Madeira News Blog

(31st May). ‘Sun And Free Entrance Compose The Beaches – The good weather takes many people to the beaches, even with a very high UV factor’. Even the clouds that descended over Funchal yesterday afternoon didn’t deter people from Lido*, Ponta Gorda, Gavinas, and the other free beaches. Some people said that they no longer use the beaches that charge entrance fees. Today also has a very high ultra violet warning. (*I believe access to Lido is free for a temporary period?).

‘The Thematic Park At Santana Is Going To Have A Time Machine’. The attraction will show visitors old images of Madeira "which curiously continues until the year 2419", a thousand years after Madeira was discovered. I wonder if Uncle Bertie will feature in those later years, or perhaps that will be saved for another display about the dinosaurs of Madeira.

Ribeira Brava Distinguished With ‘Accessible Beach’ Flag – It is the first beach on Madeira to display the flag that shows that there is special access provisions for disabled people, people with mobility problems, pregnant women, and the elderly. The award is made by the National Committee of Coordination for the European Year of People with Disabilities. To obtain the award, six criteria must be met : Pedestrian access,  parking provision, access to bathing area, beach crossing path, adequate sanitary provisions, and access to help / first aid. Other less critical considerations are access to bars and restaurants, and availability of amphibious wheelchairs (which Ribeira Brava doesn’t have). The award, which has been running since 2004, already covers dozens of beaches in Portugal and the Azores. 

(30th May). ‘The ship Santa Maria offers tickets at €15 for the Atlantic Festival – Cheaper tickets for Madeirans’. Demand to see the firework displays is high, and the company that owns the ship will do Saturday night trips out to see the event from offshore. The tickets are on sale at the booking office at Funchal Marina. The outing departs at 10pm, returning at 11.30pm, and includes a glass of Madeira Wine. Other Portuguese and foreigners can book tickets at hotel receptions and travel agencies for €25. I am sure someone will have something to say on the price differential … over to you!

(29th May). ‘SATA Brings New Aircraft To Porto Santo – The new plane has less seats, but will be more modern’. The two Bombardier Dash Q200′s have already arrived on the Azores, but for now have a Canadian registration. They will fly the Madeira – Porto Santo route from the start of next year. They have already been painted in the new SATA group ‘brand’ that uses the slogan ‘The Atlantic and you’. The planes already have 11 years of service, having been used by the North American company Horizon. They will substitute the ATP which currently does the Porto Santo route, and will be more modern and more efficient for the job. There will only be 37 seats, compared to the 65 currently, but the new planes will be able to make more journeys. SATA also awaits delivery of four new Dash Q400′s, with capacity for 80 passengers, and these will be used in the new year on routes between the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands initially, and later for Faro and also the islands of Cabo Verde.

‘Post of Madeira In Lisbon ‘Despejado’ By The AICEP’. A couple of things there I can’t work out, but the gist of the article is that Madeira has been kicked out of it’s space in the tourist information offices in Lisbon, a space it had shared with the Azores over many years. Turismo de Lisboa took the action without consultation, and surprised Madeira, although the Azores had already made alternative arrangements. The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport may have known, but probably wasn’t given time to make alternative arrangements. The search is now on to find somewhere else suitable.

(17th May) ‘Porto Santo Sought After’. At the time of the two public holidays of June (10th & 11th), combined with a guaranteed bridge day (Friday 12th), Porto Santo can expect a full house, and there are many Madeirans already buying tickets to Porto Santo on the ferry ‘Lobo Marinho’. As a result of high demand, Porto Santo Line has now put on an extra journey on Wednesday, June 10th, a decision which is explained by Duarte Rodrigues: “There is strong demand, so we decided to put on an extra trip from Funchal to Porto Santo, which will set off at 2.30pm. While we have not completely filled all the trips that weekend, this extra voyage will ensure we meet the expectations of passengers”. With the close proximity of the Summer holidays, Porto Santo Line, as done in previous years, will increase the number of trips to Porto Santo. So, from next month the ferry will link the two islands every day. Therefore altogether during next month, the ‘Lobo Marinho’ should make 32 trips in each direction, 64 in total. Also the return time of the journey to Funchal changes, setting off at 7pm, except on Sundays (8pm) and Fridays (10.30pm). Personally I preferred it when June was made up of just 30 days, and no one told me it was being extended. Or will it be that there is yet another ferry extra trip which someone neglected to announce?

(19^th May). Easyjet and TAP are to amend their terms and conditions after being taken to court by DECO (the consumer association of Portugal). DECO considered certain stipulations in the booking of flights to be “abusive” to the general contracts of carriage.  22 clauses were found in the contracts of TAP, and 33 in Easyjet, which makes the contract unbalanced to the detriment of customers. I thought that terms and conditions for flights were subject to international, or at least European regulations. It seems odd perhaps that DECO only took this action with these two companies (that are the main airlines for Europe), but didn’t inspect the contracts of SATA or any other airlines.

The Diário claims that the good people of Gaula are revolting, but I would prefer to use the word rebelling, … against the excessive waiting time at their local health centre. Yesterday morning the health centre users were expressing their discontent about the fact that their doctor was not in the house, two hours after the doors had opened. Like many other health centres on Madeira, the people of Gaula find it necessary to attend before opening time, to ensure they get to the front of the queue to ensure being attended to.

Yesterday’s main headline : ‘Sacked Doctor Dismisses Flattery By The Government’. In the opinion of the former head of orthopedics “things don’t get resolved with praise”. He and others were sacked by new management in the health service, after which some retired early, and some left the public health service. Yet these doctors are now being honoured through a resolution of the council of government, praising their technical and human skills, and their commitment to their work. President Alberto João Jardim acknowledged “the exemplary manner and commitment” with which he occupied the position and stressed the “expertise and technical and human qualities that were highlighted throughout their medical careers.”  We don’t allow swearing on this blog so you will have to imagine to some extent the reaction of this one sacked doctor, who said “F*** them the flatterers”, which is about as near I could get to the spirit of what the doctor meant, as said in Portuguese, whereas in reality he told them to go and ‘sandpaper themselves’ (vai-se lixar). 

The Diário main picture yesterday shows the scene in Santo António, where a serious fire in the garage trapped residents in apartments above (see yesterday). Headlined ‘Dog And owner Avoid Tragedy In S. António – The fire in the garage of a building in the early hours of Thursday didn’t have worse consequences thanks to the alert of a dog’. Tobias, a rather scruffy looking water-dog who lived in a nearby house to the block of apartments, started barking repeatedly at 3am in the morning, eventually attracting attention. “I went to the balcony to see what was happening, and it was then I saw the smoke coming out of the garage” said the owner of the dog. The alarm was raised, with neighbours coming out to help, and by about 3.15am when the fire brigade arrived, the evacuation was well underway. Nearly 30 firemen attended in 10 trucks. Four vehicles were burnt out in the garage fire, which filled the building evacuation route with thick toxic smoke. 3 ambulances also attended, but all went away empty thanks to that dog and what followed with local heroes and firemen. Well done Tobias … if you were in America, you would be a rich film star in a few months time. There is a picture here of our hero :

http://www.dnoticias.pt/diario/fotos/080509/dn0401020802.jpg

‘Judicial Police Catch Four Foreigners In Two days With Drugs’. The day before it was 6,000 doses of heroin from Africans, and now another 12,000 doses nabbed by the PJ before hitting our streets. The latest two arrests, men of 41 and 66, are now in custody having already been in front of the judge. Good work lads. I suppose it is something we will see more of as the recession bites, as these sick idiots try to cash in on peoples misery, leaving us with a long term legacy of drug addiction and the associated problems. Personally, rather than prison, I would like to see them taken up to Cabo Girão for a high speed look at the view below.

‘Rubbish Out Of The Street Bin Leads To 25 Fines Every Month’. Funchal Council is said to be “unforgiving” when it comes to garbage left out on the road. Henrique Costa Neves from CMF explained that there are two types of behaviour that the council act on frequently. In one case, residents leave the bags of rubbish outside the container when it there for their use. “It is left to the mercy of the dogs and cats” who rummage in the garbage and spill it on the road making it “a risk to public health.” The second, “more serious” offence in his view, is the abandonment of rubbish on public roads. The amount of fines paid by the offenders is high. It varies from €50 to €500 depending on the severity of the deed. How do they know who it belongs to you may ask : they go through the rubbish looking for evidence that can identify the offender, usually to detect correspondence that has been thrown out.  That gives me a thought … if I nick my nasty neighbours post and keep putting it in bags of rubbish in the street, perhaps they will eventually take him away as well.

The socialists of Madeira are due to meet with the competition authority in Lisbon on Monday, to discuss the issue of competition of the press of Madeira. At the centre of the discussion will be the Jornal da Madeira, practically owned by the social democrat government, and maintained with public money.