Monte Festival ; Cabbies Excluded From Airport ; Damage in Santo Amaro ; 30,000 Vaccines
(15th August). Today’s main photo shows a crowd gathered at night in a decorated street : ‘Crisis Cools The wager In The Festival Of Monte – The people turned up in numbers, but the recession determined the investment from the traders’. A festival that doesn’t weaken. At four in the afternoon there were those cooking their espetada (beef chunks) over a live flame. What might seem early for some, is not the case for those preparing for a night of Monte, the festival of all festivals. And to help the push, the fountain water and banished vinho seco (dry red wine) was not lacking. Customers for the traders are not lacking, with the Madeirans preferring the bolo do caco with garlic butter, whilst the foreigners prefer the bread with the chouriço (sausage). One trader selling meat to barbeque recalls better times for the traders, saying that he sold 30% of what he sold in previous years, adding that the money is still there for some, but in the hands of the workers it is each time less.
In a second article : ‘With The Crisis The People Ask More From Nossa Senhora (Our Lady) – A new flood expected on the Night of Monte’. 550 kilos of meat for espetada, 450 kilos of flour to make 900 ‘bolos do caco’, they are some of the numbers of the Night of Monte, that brings together the faithful and the devoted to Nossa Senhora do Monte. Last year, José Serafim Gomes, a candle seller (or maybe it’s spark plugs), gathered around a ton and a half of wax. This year he expects to sell more, "with the crisis the people ask more from Nossa Senhora", he says. He benefits from the crisis. Meanwhile José Figueira admits to have sold nearly 2,000 kilos of meat during the day, whilst Luís Figueira is very optimistic about how his bolos de caco are going to sell. Don’t ask me why the quantities of meat differ in the article, I just translate. Nice pic … it’s one of the few trades where you get to see the seller actually burning his stock. I wonder if he actually charges more or less for a lit candle rather than a passive one?
Not much mention of the other six festas ongoing alongside Monte, but there is a short article on the one in Porto da Cruz.
‘Taxi Drivers Of Machico 9 Years Waiting For The Airport. Cabbies forgotten by the Madeira government’. Since the opening of the extension of Madeira Airport on 15th September 2000, the taxi drivers of Machico have been waiting for permits to work out of the airport, alongside the taxi drivers of Santa Cruz, for they consider that their right. They believe that because the airport is also situated in Machico, not just in Santa Cruz. Dispirited, they were forgotten by the regional government. In 2005, a partial step was made, when the Regional Directorate of Land Transport published an order permitting 7 taxis to enter the airport each day, but that arrangement lasted just 11 days, when a court imposed an injunction after a complaint by a taxi firm in Gaula, but took another year to give its reason. It seems that the order exceeded the rights of the issuer. The matter has been batted backwards and forwards by politicians and courts ever since. There seems to be no reason why this story hit the front page today, as nothing has changed. The issue mentioned really is secondary, as Madeira just has too many taxis, around 700 if I remember correctly but it could be more, and the stupidity of the council boundary restrictions just makes the matter worse. It is very environmentally unfriendly too, as any taxi driver crossing council boundaries has to return to base empty, pretty much prohibited from picking up passengers in someone else’s territory.
‘Police Raid Causes Damage In Santo Amaro – The entrance into a house of the father of two suspects was by break-in’. PSP agents break doors in search of evidence. One man, whose two sons are suspected of drug trafficking, had doors broken, drawers turned upside down, wardrobe contents emptied, and windows broken. He is heartbroken, and has hired a lawyer to defend his rights. The police admit that that kind of operation can cause discomfort, but point out that the use of force is legitimate, and is a legal means of obtaining evidence. The father of the two argues that the search warrant had the names of his sons, and so the police had no right to break into his home. The police left with two bags of objects, including a mobile phone and a quantity of money. They questioned one of the suspects and threatened to smash the rest of the house, if he didn’t tell them where the drugs were (it’s not clear whose side of the story this is at this point). The use of force is a tough measure, but the Police Commissioner emphasizes that this only happens when the measures of prevention and deterrence fail.
Much of the same in the sports headline : ‘Big Game In Choupana With The Visit Of Sporting – With the statistics in their favour, Nacional receive Sporting of Liedson’. Liedson is Sporting’s star goalscorer. Also ‘Leixões - Belenenses Open 1st League With Zeros’, 0 – 0 in last night’s opening league game.
‘Man Scared Clients With ’11 Calibre’ Knife’. An individual entered a bar in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, and placed a knife with an 11 centimetre blade on the bar. The customers, fearing trouble, scarpered and called the police, who arrived and arrested the man. He didn’t use the knife, or threaten anyone, but under new arms laws a blade of that size is illegal.
’30 Thousand Vaccines Against The Flu – There is no proof that the vaccine for normal seasonal flu protects against Gripe A’. The health authority here, IASAÚDE, has ordered 30,000 vaccines to combat flu this Winter. The annual vaccination programme has been running since 1996, and provides free injections for groups considered to be ‘at risk’. The number of vaccinations requested is 10% higher than last year, because the suppliers usually send less than ordered due to product shortages. The vaccinations should start next month. At present nobody has much idea when the vaccines against Gripe A swine flu will be available.
Petrol (95) goes up 1c. on Monday. That’s €1.20 a litre.
(14th August). The social democrats in Machico council want to convert the municipal cemetery into a public garden. The socialists have proposed that the remains be moved to the new cemetery, leaving a large common tombstone with the names of all the deceased be placed there. To meet legal guidelines and ensure that local people who still go there to visit graves are not upset, it could be ten years before the transformation takes place, but in the meantime it is intended to start by dealing with the neglected graves. The PSD rejected the socialist proposal, saying it was unworkable because the cemetery is over one hundred years old and the records are not complete, but they do intend to leave some sort of memorial there to remind people that it was once a cemetery.
For a change we managed a whole day yesterday without mentioning Porto Santo, but I cheated and held this one over from the Jornal da Madeira yesterday, just to give us a break. "Economic Activities" brings four cases – Porto Santo – Inspections during the Summer continue until late September’. The trade increases exponentially during the Summer, as the tourists flock there, and trade obviously soars, particularly in restaurants. Hence the Regional Inspectorate of Economic Activities is currently on Porto Santo making sure standards don’t slip. Since early Summer 4 establishments have been identified and entered into due process for non-compliance with rules and laws. The charges are : Not displaying a price list; Not having a livro de reclamações (complaints book); Lack of hygiene in the establishment; and, Thursday morning, the transport of food items in unhygienic conditions, brought the latest charge. A spokesman for the agency, Valentim Caldeira says he disagrees with those who say, "Porto Santo is a land where anything goes" and stresses that "in accordance with the experience we have had in recent years, Porto Santo is increasingly a destination for quality. Especially in the restaurants. There have been significant improvements and, hence, as is natural in these circumstances, the number of violations is becoming smaller, which leaves us satisfied, without prejudicing our ongoing duty to inspect in a preventive manner that avoids these offences". As for supermarkets, there have been no complaints. No price list … if that is an offence I am surprised there are many bars left open in my town … actually, now I think about there aren’t that many left.
(14th August). The main photo on today’s front page shows a rather bored looking man dressed all in while leant against his idle wicker basket (the type you ride in) : ‘The Problem With Monte Is The Lack Of Parking – Monte lives a period of great festival, with the usual gathering. But actually the rest of the year to stop there in a car is a chore’. It’s another one of those Diário featured locations, must be the fourth one this week? Faith and tourism fuel the parish of Monte. It is essentially a village turned towards the foreigners, but the locals ask for more doctors in the health centre, roads and parking. Tonight is the big night in the festival of Nossa Senhora. In the Largo da Fonte, the movement is already huge, not just with traders getting ready for the big weekend and hoping for good business, but also with tourists, emigrants returned for holidays, and curious folk from other parts of Funchal. 
‘Neighbourhood of Santo Amaro Surrounded By Police – Operation aimed to control the movement of weapons’. The mega-operation started yesterday evening with the public security police and around 70 officers, with search warrants, and also a magistrate present. At the time of the report 8 arrests had been made for the illegal or irregular possession of firearms and other offences. The operation was also looking for evidence of drug use and trafficking. The whole neighbourhood was surrounded by police, who were also searching cars that were circulating. A second later report said that the operation lasted around 4 hours, with guns and drugs seized. Santo Amaro is regarded by police as a ‘sensitive urban area’. There was no trouble reported, and several residents in the housing complexes expressed their satisfaction at the action of the police, for taking this opportunity to launch the challenge, in the sense that similar operations might be carried out with greater regularity. One Diário reader commented on the article, saying that someone (in the police?) had been watching too many films. 
