and neglect are rarely followed up, as it is not practical. Instead of the general public going directly to SPAD (Society for the Protection of Domestic Animals), they only receive complaints through the Regional Directorate of Veterinary Medicine, PSP or GNR. The complaints are not accompanied by documented evidence, such as testimonies, videos or photos, so they cannot prosecute. People are also afraid of complaining because of fear of reprisals. Fines for violence to animals range from 500 Euros to 3,740 Euros or up to 44,890 Euros if the perpetrator is a legal entity (company or institution). Neglect is a punishable crime, alongside irresponsible ownership of dangerous or potentially dangerous animals. Animals which are involved can be seized, with the intention of adoption.

LATEST NEWS

Flower Festival "is already sold out". The Regional Secretary for Tourism said that hotels are largely full, a "good omen" for the tourism industry after the storm of February 20th. Three and four star hotels are almost all fully booked and five star hotels are going that way. But the President of Porto Bay Group, António Trindade, cautions this optimism, saying that high occupation rates are not a reality. If there is too much optimism it could generate a disincentive for agencies to sell Madeira. He said the market is reacting positively to the events of February 20th but there are still many beds to fill.

Museum of Sugar will only reopen within a year. The Museu do Açúcar or "Cidade do Açúcar" in Praça Colombo, one of the most emblematic and important museums in Funchal, requires 300,000 – 400,000 Euros of repair work after the flood of February 20th. DRAC is still at the stage of assessing and costing the damage. The building was damaged and 30% of the exhibits are missing, mainly small items. The only other museum to be affected is the privately owned religious museum, Mary Jane Wilson in Rua do Carmo. Water entered through the front door of the Museu do Açúcar and the collection in the basement was completely flooded. Members of the public and the Instituto dos Museus e da Conservação have volunteered to restore damaged items. It could have been worse because many of the most valuable items are in the Palácio da Ajuda in Lisbon for the exhibition, ‘Obras de Referência dos Museus da Madeira – 500 Anos de História de um Arquipélago’. This exhibition of 300 museum pieces from Madeira, representing 500 years of an archipelago, should have ended on 28th February but is extended to April 6th and the extra ticket returns will go to Madeira.

Caritas has not suspended the request for food aid. Contrary to previous reports, please deliver donations to the charity’s warehouse in Rua do Brasil nºs 76 e 79, not military units. It still requires: food, toiletries, household linen (bedding, towels etc.), crockery, furniture, cooking equipment (cutlery, pans, plates etc.) and help with transporting donations throughout the region.

Quote of the day.

Rui Caetano, PS councillor in Funchal Council. He was to make a complaint against the Regional Government but has decided not to, because of the political partnership with the State after the floods of February 20th. He said, "In the meantime, much water has passed under and over the bridge."

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

‘ON’ animates the ‘Old Zone’ in July. ON Fusion Art by Porto Bay is from 16th to 18th July, in it’s 3rd edition, with the promise to fill the old zone of Funchal with art. Paintings, photography, crafts, design and multimedia, fashion, dance, street theatre, and more, will be arranged in Largo do Corpo Santo, Rua de Santa Maria, Jardim do Almirante Reis and the Hotel Porto Santa Maria.

Health Service owes €50 million – The pharmaceutical industry and the suppliers of medical equipment equipment demand the defaulted payments.

Today’s main news headline : Support for new cars – the state and Madeira promise help to those that lost their cars in the latest storm : 4 thousand Euros for the scrapping, and access to a line of credit, to a global value of €10 million. Must be great news for car owners, especially those who didn’t have the right insurance to cover their losses, and yet another show of cooperation between the two levels of government. The government of Portugal having just agreed a very tight budget, with plenty of cuts and restrictions, must be living a nightmare with what is happening on Madeira and the eventual cost, but must flow with the tide of solidarity that has swept the country,. Let’s be honest here … they are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.

Social Security boosts grants for the funerals of minors.

Suspicions oblige searches in Ribeira Brava and Curral das Freiras.

"It was promised that there will be special solutions for special situations". The Prime Minister assured Ventura Garcês, who will "attend to the situation in the Region". The Government of the Republic signed the order on Wednesday to form the Joint Committee for surveying the damage caused by the storm.

Inert materials [sand, stone, etc.] from the storm help out in the marina of Lugar de Baixo. €40 million would be needed, a sum that the government will now save, putting to use the materials brought down by the water torrents. The problem of Lugar de Baixo marina may finally be resolved, as some creative thinking from the authorities and technical bods came up with the plan to dump deposit the sand, dirt, stones, and garbage accumulated from Serra d’Água through to Ribeira Brava, and also Tabua river, to form part of a frontal protection. Two problems solved in one go, what great news … or is it?

Ministry of Defence will invest in military communications in Madeira – The current system revealed flaws during the storms on 20 February. Augusto Santos Silva guarantees that the system will be corrected.

The main sports headline today : Parents disgrace youth andebol [handball]. Apparently at a game in Funchal on Sunday, the kids did OK, ending up with a drawn match, but some of the parents disgraced themselves with verbal abuse and threatening behaviour to opposition players and supporters (parents). I wonder why parents think it acceptable to behave so badly? Nothing to do with professional footballers surely, hefty pay cheques, spoiled brats, get away with murder. Of course there are some good and honest ones as well …

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 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 other material.

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2010 All Rights Reserved

(I vaguely remember those days … sunshine and wispy clouds. Der)

Many thanks to Elaine (West) for this from yesterday’s Jornal da Madeira :

Emigrants from England help Victor. Five Madeiran emigrants who live in Walsall, England, returned to Madeira to see what is happening in their homeland after the storm and also to give aid to Vítor, the boy from Serra d’Agua who told the Jornal da Madeira that in the flood he had lost money which he had saved to help his father. When they saw the story written in the Jornal da Madeira by Judith Sousa of RTP International, and Victor’s photo, the brothers Vieira and Silva called on the Church of St. Jude’s in Chamberlin Hill to help Madeira, and in particular the nine-year old boy.

The appeal touched many people, resulting in donations totalling 130 Euros to give to Vítor, in compensation for the amount that he had lost. The rest of the money collected from the population of Walsall was delivered by the emigrants to a Madeiran association concerned with the recovery of the island and assistance to evacuees.

The brothers João and Diogo Vieira, João Xavier, José Antonio and Duarte Silva leave today for England, after a week visiting their families in Boa Nova and, insofar as they could, helping Madeira.

And thanks also to Paul for this :

Braemar Cruise Liner will head south for the sub-tropical delights of Madeira from October 2010.

Fred Olsen’s European Cruises for 2010 include Funchal. Every cruise offers the friendly and attentive service typical of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

‘The Canaries Collection’ will start from the 5th October 2010. The ship will leave from Dover, then go to Funchal (Madeira), Santa Cruz (La Palma), Santa Cruz (Tenerife), Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), Arrecife (Lanzarote), Lisbon (Portugal), Dover. SOURCE

Jon & Deb dropped me a line yesterday, and I am sure they won’t mind me reproducing it here and filling up some empty blog space with an interesting report :

All well at this end although it’s going to take "forever" to get our roads / bridges and walls back "up". Massive devastation in the forests / hills above us – mostly washed down (and away) our way, taking the "easy" route either side of our house (some down our road) but mainly down the valley and ending up across the rapida. Has undermined the foundations of the greenhouses below us – ribeira went underground! The promenade bridge in Santa Cruz (adjacent to the Hotel Vila Gale) is damaged badly and was nearly washed away and the promenade is closed – currently being "worked on" – noisy for Hotel guests (but not according to the tourist board)! The President of Santa Cruz has been strangely quiet … but we do have diggers and lorries clearing up locally. Our nearest access roads are now passable with care – two are severely undermined for half their width and with no walls, just some fluttering plastic tape if you are lucky! The main road leading into Santa Cruz has had half it’s tarmac stripped bare and is effectively down to one (zig zag) lane with many arterial roads still partially blocked by landslides, some "ongoing". Water supply fully restored but with many vulnerable bare surface pipes and holes in roads at water "distribution" points, it is in danger of failing again – not to mention the "leaning electric poles of Gaula" that are in danger of falling over unless fixed! The infrastructure is not good BUT people are going about their daily business as well as they can and working hard and looking forwards – the spirit of the Madeira people is amazing, friendly, helpful and determined.

Cloudy, windy and showers here today but … the sun has just broken through!

Glad that you are safe, sound etc – thoughts go to your local peoples and their personal tragedy.

Jon and Deb p.s. Good news – From Sheila, Sally the dog has been adopted!

This came in from Pete, and I have not had time to look at it yet, but I am sure if must be good!

"This could be interesting how UK  troops got involved with Funchal in 1931".  TIME MAGAZINE     MADEIRA HISTORY :  Please read 20th century  1931 … as well … Pete

Many thanks to Elaine once again for some odds and ends and yesterday’s top news stories :

Apparently, the tourist attractions are a near-death experience in Fungchal, Madeira.  …Yesterday we started out by walking along the shorefront in Fungchal, Madeira and it is a beautiful spot.  We only had a couple of hours before we had to be back on the boat to catch an excursion so we stayed close by but the water is gorgeous as is the town, even with the mud that lined the streets.  Apparently there had been a lot of rain and flooding and they were at the end of cleaning it up.  There were beautiful gardens and we got some great pictures … MORE

The plane spotters have PHOTOS of the Portuguese Air Force planes bringing in equipment.

DIÁRIO 04/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Almost a thousand people apply for psychological support.  In the early days after the storm of 20th February, the Department of Mental Health assisted over five hundred people of all ages. In the temporary morgue near the airport and at the Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça, the department supported more than 300 people. In recent days, after the first three or four days, it has settled back to the normal demand on the services. Some people will need constant monitoring. There is a healthy expression of grief but some people might show signs of post traumatic stress disorder later on.

Urban arrangement in place of the landfill. The provisional ‘pebble beach’ at the Avenida do Mar may be the basis of an urban intervention that benefits Funchal. This mound of earth and stones was removed from the streams over the past two weeks. They can either be removed and used in the reconstruction work or can remain there and be the basis of an urban arrangement. The authorities have not yet made a decision. According to the Jornal da Madeira, on this makeshift platform at the sea front, there has been deposited over 100,000 cubic metres of stone. This is equivalent to 5,500 lorry trips.

Urban slopes require engineering solutions. There were four deaths and three people went missing from the Rua Prof. Eleutério de Aguiar in the area of Laranjal, on the 20th February. There is still a threat of landslides in this area so Funchal Council has sent teams from specialist companies to identify possible engineering solutions. Until their surveys are completed, people in this area are warned not to return home. Some houses in high-risk areas might have to be abandoned. The residents return during the day to clean their houses but do not feel secure enough to sleep there.

MADEIRA

Taken to the supermarket by army truck. 500 residents have been isolated for the past 15 days in Lombo do Moleiro in Serra, as the road has not been usable. The army has laid on transport to allow residents to collect essential supplies, for example food and medicines. The link between São Vicente and Ribeira Brava was open for civilian vehicles only between 1 and 2 pm before being reopened yesterday afternoon. There is provisional access between Meia-Légua and Serra de Água. Care needs to be taken, especially in the Túnel da Encumeada.

Storm took 196 to hospital. Between Saturday 20th February and 9 am Sunday 21st February, 120 people were assisted by the Emergency Service of the Hospital ‘Nélio Mendonça’. In the following few days, another 76 attended. It is unknown how many victims of the storm were assisted in the rural Health Centres. Seven patients required Orthopaedic Surgery beds and all possible beds were made vacant. The main injuries were fractured legs and arms, light wounds, multiple trauma and hypothermia.

Four families isolated for 12 days. 11 people in the Ribeira do Serrado were isolated in the interior of the ribeira de Santa Cruz for 12 days. The bridge that links them to Serrado was destroyed in the storm. The bridge has now been rebuilt but priority was given to Construtora do Tâmega for their machines to clean the roads. The six landslides in this area did not endanger any homes but affected the roads. The residents complain that a landslide from an illegal dump probably destroyed the bridge but the council have no knowledge of this dump.

Three hours to exit the North. Interruptions in the Encumeada / Via Expresso has had serious implications on the North coast. Users of the popular túnel da Encumeada have had long detours to get to work. Commercial establishments, especially restaurants, have complained about a lack of tourists and residents from Funchal visiting Porto Moniz and São Vicente. This should improve now the link from Ribeira Brava to São Vicente opened yesterday.

From  the Jornal da Madeira.  In Serra de Água, President Jardim visiting the reopened road between Meia Légua and Serra de Água and chose to speak to journalists in the bar called “Poncha de Cima”.

ECONOMY

Luxury returns. With the end of the summer season in the Caribbean, mega-yachts are returning to Continental Europe. This is why during the next two months, the region will benefit from the necessary refuelling stops they need to make during the transatlantic voyages. The Elandess arrives at Funchal at 2.30 today and stays until the end of tomorrow. The Elandess comes from St. Martin and is going to the Mediterranean for the spring / summer season. This private yacht was built last year in Germany. It is 60 m long, 10.7 m wide and has a 3.50 m draft. Top speed is 16 knots, cruising speed 14 knots and a range of about 4,000 nautical miles. The yacht can hold 112,000 litres of fuel, 28,000 litres of portable water and accommodate 12 passengers in a master suit and 4 double cabins, serviced by a crew of 14.

POLITICS

Madeira will share the resolution with France and Spain. The Portuguese MEPs have formed a resolution calling for a series of actions by the European Commission to urgently aid the Region after the February 20th disaster. However, France and Spain were also severely affected by storms. The French and Spanish MEPs want the resolution to include their countries. This was agreed by the two major European parties, the PPE (includes the PSD and CDS) and PSE. The Liberais party wanted France included but not Spain. The PCP, part of the European United Left, wanted a resolution only for Madeira but yesterday morning, all leaders voted for the proposal of the two parties. Nuno Teixeira (PSD MEP for Madeira) thinks the inclusion of France and Spain will make the resolution stronger as it will attract more support, and will not affect the funds for any of the countries. This resolution is likely to be approved by all MEPs, urging the European Commission to adopt a set of initiatives that may prove very important for the region. The European Parliament wants the Commission to allow more flexible access to programs. The amount of funds does not change nor rules for access. Only the percentage of funding changes, for example a project might have funding for 80 – 90% rather than 70% of the cost. This means less money in other areas.

Governments agreed on measures to safeguard 3,000 – 5,000 jobs. Five measures announced after a joint meeting between the Government of the Republic and the Regional Government to safeguard jobs of companies whose business was affected or suspended because of the storm of February 20th. This is to prevent permanent closure of these firms. Neither governments have decided who will pay the loan of 185 million Euros from the European Investment Bank for rebuilding public infrastructure. João Cunha e Silva, the vice-president of the Madeiran Executive, hopes the State will pay because the Region has exhausted its borrowing capacity. This has to be decided by the Joint Committee.

Continuity of Jardim is consensual in the PSD-M. The decision of Jardim to delay leaving the leadership of the PSD and the Regional Government is thought to have the unanimous approval of the PSD, according to the Regional Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources, Manuel Correia. He said that Jardim is the best person to lead the special task of rebuilding Madeira. The BE leader believes the decision was already made long ago and the disaster is just a reason to confirm this decision. Alberto Jardim became President of the Regional Government in 1978 and 1984 was supposed to be the limit of his leadership. This date was quickly forgotten and the next discussion about his stay was in 1996 when the limit was set at 2000. Arguments have been made for his continuity of power and the new goal was set at 2011. He is now considering staying for a few more years.

CULTURE

Madeira evoked in Paris. A tribute to Madeira marked the fashion show by Fátima Lopes in Paris. This Madeiran designer showed a strong patriotism for her native homeland and was determined to enhance the natural beauty of Madeira. She wanted to present a positive optimistic image of Madeira to the world press, after the devastation of the island. Incidentally, this Autumn / Winter 2010 / 2011 collection has for its theme, the dire consequences of global warming. Among the many accessories, including boots and shoes with 14 cm heels and very tiny bags, was the carapuça – a small hat worn by Madeiran folklore women.

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

European commissioner from Hélio comes in order to see damage – The Austrian Hahn comes at the weekend to assess the damage, talk with those who have lost their homes, and visit the hard-hit West. He will see some of the worst hit areas by helicopter.

Today’s main news headline : Public health in the hands of the citizens – Up until now, there is no evidence of problems, but the health authorities recommend attention because the risk exists. The Diário puts forward suggestions for prevention for each case. The headlined suggestions put forward include boiling tap water, even for cleaning ones teeth, and tetanus vaccinations. Wellington boots, gloves and face masks to be used in clean-up operations. Any sign of anxiety, sleeplessness, nightmares, lack of appetite, seek psychological help. Funchal Council is doing everything possible to re-establish the sewerage systems, but the Institute of Health Administration and Social Affairs (IASAÚDE) is warning people to take precautions, even though there is not yet any evidence of outbreaks of disease. Those in affected areas should even take precautions with tap water, which may have become contaminated. The sewerage systems in some areas of Funchal disappeared during the floods on 20th February 2010.

Intense rain yesterday cut  the day short – The fleeing in numbers from Funchal at the same time clogged traffic. News of the forecast of heavy rain yesterday afternoon / evening panicked thousands in Funchal into leaving earlier than normal, and as a result traffic and even pedestrian movements were limited in downtown Funchal. Many left work early and headed off to schools, to collect children. The rivers of João Gomes, Santa Luzia and São João were very high with muddy water, and one could hear the sounds of rocks moving in the river beds. However, at the time of going to print last night the Diário assessed that there had been no cause for alarm. The road between Meia Légua and Serra de Água, badly damaged last month, was closed again yesterday as a precaution. Since the exceptional rain on the 20th February, I have noticed that any weather forecasts for heavy rain have been clarified with the words "but not with the intensity of 20th February", to avoid panicking people, and that was the case yesterday … and it clearly didn’t convince an understandably jumpy population.  

Reconstruction exempts budget rectification – Funds from Lisbon and the European Union make sense.

In politics : Ismael resigns in the MPT [Earth party] – Ex-deputy on a collision course with Isidoro.

Jardim challenges all of the candidates to stand down in favour of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. "It would be the icing on the cake", said the leader of the Social democrats of Madeira. This refers to the election of a new national leader for the PSD.

The main sports / football headline today : Madeirans attack ‘National’ of the rallies – Bernardo Sousa and Vítor Sá make their debuts today in the Rally Torrié. The first test on the Portugal rally championship starts today, with a ‘superspecial’.

Some pretty tricky translations on today’s front page, so don’t take anything too literally.

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 a further episode about the mysterious ‘nail’ :

Crucifixion nail: a hoax? ARTICLE LINK

“A man buys an old building, pronounces it a nation, secedes from his country, proclaims himself Prince, conducts archaeological digs and claims to have found three Templar skeletons and a nail that may have been a venerated relic of a crucifixion. And if it was a crucifixion nail it was one of thousands available. Sounds a little sketchy.

The timeline is problematic for proving Templars were ever on Madeira. History tells us that the islands of Madeira and nearby Porto Santo were "discovered" by João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, two captains in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, when they took refuge from a storm on Poto Santo around 1418.

But this date is about 100 years after the Templars were largely wiped out by King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V – 1307-1315.

So if the island was discovered 100 years after the Templars disbanded then the skeletons can’t be Templars, right?

Probably. But strangely, if you were going to look for Templar relics, Madeira might be the place to do it.

There is evidence for Templar survival In Portugal. Portugal’s King Denis defied the Pope’s order to disband the Templars and simply changed the name of his knights to The Order of Christ and by 1323 had even reclaimed Templar property for the group. Denis also sheltered persecuted knights from France. By 1417, the order was run by a powerful Grand Master – you guessed it – Prince Henry the Navigator, the same man whose sailors discovered the island.

If the skeletons are real – and I haven’t seen any proof of that – it is possible they were members of the Order of Christ buried with an old Templar sword.

But there might be Templar burials there – if the Templars knew about Madeira before its supposed discovery and used it to hide out after their persecution.

The islands were known to the ancients. Pliny the Elder mentioned sailors travelling to islands that match the description of Madeira and Porto Santo in 75 AD and they appear on maps as early as 1339. This information could conceivably have been known to the the Templars.

A lonely island in the Atlantic is a pretty good place to hide. Even an imaginary one.

One of the videos from Portuguese television about the Prince and his very small country.

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

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2010 All Rights Reserved

I hope we can all wake up this morning and find that all the worry of yesterday has passed, or is passing at least. People were really concerned about the forecast for heavy rain last night, I even saw shops closing early and using primitive means to protect their premises from further flooding. Der.

Many thanks to Becky for these two cheerier videos :

Bailhinho da Madeira.  

Impressions of Madeira.  Footage taken in February 2010, which I expected to be completely rain-soaked, but it finally ends in sunshine looking down on Curral das Freiras from Eira do Serrado.

Tobi kindly sent this in : "I have recorded the BBC Radio 4 interview" HERE Brave man Tobi, I just hope that Sam doesn’t mind, and no one else ends up in the water.

I was sent this by email : "My husband and I have been visiting Madeira two or three times each year since 1990.  We have Madeiran Godchildren and a Madeiran family.  This beautiful island is our second home.   We are devastated by this tragedy but know Madeira will rebuild and survive and become beautiful again.

Our first visit to Madeira in August 1990 was because I had undergone emergency eye surgery in May of that year and, once recovered, I made the decision to only look at beautiful things because I had almost lost my sight.  Madeira was my choice of "viewing" and it has never, ever, disappointed me.  We had our silver wedding anniversary celebration in the English Church in 1998 and have attended the baptism and confirmation of our Godchildren in Câmara de Lobos.

I only wish I knew how to help the Madeiran people who have lost their homes and livelihoods and relatives.  I shall ask the Side-by-Side people in Jersey if I can help through them". Roslyn (full name supplied) England.

Thank you Roslyn … if you want to make a financial donation, there are several routes, covered on this blog during this week, and more. I cannot tell you which is the best route, but maybe some people who have already given could post comments today on their opinions, particularly regarding currency, ease of use, and what are the more official, fast, and direct channels of giving.

This weekends football : Somehow it doesn’t seem right to be talking about football, but life must go on, and maybe a little distraction will do some good in such a distressing week. Anyway, as I have no news to the contrary, I assume that the planned fixtures are being played. First up are Marítimo at 4 pm this afternoon, with an away game at Naval, just 4 points behind our lads. Nacional host bottom club Belenenses on Monday night. 8.15 pm on SportTV1. Belenenses have won just one game in the 20 played so far this season. Top game this weekend is tomorrow night, when Sporting, buoyant after giving Everton a bit of a whipping in the Europa League this week, host Porto. It’s on SportTV1 at 8.15 pm.

Many thanks to Elaine (out West) for this piece from the Diário :

Roads closed around the island. The most complicated situations are those in Meia Légua, Serra da Agua and also Tabua. Several roads remain closed after the storm last Saturday. The west is the most affected, but there is also prohibited or conditional access elsewhere in the region. According to information provided by the Regional Secretariat for Social Affairs Bureau, the following roads in the west are closed: ER 101 (10), between Madalena do Mar and Ponta do Sol, ER 104 between Serra d’Agua and Meia Légua, ER 105 from Boca da Encumeada to Estanquinhos, ER 222, which connects Sítio da Santinha to Ponte, ER 223 at the descent from Jardim do Mar to Estreito da Calheta, ER 227 in Ribeira da Tabua, and ER 229 which connects Lugar da Ribeira (Ponte) to Campanário.

Also still closed are the ER 101 at Caminho dos Pretos (Funchal) and between Ponta Delgada and Boaventura. In addition there are some roads where traffic is restricted. These are the ER 102 between Camacha and Santo da Serra, the RE 103 from Monte to Poiso, and the ER 107, which connects Romeiras to the Nuns’ Valley. The Bureau also draws the attention of motorists to the fact that, while open, the roads should be used with great caution because some have not yet been thoroughly cleaned.

Elaine (out East) is back after a long loss of internet … hurrah … many thanks for these news stories.

DIÁRIO 26/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Jardim spoke with Barroso – 1.3 billion Euros in damages. Funding will be made at three levels: Europe, State and the Region. The balance is not finalised and losses are guaranteed to be more than 1.3 billion Euros. This figure will be explained to the European Commission at two different levels. First, the banks and the mouths of the most dangerous streams have been destroyed, and the added water transported thousands of cubic metres of gravel and mud, weakened the beds and leaves a threat in the air in case of new rainfall. With more than 100 km of regional roads, which join all of the municipal roads, partially or totally damaged, reconstruction also involves the consolidation of slopes to prevent new landslides. At least three bridges have fallen, their reconstruction involves a large investment or alternative newer safer trajectories constructed. The inventory of damage is still being produced, involving the municipal councils, the Estradas da Madeira and departments of the Regional Government. Jardim will then send this to Brussels along with two Regional ministers. The Council of Funchal has advanced a loss of 140 million Euros for trade and more than 100 million Euros for municipal roads and other structures. This does not include money for intervention in the streams and help required for reconstruction of habitation for those who have lost their houses. Some areas need to construct new infrastructures, for example a new tunnel at Santa de Água will cost 60 million Euros. At the second level, Madeira will have to rebuild newer and safer accessibility and residential areas. There has been major destruction in Serra de Água, Tabua, Funchal, Santa Cruz as well as other counties. The funding will come through grants and lines of credit. The decisive factor may be changing the rules applied by the European Parliament by Portuguese deputies, suggesting a reprogramming of funds from the European Cohesion Fund, European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund on a basis of rapid and simplified procedures making advance payments wherever possible.

MADEIRA

Quercus challenge people to speak. The environmental association Quercus published today on the Internet portal a document listing 22 failures in the organization and planning of the territory,  ‘Aluvião no Funchal, 20 de Fevereiro de 2010, o que ajudou que tudo corresse mal?’ Over the past 14 years, the association has pointed out errors and recommendations for risk prevention. In 2003, their Study on the Streams traced the history of landslides and mudslides and recommended measures to prevent them. It is now time for the community to speak about what they saw, whether this is down to extreme nature, climate change or other factors. Using a map of Funchal, they have outlined the three clogged and flooded watercourses and want this to be a starting point of a document for the Public Ministry.

Two more dead in the rubble at Ribeira Brava.  Five dead, two missing and 102 homeless in this county. The two missing bodies that were found yesterday are thought to belong to a family of seven from Pomar de Rocha and the only survivor has had at least one limb amputated. The elderly woman was found in the interior of the residence and the child lying in the bottom of the valley, near the Meia Légua tunnel, just inside the perimeter of the Centro Desportivo da Madeira. The mayor admits there may be more victims in the county, especially along the expressway of Serra de Água which was engulfed by flood waters. The quality of the water supply is poor in the West of Ribeira Brava, especially in Tabua and Banda d`Além. The most troublesome area for the water supply is Serra de Água and Ribeira da Tabua as the only supply to this isolated area has been broken. There are noticeable differences day to day in the county despite setbacks like craters appearing in roads. About 100 homes were inundated, 30 badly damaged and eight levadas flooded in Serra D´Água last Saturday. The population in the areas most affected, Travessa, Quebrada, Romeira and other areas, are returning to normal life but still express fears.

57 landslides in one day. On Saturday, in the peak of the rainfall, between nine and eleven o’clock in the morning, there were 57 landslides in the county of Funchal. São Martinho was the parish least affected whereas Santo António, a highly populated area, was one of the parishes with the most number of victims. The map also shows the number of trees that have been planted in an attempt to prevent flooding. But the process of reforestation was severely affected by years of drought between 2002 and 2005. There is no deadline for completion of the clean up work in Funchal, the machines still clearing the three streams. From Ribeira de São João, three to four tons of stones have been removed, The clearance work is difficult by Marina Shopping and Minas Gerais. It would have been easier to demolish the roundabout – Rotunda do Infante – but the council decided to make a hole in the concrete in this area and this has delayed the work by a day. In the area of Ribeira de João Gomes, the critical points are the Campo da Barca and the Oudinet building. The petrol station has been demolished and will not be rebuilt. At Praia Formosa, there have been 2,250 truck loads dumped, retrieved from the streams and lower Funchal. Link to the map.

Carreiros resume activity in Monte. The wicker basket rides down from Monte to Funchal will resume today. The problems in the final area of Livramento should be resolved today. There are 130 men involved in this type of work and they are wanting to resume as it is their life. Confident of help from Nossa Senhora do Monte because this could have been worse. One of the men, a 39 year old, has lost his house and is residing with his unemployed wife and two children at accommodation of the Scouts in Monte. One of the things he saved from the house was his costume for the work – white dress and straw hat – a tourist symbol for more than 200 years.

ECONOMY

Supermarkets keeping prices the same. Food prices will not increase following the disaster. Prices are the same throughout the country at Pingo Doce. The company, Grupo Jerónimo Martins, has contracts that ensure fixed prices throughout the year. Modelo will keep the prices the same to help Madeirans in their hour of greatest difficulty. Grupo Sá will not alter prices to ensure the security and peace of Madeirans. Only 15% of their products are local so they will not have to increase prices with agricultural produce affected by the rain.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

REGION

Santa Cruz notes extensive damage. Contrary to what may seem by the near silence of the media, the county of Santa Cruz has been hit hard by the storm. 19 houses need total reconstruction, 33 are in need of work and 12 need stabilization work. Some households had to be evacuated as the area was dangerous and there are 184 homeless people (67 households). The mayor asks the population in Gaula and Camacha not to over consume water now the supply has been re-established after a break in the tunnel at Porto Novo. Camacha was the area most damaged by the storm as there has been a high level of rainfall since the beginning of the year, resulting in landslides.

Machico estimate three million Euros loss. Several shops and houses were flooded with water and mud. In the zone of Caramanchão, a dozen hoses were affected by flooding. Many walls and public areas have to be replaced and traffic routes cleaned.

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

Solidarity with artists and sportsmen – After the support announced by Benfica and Porto, Sporting keeps it [gate?] receipts for Madeira. Marco Polo and Maria da Fé on the list for a concert / show in Funchal on 6th March.

Survivor from Pomar [da Rocha] doesn’t want to return home – The two sisters succumb to the storm, in Arco da Calheta, and José Guarnel is traumatised. Dramas throughout the island. 

Today’s main news headline : State and European Union guarantee €500 million. The EU guarantees just €44 million from the ‘lost fund’. Well short of the €1.4 billion needed to rebuild Madeira according to yesterdays news, and that figure is creeping up by the day.

Barroso visits Madeira on the 12th of March. The (Portuguese) European Commissioner is going to pay us a visit. An interesting question as to whether his roots will ensure he cuts Madeira the best possible aid deal, or will he aim to be seen as impartial and hence rather cold to a tragedy at home.

Lisbon will take on a loan of €240 million and the transfer of another €200 million.

The Madeira Government announced €20 million grant for affected traders.

Councils exempt citizens and businesses from IMI.

The main photo today is accompanied by the headline : Rumours make nervous and empty Funchal. The rumours were back on the attack during the day yesterday, consisting of false orders for the evacuation of the capital up until 18.00 hours. Later, the Civil Protection came forward to correct the ‘alarm’ situation, such as Meteorology did with a ‘hurricane’ [rumour ?]. But in the meantime there were citizens fleeing, and shops and services rushing to close early. Much the same over my way in Ribeira Brava, with shops and businesses closing early, and hasty attempts at waterproofing premises against further water damage. By 9.30 pm last night, before even a gust of wind or a droplet of precipitation, the place was a ghost town. All (so far) unwarranted, as after a night of on and off winds and rain, a nice sunny day has appeared. River levels are low, although there was a very small flash flood not long before midnight. There are reports on the radio this morning about damage caused by the very strong winds.

The latest information given yesterday was that the depression did not put the island at risk, however calling for caution in the early morning.

20 families evacuated as a precaution.

Meeting between Sócrates and Jardim is already scheduled for Monday – There will be a summit between central and regional government in order to work out the support from the state for Madeira, in the succession of the storms. [Prime Minister] Sócrates and [Finance Minister] Teixeira dos Santos are available. Jardim (who yesterday was checked out in hospital following an ailment) says he is confident.

In Funchal, [Miguel] Alburquerque continues summarising the effects of the storm, despite of the ‘insinuations’.

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. 

BY EMAIL : News from Prazeres to Riviera Brava : Update on conditions from Prazeres to Ribeira Brava this morning (Saturday). The roads are OK but care is needed as there are large rocks at the side of the roads. Madalena do Mar has appeared to have lost the bridge at the end of the river, so the walk way down the front has collapsed. Diggers are at present removing a large amount of debris from this area.

At the roundabout at Tabua there are diggers removing very large boulders that cover the road up to Tabua, some as large as 5ft in diameter.

Some more of the wall at Lugar de Baixo has given way with huge waves crashing over the other parts, the area around the pool is unrecognisable, it is littered with debris. The road down has had another rock fall.

The roads from Paul da Serra to Canhas, Prazeres and Arco da Calheta are passable with care, as the rock falls and trees have yet to be cleared from the side of the roads.

Regards. Selina. Many thanks Selina, lots more news on damage overnight coming through on the news.

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

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2010 All Rights Reserved

Many thanks to Becky for these web snippets :

"Madeira has a long and venerable tradition of cocktail-making, based partly in the island’s colonial past and partly in local drinking habits. The colonial side is best exemplified at Reid’s Palace Hotel, the most famous and exclusive on the island, where they serve Martinis, Manhattans and all the other classics. The demotic side is exemplified by the cheap, explosively fiery rum (here called aguardente) which forms the alcoholic basis of poncha." BOOZY WEEKEND?

Lizards eating sugar, bananas and fingers.  Do not watch if you’re at all lizard-phobic!

Vanessa Swesnik very kindly sent in this complete article translation ORIGINAL HERE

União Comercial opens facilities. União Comercial, the company that markets automobiles for the Japanese brand, Toyota, in Madeira spent over two million Euros to construct a building from scratch in São Martinho parish, which will hold all of its administrative and commercial services.

The grand opening will be next Friday, on the 19^th of this month. The new building has a total area of 2,400 square meters and meets the need to offer even better service and attention to the client, said Francisco Tavares, manager of the company, to the DIÁRIO.

Toyota automobile sales will now be centralized at 40 Caminho do Poço Barral; garage and post-sales assistance will still be provided in Cancela at the Mendes, Gomes, Lda. facility, an affiliate and Volvo dealer in the Autonomous Region.

Toyota automobiles have enjoyed immense popularity with the people of Madeira for many years. For the past three years, the brand was among Top 3 sales for Madeira. Last year, the brand sold 360 new vehicles on the archipelago and was in first place until the month of November. Christmas sales dropped them to third place. Either way, it is evidence of the prestige and level of satisfaction the brand has earned among Madeirans, acknowledges Francisco Tavares.

With another exterior stand on the roundabout that divides traffic between Pica dos Barcelos and MadeiraShopping, União Comerical now has a team of 20 employers. With the Mendes, Gomes, Lda. workers, the group has close to 90 employees.

An extra article from Elaine, repeated from yesterday, as I didn’t post it until after 7 pm :

Emanuel Salvador plays with the CMO and Ferreira Lobo
Directed by maestro Ferreira Lobo, violinist Emanuel Salvador will play on Saturday. The young Portuguese violinist Emanuel Salvador will play on Saturday February 20 at 21.00 with the Madeira Classical Orchestra, a concert led by José Ferreira Lobo, conductor of the Orquestra do Norte and artistic director of Festival Opera Portimão. Born in 1981, Emanuel Salvador is concertmaster of the Orquestra do Norte.

The program consists of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major Opus 61, by Beethoven, Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the ‘Unfinished’, by Schubert, and the Hungarian Dances nos. 1, 3 and 5 by Brahms. Tickets are available Monday to Friday between 13.00 and 17.00 hours in the Tourist Office, Avenida Arriaga, and at the venue (the Congress Centre of Madeira Casino) between 19.00 and 21.00 hours.

Emanuel Salvador has performed in prestigious concert halls in England (St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Southwark Cathedral) in Kazakhstan (Philharmonic Hall), Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal (Centro Cultural de Belém, Gulbenkian Museum) Germany (Palatin, Wiesloch), Spain (Centre for Performing Arts, Salamanca), Italy and Malta (Manoel Theatre). He has won prizes at national and international competition level: 1st prize in the contest ‘Isolde Menges’ (RCM) and Beckenham Festival, Barbirolli Memorial and Wolfson Foundation Award, 2nd prize at the Young Musicians, Honorable Mention at the Julio Cardona International Competition, among others. He won a scholarship to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation from 2000 to 2003, and in 2008 and 2009 to the Instituto Camões. He graduated Bachelor of Music in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and gained a Master’s Degree in Musical Performance from the Royal College of Music.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for a couple of web snippets and yesterday’s top news stories :

Portugal outperforms Eurozone Portugal is slowly forcing the spotlight off its national economy by this week, once again showing the state of its finances to be far better than the image being portrayed by some analysts beyond its borders. Support for Lisbon’s view that its economy is firmly set on the path to full recovery has been backed up by figures released by Eurostat, the European Union’s official research agency, indicating Portugal outperformed its Eurozone partners during the final quarter of last year …

Madeira suits me to tee. AN EARLY alarm call signals the start of our first day on the island of eternal spring. It’s pitch black outside as we take a bleary-eyed breakfast in the ornate dining room at the Quinta Serra Golfe, our hotel set in woodland on the edge of the pretty village of Santo da Serra. However, by the time we reach the Santo da Serra Golf Club, less than a mile away, the sky is brightening rapidly. The ocean spreads out below us and the mist drifting down from the mountains disperses as the sun bathes Madeira’s premier course …

DIÁRIO 19/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Santa Cruz and Ponta do Sol ask for help with coastal protection. The Council of Santa Cruz asked the Regional Secretariat for Social Equipment to place concrete breakwaters, ‘pés de galinha’, in the sea in front of the swimming pools of Praia das Palmeiras, to protect the area from the strong waves that often occur. Every year, the council has to repair the damage to the pools and they want to be ready for when the weather improves and people use the beach. The council has asked informally for help and soon will send a formal letter. The actual impact of the flooding is not yet known as they are waiting for the weather to improve before they attempt any repairs. There has been no major damage but the engine room for the pools has been flooded and railings destroyed. Unlike the beach at Calheta, the beach at Machico has not lost sand or had many stones dragged onto it. It lies sheltered in a cove and the main impact of the bad weather has been debris from a stream that flows alongside the beach. The pool at Porto da Cruz has suffered major damage that occurs every year. Without the capacity or authority to take action to protect the sea front, the Mayor of Ponta do Sol has promised to raise awareness with the authorities responsible for the public maritime domain. The beach at Ponta do Sol was damaged last December and there was some erosion and damage to properties at Lugar de Baixo. The mayor had previously wanted the seawall relocated further away from the beach at Ponta do Sol.

MADEIRA

Earth is the theme for the Flower Festival. This year, the Flower Festival will take place between the 15th and 18th April. There will be the usual initiatives: flower carpet; Flower Exhibition; folk groups performing in the streets and classical music concerts. The Wall of Hope ceremony in the Town Square in Funchal, involving thousands of children, will take place on the morning of April 17th. The Flower Parade will be held on the afternoon of Sunday April 18th.

ECONOMY

Living in Madeira is more expensive. Madeirans are paying more for services and products. This is the conclusion that can be drawn from the fact that in January, the Index of Consumer Prices was higher than the previous month by 0.2 percentage points. The Index measures changes in prices of a basket of goods and services considered representative of consumption by the population in that area. The only class of items that decreased in average price was Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages. The largest increases were recorded for Clothing and Footwear, followed by Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, then Transport. Although it is difficult to directly compare regions, the most expensive area to live in last year was the Azores, then the Algarve and thirdly, Madeira. At a national level, the Index of Consumer Prices fell 0.3% compared to last December. The cost of living will be influenced by the 3.6% increase in labour costs in the last quarter of last year. The index of labour costs reflects the average cost of labour for each hour actually worked, including pay and costs to the employer. The highest increases in labour costs were for farmers and qualified workers in agriculture and fishing, then officials and senior company staff followed by professional and scientific specialists.

Stocklet offers low prices in Dolce Vita in Funchal. The Dolce Vita commercial mall in Funchal is going to host from 19 – 28 February, Stocklet, an activity that offers shoppers the opportunity to make purchases at lower prices and benefit from special promotions. The campaign involves stores from all sectors, including clothing, telecommunications, bookshops, food, utilities and accessories, among others. Stocklet is an initiative of Dolce Vita which aims to sell the end of season stock at reduced prices as well as have exclusive promotions for customers.

POLITICS

Nunes wants to protect the vale dos Salgados. A deputy of CDU-Madeira, Leonel Nunes, argued in Camacha for the designation ‘protected landscape’ for the Núcleo Habitacional dos Salgados. In this parish, the community is concerned about the ‘appetite’ for housing and think this status will prevent environmental destruction in one of the most beautiful valleys of Madeira. The Núcleo Habitacional (core housing / traditional housing) has been ‘abandoned’ and he asks for the support of the Council of Santa Cruz in the allocation of the status of protected landscape.

Accounts of CMF in Belém. Miguel Albuquerque, the Mayor of Funchal, is back in Lisbon to try to keep, as stipulated in the 2010 State Budget, the transfer of 5% of IRS to the councils in Madeira. He is only negotiating for 2010 although in 2009, Funchal Council lost 5 million Euros, a case that is to be heard in the Administrative Court. In 2010, the amount that should be transferred from Portugal to Funchal is 500,000 Euros per month. He will meet parliamentary groups and Cavaco Silva (President of Portugal) next week. After last February, the funds were continued to be transferred to the councils on the Continent but not to those in Madeira and the Azores, despite negotiations.

CULTURE

Folklore and Ethnography Group of Boa Nova to go to Canada. A trip to Canada, from the 4 – 19 August, for the VII European Week of Folklore. There will also be Russian, Italian and possibly Spanish and Indian groups taking part. Grupo de Folclore e Etnográfico da Boa Nova will participate in the Festas de Nossa Senhora do Monte in August for the Madeiran community in Toronto and Montreal.

Over a thousand students visit the Centro das Artes in 2009. To motivate the younger generation to cultural knowledge is a challenge increasingly important given the competition of various means of entertainment. This Arts Centre in Calheta opened its doors to schoolchildren last year with good results. Last year, there were 40 visits involving more than 1,000 students. The children are exposed to various different types of art, for example dance, music, plays, sculpture and visual arts.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Woman who threatened to camp had rejected help. Update of report on 12 February. The woman who last week threatened to camp in front of the Town Hall if her housing situation was not resolved, had lived outside Funchal and refused to comply with the stipulations of the Homeless Shelter. She had refused to take part in an integration project, a necessity as the Night Shelter is only for people in transition. This 42 year old woman rejected everything that was proposed by the Housing Department of Funchal. She refused a room to rent, wanting a house and also rejected computer courses and others. Social Security provided medication which she would not take. Since Tuesday, she has left the shelter after spending the weekend with friends.

EVENTS

Scottish tourists lost in the levada das Babosas. A Scottish couple, aged 72 and 74, ignored the Civil Protection warnings to avoid walks in the serras in the bad weather. They ventured on the vereda between Babosas and Curral dos Romeiros, became lost and requested aid. They made a small fire to help the Fire Department locate them and they were accompanied to the exit at Bom Sucesso then taken to their hotel. This operation took nearly four hours.

Strong gusts felt in São Jorge and Areeiro had the most rain. Between 9 am on February 17th to 17.00 yesterday, the Meteorology Observatory of Funchal recorded a gust of wind of 159.1 km/h in São Jorge. In Caniçal, another record of 155.1 km/h and 100.8 km/h in Aeeiro. The stations at Areeiro and Calheta/Ponta do Pargo registered the most rain falling in 10 minutes. The highest amount was 6.2 mm at 08.50 yesterday. For total rainfall, the station at Areeiro registered 128.2 mm. Temperature ranged from a minimum of 1.5 degrees Celsius at Areeiro at 09.40 to a maximum of 18.7 degrees in Funchal at 15.30.

More later maybe … especially if someone would be kind enough to contribute something …

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

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2010 All Rights Reserved

Many thanks to Becky for these hiking web snippets :

"The things I read about Madeira on the Net sounded like it was a nice place to be in March. So I packed a flashlight, extra batteries, rainproof jacket and trousers, and a rain flap for my rucksack, and went off to the island of perpetual spring." WITH A SPRING IN HIS STEP

8 of the most unique walking paths in the world … and Madeira and Pico Island, Azores are among them. HERE

This link from Tobi … thanks a lot "Some nice Carnival pics at last" Wow, they are great Tobi, but even so after 30 or so (of 424), I had to call it a day. Then I read Tobi’s next email … it’s only the first 12. Great pics Hugo. Der

Thanks to Pete for sending in this web-link for a report about MADEIRA AIRPORT. There is a great photo of the airport extension under construction.

It’s the big match tonight … the local derby between Marítimo and Nacional. It’s on SportTV1 at 8.15 pm. With both teams level with 25 points, this will could launch one or the other into a European placing, albeit for less than 24 hours.

Many thanks to Vanessa Swesnik for this complete translation :

Awareness Raising for Internet Security – Young people were target audience as privileged users of the Internet.

As part of the celebration of European Safer Internet Day, Câmara de Lobos Public Library and the Judicial Police held an awareness raising event for the allusive subject.

The audience consisted of, above all, young people- standard users of the Internet; however, the event was also open to the public, namely parents, teachers, and educators among others.

European Safer Internet Day’s objective is to promote the informed, critical, and safe use of the Internet, whether it is by children and young people or by families, workers or citizens in general.

Although children and young people enjoy opportunities provided by the Internet, especially through social networking sites, many give personal information without realizing who can see it.                               ORIGINAL ARTICLE IN PORTUGUESE

Many thanks to Sue for this contribution :

‘Cristo Rei’ with hotel.

There is a proposal that provides a complete renovation in the area of Cristo Rei, more specifically the pool and tennis courts that are there continuing down to the beach at Garajau. The Inter-Marina ANLAGEN company owns the entire area and has developed many of the lots already built in this area. They obtained the necessary authorization from the City of Santa Cruz last Tuesday for 16 building lots and a hotel beside Cristo Rei, however, the company’s proposal was even more ambitious in that it proposed the construction of 21 lots, two for tourism and nineteen for housing.

At the meeting the mayor explained the project. We approved the installation of 14 lots on the site where today there are two tennis courts and a swimming pool, two lots on the hillside next to the coffee shop and there is also for the construction of a hotel built in 2 buildings, going down towards the beach at Garajau, which will not degrade the environment. The Mayor went on to point out that it was an investment that would be  good fun with sea sports and the enjoyment of nature. The project has now moved on to the architectural side of the project. José Alberto Gonçalves, ensured that the area of implementation is not within the area of nature reserve of Garajau, established in 1986. Where the allotment is, we will be careful to preserve everything that is in the public maritime domain, however a certain number of concessions were agreed to offer greater convenience to the site. Including the recovery of the site of the Chapel of the Mother of God – asked a couple of locals – blank faces – i.e. did not know of one that had existed to be recovered?

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

DIÁRIO 18/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Sea consumes the coast. Raising the level of sea water, reducing the amount of sediment reaching the coast, anthropogenic degradation (by human activities) of natural structures and coastal works have led to a phenomenon that environmentalists describe as transgressive. These are the main factors for coastal erosion and the retreat of the coastline, in other words the coastline migrates towards the land. Some factors are natural but most are either directly or indirectly caused by human intervention. In September 2003, national and international environmental groups attended a summit in the region and predicted that the transgression phenomenon would occur. The opposite action is called regression, when the coastline migrates towards the ocean. Areas by the mouths of rivers like Ribeira Brava, Ponta do Sol and Machico have a medium-term risk of being engulfed by the sea. This is demonstrated by the destruction of breakwaters and coastal walls.

MADEIRA

Secular tradition in the parish of Santa Cecilia. In 1910, when the Convent of São Bernardino was abandoned, families living in Câmara de Lobos rescued nine images of saints. Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the traditional day for the Procissão das Cinzas (Procession of the Ashes) in this parish, marking the beginning of Lent. Despite the heavy rain that fell minutes before the departure, hundreds of parishioners attended this historical event. The Convent was abandoned (like many church buildings) when there was separation of the Church and the State. At the time, câmara-lobenses collected the images of the saints (São Francisco de Assis, Santa Margarida de Cortona, São Roque, Santa Rosa Viterbo, São Benedito, Santo Ivo, Santa Isabel de Portugal, São Salvador and Santo António de Motte), an act that allowed the preservation of  this significant collection. After a century, the images are still with the families, passed down several generations, with some restoration in places. One family said, "It’s an honour and a delight to have the saint under the care of the family." The image is stored in an oratory in one of the houses of the family.

Twinning of Santa Cruz with Carrizal. This is a way to strengthen ties between the region and emigrants in Venezuela. The twinning arrangement will be formalized by the end of this year. In 2007, the county of Santa Cruz twinned with El Hatillo. The twinning with Carizzal was announced by the mayor who is presently in Venezuela on behalf of the county to attend the first anniversary of the Association of Descendants of Santa Cruz. At Altos Mirandinos, a town in the county of Carrizal, a replica of the Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Fátima is being built, the only one in South America. If authorization from the Ministry of Internal Affairs can be granted in time, the vice-president of Santa Cruz wants the twinning between the two counties to be signed on the 25th June, the Day of the Municipality of Santa Cruz. Twinning has advantages to both parties, culturally and financially in terms of tourism and trade. The immigrants in Venezuela are apprehensive and live in uncertainty with parliamentary elections later this year but have no interest in returning. Thus, they want the document signed before the elections. Counties in the Region of Madeira are involved in a total of 36 twinnings. 

ECONOMY

Francisco Sá Carneiro is the third best airport in Europe. This airport in Porto was voted third by the  ACI, Airports Council International. João Paulo II Airport in Ponta Delgada (Açores) was also distinguished. The Airport of Madeira registered ninth place. The award was for the greatest rise in indicators of quality of service between 2008 and 2009.

‘Cristo Rei’ with hotel. The proposal will completely revolutionize the area of Cristo Rei in Garajau, specifically the areas around the old swimming pool and tennis courts and the road descending to the praia do Garajau. The company that owns the entire area, Inter-Marina ANLAGEN, has authorization from Santa Cruz Council to build on 16 lots and build a hotel near to Cristo Rei. They had originally proposed to develop 21 lots, two for tourism and nineteen for housing but the council reduced the number. This company owns most of the area of Cristo Rei, including where the image of Cristo Rei stands. The plan was originally approved in 2005 with the condition that a geological survey was carried out. Some nonconformities with the PDM led the company to review the plan in terms of the gross area of construction, number of floors and number of parking spaces. The Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport has approved the plans. The construction work cannot be in the area of the Reserva Natural Parcial do Garajau and will need to preserve everything in the Public Maritime Domain. Santa Cruz Council say this area of urban expansion is of low density. The approval on Tuesday was for 14 lots on the site where the two tennis courts and swimming pool are, two lots next to the cafe, a hotel constructed of 2 buildings in the area by the road descending to the beach (photo). There will be created over a hundred parking spaces, garden areas, a children’s playground and the firm will renovate the Capela da Mãe de Deus.

POLITICS

One Azorean is equivalent to 50 Madeirans. The PSD-M have looked at the amount of money in the State Budget for investment in the two autonomous regions. From 2009 to 2010, there will be a 92% reduction in the amount of money for Madeira, from 5.5 million Euros to 427,000 Euros. The Azores will have 21.4 million Euros for investments. This is equivalent to 87 Euros for each Azorean and 1.65 Euros for each Madeiran. The Government of the Republic wants to invest more abroad than in Madeira, for example 300,000 Euros for haemodialysis in Cape Verde and 400,000 Euros for the televisions of PALOP. 0.02% of the PIDDAC (State investments) is for this Region which will not resolve the problems at the law courts of Ponta do Sol and Santa Cruz and the police stations at Porto Santo, Santa Cruz and Ponta do Sol. The PSD conclude that the Prime Minister of Portugal does not consider the Madeirans as Portuguese, but also are not considered as foreigners, taking into account that 43 million Euros are for investment outside national territory.

UPDATE

Madeira has GDP lower than the European average. The Lisbon region is the only one with a GDP per inhabitant (104.7%) above the EU average (100%). In Madeira, the GDP per capita reaches 96.3% of the EU average. Madeira has the second highest value in the country. The mean for Portugal is 75.6% while the Continental territory has a GDP per capita of 75.3%.

Financial assistance to farmers amounts to 21.3 million Euros. This large income support to farmers benefits almost all of the agricultural population in Madeira. The funds are made available by the Regional Government and the EU to support the production of grapes, wine, cane sugar, milk, meat and bananas, among others. It helps the region to be more competitive in the production of flowers and fruit and encourages the export of fresh and processed produce. It is the first time there is aid for the export of cane sugar products which is justified by an increase in production.

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

In the Azores [president] César gives in a year what Jardim spends in two months – In the Azores, the support for all social communication costs €600,000 a year. On Madeira, the Jornal da Madeira newspaper alone takes €4 million. It looks like the Diário newspaper chiefs have got fed up of waiting and nothing happening. Last year they took some bold steps at country and international level to highlight the unfairness of the situation between the two main daily newspapers on Madeira, but it doesn’t seem that anything has changed. The politically biased, government controlled, and technically bankrupt Jornal da Madeira continues to get €4 million of taxpayers money each year, and an unfair amount of government ‘advertising’ on top of that, and is available free to the public. The Diário gets nothing. The World Press Association even wrote a LETTER to the president of Portugal about it, but nothing seems to have changed. It’s a disgrace!

Today’s main news headline : Unpaid  debt to the pharmacies paid in five years – The Government promises to pay €80 million in 60 instalments.  The National Association of Pharmacies demands guarantees.

Today’s main front page photo shows a snowy landscape with a car blocking a road, traffic stopped, and a few well wrapped spectators. Attraction by the snow  creates despair – The bad weather is back to wreak havoc and surprise the adventurous. Madeira is deaf to the warnings of the Civil Protection Agency, and some drivers jumped in their cars and sped off in freezing temperatures to see the snowfall in the high zones of Madeira, where tree falls, high winds, and accidents were some of the problems experienced by drivers on the climb to Pico Arieiro and on other routes. A gust of wind in Caniçal yesterday registered at 150 km / h. The bad weather will continue into the weekend, with heavy  rain forecast for Funchal tomorrow, thunderstorm, and high winds, especially in exposed places. If you want weather stories turn on the local TV news for floods, rock fall, landslides … it’s all there. Somebody told me yesterday that a Rodoeste bus was hit by a rockfall, but I don’t think there were any serious consequences.

Santa Cruz and Ponta do Sol ask the Regional Government for help for coastal protection.

New drawbacks in the Regional Finance Law – The voting on the final draft is delayed. [Prime Minister] Sócrates promises to resist.

Passos Coelho seeks support on Madeira. This is the guy who seriously upset President Jardim over his stance on the amendments to the Regional Finance Law. He is a candidate I think for the national leadership of Uncle Bertie’s Social Democrat Party, but UB will do everything he can to finish Coelho’s political career.

Porto Santo without air connections for over 24 hours – The SATA ‘shuttle’ suffered a breakdown, but trips will recommence at 10.20 am. The president of Porto Santo Council, Roberto Silva, has asked for a second aircraft to come into service to ensure the service is guaranteed. Not having much luck with the ferry these last few days I notice too, with several crossings being cancelled, but somehow I can’t see SATA taking much notice of Sr. Silva’s somewhat silly plea. In fact he would probably have more success asking his boss Uncle Bertie to build a road and rail bridge, or a tunnel perhaps, between the two islands. 

The main sport / football headline today : Derby match has the makings of a tie-breaker in Barreiros. The big game tonight between Marítimo, with home advantage, and Nacional.

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. 

An extra article from Elaine, many thanks :

Emanuel Salvador plays with the CMO and Ferreira Lobo
Directed by maestro Ferreira Lobo, violinist Emanuel Salvador will play on Saturday. The young Portuguese violinist Emanuel Salvador will play on Saturday February 20 at 21.00 with the Madeira Classical Orchestra, a concert led by José Ferreira Lobo, conductor of the Orquestra do Norte and artistic director of Festival Opera Portimão. Born in 1981, Emanuel Salvador is concertmaster of the Orquestra do Norte.

The program consists of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major Opus 61, by Beethoven, Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the ‘Unfinished’, by Schubert, and the Hungarian Dances nos. 1, 3 and 5 by Brahms. Tickets are available Monday to Friday between 13.00 and 17.00 hours in the Tourist Office, Avenida Arriaga, and at the venue (the Congress Centre of Madeira Casino) between 19.00 and 21.00 hours.

Emanuel Salvador has performed in prestigious concert halls in England (St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Southwark Cathedral) in Kazakhstan (Philharmonic Hall), Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal (Centro Cultural de Belém, Gulbenkian Museum) Germany (Palatin, Wiesloch), Spain (Centre for Performing Arts, Salamanca), Italy and Malta (Manoel Theatre). He has won prizes at national and international competition level: 1st prize in the contest ‘Isolde Menges’ (RCM) and Beckenham Festival, Barbirolli Memorial and Wolfson Foundation Award, 2nd prize at the Young Musicians, Honorable Mention at the Julio Cardona International Competition, among others. He won a scholarship to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation from 2000 to 2003, and in 2008 and 2009 to the Instituto Camões. He graduated Bachelor of Music in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and gained a Master’s Degree in Musical Performance from the Royal College of Music.

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

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2010 All Rights Reserved

I am sure many will be off to see the Carnival parade tonight in Funchal, and no doubt it will be as wonderful as ever, but don’t forget to send in your best photos. As a bonus for us over the west, there is a ‘Trapalhão’ parade starting tomorrow at 4.30 pm in the streets of Ribeira Brava. That means it’s a free-for-all, so come along and watch, or even better, get yer Carnival togs on and join in the fun … and don’t forget to spend some money, the town needs it. See you there!

The last one from Becky, many thanks … anymore anyone?

Captions please:

I’ll start, with… "Does anyone know where I can get some Toranja Poncha?"

(But you can keep yer hands off mine Bertie. Der)

Thanks a lot to Tobi for this link, that gives access to a brochure called ‘Active Tourism Madeira’. Use the ‘Fullscreen’ button to read the text. NATURE BROCHURE

This weekend’s football : Both our teams play tomorrow, Valentine’s Day of course. Nacional host Rio Ave at 4 pm, and Marítimo go to almost top-of-the-table Braga. The second match is on SportTV1 at 6 pm.

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

DIÁRIO 12/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Dumping controversy.  Seven months ago, Diário denounced the illegal mining at the site of Landeiros and dumping of the earth. The local population called in the Forestry Police and they have seized a truck and bulldozer. During the stormy weather on February 2nd, earth dumped by the side of the stream at Lajes caused it to overflow, resulting in a trail of destruction. The local population want Machico Council to build retaining walls around the stream to prevent any further damage. The Regional Director of Forestry and the Regional Director of the Environment do not know if the company is working legally or not. The council said they have authorized the work to repair storm damage in this area and the Forestry Police have no jurisdiction. The Regional Government has the responsibility for the construction of any stone walls.

MADEIRA

Santa Cruz Carnival Parade has less troupes due to lack of financial support. There will be three troupes and 200 participants, fewer than in previous years, due to a lack of financial support from the local Casa do Povo. Two of the three missing troupes are ‘Malta do Furor’ and ‘Amoreiras’. The director of Malta do Furor explained that they will participate at Gaula but the costumes and floats are expensive to make. Santa Cruz Council indirectly supports the Carnival Parade by financing the Caso do Povo who always organize it. The Caso do Povo have financial limitations but still provide six buses and a meal after the parade. There will still be 500 participants on Sunday.

Unions representing doctors cut relations with SESARAM. The two unions representing doctors in the region have suspended relationships with the Health Service Management Board. They complain that SESARAM promotes a climate of permanent tension and that professionals are despised and held in contempt. The unions are ignored and union delegates persecuted. They never hear a word of encouragement and the management is only interested in numbers, indices, percentages and productivity. Careers for Medical Professionals no longer exist in Madeira, so they cannot progress, and their careers are not recognized on the Continent. One union is taking their concerns to Alberto Jardim and are waiting to hear what the Secretary for Social Affairs has to say about the tense climate that exists.

Woman threatening to camp outside the Town Hall in Funchal. A 42 year old woman is threatening to pitch a tent outside the front door of the City Hall in Funchal until the council find her a home. She has been sleeping at the Temporary Shelter for the Homeless during the last month and the length of permanent stay is a maximum of 15 days, which ends today. The woman has had talks with several people from the council with no result. She receives 330 Euros from Social Security which she says is not enough to pay for accommodation. Unemployed, divorced for five years with two children; one son is married and lives in his own house and the other is living temporarily with a friend.

ECONOMICS

Porto Santo Line keeps prices the same.  Porto Santo Line run the maritime ferry, ‘Lobo Marinho’, between Madeira and Porto Santo. They will not increase prices this year, in a bid to attract customers. Turnover (cargo) fell 14% last year although the number of passengers increased by 3% to reach 361,275. The drop in business meant a loss of 1 million Euros in turnover. In four years, the cost of travel to Porto Santo has increased a little over 2% and the price for residents is kept uniform throughout the year. The winter season (October to March) is 19.9% cheaper and 40% of passengers travel then. Resident rates are 38.3% below the average ticket price but they are not publicly subsidized, unlike in the Azores. Porto Santo Line are exempt from port charges to compensate for the reduction for residents. A fuel surcharge was not added last year following a drop in fuel prices. Porto Santo Line promotes packages – travel plus hotel, groups of two or four passengers in a car – which can drop the ticket price by 20 – 50% during the winter season, and summer discounts are smaller, 3 – 10%.

UPDATE

"Invasion" of Madalena do Mar stopped. The dispute centres on the emergency exit routes of the tunnel to Calheta going through the access to a parking lot of a condominium. On Wednesday, in the Legislative Assembly, the Left Bloc denounced the "invasion" of private land by the construction firm. On Wednesday, the residents were verbally told that the excavators would be going onto their land but found they were already there. The Left Bloc said this was a way to prevent the owners from triggering any legal mechanism to prevent the invasion of their land. Legally, they should have been given written warning of compulsory purchase of their land by the Regional Government. Today, the construction company was prevented from entering the private property. The residents denied the company access and the police were called. This is a tug-of-war between the residents, Regional Government and the construction company. The residents have had a subpoena filed in court to protect their rights and liberties.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Working group for the recuperation of the Marina and Avenida do Mar. The Municipality of Funchal and APRAM (Ports Authority) have formed a working group to develop a master plan for the recovery of the Marina of Funchal and the third phase of the renovation of the Avenida do Mar. The third phase is from the Verdinho bar to Ribeira de São João. The aim is an integration of the terraces of the Marina and the Avenida do Mar, an area that is little used and unappealing. The council want more green areas and need to consider how to move the palm trees, which were imported from the Canary Islands in the 1980s, to other gardens. The monuments must be preserved and integrated into the new design which must align with works on the North Pier and on the west side. The council also want to know if the central reservation of grass and trees is justified.

REGIONAL

Debt of Madeira Palace is 7.5 million. The Hilton and Sheraton hotel chains are in discussion about the management of the construction of the Madeira Palace hotel. The work stopped for several months last year. The construction company has 50 employees on the site but is having a problem due to the developer owing them 7.5 million Euros. The construction company cannot carry out any more work and the licenses expire in March, but should be easily renewable.

Fábrica dos Sonhos  and Geringonça in Machico. Geringonça has been invited to open the Carnival Parade in Machico on Sunday at 15.00. Fábrica dos Sonhos (Factory of Dreams) will be the final act. This will be the tenth time Geringonça has taken part in Machico Carnival. Local schools and youth organizations will participate along with the Municipal Band of Machico.

EVENTS

‘Ritual’ in the cemetery of Câmara de Lobos. A most unusual situation was found in the cemetery on Tuesday morning. Gravediggers found on the stairs near the chapel, in a corner, a ‘table’ on which there were three bottles of aguadente (rum), three bottles of champagne, various glasses, a 2 kilo piece of beef, cigarettes and a fire near the wall. Since this is not a place for parties, the conclusion is that it is part of a ritual by either ‘healers’ or ‘masters of magic’ to invoke the dead for various reasons. 

Also, many thanks to Elaine for these web snippets :

A Texan family from a cruise ship visit and are initially harassed but still enjoyed the visit. Lots of good photos.

"I know, I know…I’m very slow! This is the last port day that I have to share with you and in my opinion it was the prettiest. I would love to be able to go back some day and spend more time in Portugal.

Once again we got off the ship with no real plans. We dined with a family that had visited Madeira before and they told us is was unnecessary to buy the bus ticket into town, which were 4.00 each way. So, we took out walking…and we walked…and we walked…and we walked. We were beginning to second guess the decision to walk to town when a gentleman approached us and told us he could take us all over the island and be our personal tour guide for the day. He was a pretty aggressive salesman and I could tell the girls were rather nervous. After Brent dickering with him about the price, the final price was 130 Euro. Brent hemmed and hawed and told the man he would have to pass" TEXAN TALE

Discovering Portugal’s Madeira Wine. Three page article in the January/February edition of Virtuoso Life Magazine.

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

Children shrug-off the Carnival rain – Even with limitations, the kids shook the city.  Well of course they did, the kids are born waterproof these days … when was the last time you saw a kid carrying an umbrella? Anyway there is a nice photo on the front page, and probably more inside. But just blowing the blog trumpet a little, you didn’t have to wait until the next day to see carnival pictures on this website.

Serrão gives paid place to the decisive supporter – The leader of the Socialist Party of Machico will be the local government coordinator.

Race on in the national Social Democrat Party : The ‘oranges’ from here are disturbed with the order of Jardim.

National Council of PSD – Jardim quarrels with Passos Coelho. The leader of the Social Democrats of Madeira said that Passos should no longer be making policy in the PSD.  Alberto João Jardim was involved in a lively battle with the candidate for the leadership of the PSD, Pedro Passos Coelho. In a speech appealing for party unity, one of the first of the PSD National Council, the Madeiran leader criticised Coelho for his stance with the Regional Finance Law. In a face to face confrontation, Jardim told Coelho, ex leader of the Youth PSD, that if it was up to him he would be making any more party policy. Coelho responded that "it is just as well that the party doesn’t depend on you".

Today’s main news headline :  Earth from the landslides invades rivers of Faial – After the storms, it is needed to clear the roads. Rivers pay the price. Justification : in times of emergency, one forgives  the bad with the good that it does. Yes I know, that last bit doesn’t make total sense, but I get the drift of the message. The gist of this is that in Ribeira Seca the muck and rubble from the mudslides is being cleared from the roads and then being dumped into the river to be taken out to sea. There are proper sites where this debris can be deposited, but the president of Santana, Rui Moisés, says that in the time of war it is no time to be cleaning weapons, and that restoring normality is the priority. Environmentalist say that that is the exact reason why rivers cause landslides, because the river beds are fouled. As always, I am with the ‘play it safe’ environmentalists when there is any element of uncertainty in such an action, but with the rainy season just around the corner, we will soon find out who was right and who was wrong. That’s a bit scary isn’t it, after what we have already seen this Winter, to think that the rainy season hasn’t even arrived yet.

People power stops advance of the machines – Yesterday morning was one of tension in Madalena [do Mar]. Despite of the police presence, the exit construction works from the tunnel didn’t get started. There is a thought provoking picture of an elderly lady, armed with an umbrella, ‘getting booked’ by the village bobby.  Both Elaine and I have both given this story plenty of coverage, so not much more to add really.

The main sport / football headline today : 100 – "I have already had to cut-off unpleasant conversations". The referee Elmano Santos will tomorrow complete his 100th game in the top flight.

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 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.

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

"The entrance of the New Year was welcomed with a spectacular 5km extension of firework in Funchal, city of Madeira (Portugal). The city with it lights weaved evening dress, fired the sky with all its colours and lights. From the catamaran we contemplated the event and registered in our retina and on video. This is the full uncutted version (without music)".

Tobi has set up a new website where he has committed to upload a new photo every day, as his new year resolution. New photos will be loaded on every 3 – 4 days, so keep checking back TOBI DAILY PHOTO

Paul in Paul do Mar kindly sent in this article :

Comment: we are very proud not only that we have Casa das Mudas, the international award-winning Art Centre out here in Calheta but, now also, the Gallery in Prazeres … read on below …

Title: Art in Madeira outside of Funchal – Prazeres, Calheta: more world-class art

Following other impressive exhibitions at the new art gallery in Prazeres such as ‘The Rigo 23 exhibition’ The Galeria dos Prazeres part of the Quinta Pedagogica dos Prazeres complex comes another. Until the 31^st January is an exhibition of the world-famous Portuguese artist Paula Rego.

Paula Rego : According to Wikipedia Paula Rego’s work often gives a sinister edge to storybook imagery, emphasizing malicious domination or the subversion of natural order. She deals with social realities that are polemic, an example being her important Triptych (1998) on the subject of abortion, now in the collection of Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal in the UK.

Main Photo Source: Jornal da Madeira

In 1989, Rego was shortlisted for the Turner Prize and in June 2005 was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa by Oxford University. Rego has also painted a portrait of Germaine Greer, which is in the National Portrait Gallery in London, as well as the official presidency portrait of Jorge Sampaio. Rego only ever painted one self-portrait which included her grand daughter, Grace Smart, that sold for some £300,000.

Rigo 23

Rigo 23 (also known as Rigo 95), born (1966) is Ricardo Gouveia, a Madeira muralist, painter, and political artist residing in San Francisco, California.

Galeria dos Prazeres Paula Rego Exhibition. The exhibition ‘Les Planches Courbes e outras histórias’ is in the Art Gallery in the Quinta Pedagogica complex behind Prazeres Church until 31^st January. Its open from Tuesdays until Sundays from 10 until 1pm and 2-7 pm

Links : Paula Rego Wikipedia page: Rigo 23 wiki page: Galeria dos Prazeres : Blogspot

Just an observation, but in that photo I am sure Paula looks unshaven, or am I getting my Rigos and Regos mixed up?

Many thanks to Elaine again for yesterday’s top news stories :

Park closed to enhance security. In Rua das Cruzes, there are 18 places in the car park exclusively for residents. Now a barrier has been installed at the entrance to prevent inappropriate use of the car park, for example by prostitutes at night-time. As well as paying the resident rate to Funchal Municipal Council, users now have to present the relevant documents and pay 10 Euros for a card to allow free access. The residents object to this additional charge of 10 Euros and that other residents cannot use any free spaces. The Council will consider any requests from residents for additional free spaces.

‘Green light’ to open on Saturdays. A year after the PSP raided the Sunday Fair at Santo de Serra, the stall holders have reduced the amount of counterfeit goods on sale. After a face-lift which was inaugurated on October 3, the traders welcome the improved working conditions which are not as muddy as in previous years. This has increased the number of visitors but not necessarily an increase in turnover. The 96 stalls cost 60 Euros a month to rent from Santa Cruz Council and the stall holders want an additional fair on Saturdays to justify that amount. The Diário reporters visited the fair on Sunday and found pirated DVDs but not the usual imitation clothing. The police say they are now more successful in Funchal, especially in apprehending fake goods sold on the streets at Christmas. There are 96 stalls available for sundries and an additional 7 for food and drink. The charge is 180 Euros a quarter for stalls and 360 Euros for spaces to sell food and drink. A councillor said that nothing prevents the fair opening on other days. It is for the stall holders to decide whether to open on Saturdays and the Council always aims for 100% occupancy, easily met as there is a waiting list.

Elderly woman escaped a rockfall. An octogenarian escaped unharmed after falling rocks hit her house around 3.30 am yesterday morning. The residence is situated in the Travessa da Encarnação in Panasqueira in Câmara de Lobos. Whilst the woman was asleep, a stone wall on land 15 metres above the house collapsed and hit the house. The rocks caused severe damage to the roof and some landed in the room adjacent to the woman’s bedroom. The neighbours heard the noise and the woman’s shouts for help and helped her to leave. She is now staying at her daughter’s house which is located nearby. The area where the stones came from is unstable and threatens the two neighbouring houses. The Fire Department and Council of Câmara de Lobos have been informed and the area inspected.

Élvio Sousa arranges 5,000 Euros in his favour. The current president of the Parish Council of Gaula, Élvio Sousa, is to receive 5,000 Euros for the three year term when he was secretary to a previous president, Nazario Coelho. Élvio Sousa considers this payment legal and not a conflict of interest. There are two other members of the elected JPP similarly affected: Filipe Nunes is owed 4,000 Euros and Marilia Goncalves 3,000 Euros. The total debt of the Parish Council is 15,000 Euros. Gustavo Caires, who was defeated in the last elections, says they are entitled to the payment but it should not be paid now due to a conflict of interest. When he was president, the Parish Council inherited a debt of 26,000 Euros from the Councils led by Filipe Sousa and Nazario Coelho. The Council paid 13,000 Euros for debts which urgently needed meeting. In turn, Nazario Coelho said the payments had not been made while he was in office due to the high debt inherited from Filipe Sousa’s time in office.

Government to freeze funds. For the fourth consecutive year, the Regional Government will freeze various parts of the budget to overcome financial constraints. With some exceptions, 10% of funding for public administration is frozen. As in previous years, the Legislative Assembly and the Health Service are not affected. This year, projects partly funded by the EU are spared from a reduction in funding. The savings will be 70 million Euros.

Environmental inspections doubled in 4 years. Of the 396 environmental inspections carried out in 2009, 22 were for construction waste and 7 for landfill. The eight authorized landfills withstood the last rains well. The others were the problem. Despite the amount of construction work diminishing, there has been illegal dumping of waste on roadsides, usually during late afternoon and evening and this is causing the most damage. From these, the runoff is not controlled. Ribeiras are showing visible signs of pollution, for example the Ribeira dos Socorrides and Ribeira da Madalena. During the period 2005/9, there were 1,953 inspections compared to 892 over the previous four years. In 2005/9, there were 900 prosecutions compared to 393 for the period 2000/04. There were 42 warnings issued in 2009. Fines totalled 92,250 Euros, of which €63,750 went on legal costs. It cost the defendants 40,000 Euros to repair the environmental damage. (Photo shows an area at Porto Novo called ‘Aterro Maritimo’ and the sea ‘ate’ part of it despite the boulders, which disappeared).

Order free Ricardo Veira in ‘Caso Savoy’. Ricardo Veira is a CDS councillor in Funchal Council and a representative of SIET-Savoy which drafted plans for the urbanization of SIET, which were unanimously approved by the Council. The Order of Avogados (Lawyers) has ruled that he will not face disciplinary procedures but the lawyer is warned not to be a representative in legal situations that have to do with the work of the Municipal Council where he is a councillor. His representation could have been seen as unethical, not independent and a conflict of interest. Ricardo Veira claims he was unaware that his actions and conduct might have committed a breach of ethical standards. He joined the firm after they had been granted the project and there is no proof that he influenced the approval of the draft plan for SIET.

Promotion in London. The Marinas of Quinta do Lorde and Porto Santo are promoted in London. The most prestigious international boat show, the Tullet Prebon London International Boat Show, runs until January 13. There are 500 worldwide exhibitors at this trade fair and thousands of visitors are expected. It is the third time that the Marina of Quinta do Lorde is represented at this event.

Five years in prison for Gonzalez. Fernando Gonzalez is the ex-president of CAPFM, a fruit producers’ cooperative. He was convicted of bribery, diversion of subsidized credit, mismanagement, misappropriation and embezzlement of subsidies. He was sentenced to nine years in prison but the Court of Appeal in Lisbon lowered his sentence to five years. His mismanagement led to losses for the cooperative, involved public funding and he showed no regret. The Court decided that to suspend the sentence would be to give a signal to society that they can commit crimes and not be punished. He owes 400,000 Euros to the Region.

Here are a couple of articles kindly translated and sent in by Vanessa Swesnik :

Lack of investment is a “scandal” says the PM – This Sunday in Ansiao, Prime Minister José Sócrates classified the lack of investment Pinhal Interior’s roadways over the last 25 years as a scandal and granted a concession to build and repave roads today.

“This is the moment in which our country can give justice to Pinhal Interior,” which was, “in terms of access roads to highways, a black hole in which nothing has happened for decades,” said the Prime Minister in the contract award ceremony to Acendi.

“It’s been 25 years since the first proposal was approved for the Roadway Plan. It’s been 25 years since the State told Pinhal Interior that we would construct access roads and nothing was done.” A situation which has since been labeled, “scandalous”. SOURCE

First “exports store” to be created in Leiria. Prime Minister José Sócrates announced Saturday night that the first of a chain of 14 Exports Stores to be created in the country will be located in Leiria.

The announcement was made at a dinner that took place in Leiria’s Business Association (or Associação Empresarial da Região de Leiria- NERLEI) with close to 200 businessmen and women from various sectors of activity as part of the “Vested Government” initiative in which 4 Ministers and various Secretaries of the State are participating.

The Exports Stores are one of the measures of the Internationalization Pact which includes the Council for the Promotion of Internationalization, lead by Francisco van Zellar, who was sworn in on Saturday. SOURCE

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

Green Tariff – The electric and hybrid cars already benefit from a 50% discount in ten parking meters in Funchal. From 1st January, ten parking meters (individuals, not zones it seems) managed by  Sociedade de Exploração de Parques have a sticker that gives qualifying cars a 50% discount. As yet they have not had any contact from interested parties for enjoyment of this privilege. Any driver with a car that fits the requirement needs to go to  the Câmara Municipal do Funchal with the car and personal documents, and they will be issued with a card to be placed in the windscreen of the qualifying vehicle. Hybrid vehicles can be purchased on Madeira now, but there is no dealership yet for electric vehicles.  I am not clear if these parking spaces are exclusively for hybrid / electric cars, or if any car can use them (at full price clearly), so it may be that electric vehicles exhaust their batteries  in the search for a vacant one. The list of the 10 parking meters is in the article HERE

Today’s main news headline : Lacking Ventilators – The outbreak of Gripe A swine flu has filled the inpatient wards for the Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça, and occupied the ventilators [for assisted breathing?]. The Army has also provided an apparatus on loan and, to avoid greater evils, SESARAM  has launched a tender contest to acquire nine new machines. Knowing the way tender processes work on Madeira, I would imagine that by the time the 9 new ventilators actually arrive, swine flu will have been superseded by banana flu! The picture with the article I am sure is of an elaborate top of the range computer controlled ‘Goblin Teas maid’

Two more people have died from the H1N1 virus  – The victims were aged 33 and 34 and didn’t have any other associated illnesses. In a statement to TSF Maurício Melim said that the efficiency rate of the vaccine is around 80%. In the week to the 10th January, 42 out of 142 suspected Gripe A cases were analysed, with 42 positive results. The positive count has now reached 773 cases, and there have been 7 deaths in the Region to date.

Nurses announce a strike for the end of January – Proposal of revision of the salary scales was beneath expectations. The trade unions representing nurses are to schedule a strike, one of three intended, at the end of this month. The salary scale revisions presented by the Ministry of Health last Friday do not meet the union requirements, and the union will decide today the exact dates of the strike(s).

Revolution in the banana – The company ‘Frutas Douradas’ purchaser from the producers, ignores ‘GESBA’ and exports a container a week.

Five years in prison for the ex –president of the banana cooperative.

Stars [celebrities] in the country – Carlos Costa carries on in the ‘Idols’, and has already been invited to the Festival of Song. Élvio Camacho is top attraction in the Theatre Maria Matos.

The main sport / football headlines today : Grants choke direction in the Region – The President of the Union of Football Players severely criticizes the leaders of Madeira’s clubs. Joaquim Evangelista regrets the grant dependence as a generator of bad habits and denounces "abuses of freedom of expression," threats to players and evasion of taxes.

"There is foreignization that is wrongful and unacceptable in Marítimo and Nacional," he said. Is that a real word?

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 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.

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

I quite liked this 10 minute video, with some really good singers from ‘Funchal a Cantar 09′ – Santo António. At first I thought it was from 2008, but at the back of the stage, behind the singer, it looks like someone has stuck a number ’9′ on top of the previous number.

"The enchanting Portuguese archipelago of Madeira is a tiny verdant gem suspended in a sea of brilliant blue. Walking holidays in Madeira can take you from lush walks through sub-tropical vegetation to open ridges approaching 2000m with views seemingly to the ends of the earth". Walking the Levadas of Madeira

‘That’s pretty, but what the hell is it’, I hear you ask. "Vortex streets emerge when the right wind and cloud formation encounters the right kind of obstacle. Theodore von Kármán, a fluid dynamicist, observed and documented this phenomenon. Swirling rings sequence along a street-like corridor trail beyond the obstacle. Each ring stems from an air pockets are released in a series of vortices alternating parallel to wind direction. This condition can happen at any scale if the proportion of energies and obstacles is present". This picture from 2002 shows the area South East of Madeira, and the effect of the landmass on cloud formations. Thanks to InfraNet Lab for the pic / info.

This is very politically incorrect and I prohibit you from clicking on this link How some people can sleep at night I just don’t know!

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

Living under threat.  Dorita Escorcio and her father were driving near the Cruzinhas viewpoint in Faial when a gust of wind dislodged a large eucalyptus branch. It pierced the roof and windscreen of their car and landed in between the seats, near the gear lever. Ironically, it was another branch lying in the road that prevented injury to either of them. They were driving in the middle of the road to circumnavigate this branch when the eucalyptus branch fell on top of their car and it would have hit one of them. She is hoping that the government will partly pay for repairs to her car. There are many instances of storm damage in both the parishes of Faial and Sao Roque do Faial, for example two large landslides in Fajã do Cedro Gordo still mark the landscape. About 30 families live in this area which is known for its instability. Nearby, due to a large landslide, a road has been closed for nine months, to the inconvenience of residents who have to make long detours.

Storm raized a pear plantation. Heartbroken, angry, indignant, revolted and disgusted. These are the five adjectives used to describe the mood of  Albino Teixeira Francisco who lives in São Vicente. He has suffered heavy losses on his land in Burras, the last time at the end of December. A break in the structure of the Levada de Norte led to the water flooding and destroying almost all his plantation of organic Pear trees. This happened three years previously and despite letters to the Electricity Company, no measures were taken. He insists the levada walls are too old to resist the pressure of water formed during periods of heavy rain. His land lies at an altitude of 10,000 metres in the Laurissilva Forest which is littered with branches blown down by the stormy weather and these were dragged down onto his land by the overflowing water. He wants an official assessment of the cost of the damage but will not be compensated for the delay which affects the plantation.

Operation Christmas led to 67 arrests. Results of the increased policing operation from 8 December to January 9. Most offences related to driving, 36 due to driving under the influence of alcohol and 10 for driving without a licence. The police stopped a total of 2,984 vehicles during the operation and most offences occurred during the first period from 8 December to 27 December. During Operation Christmas, the police seized 10,960 doses of illegal drugs, mainly heroin (10,845). They also confiscated two guns and three knives.

Lisbon orders a retrial for murder. The Court of Appeal in Lisbon has ordered a retrial of a Madeiran who was accused in Venezuela of murdering a 33 year old Venezuelan man by dousing him with petrol then setting him alight in 1994. The accused was prosecuted in Venezuela and acquitted. He then returned to his native Funchal but the Venezuelan press still pursued the case. A retrial was ordered in Venezuela but the defendant used his right to be tried in Portugal. His case was heard at the Court of Santa Cruz and he was acquitted in 2009. The Appeal Court in Lisbon has now ordered a retrial. The defendant was the manager of a petrol filling station and the victim was employed to wash windscreens and help motorists. The man was asked to leave by the management after complaints by customers and the two exchanged ‘mangueiradas’ (hosepipes) of petrol. The victim then left the petrol pump area and lit a cigarette when he caught fire and died days later in hospital. The family of the victim also sued for 325,835.28 Euros. The family presented four new witnesses to the Appeal Court and because of their evidence an appeal was ordered. The defendant challenged the admission of new witnesses, that this did not comply with procedural deadlines but it was ruled that their evidence was admissible in court.

Bad weather again undermines the Night Market. After the bad weather ruined the Noite de Mercado in Estreito on Christmas Eve, yesterday a second version was attempted, the Cantar as Janeiras (Night Songs – sung at New Year). Just a few hundred people braved the harsh weather conditions with uninterrupted rain ruining the outside stalls although nearby bars were crowded. The interior of the Municipal Market of Câmara de Lobos was still festive and colourful with traditional musical entertainment. The entertainment was well attended (photo) but the fruit and vegetable stall holders lamented the poor sales.

Construction defects complaints soar. Weaknesses in the construction of buildings has brought in three years (2007 – 2009), 1,200 people to the Defesa do Consumidor. Cracked walls and lifting tiles are the most common examples of problems found in new apartments. Many builders eventually evade liability. The guarantee period is 5 years and people are advised to send a registered letter to the seller, identifying the defects. Usually an agreement is reached and the repair work carried out. If not, then people can go to the Serviço de Defesa do Consumidor desk at the Loja do Cidadão in Funchal. Their Legal Office tries to resolve the issue by mediation before any legal proceedings. They often have to return to court to enforce a judicial ruling. In one case in Caniço, after a three year legal dispute the firm declared insolvency. After declaring bankruptcy, some companies reappear in business under a different name. Cracks are normal in buildings but several apartments in Edificio Panoram in Funchal, built by Manuel de Abreu & Slilva, have serious defects which were reported in the warranty period but are still not repaired. A worse situation is Edificio Quinta do Garajau in Caniço (photo) which was inaugurated by Jardim in 2003. There are serious flaws (e.g. gas and water supplies too close together) and after lengthy arguing (Funchal Council accused Santa Cruz Council of not inspecting the building properly), one million Euros of work should begin this month.   —- I hope the repair work at Edificio Quinta do Garajau in Cancela is completed as the building already looks shabby for a relatively new building. There is an apartment block opposite Caniço Health Centre which looks in a worse condition – I wonder if that is the one where the builder has declared insolvency. The recent weather is certainly finding the ‘quick to build/profit’ faults, roofs and basement garages are the worst areas. (Like many others, I could rant about residents not paying condominium fees).

Contingency plan to save infrastructure from the sea. A CDU councillor urges Funchal Municipal Council to establish a contingency plan to safeguard swimming complexes from sea damage. This would minimize damage and possibly reduce costs to Frente Mar and the Council. The annual cost of repairing damage to the swimming complex at Ponto Gorda is 160,000 Euros. CDU councillors have alerted the Government to the existence of tourist facilities that are exposed to geological hazards, for example at risk form mudslides and landslides. This has been highlighted recently in Angra dos Reis in Rio de Janeiro.

Campanário welcomes Fatima. The Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima is now at the Parish Church of Campanário. There was a large number of people participating in the procession before the religious ceremony, as shown in the video.

It rains outside and inside. The Centro Comercial Olimpo in Avenida do Infante has a glass ceiling which is causing concern to traders as it leaks when it rains. The rubber seals in between the glass frames have perished due to lack of maintenance. The shop owners are particularly worried about water seeping into electrical connections and affecting places such as the elevator. They are concerned about implications for their businesses and have alerted the condominium owners to the problems.

Santo Amaro celebrations in Santa Cruz. More details of activities for the Festas de Santo Amaro, the patron saint of Santa Cruz. On Wednesday at 18.30, opening of a painting exhibition and ethnographic fair. Thursday, procession between Capela de Santo Amaro and the Igreja Matriz for the Eucharist. Entertainment by the Grupo de Folclore da Casa do Povo de Santa Cruz (22.30), Grupo Musical Reis Magos (23.15) and karaoke from 23.30. Friday 15 January, Municipal Band of Santa Cruz at 13.00 followed by a solemn Eucharist. Later, entertainment by Sol Nascente and Encontros da Eira. Saturday, Vozes de Santa Cruz competition at 22.00. Sunday at 16.00, folclore and romarias for the Grande Premio de Santa Amaro and Romarias Antigas do Rochao from 20.00.

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

… and what a lot there are!

Battle against the insects is lost – Mosquitoes and ants resist the cold and the insecticides. Even cockroaches have become more resistant to the cold, as over the last few years new species of insects have appeared on Madeira, and are proving very difficult to control. "The battle against the insects is a battle lost" says the boss of the company called ‘Extermínio’, that has 18 years experience in the control and eradication of plagues. The most famous of the invaders is the mosquito Aedes aegypti, but there are others he continues. There are people now complaining about ant infestations, even in places where there is no food source apparent, and even in cold places, like refrigerators. António Sales Caldeira says that infestations are becoming ever more common, doubling year on year the call outs for help to control the problems in hotels and other businesses, and in private households also.  Of particular problem is the little ‘Pharaoh Ant’ that arrived on Madeira in the 1990′s, adapting very well to our conditions, breeding like rabbits, and seemingly needing very little  resources in order to flourish. Another type is the ‘Argentinean Ant’ that likes to nest near food and water, and is quite territorial and will expel other species. Another type is the ‘Crazy Ant’ that is small, dark, and wanders around quickly in circles. Other ant species, the more native sorts, seem to be disappearing as the new more dominant species take over, and Sr. Exterminator says that of all the insects the ants are the hardest to control. Apparently even ‘bed bugs’ have now found their way to Madeira, enjoying our warm dry climate, and they are active at night and feed on blood, mainly from the area around the neck. They are very difficult to eradicate says our expert, adding that in the case of an infestation, the only solution involves throwing out the old mattress and buying a new one, as well as professional help that will last 4 to 5 days per bedroom.

Junta (Council) of Gaula pay the presidents default – Élvio Sousa arranges payment of €5 thousand in his favour.

CDS takes to the Ministry [the issue of] delays in the scholarships of UMa [Madeira University].

Government returns to freezing funding.

Today’s main news headline : Environmental inspections double – The inspection increased in the last 4 years. Only in 2009 there were nearly 400 done, the majority about the waste from construction.

The authorised landfills have withstood the recent rains.

Dumping of inerts [mud, stones, etc.] increase along the roadsides.

The sport / football headline today : Madeiran coach is ‘Winter Champion’ – Beira-Mar of Leonardo Jardim finished the first half of the season with leadership of the second division. The coach is already thinking about how to keep the position until the end [of the season], but he knows it is going to get tougher.

I can’t get into the pages of the Diário (beyond the headline page at least), as I guess they are having some technical problems, so I had to get the news story about the  insects from netmadeira instead, but the only one I could find is the insect one, except the extra one below.

Easyjet tariffs have been slashed by 25% in a sale that ends tomorrow. The discount is applicable for travel between 3rd February and 14th July. 22 million seats are available, and the discount applies for flights between Madeira and Lisbon, and Madeira and UK airports.

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 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.

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

"The cathedral is designed in a Gothic style and has three naves. The roof of the cathedral features a Moorish-inspired design and is of cedar wood. The exterior walls are made of stone from Cabo Girão. The cathedral contains a silver processional cross, donated by Manuel I, considered one of the masterpieces of precious metalworking of Manueline Portugal. A statue of Pope John Paul II is located outside the cathedral, which was moved to its current position after formerly being installed in the city closer to the waterfront". WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE ON SÉ CATHEDRAL FUNCHAL

"Atlantic Holidays has reintroduced its direct flight from London Gatwick to the small Portuguese island of Porto Santo. The Viking Airlines flight will operate between 31st May – 19th July and from the 6th September – 25th October 2010". MORE INFORMATION

"Why is there no LP Madeira guide? – Maybe I missed something, but AFAIK Madeira (and the Azores, for that matter) are not covered in any LP guide. Why is that? I mean, even Iraq, Central African Republic and Afghanistan have at least their own chapter in a regional guide. I’ve always been loyal to LP guides, but this way I’m driven straight into the arms of Rough Guide for my next vacation". LONELY PLANET LACKS MADEIRA GUIDE Perhaps someone can help to put this right, you never know it might bring in some more tourists?

From Elaine : [again] "not strictly Madeira-related but noted in the Jornal da Madeira Economy section" … TAKE 2 

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 1 was on yesterday’s blog in case you missed it! Der

I mentioned back in September probably that I had made a complaint about a bank, using the official complaint book ‘Livro de Reclamaçoes’. Although the specific matter was resolved at the time, the complaint was about the banks procedures and the way they handled that particular matter. I heard nothing more until yesterday, when I received a letter from the Bank of Portugal, saying that the complaint had now been closed! No mention of whether there had been an investigation, or any outcome whatsoever. The complaint book seems to work well with small businesses, but when it comes to large corporations perhaps they have some way of manipulating the process.

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

Jacinto Rodrigues and Miguel Angelo exposed in Funchal Two artists from Madeira, Jacinto Rodrigues Abreu and Miguel Angelo Freitas, will present an exhibition entitled, ‘Black and White’ on the central section of Avenida Arriaga, between the Golden Gate cafe and the Municipal Theatre. There will be nine sculptures, two by Miguel Angelo. The exhibition runs from 15 January to February 14. These are stone structures (marble, basalt and limestone).  Miguel Angelo’s sculptures are more figurative whereas the other sculptor prefers a more abstract approach. Jacinto Rodrigues has had solo exhibitions, for example in Lisbon and several of his sculptures are in public spaces in Madeira. Miguel Angelo has sculptures on the Continent, Madeira and Porto Santo. (Photo is one of the exhibits by Miguel Angelo)

Santo Amaro festival begins tomorrow This is a main festival in Santa Cruz and finishes on January 17, the ending of the Christmas and New Year celebrations in this municipality. It is the time for ‘sweeping the cupboards’, ie consume the remaining festive food and drink. The festival begins in the centre of Santa Cruz at 20.00 with dancing  beginning at 20.45, 21.15 and 21.45 and ends with karaoke with DJ Joe Silva. On Sunday, the Municipal Band performs at 17.00 and the Band of Sao Lourenco at 18.00.

CDU want the Madeiran authorities to control high voltage power lines The communists are worried about the effect of electromagnetic fields on health – the risk of leukaemia. There is conflicting scientific evidence but the EU recommends that precautionary steps are taken. The CDU want the  Electricity Company to monitor populated areas located near power lines and inform residents about any risks. They also question the rights of owners whose land is devalued by the placement of such equipment. Their proposals will be submitted to the Councils of Funchal, Câmara de Lobos and Santa Cruz.

Rocheira clean up dangerous slopes Two days ago, the Rocheira team along with human and technical resources from the firm Estradas da Madeira, cleaned up the slopes above the ER 103 in between Cobouco and Fajã do Cedro Gordo in São Roque do Faial. There have recently been two landslides in this area, the last one on Sunday. On Wednesday, the Rocheira cut trees which had lost surrounding anchoring stones and rocks, and threatened to fall onto the road. Yesterday, the work focused on rocks which also threatened the road. The road and footpath were closed during this operation and this will also be the case today. The workers will return next Monday and Tuesday to finish the clean up operation. The Rocheira team work by two men suspended by ropes with three anchor men. The falling rocks and logs which they displace can also cause damage, for example a fibre optic cable had to be replaced yesterday.

Nine candidates for the ‘Seven Wonders of Portugal’ competition Of the 323 chosen applicants, nine are from Madeira and Porto Santo. This is the first round of the contest and originally, the region had entered 55 candidates. The next selection will be revealed on the 7 February when the list will be down to 77 winners and the final 31 announced on March 7. The nine candidates are: Ilhas Desertas and Selvagens, Cabo Girão, Fajã das Padres, laurissilva forest in São Vicente, Pico de Ana Ferreira in Porto Santo (photo), Porto Santo beach, Cabeco das Laranjas (Ilheu da Cima) and the coral fossils and galleries of the Ilheu da Cal.

PSD-M in Lisbon for marathon talks Members of the Social Democrats from Madeira are in Lisbon to try to get the amendments to the Regional Finance Act passed in favour of the region. The associated State Budget 2010 is under discussion and the PSD need to convince the BE and CDS-PP to pass the Finance Law, as support of the PCP is not enough to guarantee that it will be passed. The CDS and BE are against discrimination of Madeira but they are not happy about parts of the Finance Law. The deadline for submissions of proposals for amendments is Monday.

Court recommends better management The Court of Auditors revealed that the Regional Government granted 1.1743 million Euros of guarantees to cover loans in 2008. This was a 0.9% increase since 2007. The Government needs to fix limits to cover the amount of loan guarantees. There has also been a loss of four million Euros in the last five years due to breaches of the beneficiaries of the guarantees, so the Government needs to exercise its powers in the situation of non-compliance.

Island Escape cruises begins here next Monday These are weekly cruises from Funchal to Morocco and the Canary Islands, then back to Funchal a week later. There are still 100 places left each week which means demand is higher than previously. It is the British company Thomson Cruises who are running the cruises this year. The cruise is ‘relaxed, friendly and informal’ and the ship calls at Agadir, Lanzarote, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas of Grand Canaria and La Palma. The final cruise is on the 19 April.

Even toilet doors do not escape the thieves Five doors, one an outside door, were stolen one night from the Parque de Merendas, Moreno in the serras of Santa Cruz.

Rescued dog bites rescuing fireman The dog had to be rescued on the Caminho das Virtudes in São Marinho. The fireman was wearing protective gloves but was still bitten in the hand which required hospital attention. The dog then disappeared after the fireman released him. There was better luck when rescuing a dog in difficulties with a strong current in the stream at Santa Luzia, when the dog was safely rescued.

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

Video [computer] games knock books off top spot during Christmas – The purchases of music and films also lost ground to the football simulators and other [consol] games. Sales of everything were low over the Christmas period. FIFA 2010 and PES 2010 were two of the most popular of the selections, both football games for consoles.

Vítor in front in the first votes of the PS Socialists – Serrão won Funchal in the closely disputed elections. The battle for the new leadership of the only serious opposition party to the PSD social democrats is underway, and it is up to the Madeiran socialists to choose. Jacinto Serrão and Vítor Freitas are the choices, and yesterday and today more than three thousand of them will get their say on who takes over from waste-of-space João Carlos Gouveia. The Funchal votes gave Freitas a victory locally by 66 votes. The process will be concluded after a regional congress  to be held on 23rd & 24th of January. It will now be the votes in Machico, Câmara de Lobos and São Vicente that will carry the most weight. Serrão’s punchline is ‘Trust in the future’, but as far as political affairs are going here, it might as well be ‘Trust in Mickey Mouse’, ‘cos what we have been reading in the headlines this last few weeks and months about the state of the economy here and our finances, there is not one politician or party on this island that is either able or capable of making a difference. It seems that we need a huge recovery in the tourism market to kick-start the beginning of a recovery, and that all depends on people over whom our politicians have absolutely no influence.

Today’s main news headline : Drastic fall in the consumption of cement – The volume of cement for works fell in 2009 by nothing less than 16.5%, and that fall equates to the levels of usage registered 14 years ago. The economic ‘health’ becomes more and more fragile.

The main front page photo today shows something that looks like earthquake damage to a beach facility : Weather demolishes new works of Madeira – The storms have highlighted the fragility of the more recent constructions compared to the old works. Engineers point out the rush-jobs and remind that "the cheap comes out expensive". Engineers are saying that quality of materials, and orders to complete public works in record times, are showing the new monoliths of Madeira to be inferior than the older constructions using traditional materials, when it comes to standing up to weather such as that in December. The science is the same, whether the work has to withstand the sea or the air. These works all have to go through the political machinery to get approval and funding of course, and obviously the quality of materials, the required life of the construction, and the timescales of construction, are all issues that our politicians consider of course. Issues like when are the next elections coming up, and who in politics has stakes in the cement and construction companies wouldn’t be a factor in the equation of course.

The main headline in sport / football : Early goal ruins strategy and judgement. Accompanied by a picture of the rather dejected looking goalkeeper of Nacional, whose team lost 2 – 0 last night away to league leaders Braga. So much for my prediction then, but that result pales into insignificance with the news the Nacional manager Manuel Machado can return to a normal life, after his release from hospital yesterday after a very serious illness. If anyone is interested, the Rio Ave v Benfica game is on RTP 1 at 9.15 pm tonight.

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. 

I realize now that this article isn’t from the Diário local to Madeira – my apologies. Hopefully it is still of interest to your readers … Vanessa Swesnik

Portuguese company forms partnership with Brazilian owned Quieroz Galvão and Carioca Christiani-Nielsen.

Somangue, controlled by Spanish Sacyr, formed a partnership to present a proposal for the construction of Dunes Arena stadium in Brazil’s northeast city, Natal. The partnership consists of Brazilian companies Queiroz Galvão and Carioca Christiani-Neilsen and the proposal has to be presented by February 22, reports Negócios Online.

Aside from Somangue, which constructed the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, the Spanish group, OHL, will also enter a bid on the construction of the stadium in Brazil. But there are still other businesses interested in the project like the Spanish Acciona, French Bouygues, and the British Salamanca Management.

The stadium will have the capacity of 45 thousand people. A shopping center as well as commercial buildings, hotels, an amphitheatre and even an artificial forest and lake will constructed around the stadium, along with renovations of the neighboring administrative centers.

There will also be a contract up with proposals due by February 5^th for another stadium to be constructed in Pernambuco. Work will begin during March.

However, the construction of the other stadium has already been awarded to a partnership comprised of Odebrechet and OAS. According to the Spanish newspaper, Cinco Dias, the contract is valued at 240 million Euros and has an expected duration of 35 years with the possibility of being prolonged for up to another 35 years.

In time for the World Cup in 2014, Brazil should have constructed 5 new stadiums- among those the one in Natal- and have performed work on some of the already existing ones. In total, there are 12 locations that will host games for the World Cup in 2014.

During this month, the Brazilian Ministry of Cities will launch a million dollar funding package to improve communications and transportation in the cities that will host World Cup games.

Two years after the World Cup, Brazil will host the Olympics. This is the first time that a South American country will organize the Olympic Games. The city of Rio de Janeiro won amongst candidates Chicago, Madrid, and Tokyo. Diário de Notícias Portugal

I am sure some will find it of interest, thanks Vanessa. Der

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

NO MORE PHOTOS PLEASE, AS I HAVE LOADS TO SEE ME OUT
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.

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

Tess, who has lived here for two years, has just started her own new blog, sort of a diary really. I don’t mind giving the competition a plug, so here’s the LINK.

"To identify the chemical changes, Marques and his team used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to analyse Madeira wines produced from the four main grape varieties, with each wine aged for either five or 10 years. This analysis revealed that the wines contained varying concentrations of 37 different volatile compounds, including alcohols such as butanol, organic acids such as malic acid and esters such as ethyl citrate". A SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF MADEIRA WINE

"Ronaldo became Manchester United’s first-ever Portuguese player. Initially, he requested for the number 28 as his jersey number because he didn’t feel that he could live up to the pressure of previous players such as George Best and David Beckham who wore the number 7 jersey". CRISTIANO RONALDO – BIOGRAPHY AND TRIVIA

Many thanks to Sue for some of yesterday’s news stories :

My apologies Sue, but I was out yesterday in the afternoon and it was too late to post this when I arrived back, hence some past tenses needed. Der

Singing of the Kings – The Municipal Garden suspended the ‘Singing of the Kings’ in the Quinta Vigia: The aunt of a Government official has died who was also the mother of one of the musicians and composer.  Tried to find this back again – so not 100% sure but if anyone was intending to go maybe you should check first.

Madeira remains on yellow alert – Due to wind and rain strong Institute of Meteorology put Tuesday on yellow alert, the third most severe of a range of four.   According to forecasts, in the afternoon the wind will intensify and mountainous areas of northwest there will be strong gusts up to 90 km / h.  Also the rain far will fall later and intensify during the night which may be by thunder. The state of the sea, the north coast to northwest the swell will be 3.5 to 4 meters. On the south coast the waves are from the southwest with 1.5 to 2 meters.

‘Choupana Hills’ nominated for ‘Best International Resort’ – Condé Nast selection of 25 resorts around the world the ‘Hut Hills’ is the only Portuguese

Choupana Hills Resort & Spa is among the 25 hotels selected by the Spanish edition of Condé Nast Traveller as candidates for its annual awards. The hotel units in Madeira are the only Portuguese representative and are candidates for the Condé Nast Traveller Award 2010 in the category of ‘Best International Resort’. The Condé Nast Traveller awards are chosen by voting on-line ‘on the’ site.

Marina closes indefinitely

The two accesses to the Marina do Lugar de Baixo have again been sealed. Judging from the damage caused by the relentless surf – two leaks in the protection wall in the marina dock area and is unlikely to reopen later this winter. The president of the West Point Development acknowledged Thursday that the ban on access to the marina will remain in the near future. "We are waiting for the time (sea conditions) to improve, so we can assess the damage caused and only then can a decision be taken accordingly," explained Paul Sousa. The marina has closed after the wave heights of the last weeks, three months after the end of September, when the president of the Regional Government has declared its opening in the municipality of Ponta do Sol giving orders to remove the fences and open the marina to public. However, while it was open, the beach area was little used.

Public good despite the rain for Circus – The return to school eased the demand recorded during the Christmas and end-of-year

It was felt that the weather during the Christmas season did not help to bring more public to the circus, but still, overall, the feeling was one of satisfaction, so much so that those responsible for these three circuses this year in the region are already planning to return next year. However, after the feast days, the audience decreased due to back to school and back to work, which means that at this stage discount campaign have been instigated.

Fernanda Alves, owner of Circus Brazil, located in Machico, says that attendance of people exceeded expectations. The rain and wind complicated performances a little, but the balance was positive. "Everything is going better than we thought. Due to the competition we have, we thought things were getting weaker, but no. During the week, the number of visitors did not exceed an average of two hundred, but after the weekend, all the daily sessions ranged between 1,000 and 2,000 spectators. Circus Brazil has conducted a session on weekdays, four on Saturdays and three on Sundays, but this week there will only ne one show on Friday. On Saturday, the hours remain the same but on Sunday the show will be held from 21:45 after this the tent will be dismantled. Although close to the farewell it is their desire to return next year, same location but with a different show.

The same desire was expressed Renato Alves, Circus Dallas. Mounted along the Madeira Technopole, the tent has a capacity of about two thousand people, but the average per show was around of 300 to 400 people. "For a few days was positive," said Renato. With the end of the holiday, the daily spectacle of 15 hours becomes more difficult to achieve, but nonetheless, it is expected a good crowd for 18 hours and 21h30. This week, the circus is distributing discount coupons, which allow the purchase of tickets for the 5 million adults and 2.5 for children. Although the rain has been above average and circus Dallas has already secured the contract for the next five years, at the Technopole. "There will be big surprises for next year," promises Renato Alves not only in the show content but with the animals. "We will try to bring something else, perhaps a white tiger or a white lion and more broad appeal." In Ponta do Sol, the rain was also the main enemy of the Circus Jorge Cardinali. "People want to come, the problem was the bad weather," noted John Azevedo. "We’ve been here 26 days and it rained 22 days." Some performances had to be cancelled as a precaution and the revenue will almost only to cover expenses. Still, John Anderson will return, but to Funchal and a groundbreaking show. One idea is to do a show with penguins. To attract more public, the circus Jorge Cardinalli is promoting two-euro discount on each ticket.

Circus Brazil – Machico. Circus Brazil, mounted next to the stage of Machico, promotes performances until 10 January. During the week, the sessions take place at 21.45. Saturdays, at 10, 15, 18 hours and 21:45 and Sunday at 15, 18 and 21.45, however, this week, only one show will be held on Friday and Sunday will be the last session. The great attraction is for the pair of clowns, but one of the big spectaculars is ‘The Magic of Harry Potter’ which is depicted in the poster. There are discounts for groups.

Circus Jorge Cardinalli – Ponta do Sol. This circus is installed at Giga Park ‘, which is in the residential area of Ponta do Sol for 11 days, the Circus Jorge Cardinalli greatest novelty is the ”Water Show, which includes the Pacific Ocean sharks and seals in Alaska. From Tuesday to Friday, there is a daily show starting at 21:30. On Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and holidays, are held three sessions: 15.30, 17.30 and 21.30. Tickets cost 14€ for adults and children over 12, but there is now a 2€ discount.

Dallas circus – Madeira Technopole. The Circus Dallas, located on land anticipated for the expansion zone of Madeira Technopole, says with many animals, including lions and horses and for the first time, macaws, cockatoos and parrots that ride scooters and even perform in a small theatre. Three sessions are held daily, at 15, 18 and 20:30. The shows continue until 17 January. Tickets for the general audience is 15€ for adults and 7.5€ children, but there are coupons available that reduce the price to 5 and 2.5€.

Rather a long article but it shows how people try to survive against the elements and a plug or two probably would not harm – not a circus person myself, but the kids always love it.

Appointments via the Internet – For hospitals and health centres in the Region.

The Health Service of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (SESA) will, by the end of this term, put in place a project that involves the scheduling of appointments via the Internet as announced the JM president of that body, Almada Cardoso. In other words, users can dial "on line" to be consulted when the project is complete, from their homes or jobs or offices provided by the local media. The president emphasized the SESARAM project will also allow for users of the Regional Health Service to consult their consultation process, with confirmation of time delays or anticipation of any delay. On the other hand, the body is considering the implementation of a project some national hospitals, which would allows people registered for the surgery to monitor their position on the waiting list. It is anticipated that this project would advance during the term of the current administration SESARAM. The Ministry of Health announced in late December, that people scheduled for surgery can now consult the Internet as to their position on the waiting list and know how much longer they have to wait before their operation. To check the e-SIGIC, you must register with the Health Portal with the number of users, which entitles you to a password that allows access to the file. The Minister of Health recently said that several people had entered with an indication for surgical intervention approximately 170 thousand patients. In Madeira, the waiting lists affected, as reported recently were plastic surgery, vascular surgery (on the veins, in part because there is no blood) and otolaryngology as well especially removal of tonsils. This situation could be improved greatly with a second room for outpatient surgery, which will be launched next year. According to Almada Cardoso, "the lists” are only for surgery where there is less risk of life or loss of quality of life. In comparison, however, the example of oenological surgery, a patient is operated on average, two weeks after joining the list, "that is well below the national average, which is three months in more regions and 1.5 months in one or another regions.

… and more top stories from yesterday’s newspapers from Elaine … many thanks :

New Year’s Eve ‘positive’ The initial half of the night was for dinner and the fireworks display and then there were the post-midnight celebrations. In the main areas of Funchal, the public live performances were successful. According to the different organizations contacted, the major events in Funchal on New Year’s Eve were well attended. At the Casino, the three nights from the 29 – 31 were all a full-house with more than 400 people each evening. The revellers were well-dressed with spirits to match. For 2010 – 2011, the Casino will have a different format but with live bands again. The three night clubs on the Avenida Sa Carneiro began to fill from 3 am onwards when other parties finished. The Wine Institute (photo) had a good night and feedback was positive and although it was mainly young people, older age groups joined the party. The Molhe club was favoured for its view of the amphitheatre of Funchal and the night "went crazy", according to the manager. The Cafe do Teatro had 2,000 visitors that night and the manager stated, "It failed in nothing, the house was full." — Der heard that the Casino dinner and events cost 180 Euros on New Year’s Eve. I make that around 72,000 Euros takings plus drinks plus Casino bets.

Bad weather continues to punish cruise ships visits  The inaugural visit of the Silver Spirit today has been cancelled due to the conditions in the Atlantic. The captain had to reduce speed between Lisbon and Funchal, so the visit would have only lasted for four hours from 13 – 17 hours. The ship sails directly to La Palma in the Canaries instead. The Volcan de Tijarafe ferry was also delayed during the crossing from Portimão and arrived at 16.00 yesterday. A large wave higher than 9 metres damaged the bow of the ship but the journey to the Canary Islands was still possible at 19.00. All 230 passengers and the cargo of 140 vehicles were not affected, the captain received no complaints and said the passengers did not seem to realize what had happened. (Photo of ‘cosmetic’ damage).

Tree falls on top of car rented by tourists The accident occurred yesterday afternoon at Queimadas and slightly damaged the car but caused no injuries to the occupants as they were not present at the time. The car was parked in the car park of Casa de Abrigo das Queimadas and the Voluntary Firemen of Santana had to ask the Forestry Police for equipment to cut the tree to allow the car to leave. The car park is now shut and should reopen tomorrow when the area has been made safe. The portion of the highway in Madalena do Mar which was closed after a wall collapsed has now reopened.

Falling crane traps man. The crane was transported on a lorry when it toppled off onto another lorry travelling in the opposite direction. This accident occurred on a curved section of road in the area of Levada do Poiso, Ponta do Sol. After intervention by the Fire Brigade, the trapped man was freed, still conscious and taken by ambulance to hospital.

Fallen wall still causes concern A wall that collapsed on December 23, damaging a motorcycle and car, still leaves a house at risk. The accident happened in the Beco das Courelas in Santo Antonio in Funchal and damage to the street lighting has not been repaired despite the residents complaining to the council.

Madeiro still cannot discharge all of the fuel 17,000 tons of fuel was the tanker to supply the islands. The tanker originally arrived on Christmas Day but bad weather has hampered the delivery of fuel to Madeira and Porto Santo. Some fuel was delivered at Caniçal on the 2 January. Since then, she has gone to Porto Santo and will return on Wednesday for another attempt to transfer fuel to Socorridos.

Impact of the Geneva Agreement on Madeiran bananas The PCP (Communist Party) MEPs are visiting on the 15 January and are studying the marketing of bananas. They want to gather information which can be used to alert Brussels about the consequences of the impact of the Geneva Agreement. The EU pact with countries such as Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela leads to a substantial cut in import tariffs. The communists have asked the EU to support European producers as they are concerned on the impact of this agreement. They will also discuss concerns about GESBA, the organization which processes bananas in the region.

SPAR in Santa Cruz This will be the fifth, and for the present time the last of the Dutch-owned chain of stores to open in Madeira; the others are in Porto Moniz, Pilar, Funchal and Gaula. The shop should have opened on the 4 January but has been delayed due to the weather and will open sometime this week, date not yet known. The shop is in the Plaza da Cerveja and has a butchers, bakery, ready-meals, take-away and also sells magazines/newspapers and SPAR own brand groceries. The shops are placed in areas of tourism as the brand has a good image in countries such as the UK, France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands etc. There are also a lot of Madeiran residents in South Africa where SPAR is a leading firm.

160 metres of Bolo Rei. This afternoon in the Praça do Municipio, the traditional Bolo Rei Gigante was larger than last years, reaching 160 metres. This tradition has taken place over the past five years. It contained hundreds of eggs, hundreds of kilograms of flour and many kilograms of crystallized fruit and sultanas and was baked according to tradition. Despite the weather, which improved this afternoon, the free slices were enjoyed by both residents and tourists. — SAPO video from last year – 150 metres and 300 kg cake. BIG CAKE

From Madeira Tourism – Events for January

from 12th to 16th – Madeira Islands Walking Festival
This is an organised group walking programme, along man-made waterways (levadas) or special trails (veredas), with specialised guides throughout, lasting for a period of 5 consecutive days. A total of 20 different walks have been selected, all having been classified and recommended by the Regional Government of Madeira. The participants have at their disposal a choice of 4 walks per day, these being of different duration and various levels of difficulty. Stay aware of information about this festival by checking out the official site, MADEIRA WALKING FESTIVAL

15th – Feast of Santo Amaro – Santa Cruz
Every year the saint’s day of Santo Amaro is celebrated throughout the entire island of Madeira, in a particularly festive and ceremonial way, when Christmassy delicacies are laid on every table. This is the day when families dismantle the Nativity scenes (lapinhas in the Madeira Islands), and "sweep the larder clean" – a tradition in which people visit family and friends to share the last of the Christmas season’s delicacies. The feast of the patron saint of Santa Cruz – Santo Amaro – is the most important religious feast of this borough. It’s a very lively three-day festival, which marks the end of the Christmas holidays.

from 26th to 28th – Madeira Orienteering Festival (Festival de Orientação da Madeira)
This is organised by the Funchal Mountain Club with the support of some official Madeira tourist organisations. It is held on the hills of Madeira and has the participation of both national and foreign athletes. This is a competition that blends in well with leisure activities and takes place in a setting offering permanent contact with Nature.

** Now it’s time, and with great pleasure that I can introduce Vanessa Swesnik. Vanessa is a recently qualified translator and interpreter, and fluent in Portuguese (Brazilian) and Spanish. Vanessa has joined the ‘team’, and will produce several articles a week for the blog in similar areas to the one below (preferring government, politics, economy, business, and environment). She is very busy, so the effort is much appreciated, but we have also talked about another exciting possibility that I may be able to share with you in the future, going in a quite different direction. Unfortunately, we are still way short of the number of contributors needed, so please don’t sit back and relax … or the blog will still have to close … yes seriously. Many thanks Vanessa for this article from yesterday’s Diário :

The last three months of 2009 confirmed that which was already a certainty: last year, with 89 insolvency proceedings of businesses, as individuals, collectives, or persons (also possible according to the law), broke all records in the Madeira Regional Authority.

In the last quarter, the rise levelled off with just 15 insolvency proceedings between October and December. In the three proceeding quarters (January to September), 74 insolvency proceedings were initiated by business owners or creditors. On average, that turns out to be 22 proceedings each quarter and 7.4 businesses publicly assuming financial difficulties for each of the 12 months in 2009.

During the first nine months of last year (according to the latest findings from Coface, a French multinational that publishes information on insolvencies and creation of businesses in Portugal), there was an increase of 184.6% in insolvencies compared to the homologous period of 2008, from 26 to 74.

According to unofficial accounts from the Portal Sitius of the Ministry of Justice- we had a total of 89 insolvency proceedings in 2009 compared to 36 in 2008. This increase of close to 150% reflects the initial idea: that despite everything, the last quarter showed a decrease in the number of insolvencies to enter into the 5 existing courts of the Madeira Regional Authority.

Funchal Stands Out in Front. Not all insolvency proceedings end in the dissolution and closing of a business. Naturally the majority of businesses that file for bankruptcy with the county court are in Funchal.

In the last quarter of 2009, there were 9 filed from Funchal, 4 from Santa Cruz and one each from Sao Vicente and Porto Santo.

Looking at the numbers from the entire year, Funchal “monopolizes” the grand majority of proceedings with 66. The other cases are distributed throughout Santa Cruz (19), Ponta do Sol (2), Sao Vicente (1) and Porto Santo (1).

Many times insolvency proceedings have served as a way to settle accounts and restart business activities, even if it’s at the expense of jobs as is indicated by unemployment statistics (also at record numbers in 2009).

But, as was reported earlier in the Diário (see edition 21/06/2009), according to Ruben Jardim Freitas, one of the principal administrators of insolvency proceedings in the region, there are fraudulent bankruptcies and others that end up being forced by the law or the heavy hand of Social Security.

Of all the businesses, either collectives or in individuals’ names, that are having difficulties and have closed their doors in 2009, there is a growing and still undetermined number of them that will no longer be part of the International Center of Madeira Businesses (or CINM). Practically every week there were dozens of businesses listed in the Regional Official Journal under “dissolution and closing of the liquidation of a business society” according to the Zona Franca’s Conservatory of Commercial Registry of Madeira, or Conservatória do Registro Comercial da Zona Franca da Madeira.

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

Year end helped the tills of the big hotels – They are just a few days, but the period around new year pleased the hotels and improved on the previous.

Today’s main news headline : Birth rate in 2009 was a record low -  The year ended with just 2,386 babies born in the Region, the lowest number ever. The decrease of 12% relative to 2008 is also a record.

São Vicente contract a company to dump mud in the sea – Mayor Jorge Romeira says that he has authorisation from the Regional Government and that he is complying with the standards :  dumping downstream. Quercus condemns the solution that has been polluting the coastline of Passo da Areia. No really, it’s a serious headline! The Diário front page photograph today shows exactly what the headline says, with a lorry having emptied it’s load, and a digger pushing the load down off the roadside onto what seems to be a beach. Nothing surprises me anymore about our government, nor its PSD politicians in São Vicente or anywhere, and the best I can hope for in this story is that the Diário has got it wrong and the picture is a fake, but the truth is I am bl**dy fuming. The article says that there are hundreds of truck loads, taking thousands of cubic metres, being the muck and sludge from the recent storm damage, for dumping in the sea. The environmental agency Quercus say that the action will have tragic consequences for marine life. Personally I would have used that mud etc. to construct a very useful grassy knoll quite near to the council offices in São Vicente. At times Madeira’s claim to be a ‘green’ island is an absolute mockery of environmental issues. Imagine the message that this action sends to the population, who are regularly reminded of the evils of dumping rubbish in the sea (and indeed rivers).

Humiliation in ‘Idols’ pricks islander – The young Madeiran Carlos Costa says the attack of jury member Moura Santos is going to backfire. The controversy started on Sunday live on the TV channel SIC, when Manuel Moura dos Santos said he hoped that the Madeiran Carlos Costa does not win the ‘Idols’. "I hope that you are not the winner of this competition because you are the idol that we do not need," he said after harshly criticizing the selection of music that the Porto Moniz competitor is doing in shows and in particular the song ‘I’m Here’. I have never watched one of these programs, but I remember our local celebrity Vânia Fernandes won this stupid competition one year, and went on to represent Portugal in the Eurovision song contest (… what a gal! … did I ever tell you that she gave me a big hug once?).  Anyway, isn’t the whole idea that the judges are controversial and are expected to harshly criticise the contestants who present them with such an opportunity? Stupid competition, and no doubt many stupid people enter, but I bet the judges earn a hatful of dosh, so maybe they are not so stupid. It seems that now there are several Facebook groups set up both for and against the singer. What a weird world we live in!

In sport : Today there is and exciting derby in the juniors – The captains of Nacional and Marítimo show ambition.

Hard to believe the report from Elaine earlier about that ship getting hit by a 9 metre wave and buckling the top rail (as shown in the photo above). The Naviera Armas ferry, ‘Volcán de Tijarafe’, was also damaged during the last journey between Portimão and Funchal, which although turbulent and far from pleasant, "there was no panic on board". The hull was damaged at the bow of the ship, but it will not prevent it from continuing its journeys.

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 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.

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

"Have just returned from Madeira, super weather except for one very wet day. It was lovely to see the Xmas lights and displays. Sending 3 of my pics, first, fish drying on a boat at Câmara de Lobos, second, the roasted chestnuts – I can still smell them when I look at the photo, and third, sailor spotted at the top of the mast. There were so many cruise ships in this time and it was good to read on the blog about the history of the old yacht with funnels which we saw coming into harbour. We have a long wait to our return in February". Eiryl.

Apologies to Eiryl, as that was sent in nearly 3 weeks ago … you remember, when we used to have good weather? The other photos mentioned will follow in the next few days.

On the 1st of January 2010 the owners of classic cars and motorcycles will meet together at 4 pm in Praia Formosa to take part on a new year’s parade through the streets of Funchal. This is the first time this event takes place and it was named "Funchal ON". So if you will be wondering around Funchal do not miss this opportunity to admire some old beauties riding along the city. Thanks to Madeira Help for that little snippet.

What 2010 might have in store for the travel industry – TravelMole Guest Comment by Thomson and First Choice managing director Dermot Blastland. "… As for destinations, we’re expecting the top short haul destinations for summer 2010 to be the Balearics, mainland Spain, the Algarve, Italy and Madeira". LETS HOPE SO!

"In 2008, Italian and European investigators uncovered a €3 million fraud over subsidy claims for fictitious tobacco, involving at least one cooperative, putting 80 individuals under arrest and recovering the cash. Meanwhile, on the small Atlantic island of Madeira, which is part of Portugal, two banana cooperatives benefited from almost €1 million in illegal subsidies or nonpayment of duties during a decade of scamming, according to court judgments. In the harshest of a series of sanctions, the president of one of the cooperatives, Fernando Gonzalez, received a five-year prison sentence and €1,000 fine, under appeal, after being convicted of looting €316,000 in subsidies. Some of his cooperative’s claims were made in the names of farmers who died years earlier". This was published in some American newspaper WHAT CORRUPTION ON MADEIRA – WHATEVER NEXT!

Elaine (East) sent in the final article from the Christmas traditions series that was running in the Jornal da Madeira in the run up to Xmas. Many thanks.

Traditional food at Christmas. Delights to mark this season are bolos and broas de mel, liqueurs, meat in garlic and wine, chicken soup, ‘torresmos’ and pork cooked in many forms. Christmas Eve guests are offered typical seasonal sweets, like bolo de mel, broas and home-made liqueurs. Lunch on Christmas Day has a very special significance for the vast majority of local people. It is a time for the immediate family to meet and those who have departed to eternity remembered, and not to forget those who are absent in countries of emigration. The main menu integrates chicken and pork, and especially meat in wine and garlic, which is made in different ways according to the parishes. Modern families use restaurants. In the past, meat from animals raised at home had a special flavour. The fruit for dessert is traditionally pineapple, both for flavour and aroma. Pickles are made at the beginning of December, an English condiment based on an assortment of vegetables (or fruit) pickled in vinegar, whose origin refers to the time of British rule over India. Good cider vinegar is flavoured with cinnamon, black pepper, cloves and nutmeg. Spring onions in sauce are often included, and the meat seasoned with wine, wine vinegar, garlic, cloves and bay leaves. Also on the table there should be pao jamon, bolo de rei, stuffed turkey and bacalhau.

Local specialities are as follows. Porto Moniz, ‘Carne Santa’ – pork and beef marinated overnight. Santana, ‘Carne da Noite’ – pork from the animal killed a week before in the ‘função do porco’, with wine, bay leaves and pumpkin accompaniment. Santo António da Serra in Machico, ‘Bucho de Porco Recheado’ – pork entrails stuffed with rice, garlic and parsley. In Santa Cruz, ‘Carne Frescal’ – meat marinated in white and red wine, Madeira wine and garlic for three days. In Funchal, ‘Sarapatel’ – pork blood and pork liver cooked with onions, tomato, parsley, pears, nuts and raisins.

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

The web-cam photographer has been down to Av. Arriaga again. A good photo of the camels on Sunday, CAMELS Today it’s Santa’s train.  TRAIN

Sales started yesterday. December 28 to February 28, the official dates of the winter sales. Some shops are waiting until January. There are discussions to reduce the period as two months is too long for the size of the population here, and to have a later starting date.

Communists note Funchal is less competitive. The Assembly of the Municipal of Funchal will vote this afternoon on a proposal of the CDU for an immediate formation of a working group to investigate alleged loss of competitiveness of Funchal, even in the regional context. The proposed study will take a year to report back. The Communists propose that representatives from the Municipal Assembly should form the group. The data has been collected by the National Institute of Statistics in a study called, ‘Local Purchasing Power’, which indicates that Funchal looses purchasing power compared to other municipalities in the region. Funchal Council is also discussing its budget today and plan to reduce running costs and maintain investment in priority sectors. More rigour will be applied when assessing investment projects. The accounts need to balance with a decrease from a 114 million Euros budget this year to 108 million Euros next year. They expect to save 3 million Euros in operating expenses – a large sum. 48% of the budget is retained for investment. They want to take advantage of low interest rates in the international money market and only spend 75% of the budget by the end of the year. The Socialist Party indicate they will vote against the budget as it lacks rigour in defining priorities when the Council has less money to spend. Half of the investments are in public works and bureaucracy instead of the environment, culture and social action.

8,000 to see the fireworks. 8,000 tourists and 3,300 crew will take the opportunity to see the fireworks on New Year’s Eve. The increased port traffic starts tomorrow, December 30, with the cruise ships Queen Victoria (2,000 tourists, 900 crew) and AIDAluna (2,250 tourists, 634 crew) due at 7.15 and 12.00 hours, respectively. The Cunard ship will stay moored until the early morning of December 31 and then has to go out to sea at 6.00 am to make room for another ship. The lifeboats will be used to ferry tourists ashore, weather permitting. She finally sails at 1 am on January 1 2010. The AIDAluna normally calls on Sundays but the timetable has been altered for the fireworks spectacular and will also leave at 1.00 am on January 1 2010. On December 31, the Oriana  (1700, 760) will occupy the position vacated by the Queen Vic., arriving at 07.00 and the Boudicca  (793, 363) will be alongside until 2 am the following day. At 22.00 on the 31 December, the Amadea (600, 244) will moor behind the AIDAluna and remain until 18.00 hours the following day. The sixth and final ship to arrive to watch the display is the Saga Ruby (650, 379) which approaches at 23.00 on December 31 and stays offshore until 7am on January 1 2010.  The Lobo Marinho ferry will join other boats at sea at 23.00, for spectators to obtain a sea view. — Hopefully, the Oriana will not miss out this time.

Porto Santo may have ‘anopheles’.  Continuation of yesterday’s report about malaria in the region. Anopheles is the mosquito which can transmit malaria, if infected with the Plasmodium parasites. A detailed study about climate change in the region since 2006, discusses the possibility that the mosquito is present on the island of Porto Santo, although it is not found on the island of Madeira. It is thought the risk of contracting malaria is very low as the the local population of mosquitoes on Porto Santo are not infected with the parasite. Climate change will make it more favourable for the development of the parasites in the region but they need to be introduced by infected vectors, and all cases of malaria between 1996 and 2004 have been contracted abroad. The Department of Social Affairs ensures there is no cause for alarm as there are no vectors present in Madeira and malaria cannot be transmitted from person to person. The labs here can test for malaria. The relatives of the man in intensive care are upset about the way he was ‘shuttled around’ for four days before admittance. The hospital originally sent him to Santo Antonio Health Centre for a test and immunization against influenza A, then on feeling worse the following day, he went to Machico Health Centre and sent home. He was finally admitted on Christmas Eve and is showing signs of organ failure. The other two infected men are responding well to treatment and should be released soon. — No mention of the number of malaria cases that have been brought here over the years. The symptoms of malaria – fever, headaches and malaise – are typical flu symptoms, especially prominent at the present time. Why didn’t the men take precautions against malaria if they were working in a highly infectious region (Equatorial Guinea)?

Tickets and passes increases – confusion! Someone cannot do their sums or the information is too vague. Bus tickets and fares will increase next year, as usual on January 1. According to the Regional Secretariat for Tourism and Transport, the average increases will be 1.85% for interurban buses and 1.19% for urban transport. An average increase of 5 cents per ticket. A 1.55 Euros ticket will cost 1.57 Euros, according to the Diário but a 1.55 Euros ticket in Funchal will increase to 1.60 Euros (3.2% ?), according to the J. Madeira. A 35.50 Euros social pass will increase to 40 Euros (12.7% ?). More detailed information will be published later this week. Better news is that milk and bread will not increase until at least March. CTT has published details of new prices for the postal service. PT will reduce fixed line prices by about 10.5% and offer unlimited calls within their network at weekends, from January 1. It is thought that mobile phones will have the same tariffs.

Vandalism puts gas tank at risk. The gas tank that supplies a block of flats situated near the Pico dos Barcelos viewpoint in Santo Antonio, was yesterday at risk of exploding. Two rubbish bins were destroyed by fire and damage to the infrastructure meant a temporary interruption in  ZON and Portugal Telecom cable television and Internet in the area. Immediately behind the rubbish collection containers is a gas tank, which could have easily caught fire. Vandals set fire to the area at 1.30 when there was poor visibility in the high zone. The Funchal bombeiros extinguished the flames but the charred remains are an eyesore for visitors to the viewpoint. There have been similar acts of arson at ecopoints recently, all at night, in the area of Courelas and near this viewpoint.

Urbanization Plan for Santa Cruz to be released on January 7. The plan is for the Portinho area. There will be installation of new equipment, transfer of public facilities and the creation of several recreational areas and green spaces. A new kindergarten and a new school are planned. Changes also planned for Vargem; some areas of the centre of Caniço will be closed to traffic with new litter bins and seats to make the area pleasanter for pedestrians, with new roads and areas of health and leisure. The cemetery, which is being repositioned, will become a garden.

Regional Government announces support to agriculture ranging from 85% to 100%.  At last, a statement from the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources announces financial support for storm damage which can cover between 85% and 100% of eligible expenses. The office of Manuel Antonio Correia said the Executive would use EU funds and the Regional Budget. The support will cover the costs of restoring agricultural land and infrastructure, eg crops, walls, buildings, irrigation systems and equipment. To cut bureaucracy, call centres have been set up from today and claims are a priority for processing. The CDU want the Government to  immediately use the Insurance Fund created in 1983.

Socialist lodges a complaint against the Regional Director of Forestry, Tamega and Coito Pita. The Socialist Party leader Joao Gouveia wants prosecutions against the Regional Director of Forestry (Rocha da Silva), the construction firm Tamega, as well as the Social Democrat Coito Pita, for storm damage. The construction firm is accused of illegal activity in the area of Ribeira Grande. The Director of the Forestry Department has direct responsibility for the construction of the road between Rosario and Encumeada. The Director of Forestry permitted Tamega to put stones in unsuitable areas as illegal landfill. Coito Pita owns the land situated below the Chao-dos-Louros, contiguous to Rocha da Silva’s property. Coito Pita blocked access to farmland via his road and after negotiations with Rocha da Silva, an alternative road was constructed. This involved removal of trees which were carried down the slopes in the storm.

Hectic day at the airport. Yesterday, due to strong gusts of wind, several hundreds of passengers had long waits to fly from Madeira. 17 cancelled flights (departures/arrivals), and delays in all flights scheduled to land on Monday morning. Some passengers had to wait more than eight hours and criticized the lack of information. Reporters could not find a satisfactory answer to the fact that charter flights from the U.K., Helsinki and Copenhagen were landing but not those of TAP and SATA. Ground Force could not explain why and the TAP headquarters in Lisbon could not be contacted.

Storm leaves families poorer. In Ribeira do Porco in Boaventura, the storm leaves stones deposited on the highway. Downstream, there is major damage. Five cars in Lombo do Urzal were damaged and walls and agricultural land have been destroyed. In Falca, machinery and a warehouse belonging to a construction firm have water damage. Heavy rain still falls in Ribeira Grande and Rosario, where there are more landslides and swollen rivers. The Councils have not yet drawn risk maps, which would take political courage, due to land becoming devalued and many present buildings disallowed.

Bad weather stories round-up. In Vasco Gil, the electrical cables were ripped down by a storm-felled eucalyptus tree. In Funchal, various roads closed, especially the Estrada Luso-brasileira, due to landslides. Officials had to use chainsaws to remove buganvilia (bougainvillea) from the Ribeira de Santa Luzia, after heavy rain caused it to fall into the water and block the water course.This plant also caused problems and had to be cut back on the Rua 5 de Outubro in Funchal. The only access to Curral das Freiras, the Estrada da Eira do Serrado, was cut off by falling eucalyptus trees, destroying power lines. Rubbish discarded thoughtlessly has washed down to the coastline, especially in Serra de Agua and Ribeira Brava. Falling trees destroyed the roof of a residence in Camacha (photo). Three eucalyptus and two pine trees fell onto the roof of the unoccupied Villa Viera Cardosa in Rochao. The owners live in South Africa. Neighbours had asked the family to cut the trees two years ago, as they recognized the potential danger. The family displaced at Monte yesterday will be temporarily housed in lodgings by Funchal Council. A landslide near the electricity station at Serra de Agua left about a dozen families isolated at Achada dos Aparicios. The only access road to the power station and their houses was blocked by the landslide. The Council unblocked the road by the end of the morning. The sea invaded at least one bar on the esplanade at Praia Formosa. The bar Barra Azul was affected last night and the bar is half destroyed. In front of the Atlantic Gardens, the footpath has been closed due to waves threatening the beach area. According to the IM, the coast of Madeira will be hit by strong waves until the end of the year. Two large ships are sheltering from the weather off the north coast and are being monitored by the Harbour of Funchal to ensure they do not come too close to shore. One is a large container ship, en route to Rotterdam, the other is a tanker.

—– The Bishop of Funchal reassures parishioners that the Church is still here for them during this terrible time. The Government has other matters on its mind; Jardim has put his ex-journalist skills to work by writing another preface to a book – this time about tax systems in the Region. New Year’s ‘Sexy Party’ at the Farmers’ Market will be safeguarded against the weather, already 500 tickets sold, mainly to the VIP area. The prices are 10 and 15 Euros whereas the Wine Institute’s Hollywood party tickets are 20 Euros.

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

The sea makes difficult the unloading of fuel – The tanker-ship ‘Madeiro’ has been waiting 5 days for suitable sea conditions to unload 18 thousand tons of fuel. The time is uncertain, but there are stocks to last at least a week. The three fuel terminals located at Caniçal, Socorridos and Porto Santo have been inaccessible due to weather / sea conditions, and supplies are running low for products like diesel and other fuels. The tanker-ship arrived here on Christmas day, and when conditions allow will unload firstly in Caniçal, and then Socorridos, before heading off to Porto Santo. At least that is the plan, but the reality is likely to be quite different as only safe unloading conditions will determine. The ship has been ‘sheltering’ unanchored off the north coast of Madeira, between Ponta de São Lourenço and Porto da Cruz. Most of the fuel is destined for electricity production, where existing stocks should last until 6th January. Around 1,000 tons are for petrol stations. EEM spokesman Rui Rebelo said "Only a lot of bad luck will prevent the ship from docking in the next ten days," after which a break in electricity supply will be possible.

Today’s main news headline : Sócrates pays the electricity bill – Lisbon decided to end the stubbornness and deliver to EEM the value of the convergence rates. The process was started in 1998 by an agreement between the central and regional executives. But the money was burning until now. €26 million arrives today or tomorrow. This was an agreement to ensure that Madeirans were not disadvantaged in terms of the prices they pay for electricity consumed. The Electricity Company of Madeira produces electricity at a higher cost than in mainland Portugal, because of the cost of importing raw materials, transport costs, and the fact that that the Madeira market is comparatively small. A payment agreement made in 2003 was to ensure that the state contributed an amount annually until the year 2013, but until now any subsidies have been funded by the Madeira Government. Now, after a long struggle the state has agreed to pay the subsidies along with late payment costs (interest), after the matter was referred to the courts.  The money will be used to settle bank debt incurred due to the delay, and will not affect the prices paid by EEM customers.

French Tourism grows in times of crisis – ‘Top of Travel’ brought 16 thousand French in 2009 and wants to bring 20 thousand next year.

Classical Orchestra gives three concerts in Lisbon.

Storm insists on punishing Ponta do Sol. The sea has been relentless in the West zone – The force of the waves partially destroyed the beach bar at Ponta do Sol. The bar named ‘Maré Alta’ was damaged as the high waves ‘threw rocks’ at the structure.  Also Marina do Lugar de Baixo has two more ‘leaking’ fissures in the wall, and Calheta golden sand beach has returned once again to be a pebble beach. The president of Ponta do Sol council has said that he wants to enrol in the 2011 government programme to completely transform the protection for the town sea front. WATCH THE VIDEO Who said "water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink" … was it someone in Ponta do Sol?

Today’s top sport / football story : Marote doesn’t know the future of the ‘Series Madeira’ – The president of AF Madeira alerts to the uncertainty around the regional clubs. Marote wants to see three Madeirans at the 2010 World Cup Finals. No time to delve into the full story, but I am certain Sr. Marote will see his wish come true. For sure Uncle Bertie will wangle a few top match tickets for his pals and cronies, and no doubt the taxpayer will need to assist in this essential diplomatic mission. Whether the Madeiran footballing trio of Ronaldo, Danni and Micael will be there I have no idea.

An extra article from Elaine (East) from yesterday’s Jornal da Madeira, an  interview with the Manager of Macedo’s Fireworks. Many thanks Elaine.

Fireworks stations begin to be placed tonight. The placement of the launching stations for the fireworks display at the end-of-year in Funchal will start from tonight. According to Carlos Macedo, Manager of Macedo’s Fireworks, tonight they will begin to put the fireworks stations at the Avenida do Mar. He said, roughly at 00:00, one of the lanes of the Avenida do Mar will be cut off to traffic, for the placing of containers at the fireworks stations. This operation will continue even through the course of tomorrow, when there will be placed stations at sea (in areeiras) and the closed stations. Finally, on December 31, the remainder will be placed, particularly those that "are in more public areas, such as parks, streets, parking lots, etc.", to avoid bottlenecks and impediments to movement. It should be noted that this year, there will be 39 stations to launch fireworks in Funchal and one in Porto Santo. Compared to last year, there is one more fireworks station, namely the one that will be located at the Garrison of the Regiment No. 3. In total, as already announced, there will be 97,172 firings, that over eight minutes will bring a lot of colour and magic to this important tourist attraction of Madeira. "Fortunate Islands" is the theme of the show, which, as Carlos Macedo stressed, is inspired by the International Year of Biodiversity, which starts precisely on the 1 January. According to him, "our designer decided to set up a project to honour this jewel of nature, that is the Floresta Laurissilva and the fauna associated with it." As such, he stressed, "we will have a very colourful show, very noisy, with themes and effects related to nature and fauna." A variety of colours including green, orange, violet and white will cause a great show, which will be accompanied by a variety of sounds such as whistling, whooshing and crackling. "Let’s have a bit of everything," says Carlos Macedo.

The manager says that everything is being prepared for a great show and hopes the weather conditions will not ultimately harm it. This is because, he said, rain and humidity will not allow the smoke to lift. Moreover, he hopes that the sea is not choppy, so as not to hinder the process, also as regards the placement of fireworks. "We really fear the rain and the storm that’s going around," he confessed. It should be noted, however, that as Lusa (News Agency) said, citing the Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport, weather forecasts point to an improvement in conditions from today in the archipelago of Madeira, "and there is expected a pleasant temperature and good weather for the last day of the year."

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. 

I think I have found another website that will show the world record attempt (breaking it’s own record) for the 2010 new year fireworks tomorrow night in Funchal, Madeira. I am still checking it out, and if I don’t confirm it later today I will ensure it is on tomorrow’s blog ready to click on and watch.

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

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

I am of the impression that the weather is a very popular subject for many blog visitors, and I saw this website and thought of you. It has 3 hourly advance forecast slots for temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity and chances of rain (in % terms). So rather than planning ones day based on a very general daily weather forecast, those in Funchal can plan their shopping trips in between thunderstorms (theoretically). FUNCHAL WEATHER

Being the season for Eggnog, did you know you can make this sickly drink with our very own MADEIRA WINE

I had a free 1.8 metre Christmas tree delivered yesterday, as did neighbours, so I assume it was from the council … an environmentally friendly recyclable plastic one I guess, but I didn’t open the box to see. I think most people who wanted an Xmas tree would have brought one by now, so probably a waste of time for this year. Anyone want it? It’s free if you want to collect it.

What make Madeira Unique? Students answer the question in this video.

Gripe A detection machine in the airports of the Region – Suspect cases will be accompanied by the health authorities. Madeira and Porto Santo airports started yesterday a monitoring system for people arriving at the respective airports, to check if they are potential carriers of the swine flu H1N1 virus. 3 nurses will be based in each airport to check the results of people passing through the sensors, which will report elevated body temperatures in disembarking passengers. Any passengers that trigger the system will be asked questions, and if it seems that they are possible Gripe A carriers they will be put in the charge of a nurse until the virus has been confirmed or otherwise.

Civil protection emits warning about rain and strong winds – The alert continues until Christmas eve. Strong and very strong winds from the Southwest will hit Madeira, with gusts up to 130 km / hour in high places. Rain and heavy downpours are also forecasted, with the conditions for thunderstorms. The warning is given not to venture into high and exposed areas on foot or by car, and to be aware of the potential for a little flooding, rock falls, and landslides.

Sharp drop in exports of Embroidery – Embroiderers will have an increase of 3%. The year 2009 saw a sharp drop in exports of Embroidery. Data provided by the Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources show that the export of this product fell by about 25% over the previous year. Manuel António Correia acknowledges that the sector is experiencing some difficulties, and that this situation has influenced the government’s decision to set wage increases for home-working embroiderers by 3% in 2010. The announcement was made at the ceremony of awards at this year’s best embroiderers.

Many thanks to Sue for this article.

Rivers overflow and storm causes damage. The rivers of St. Vincent and the Magdalene Sea overflowed last night sowing panic and chaos in those areas. The most serious took place in St. Vincent, where a motorist was surprised at the speed of the rising waters, left the car and ended up falling to the river bank. Moreover, the streets of the mountain village were covered with mud. Thanks to assistance from the Fire Department of San Vicente and Porto Moniz they managed to rescue the man with virtually no injuries. The corporation had almost not enough hands to cope with the number of requests for help that arrived at headquarters, including the Police station which was one of several areas flooded. The storm and the consequent rise in the water of the river, forced the closure of via expresso 4, connecting Ribeira Brava to Sao Vicente,  the traffic being diverted to the former regional road (Encumeada). This caused a massive traffic jam, as explained by the commander of the Regional Civil Protection Madeira, Rui Neri. "Hundreds of cars were stopped which caused many complications, because everyone wanted to get home," stated Commander, describing the situation in St. Vincent and Madalena do Mar "very complicated". But the rest of the island was not spared by bad weather, with record floods, landslides, falling trees and lampposts slightly throughout the Region, due to gusts of wind blowing up to 130 km / h. In Funchal, the two corporations did not rest with the falling trees in the hotel zone, Avenida Zarco, Monte, Rotunda do Infante, District of Nazareth, where a car was damaged. Also the lighting fell from the effects of strong wind gusts, with a taxi being hit by a pole near the House of Light and Christmas decorations set up on the pier causing it to collapse partially. In the area of the Star, the way to the Nun’s Valley, a landslide hit a car, but caused no casualties because the occupants left on time. In Camara de Lobos, more specifically in the Strait, a tree struck two parked cars, blocking the road. In the same area, Nogueira, a zone of São Lourenço, a tree fell on a bus, causing no injuries, forcing the Fire Department to redouble its efforts to clear the road. In the municipality of Santa Cruz, there were power cuts that left some locations in Canico and Camacha in the dark. The North, in Santana, there is no record of flooding. The river overflowed Faial, and a collapse in Fajã Cedro Gordo blocked the road leaving dozens of cars, including a bus, blocked. Firefighters, technical authority and the Government were in place. For all these reasons, and because the weather conditions will continue at least until this afternoon, the commander Rui Neri asks the population to avoid leaving the house and riding in a car. "If you do, try to avoid areas most at risk, circulating under trees or other places that may be a risk," advised the person responsible for civil protection, stressing the need for people to obey the authorities – PSP, and Vialitoral Via expresso – who are responsible security. "It is essential to respect the signs," he stressed.

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

Hotels obliged to fire staff.

Unemployment hits 28 Madeirans a day – Madeira had 13,510 unemployed in November, 53.4% more than a year ago. After the Algarve (+59.8%), Madeira had the worst problems, with the Azores very close behind (52.9%). With Summer jobs now over and the year end peak not looking promising, Madeira will have a slack tourism period for several weeks, save festivals and carnival week, so it looks like there is worse to come. Unemployment here has increased by 4.5%, or 587 people, just from October to November. In that same short month, job  offers fell by 46%.

Today’s main news headline : Crimes shelved - The Court (of Appeal?) decided that the lawsuit ‘Medicam’ was not strong enough for trial. At issue were four defendants accused of falsification of documents, criminal association and serious fraud.

Most of the front page today is taken up with a ungripping photo of a stopped (abandoned?) car in a street littered with flood debris … but no flood (maybe the Diário photographer arrived a bit late?) : Night of panic – Rivers spill over in São Vicente, Ribeira Brava, and Madelena do Mar. Sue kindly covered the weather stories above, so not much more to add. All was under control in Ribeira Brava town, but the flow in the river was the strongest I have ever seen. I can’t normally see the actual river from my balcony, but last night for a while I could, and the noise was incredible. The water clearly coming from somewhere with much more rain than we actually had in the town. The poor ducks (around 70 of them) were homeless with no high ground left to sleep on. They ended up clustered on a few rocks very close to the sea and the threat of high waves. Don’t forget if you have some leftovers / bread etc. you can spare, they really do need help to find food at the moment and probably for a good few weeks to come.

Rain and wind threaten the most popular night in downtown Funchal. The rain hasn’t helped businesses, and now with the stalls of flowers, fruit, vegetables erected around the fruit market (Mercado dos Lavradores) ready for Market Night tonight, traders are apprehensive about the night and trade being ruined by more bad weather. The roads are closed to traffic and full of traders trying to make the most of the last few days before Xmas. The sun umbrellas amongst the stands are serving to provide some protection from the repetitive rain, but there has been no protection against the financial damage they have all suffered as a result of the poor weather.

Bad weather cuts water supply in São Jorge.

As expected the Lobo Marinho ferry crossing to Porto Santo was cancelled today. The same story indicates that after Christmas day (when indications are that conditions will be improved), adverse conditions will return on 26th December.

Today’s sports headlines : Leonardo leads second division without exuberance.

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 Thank you in anticipation.

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

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

"Madeira: land of the zimmer frame. God’s waiting room, where pensioners sunbathe in their overcoats. Madeira, like the sticky bottle of wine named after it, sweet, old-fashioned, lingering in the back of the cupboard. Why would any youngish person want to spend their winter holiday in a place that shares its name with their granny’s favourite cake?" … "It’s reputation as a haven for the elderly is just not fair". SUNDAY TRIBUNE

"On a visit to that little fishing village [Câmara de Lobos], I stopped off at one of the fisherman’s bars on the right hand side of the bay. One old sea dog there emptied pint glass after pint glass while filling my head with fantastical stories about the island. According to him, there are very short, ancient-looking creatures living here that are not actually human. ODD BUT INTERESTING – THE PEQUENINOS

“Madeira is the seventh destination in the world, after the Douro Valley in Portugal, the City of Mexico and Riviera Maya in Mexico, the Principality of Andorra, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and the Eastern Townships in Quebec, Canada, to recognize the value of a measurement system like the SMED and to sign a partnership agreement with the CED. As in these destinations, the Madeiran authorities will set up a working group whose objective will be to implement the recommendations made in the official SMED report” IT’S OFFICIAL … MADEIRA HAS BEEN SMED’ed

Thousands stranded abroad as Scots airline Flyglobespan goes into administration.  SCOTLAND’S biggest airline Flyglobespan collapsed tonight as a last-gasp multi-million pound rescue package failed – leaving hundreds of employees facing the axe and thousands of holidaymakers stranded abroad. Up to 1000 jobs could be lost and all of the company’s plans have been grounded, leaving as many as 10,000 tourists stranded overseas. More than 5000 more holidaymakers face losing Christmas and New Year holidays as a result of the firm going in to voluntary administration. Edinburgh-based Flyglobespan had been trying to secure a s10million cash injection to carry on operating. But talks finally broke down today after three months. Bill Munro of Barrhead Travel, Scotland’s biggest independent travel firm, said: "This is a grim day for the industry and we will do everything we can to help. MORE – DAILY RECORD This was announced last night, and as the airline flies from Edinburgh to Madeira on Mondays, it will be bad news for many.

Elaine (East) kindly sent in another article from the Jornal da Madeira in the Xmas Traditions series :

CHRISTMAS 2009 – Living Christmas with the joy of the presépios

Since the year 1223, when Sao Francisco decided to represent the time and occasion of the birth of Jesus, and celebrate Christmas Eve with his brothers and citizens of Assisi in the forest of Greccio, presepios have been the essence of Christmas throughout the world.

The word presépio means ‘a place where they collect livestock, corral, stable ‘. However, this is also the name given to the artistic representation of the birth of Jesus in a stable. In Madeira and Porto Santo, the presepios always mark the presence of the Christmas season. Made of various materials, they continue to be one of the attractions both in private dwellings, as in churches and more recently in public places. At the time when plastic was not yet part of the everyday life of the population, the presepios and Madeiran lapinhas were constructed from paper, painted with vioxene, the sheets stuck with gum arabic (glue), or maize or flour paste. In early December, the sellers or grocery stores had a large quantity of vioxene, powders of several bright colours and glue that would serve to make the lapinha. After acquiring these products, it was time to get down to work and join the family for the construction of the lapinha. Once the structure was made, which may be of wood, trunks or scallop cane, the paper was put on, painted and before it had time to dry, the powders of various colours were applied, with emphasis on gold and silver.

The shepherds and various images of regional motifs were placed with great care, between the scene of the killing of the pig and the Madeiran arraiais with the representation of the procession, and the philharmonic band in the bandstand. These objects had already been acquired in previous years, or were renewed with purchases from the speciality house in Funchal. To make the streams they used cotton, and the ponds with fish were placed on small mirrors which gave the aspect of bright water. The cardboard templates could also have been purchased ready-made from the sellers or other commercial establishments, or cut out, because they had cardboard sheets with drawings of houses, churches and castles that were used for this purpose. After skillful gluing at the edges, these produced beautiful buildings.

The image of Baby Jesus was placed in the cave, Mary and Joseph were in the centre of the lapinha and they always had the prominent place with the oil lamp that would illuminate the scene during the Christmas season. Vegetation like the typical ‘goatlings’ and moss gave colour to the presépio. Depending on the space in the houses, the presepios were of different sizes and were the cause of admiration by visitors in rooms adorned with cheerful themes, where visitors were offered a glass of liqueur, honey cake or broas. For those who had less space at home, the solution was the ‘rochinha’. With socas made of scallop cane artistically arranged in the form of a pyramid, at the base was left a space for the cave in which to put the images of the Birth of Jesus. The paper that could be extracted from bags of cement, and others, was also painted with vioxene which gave it a brownish tinge, and glued to the socas and then painted with brilliant powders.

At present there are still many people who are faithful to the tradition of the presépio of the ‘old style’, and in many locations competitions are organized for the presepios and lapinhas, showing a lot of creativity.

Many thanks Elaine … I remember translating a story last Christmas on the subject of presépios and lapinhas, which implied that the construction of these was often very much a matter of social status, with the wealthy deliberately spending more money to have bigger and grander exhibits than their less well off neighbours, who they would then invite around to show off their ‘wealth’. The poorer families would often use items of fruit to make their displays more attractive, as well as costing less of course, but would make a lot of effort all the same to ensure that they were not the laughing stock of their village. LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Madeira-web has been back to Câmara de Lobos for today’s photo.

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

Speed limit remains at 40 km. In 15 districts on the continent, Portugal has decided to limit the speed to 30 km per hour in some areas. The deputy mayor of Funchal, Bruno Pereira said there is no legal support to implement this change in Madeira. The areas in Funchal where accidents happen most are limited; Estrada Monumental, Camacho de Freitas and Rotunda D. Francisco Santana. Limiting the speed is not the answer, it would be better to utilize traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. "The reality of Funchal is different from a city like Lisbon since due to characteristics of the streets, even if the speed limit is 50 km/h, it is a value difficult to achieve." The Police Commissioner said, "The Region has done much in the area of road safety." Examples are pedestrianization of areas, and other ways to reduce accidents involve education, improvement of roads by lighting and road surfaces, police surveillance and radar monitoring.

Complaint against the BIR. (More details after Der’s headlines yesterday). The father of a 17 year old boy is accusing a member of the BIR (Rapid Intervention Brigade) of assaulting his son in the early hours of Sunday. The Public Ministry is investigation his complaint. "My son and two friends went out at night, as do the young, and were preparing to return home when they were approached by the BIR." He said the three were on the Caminho da Achada at five o’clock in the morning, near the house of one of them, and talking about the possibility of the alleged victim returning to his home by motorbike. "His friends were saying that he’d better take a taxi home because he had been drinking." The BIR arrived and wondered what they were doing there. They asked the boy if he had been drinking and he replied, "What matters if I drank or not?" A member of the BIR slapped him across the face and his friends were advised to run or they would also be hit. He took his son to a private clinic for treatment for a cut lip and marks to the eye and face. The police cannot comment at present while ascertaining the facts for any criminal charges.

Fall of nine metres leaves man seriously ill. A 40 year old man is seriously ill in hospital after an accident yesterday on the fly-over on the highway at São Martinho. The Opel driven by him  was negotiating a curve and went through the safety barriers, ended up falling about ten metres. It is not known what caused the accident but it was raining heavily at the time. In a separate accident, a 50 year old man died immediately after falling only a few metres down the stairs in his apartment block.

Madeira lost tourists and Euros. More about the Oriana being unable to stay yesterday. The port was full with the MSC Fantasia and the Costa Marina, so there was no room for the Oriana to moor. The schedule depends on the order of arrival of the ships, and the owners, P & O, decided that the Oriana would still visit and rely on the lifeboats to ferry passengers to the shore. The ship stayed for a little over an hour for replacement of crew members but then left for Southampton, due to the bad weather. APRAM lost 10,000 Euros in port fees and other services. 22 buses had been hired, 10 as shuttle buses to the city centre and 12 to take 600 tourists to visit various attractions around the island. The failing to land 1,700 tourists had an impact on; Monte, where the ‘carrinhos de cesto’ men were waiting – expecting more than 200 tourists, the cable car, Botanical Gardens, Madeira Wine Cellars, 14 tourists had booked on the whale watching catamaran, others had booked jeep safari trips, and also the shops and cafes. An estimated loss of 30,000 Euros in revenue.

—- Sad photo of Oriana returning to the UK without staying. Yesterday, the complaints highlighted that it was a loss of older UK tourists. They need to find a solution as cruise ships are getting larger and becoming more popular. The port is increasing passenger numbers whereas today there is yet another article about a fall in hotel revenue. Average October room rates were 29.1 Euros, a fall from 35.1 Euros last year, a fall of 15.4% in room revenue and the total income of the hotel industry fell by 13.1%. Occupancy rate in October was 51.4% (57.7% last year) and so far this year, an overall fall of 11% from last year.

Debt varies with the pleasure of the political colour. Government and opposition have very different calculations with regard to the debt of the region.  According to the Socialists and Christian Democrats, the debt by mid – 2010 could reach more than six billion Euros. Whereas Ventura Garces, the Secretary of Planning and Finance and Filipe Ramos, the PSD spokesman, say the debt is less than a third of that value. The Secretary offered to "Teach the opposition to count." Ventura Garcia noted that the direct debt is only 18% GDP and according to Filipe Ramos, the current expenditure has been reduced by 5.2%. The debt will grow by more than 180 million Euros in 2010 to ensure the use of all funds. Garces acknowledged that the unemployment level is presently 13,000  and he will support some companies that will create jobs. Garces said that the State in the last legislature, cut off all possibilities for the Region to borrow. The opposition read the numbers differently. The PS accuse the Government of disguising the total disarray of public accounts. The PS spokesman listed, in a long speech, the various portions of the debt, which already exceeds the value of the regional GDP. "We walked into the abyss which leads to the governance of the PSD." The PCP said that already the Government cannot hide the scale of the financial disaster and that, "The reality shows that Madeira has reached the point of collapse." A BE member alerted the possibility of a new jump in debt because "Madeira would have to invent 500 million," to meet all commitments. The PS reckon the debt is worth 5 billion; direct and indirect debt, debt of public sector business, securitization of credits, operations of PATRIRAM (Ownership and Management of Public Assets), the unpaid burden and operations of Via Litoral and Via Expresso. The reduction of debt authorization from 129 million to 79 million is why, according to Ventura Garces, debt to suppliers remains above 85 million Euros, which will increase in 2010.

Electricity tariff increases by 2.5% in 2010. Around one euro on the average monthly bill of 40 Euros.

Saturday is Market Night in Santa Cruz. Saturday December 19 from 22.00 hours. Fair of Traditional Sweets and Liqueurs produced by the Casas do Povo, between 13 and 20 December from 18.00 to 22.00 in the Praça do Municipio, where the presépio is being constructed. Evening entertainment form 20.00 on the stage erected in the Praça do Municipio. Friday, the entertainment will be traditional Christmas carols. Saturday, dancing to Latin sounds and karaoke. Sunday, the groups from the Casa do Povo de Santa Cruz.

Conventual sweets sold in Rua da Carreira until January 6. ‘Smells and flavours of Christmas to the Kings’ theme. Promoted by Funchal Council, and the Association of Gastronomic Memories. The kiosks selling the conventual sweets close between 19.00 – 20.00 hours. Selling, torroes de Santa Clara, papas-de-anjo, barrigas de freira, sericaias and encharacadas. The Association sells two types of bolo-de-mel (Madeiran honey cake), according to a recipe from the XV – XIX century and one from the XIX – XX century. They differ due to the use of soda. They are also relaunching a sweet called ‘negritos’.

From Martin L & Paul (Paul do Mar), some more news on the Flyglobespan situation :

Airline Takes a Dive – Some news from Scotland that has a Madeiran slant to it and could be worth a space on the blog.

Flyglobespan the Scottish travel agent and airline went into receivership yesterday with all flights being cancelled immediately. They flew to Madeira every Monday direct from Edinburgh and the Madeiran flights were usually fully booked, although in the past few months there were flights with several unsold seats. They have been in operation since 2002 and flew to several destinations in Europe, Canada, Florida, and Egypt. The airline had experienced cash flow problems and was trying to re-negotiate its finances but the deal did not proceed and they were unable to continue in business. It seems a few thousand passengers are stranded at various destinations, and although some them will be covered through the travel agency insurance arrangements, many will be unprotected as they booked the flights direct. Madeira is totally dependent on air traffic for its tourism and this demonstrates the precarious nature of the airline business and although Flyglobespan’s input to Madeiran tourism was probably minimal, it is nevertheless a loss of revenue to the island. Another event that could affect tourism income over Christmas is a threatened strike by British Airways staff across the entire Christmas holiday of 11 days.

You can get more details on the BBC news website. (in the Scottish section for Flyglobespan if you need clarification). BBC LINK

Article title: Flyglobespan, Scotland’s biggest airline has collapsed (Source: BBC News) :

“An operation is under way to fly back to the UK thousands of people left stranded after Flyglobespan, Scotland’s biggest airline, collapsed. Its parent company, Globespan, entered administration on Wednesday, with all flights cancelled and 800 jobs going. About 4,500 passengers are stranded – mostly in Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Egypt. The Civil Aviation Authority will be repatriating about 1,100.” LINK 

The Labour MP for Edinburgh North Leith Mark Lazarowicz said: “It will potentially be a massive problem to those who have booked their Christmas holidays with the airline, or who are overseas now.” Source including film: STV SCOTLAND

Helpline: Flyglobespan passengers are advised to call a helpline from 10 am on Thursday and visit the website for further information in the meantime (see the link below). The call centre number is 0871 271 9000 for UK calls and +44 141 332 3233 for people calling from Europe.

‘Information for Customers’: official notice on the appointment of joint administrators to the Scottish travel firm, The Globespan Group plc and Alba Ground Handling Ltd including ‘Information for Customers’ FLYGLOBESPAN

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

Debt of €10 million surprises Porto Moniz – The debt increased 84% in 2008.

ANAM in technical insolvency. I have been through the newspaper and can’t find this article, so maybe it is just in the printed edition of the Diário? I will have a look tonight. But ANAM, who operate the airports of Madeira and Porto Santo, have been in a ‘technical insolvency situation’ for eternity, because of the huge debts they have to service through the last airport expansion.

It is Madeira that has more growth in the PIB (GDP). In 1995 Madeira had GDP / PIB growth 11% lower than the national average. In 2008 it was 28% higher.

Charge interest on delayed payments is the answer – Companies fed-up with a government that doesn’t pay on time. Companies that do work for the Madeira government that have not been paid are looking for both settlement, and interest on the outstanding debt relative to the delay in settlement. Madeira, over the last 12 years, has already paid €103 million in interest charges on delayed payments, and that excludes banks and credit institutions. Many of these companies are in financial difficulties, and news of authorisation for the Regional Government to borrow €79 million to pay suppliers (even though a much larger sum was requested and rejected) has left some anxiety in the air, as no one knows who will be at the front of the queue for the €79 m payouts. The ‘shareout’ will save some businesses, but with the total supplier debt standing at around €200 million, others will be left out in the cold. This does not include those on ‘payment arrangements’ (contractual arrangements to spread costs), who don’t know whether the next instalments will be paid or not. The legal recourse to recover such debts are not often used by companies for government debt, as there may be repercussions of course. One person interviewed, from the Association of Commerce and Services, believes that the €79 million will be used exclusively to pay the hundreds of small and medium sized companies.

Today’s main news headline : Justice Police catch Madeiran paedophiles - Suspects were made defendants after a sequence of home searches made on Tuesday throughout Portugal. "Second life" also happens on Madeira. The JP police took part in a national operation on Tuesday to combat paedophilia on the internet. At least two locations in Funchal were searched, but there could have been more. The national operation named ‘Second life’ resulted in the identification of 13 suspects, some of them Madeiran, who have been caught with computers and equipments used to store pornographic material involving children and hence committing criminal acts.

‘Crociere’ already has five ships registered in the ‘Mar’ – The biggest European cruise company opts for Registro Internacional of Madeira.

‘Jig’ and historic thrashing in the hour of farewell – Nacional is the first Madeiran club to score five goals in one game in European competitions. Ruben Micael shone on another perfect night. The final game of the Europa League for Nacional, until then without a win. But, what results lacked in the 5 earlier games, were soon forgotten. Not quite a perfect night as described, as the Austrian opponents actually scored first in the 5 – 1 result. In the other match of Portuguese interest, Sporting lost to a single goal by Hertha Berlim, a result that doesn’t affect Sporting’s guaranteed passage to the next phase of the competition.

Paul (Paul do Mar) has kindly come up with a ‘match report’ :

Nacional blow lightweight Austria away

CD Nacional bid farewell to the UEFA Europa League with their biggest ever European win, thrashing FK Austria Wien 5-1 in Funchal as slack defending consigned the visitors to bottom place in Group L.

From behind
With coach Manuel Machado still too ill to perform his duties, Predrag Jokanović captained Nacional’s sinking ship, but soon had reason to regret stepping into the breach. Schumacher gave Austria the lead on 21 minutes but, from then on, it was all Nacional. Rúben Micael and Mateus gave them the lead by half-time, the former doubling their advantage after the break before Darko Tomašević and Felipe Lopes pumelled the visitors into submission.

Sloppy opening
Nacional started slowly, Leandro Salinas screwing a seemingly unmissable chance woefully wide before a ducking defender allowed Milenko Ačimovič’s cross to come to Schumacher, whose first-time shot arrowed through Rafael Bracali’s legs and in. Then the tide turned. The hosts levelled two minutes later, the unmarked Rúben Micael completing a languid one-two with Mateus by stroking home from inside the box. The latter saw the Austria defence part invitingly again on 33 minutes; his run from midfield met no challenge before he flicked deftly inside the undefended Robert Almer’s right-hand post.

Classy saves
Having been afforded little chance to do so earlier, Almer showed his skills between the posts by pushing Nejc Pečnik’s goalbound downward header on to the crossbar before the interval, and his opposite number proved no less agile as the second half kicked off, with Bracali brilliantly denying Schumacher a second.

Resistance crumbles
Austria then gave up the ghost. A swift break through midfield on 57 minutes saw Rúben Micael breeze through for Nacional’s third, and it was 4-1 four minutes later, Tomašević rising unmarked to head in a sweeping Rúben Micael free-kick. Felipe Lopes made similarly light work of heading Nacional’s fifth from Mateus’ cross.

UEFA report with video – first success in the Europa League group stage

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 Thank you in anticipation.

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

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to Der at blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

This weekends football : Nacional visit Paços de Ferreira tonight. 8.15 pm on SportTV1. Marítimo host Rio Ave on Sunday. 4 pm, but not televised.

Parliament: Law regulating financing of autonomous regions under national scrutiny. The Azorean Parliament’s Economy Committee is studying the legislation that regulates the financing of the autonomous regions to determine whether the new proposal put forward by Madeira may cause the Azorean archipelago to lose the positive discrimination it currently enjoys. Madeira president Alberto João Jardim never accepted the changes to the calculations of State revenues apportioned to the Autonomous Regions, despite those being passed by the Assembly of the Republic in 2007. Until these changes were made, Madeira had always received more money than the Azores, a situation that Prime Minister José Sócrates rectified in order to redress uneven development in the nine island of the Azores. Now that the PS has lost its absolute majority at national level, the Madeira PSD brought out an old proposal which could restore the pre-2007 legislation setting out financing for the autonomous regions. MORE ON RTP AZORES

The new Regional Finance Law is due to be voted on in Lisbon tomorrow, and it is going to be very tight, with the governing socialists voting against, the social democrats voting for, and various smaller parties sitting on the fence because of the situation in the Azores. It may even be a 97 – 97 tie.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterdays top news stories :

A classic in port. The Port of Funchal hosts since the beginning of yesterday afternoon, one of the most emblematic mega yachts ever on a routine visit and allowing medical treatment of a member of the crew. The Talitha G sailed from Gibraltar and is bound for Antigua. It will moor until 12.00 on Friday. The mega yacht was built in 1927 and named Reveler until 1937 when it was renamed Chalen. It served with the USA Navy during the second world war under the title USS Beaumont. After the war, the boat was privately owned and renamed Elpetal and was a favourite of Winston Churchill. In 1983, due to a change of owner, it became the Zezebel. There was a serious breakdown in the main engine during a crossing from the USA to Europe in 1993 and it had to be towed to Lisbon where it was repaired and refurbished and renamed the Talitha G. It has a crew of 18 and can host up to 20 people.

Santa Cruz will have a ‘low-cost’ petrol station.  A new petrol filling station will open at Tendeira in Caniço next year. It will be the third low-cost station in the country and the first in the region. The group of companies (AECCP) who run these stations want to try to combat rising fuel prices. The station is placed in Santa Cruz as "The county offers strategic conditions so they can offer Madeiran businessmen fuel at a lower price than they currently have." The proposals will only benefit members of ACIF (Association of Commerce and Industry) who must be associated with AECCP whose membership costs ten Euros. The Mayor of Santa Cruz is pleased with this project as the Council is a strategic partner and will benefit from more competitive prices.

Wild globalization responsible for crisis. Conference at Machico yesterday, The Wild Invasion of the Commercial Area of Madeira by Trade of the ‘Rising Sun’. The President of the Union of Businessmen of Small and Medium Businesses in Portugal, Pedro Fernandes, made the accusation that globalization and public policy makers are responsible for the current global crisis. These two are responsible for widespread unemployment, the debt of the country, ruin and poverty, family imbalances, social exclusion, desertification and imbalance of public accounts. He discussed the unfair competition of the Chinese market and the impact it may have on Machico. The conference was attended by some of the top businessmen who have invested in the city, including Jorge de Sã. The speaker had been a textile firm manager for 50 years and said his factory closed due to lack of government support. Machico does not require the installation of a large area of Asian trade and the opening of the Chinese store will ruin traditional trade. The Chinese stores are exempt from taxes for 5 years.

Arrested alleged drug dealer was attempting to escape justice. A 20 year old man was arrested on Monday at the airport while attempting to fly to England. He was trying to escape the Autonomous Region and Portuguese Justice. He was involved in several cases under investigation relating to seizures of hashish this year, amounting to 7,000 doses. That was why the police were at the airport to prevent him leaving. He is now on remand in prison.

Police seize more than 1 kg of heroin.  900 grams or enough for 10.500 doses if left unprepared, was seized last weekend in Livramento in Funchal. A 35 year old man from Guinea-Bissau was arrested. The police action was after over two months of investigative work which had led to two other arrests for drug trafficking. These two were also of Guinean nationality and had in their possession 2,100 doses of heroin. The third man was a cousin of the first two arrested and the heroin was found in the carcass of a television set in the house which the other two had previously rented. He initially argued that the television did not belong to him but was eventually charged. The drug has a high state of purity and the number of doses could be increased by cutting and processing to increase profits but make it less harmful to the consumer. The police think the heroin was destined for consumption over the holiday season at several locations in Madeira.

Pinheiro adorns the sea. Since last Saturday, the divers near the Hotel Pestana Palms have been surprised by an underwater Christmas tree. The new initiative came from the Madeira Diving School, ‘Tubarão Madeira Mergulho’. The manager said, "Funchal is already decorated and we wanted to do something fun for all customers when they come to dive." They placed the tree on the sea bed then decorated it, not a long or difficult operation because the tree was already prepared and the Christmas balls filled with water so they do not drift off. To secure the tree, they took a wooden ladder down and braced the tree until the decorating was finished. In the past few days, the tree has remained unaltered and until the fish became accustomed to the decoration, they tried to eat the balls. They will keep the tree on the sea bed until the New Year and if still in good condition, it will be put back in the same site next year. —- Plenty of photos and a video on Diário site. (The type of story I love to read).

SWAT training in Madeira. Eight elements of the Marine Police Force, 4 from the Azores and 4 from Madeira, are this week attending a Special Weapons and Tactics training course. Yesterday’s training at Caniçal was successful; they approached a suspected vessel at speed to test entry into the vessel, the control of suspects, searching and seizure of materials. The course also involves weapons training, situations and risk assessment and decision making. The Marine Police are responsible for maritime safety, preservation of the marine eco-system and the fight against crime at sea, especially trafficking.

PS unhappy about ‘fantasy’ budget figures. The Socialist Party have criticized the budget planned for 2010. The budget is unrealistic with inflated revenues and excess indebtedness, direct and indirect. They say 40% of the budget revenue comes from unproven sources and only 60% can be accounted for, leading to more debt. Their figures indicate 1,200 million Euros of direct debt and 1,500 million Euros of indirect debt (not the stated 1,100 million) and with other debt, the total will reach 5,000 million Euros which exceeds the GDP of 4,700 million Euros, (125% GDP). It is difficult to see how Madeira can pay these debts without jeopardizing quality of life. —- There is at present political panic in Madeira over the vote on the budget amendment to the Law of Regional Finances in Lisbon tomorrow, which will allow a 129 million loan needed to pay suppliers. If only the PSD and PCP vote in favour, the PS vote against and the CDS-PP and BE refrain, there will be a tie with 97 against and 97 in favour.

Christmas news. From today until January 6 in the streets of Funchal, there will be 8 people dressed as Santa Claus selling balloons and 8 food / drink vendors. Between 14 – 24 December, 3 toy sellers and 15 vendors of seasonal foliage. Christmas Market opened yesterday at the Regional Directorate of Youth, Rua 31 de Janeiro in Funchal. 15 youth associations have combined forces and there will be on sale until December 11, cribs, liqueurs, bolos de mel, handicrafts and embroidery. An exhibition of ‘ecological cribs’ opened today in the lobby of Funchal Town Hall and will be there until 7 January. The cribs are made from recyclable materials by members of 26 institutions, from schools to community centres and homes. SATA announced today that it will increase flights from Madeira between December 29 – January 4. More than 28 flights corresponding to over 5,300 seats. TAP has already announced an increase in flights to Lisbon (96 flights, 14,248 seats) and 54 flights between Madeira and Porto (7,318 seats). SATA will operate another 120 flights (10,500 seats) to the Azores. TAP increases flights to the island of Horta, Pico and Terceira.

Radical Laurissilva plan. The Municipality of Porto Moniz is to promote the Laurissilva in relation to tourism. To promote walking activities, tourist paths will be recovered and signposted. Areas for canyoning, paragliding and surfing, waterfalls, ponds, viewpoints and levadas will be indicated on a comprehensive route map.

Casa d’Avo Beatriz.  Jardim inaugurated the new unit for Rural Tourism in Gaula yesterday. The Casa d’Avo Beatriz resulted from an investment by one of Beatriz’s grandchildren, António Rodrigues, with additional funding. The house has seven double rooms and will open on January 1 2010. It is a traditional country house adapted for tourism, including a swimming pool, while keeping the original features. The house is situated in Rua D. Felicidade, no 12, in Achada de Gaula de Cima.

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

PSD social democrats try to avoid two failures in São Bento – Luís Miguel França could be decisive in the approving of the Regional Finances Law. The negotiations continue today itself. The story has already been covered in part above, and no doubt later today we will know how the voting went.

Today’s main news headline : Bad debt triples – The debts to the banks grew in the last year. On Madeira they already represent €180 million and confirm that individuals and companies are living in stressful situations. They are the more prominent numbers during the crisis. In September the bad debt situation hit the highest level on Madeira in recent years, hitting 3.7%. A year ago the percentage of bad debt was 1.25%. The disturbing figure remains below the figure nationally of 4.4%, but in the last two quarters alone the figures have galloped  on by 0.9 and 0.8%. According to statistics from the Bank of Portugal, loans granted on Madeira amounted to €8.06 billion, but applications are slowing. That final figure seems to be just for company and individual loans, but it is not made absolutely clear that regional and local government borrowings are excluded.

The main photo on today’s front page shows children and teachers looking through a high fence at a sports court : It has been ready four years but was never used – A disagreement between the Madeira government and Metropolitana impeded the use of the enclosed court in Porto da Cruz. The children in the adjoining schools (pre-school and basic) were never given the all-clear to use the sports facility built by the Sociedade Metropolitana de Desenvolvimento (SMD), and in fact no one has ever used it. The SMD says that it is now trying to negotiate with the Secretary for Education to change that, so the school children can use it, and it can stop being a ‘deposit’ for various types of rubbish. A spokesman for SMD wouldn’t go into reasons for the long delay, but no doubt someone somewhere will add this to the long and growing list of Uncle Bertie’s ‘white elephants’.

‘Market Night’ expanded into more streets - Requirements to accommodate  street sellers soar. The base area for ‘Night Market’ in Funchal will be extended this year. The news was announced by counsellor, Rubina Leal, who justified the council decision with the growing number of applications for trading spaces on the night of 23rd December. Details are not all available yet, but as well as the usual streets and locations (the area surrounding the farmers’ market, and also Rua Dr. Fernão de Ornelas, Rua de Oudinot and Anadia, Pelourinho, Praça da Autonomy, Rua D. Carlos I, etc.) the area around the EEM / Electricity Museum will also be utilised. Discussions also have to be completed with the emergency services to ensure the safety of the expanded event.

In the market of Penteada there are licenses that expired a year ago. The council decides to exempt payment of rent for three months.

Cinema inspires ”New Year ‘ in the IVM.

Platini wants more referees on the pitch – The president of UEFA football dined in the Quinta Vigia. Platini’s comments come prompted by the famous handball that saw his nation France qualify for the world Cup at the expense of Ireland. Platini says he was embarrassed by the referee, who didn’t see the deliberate handball by the French attacker Thierry Henry. "I am doing my best to put more eyes to assess the game", he said, referring to some new measures  of UEFA, like the placing of more officials to improve the work of the refereeing team. There will be more refs than players soon! I used to cope years ago with just one referee on the pitch, no linesmen, and the honesty of the players. No doubt Uncle Bertie was giving football’s top man some advice on how the game should be run, from his immense experience as Marítimo’s number one fan and benefactor (with taxpayers money of course). No doubt we will be hearing soon that Marítimo have qualified automatically for next year’s Champions League, but that will be after Platini will have been spotted leaving at Madeira airport, with several crates of Madeira Wine and boxes of bolo de mel … just gifts of course

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 . On a wet and windy day like today, surely someone has some time on their hands?

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

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

It looks very familiar to me Karen, perhaps someone sent in a similar one? Lovely view.

"Funchal is by far among one of the prettiest places we’ve been so far on this cruise. We we docked, we look out over our balcony to see that the sun was shining and all the white buildings with the red roofs were sparkling in the sunlight". Lots of photos, and a bit of mickey taking too. CRUISERS PRIVATE BLOG

The Madeira specialists  have updated or revised their website ATLANTIC HOLIDAYS

"The World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED), a World Tourism Organisation (WTO) institution, has assessed the Madeira Islands as a tourist destination based on 15 parameters". I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT’S ALL ABOUT?

This weekend’s football : Marítimo host Olhanense tomorrow at 4 pm. Nacional make the trip to Leiria on Monday with the kick-off at 8.15 pm. Neither game is televised. The game between Benfica and Académica on Sunday is on RTP at 8.15 pm.

Have a jolly good weekend!

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

Lisbon almost forced to give money for the new hospital. The possibility of the State providing capital for the construction of the new Hospital of Madeira is nearer. All because the CDS-PP delivered a draft resolution urging the Government of the Republic to regulate what the Regional Finance Law provides: "The establishment of projects of common interest between the Republic and the Regions." In the document the centrists recall that 30 months after the law is in force, the decree on these projects, which are promoted for strategic or national interest, was not elaborated and approved and impedes the Autonomous Regions to nominate projects and works for this important financial instrument. Following these rules, the Assembly of the Republic asked the opinion of the Regional Government and the Legislative Assembly. Jardim has already decided in favour of a move to proceed with these rules as soon as possible. Apart from having a view applicable to the new Central Hospital of Funchal, the reason behind this initiative of the centrists, the type of project the Regional Government would like to see the State finance is the access to the maritime station at the port of Funchal and the fishing port at Câmara de Lobos. The Regional Government asks for haste in approving the law, so that it enters into force in time for the Regions to obtain funding for projects in the next State Budget. With this political will in Madeira and the support of the opposition in Lisbon, applications for projects of common interest could soon be a reality. The classification of a project as being of community interest is subject to approval by the Government of the Republic and the Regional Government, so the final decision is down to Jose Socrates. Even if the decision is positive, little is known about the conditions of financing by State funding.

Seismic activity of magnitude 3.7 on the Richter scale felt in Madeira and Porto Santo. The Institute of Meteorology noted at 12.05 yesterday, an earthquake of magnitude 3.7 (Richter) with epicentre about 16 kilometres North of the island Deserta Grande. The intensity reached III on the Mercalli scale (from I to XII) and was felt in Machico, Santa Cruz, Caniço, Funchal and Porto Santo. There was no record of any damage and some people asked the authorities for assistance. It was the second episode in less than two months in the same area; on 23 October 2009, 2 km away, activity of magnitude 2.8 Richter or grade II/III Mercalli.

Santa Cruz launches a program for the Christmas period to promote local trade. The Municipality is launching a program from December 9 to January 13, called ‘What is ours is good!’ In an effort to boost local businesses, customers are to be rewarded for buying in the county. For every 10 Euros of purchases, the customer receives a voucher that can be entered in a tombola. The draw will take place on January 16 but the value of the prizes will not be determined until the number of traders taking part is known.

Industrial parks are full. The Business Park in Câmara de Lobos is to build 11 new units due to the high demand from regional businesses. 12 units have just opened and there are 5 in Funchal and 5 in Ponta do Sol opening early next year. By 2011, there will be a total of 50 units. The Government’s strategy has been to create infrastructure and incentives for the regional economy to maintain levels of production and income. The park has been built so that industrial units are not in urban and residential areas, and to provide better technical and working environments.

‘Casa Pretoria’ fraud in Catalonia linked to Madeira. The Casa Pretoria fraud case has its epicentre in Catalonia and is being investigated by a top Spanish judge, Baltazar Garzon. There are links with various tax havens in Andorra, Switzerland, Gibraltar, Portugal and Madeira. The case relates to crimes of conspiracy, money laundering, corruption and falsification of documents to illegally divert European Cohesion Funds. 21 people have been indicted, of which 5 are in custody. Most are businessmen or hold senior positions in Municipalities in Catalonia. Results from investigations into real estate transactions have so far detected crimes in three municipalities to the sum of 44.4 million Euros. A member of the Socialist Party of Catalonia, Luis Garcia, was the instigator of the fraud. A business close to him was awarded a development project by municipalities involved in the fraud. The money received for favours was laundered through tax havens. Money invested in tax havens was used to purchase land which was subsequently reclassified through a network of middlemen and commissioning agents.

Promoting tourism occurs without any money. Promoting tourism affected by default of 2 million. Turismo de Portugal has not transferred 800,000 Euros and 1.2 million has not been transferred from the Regional Budget to the Association of Promotion of Madeira. Out of a budget of 5 million, this is a shortfall of 40% with less than 25 days until the end of the year, resulting in defaulting. With the 4 + 1 + 1 rule: for every 1 euro private funding, add 1 euro from the regional budget and 4 Euros from Turismo de Portugal. Turismo de Portugal refused to transfer money without regional authorities doing so, and is in the process of settling the payment of the remaining 30%. This is causing distrust and contracts amended by some operators. There is unease because the Regional Government has ended the extraordinary boost in funding and although the Regional Secretary of Tourism has an increase in budget, the Promotional Association will have a 2.3% cut in funding. In addition, there is uncertainty about the Government investing in emerging markets rather than the tradition markets of the United Kingdom, Germany and France which represent 47.8% of the tourists.

Carlos César says the Azores have not yet decided to support the proposal of Madeira. The President of the Regional Government of the Azores declined today to reveal its position on the proposed revision of the Regional Finance Law presented by Madeira, as they are still evaluating the document. During the election campaign for parliamentary elections, Carlos César repeatedly supported the Azores being positively discriminated against in relation to Madeira, arguing that it is an archipelago of nine islands, which have different needs than one that has only two islands in close proximity. The president of the regional executive, who is also the leader of the PS – Azores, criticized the actions of the opposition parties on the continent as they are not in government. "The opposition says the Government has not realized that it does not have an absolute majority in the Assembly of the Republic, but the truth is that the opposition does not yet understand that it is not in government."

Tourism honours German couple. The German couple, Egon and Astrid Roes have visited 75 times. They received a certificate, bouquet of flowers and a toast of Madeira Wine. Astrid Roes said he liked much of the island and when people asked why they favoured the island, he said they liked to experiment, and the island had always something to find, even after dozen of trips.

VII Meeting of the Africans People. 7 December in the Municipal Gardens, Funchal at 20.00. Music, dancing and food. There is a small African community in the region, only about 300 Africans.

Madeira reaches EU target for education. Madeira has managed to achieve some of the goals set by the EU for the level of education for 2010, others are still being achieved. 100% of children under 5 years are in pre-school education, 87.2% attendance at school and 100% at Basic Education are learning English. The drop-out rate of 12% still needs working on. Portuguese and Mathematics results are good at year 4 but decrease at year 6 and again at year 9.

Corruption in the police? Commissioner Roberto Fernandes is the commander of the police in Funchal and also leads the Public Relations Department of the Regional Command. But his past is overshadowing his career. When sub-commissioner of Câmara de Lobos in 2004, there were two incidents involving members of his family where there are allegations of falsification of the evidence. Based on an anonymous letter, alleging abuse of power, falsification and denial of justice, the Public Ministry began an investigation. This is awaiting a court hearing. His name is not ratified in the Official Gazette, possibly due to the pending court case.

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

‘Over the top’  operation at the arrival of Lobo Marinho – PSP, GNR, SEF and public prosecutors (?) searched cars and seized drugs yesterday evening on Porto Santo. The police, national guard, border and immigration control (amongst others) got wind that something was up, and were waiting for the Porto Santo ferry as it landed at the golden island yesterday. Searches were carried out, focused on the 37 cars that were being transported, and drugs were seized. The Diário says that it was waiting for an official statement on the matter and had no more details when going to press.

Funchal Council want the Madeira Government to pay ‘freebies’ of the hotels – Touristic usefulness in question. Under regional laws new constructions (particularly hotels in Funchal) can be exempted from paying council tax, at the decision of the local authority, that being the Câmara Municipal of Funchal (CMF). A great incentive for attracting investments in tourism, and great business for those investors, but of course it all leaves a gaping hole in the CMF coffers, a hole that has to be filled with local taxes from other IMI payers in Funchal. So some bright spark in CMF proposed that these losses should be paid for by the government of Madeira, and this was voted on and accepted in a council meeting. So now CMF will be the ones who approve all plans for new ‘touristic’ investments, and the ones who give the discretionary exemption of IMI taxes, and then ask the government for reimbursement from public funds, at the cost of all the taxpayers of Madeira. Good business for Funchal for sure.

Riu ‘chain’ starts in Brazil through the hand of the Madeiran Estêvão Neves. This is a hotel chain that has decided to enter the Brazilian market, thanks to a Madeiran businessman. A bit out of scope for this blog me thinks.

Today’s top news story : Jardim switches budget of Sócrates for €100 million – The PSD national is in tune with the strategy of the president of Madeira : The ‘orange benches’ guarantee the approval of the redistributive budget if there is a guarantee that the document contemplates increased debt capacity for the region. No time for me today to do this top story today, but if someone else is willing to translate, here is the LINK 

Rubbish piles degrade the roads of Porto Moniz – cans, paper, plastic, iron and even mattresses thrown on the public highways, a damaging scenario for the landscape in the district. The ‘population’ is breaking the law by dumping rubbish in areas where they shouldn’t be. An action that prejudices the attempts to attract more tourists to the area. As well as the rubbish already mentioned, there are washing machines and chairs, just dumped on the roadsides. The president of the council of Porto Moniz said he had no knowledge of such ‘tips’, but said that as soon as he was made aware he would have the areas cleaned up, and try and identify the offenders. What a disgrace! There are several photos, one even worse than this one. Some tourists will find this all quite attractive of course, more specifically the four legged disease carrying hairy kind.

… and of course the big football story : Draw pretty unfriendly for the World Cup – Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea. These teams will be the opponents of Portugal in the 2010 World Cup, that starts in June in South Africa. The draw, full of stars, decided that we play in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Durban. You heard it first on yesterday’s blog comments, with live coverage of Portugal’s fate, probably first on the internet worldwide. But what a contrived lottery it was, they might as well of picked out the four semi-finalists and not bother with the rest. And yes it was full of stars, if you can count that idiot Beckham. This is what a reporter for the UK Daily Telegraph said : 

"Seriously, what is it about David Beckham? Not only did he steal the show before the 2010 World Cup draw in Cape Town, he got a ticket onto the main stage, a kiss from Charlize Theron, and then stood there smirking … they clearly love him more than ever. Becks may look like a lesbian barmaid with his new half-mowed haircut, but put him in a room with suits and cameras and strange things happen".

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

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

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved