Madeira News Blog

(21st June). Today’s main news headline : ‘Elderly Folks Desert And Yuppies Set Up Home Below – Youths of liberal type and elderly people in search of quality of life are seeking a residence in the heart of Funchal. They seek more rooms and parking for themselves. A T3 came up at €500,000′. Young professional people with some social status in life, seeking quality of life and nearby facilities, leisure and services, defines the type of person that seeks to buy property in the heart of Funchal. "Generally, an apartment in the city centre is more expensive because it is in the city and by the square meter is more expensive than other areas" says Alexandra Vasconcelos, from the mediation bureau for property. People always start looking to buy in the city centre, but after seeing the prices they end up looking outside the centre for cheaper property with car parking, such as in Ajuda. Funchal is an expensive city to live she continues, compared with for example Lisbon. To rent a T1 apartment in Funchal you would be looking at paying €450 per month. The luxury end of the market is now going to another type of customer, she says. "In my experience of the market, older people, who have sold their farms and homes, are now buying apartments in the city centre, and also young people in their twenties working in professional areas", who don’t see the price as an obstacle. Funchal is also rich in social housing, according to the vice president of Funchal Council, and through that policy it has avoided creating ghettos between the rich and the poor, by including people with low incomes, including accommodation for hundreds of students who go to the university of Madeira. To buy a T3 apartment in Funchal now, with enclosed parking, it will cost around €500,000. Maybe that summary of a long article about house prices in central Funchal doesn’t explain the headline so well, but in a nutshell it is saying that buyers now are older people who have sold property elsewhere, living in apartment blocks alongside wealthy yuppy types, whilst the rest of the property seekers have to find cheaper accommodation in periphery areas.

‘€480,000 For A Promenade That Is Closed – ‘The seaside walk inaugurated in 2004 is out of bounds. In Caniçal they talk mostly about drugs, Zona Franca, Quinta do Lorde, fishing, The Whale Museum, and the cemetery’. This is the weekly featured location in the series ‘Through Madeira’. The promenade completed in 2004, has been closed for years, waiting for works to secure the rockface which is dangerous due to erosion. It runs between Ribeira de Natal and Caniçal, and has excellent leisure potential, but has been abandoned due to the rock falls. The council president say that the government of Madeira has already gone out to tender for the securing work needed. Caniçal recognises that there is a drug problem there, but on the positive side, the controversial development at Quinta do Lorde has created employment and boosted trade.

‘Environmental Education Of The Blue Flag – Summer season this year has a theme of renewable energy. Over the summer will be various activities taking place on the beaches and bathing complexes of Madeira’. If you go to some of the blue flag beaches this Summer you may see exhibitions and activities to show beach users the role of renewable energy, and sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel consumption, which is part of the requirement this year to achieve the blue flag award.

‘Charity Campaign Of The Diocese Of Funchal – 32 thousand tons collected on the weekend 6th & 7th of June’. Madeirans show solidarity in times of crisis. The campaign which involved food collections from the public in Pingo Doce supermarkets to help feed the poor was a great success, with 10 more tons than in the previous year. Somehow I think the word ‘thousand’ shouldn’t have been there, but in the actual article it uses 32,000 twice!

’650 March In Santa Cruz – Musical entertainment and the traditional parade of pots and pans is next Tuesday’. Next Tuesday is the actual night prior to the day of São João, despite the earlier celebrations and activities. The parades start at 9pm, and cover the route between Rua Bela de São José and Rua da Praia, finishing at the stage erected near the market. There will be musical entertainment from 7.30pm. Don’t forget that the party may temporarily disappear later on, as the revellers go for the traditional midnight swim.

(19th June). ‘Safety Requirements Now More Stringent In Playgrounds – The Association for the Promotion of Children’s Safety (APSI) asks for suspension of the new law’. From last Thursday, playgrounds have to be fenced and have barriers that limit passage near the swings, with rules that are intended to improve safety conditions for the children. The law reinforces previous legislation from 1997, and imposes rules and obligations on the authorities responsible for the spaces, including conditions of surveillance and information on the physical conditions of the area. The idea of course is to prevent accidents, but the APSI has asked that the law is temporarily suspended because it was introduced without proper consultation, and has rules that end up penalising children.

(20th June). ‘Jardim Pressures The PSD Of São Vicente And Confirms Exit Of Humberto’. President Jardim made it clear who is boss in the PSD Madeira party, and has confirmed that Humberto Vasconcelos is on his way out of the council presidency of São Vicente. "This is an irreversible decision". The new candidate for the council presidency will be even Romeiro Jorge, a doctor resident in the area, who has already accepted the invitation made personally by the president of the social democratic party. Lets hope that kills that story off then, which has had more front page coverage than anything else in the last week.

(19th June). Today’s main news headline : ‘Mosquito Threat Attacks In Force – The probabilities of Funchal facing this year a plague of AEDES AEGYPTI are worse than in previous years. The prediction is from the Exterminator, fearful of the effects of the recent rains and the heat’. Until now the authorities have registered low activity from the mosquito in Funchal, but conditions are right for the creatures to thrive, and there is little being done in the way of prevention and organised control says a spokesman from the company ‘Extermíno’. The president of the Institute of Administration of Health and Social Matters (IASAÚDE) says that the authorities are alert to the problem, and that they are working out projects of intervention that will go across Madeira shortly, probably within a month, and especially in the known problematic areas. Summer and Autumn are the worst periods for mosquito activity, but the president of IASAÚDE says that he hopes people have learned from the mistakes of previous years, and will take steps to protect themselves and the environment. The possibility of the mosquito spreading out east and west from Funchal is also mentioned. The article then list the measures recommended to control and protect against the problem (for our benefit), but I have covered those before, and don’t want to fill up another blog. A rather unpleasant looking headline it was, littered with big and little mosquito images, but it is probably true enough as I know mosquitoes thrive in monsoon like weather, which is pretty much what we had earlier in the week. It won’t do tourism any good for sure if word gets out.

‘Vandalised House Of Historic Figure – Adolescents wreck the house on Porto Santo and the memories of the former minister of finances, Manuel Gregório Pestana Jr. The great grandson of the hero of 1931 describes his disappointment’. The house that was built in 1887, was burgled and vandalised on Wednesday, after a gang of 13 and 14 year olds broke down the doors and smashed everything they found in their path; furniture, paintings, pottery, and decorative objects, nothing was spared. Spray paint was used to write the word ‘pirates’ on the walls. The historic figure was a democrat who dared to confront the dictatorship of Salazar, was separated from his family, suffered hunger and disease, and was deported to Cabo Verde after participating in the Revolution of Madeira in 1931.

‘Regions And Popular Saints Liven Up The People – Today there are festivals on Porto Santo, in Calheta and Santa Cruz. Altars of São João in Funchal. Ribeira Brava prepares itself for São Pedro’. I have covered this before, so just a few highlights to pick out. In Santa Cruz at 10pm tonight Katia Guerreiro sings fado along with the Classical Orchestra of Madeira (she is one of Portugal’s best, very talented, but depends if fado is to your taste). Porto Santo has the band ‘Abba Gold’ tonight at midnight (who from the picture look very hard to tell apart from the originals), and that’s followed by a ‘Sexy Beach Party’. In Calheta de baixo tonight there is the traditional talent contest starting at 9pm, followed by a local rock band Run4Miles, and loads of stuff to follow.

‘Jorge Sousa Celebrates First Place On Madeira – On the day of his birthday, the referee was judged to be the best in the first division again. Marco Ferreira was 17th, and Elmano Santos 19th’. That’s football of course, and the placements of Madeira amongst the best referees, where Jorge has finished top for the second year running. His secret : "For me big clubs, small clubs, and medium clubs don’t exist, just clubs. If we want to be recognised for our work, we have to treat everyone equally, and that is what I do". 

(18th June). ‘Secret meeting To Calm São Vicente – The controversial question of the candidate for the PSD in the council prompted a closed meeting yesterday, that should of included President Jardim’. Uncle Bertie "is going there to pull some ears". It has been covered in blogs here since the weekend, but it seems the Diário just can’t get this off the front page, but I can. Secret meeting = no news forthcoming.

‘PSD-M Request Simultaneous Elections From Cavaco – The Social Democrats argue the point with times of crisis and the reduction of abstention’. They have asked the President of the Republic, Cavaco Silva, to schedule the national and local elections on the same day, several days after it was reported that all the other political parties, except one, wanted different election days. The Social Democrats argue that "in times of crisis and difficulties, we need a clear and unequivocal signal that we can not afford to have two elections with an interval of 15 days or three weeks". It was said several days ago that it was too much to give voters 4 ballot papers in one go,  but the the local elections would still deliver 3 in one day, even if the election dates were separated.  It seems likely that Cavaco Silva will accept the case for one combined election day, and as the date for the national elections has pretty much been decided (20th September) then it may all happen then. That would be great news, as it would cut down the overall period of public misery by two or 3 weeks, and leave us to finish our Summer with some peace and quiet.

‘Rui Santos Stands For The Parish Council of Santo António In The Place Of Marcelino’. It made a front page mention, but this was just to announce the new PSD-M candidate to stand for the presidency of the Junta de Freguesia (Parish Council of Santo António).