Madeira News Blog

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Eiryl … MSC cruise ship leaving port early evening, taken from our terrace

"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

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