Madeira News Blog

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Tom …

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.

(more…)

Today’s Photo Thanks to Elaine over West  … I have been dreading this one, it’s been giving me bad dreams, so I will be more than happy to get it off my laptop. Der

"Rui’s case is special for another reason: he’s not from Funchal, which is a large city (100,000 people, more or less). He comes from a small village in the mountains. A very small village. When the people there (many of them his relatives, of course) found out about his interest in the gospel, the sky started falling. Threats have been made; he is no longer considered to be a part of the family; he is considered an outcast. His wife came with him Sunday, but she has serious reservations. Her Catholic upbringing is strong: the comments by her neighbors about her having anything to do with a religion "that doesn’t believe in the Virgin" makes her stop and think". TROUBLE IN THE BAPTISTS

Don found an interesting seasonal story and put it on his blog : "Dinner was taken at Baroness Conceicão’s, and the afternoon passed right merrily. During the entire day the streets of Funchal were completely deserted. The mystery of this was afterwards explained by the fact that the native population spend their Christmas by congregating in one another’s houses and eating pig". Christmas on Madeira anno 1896

If you have the time, the Travel Channel has put a 5 minute video of one of it’s programmes on it’s website. It’s all about Porto Santo, but nice, and something I hadn’t seen before. TRAVEL CHANNEL

It’s the big ‘switch on’ tonight if I am not mistaken. Well in Funchal that is, as here in Ribeira Brava they do things differently and don’t tell people when things happen. You guys in Funchal have no surprises, you know tonight is the night for thousands of Christmas lights to come to life, and you can be enchanted by the spectacle. Here the number of lights is no surprise and no great spectacle, but instead that is substituted by the heavy suspense of an unknown switching on date, and I wouldn’t swop it for anything.

Nacional last night lost their final, albeit very slim, chance to proceed in the Liga Europa after losing 4 – 1 in Germany to Werder Bremen. Rúben Micael scored for our lads, which won’t have done him any harm at all, with top club scouts supposedly present at the match to watch him. No doubt more later on from the newspaper headlines. On the subject of football, it’s the draw for the groups in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which I believe starts at around 5.15 pm, so no guessing what the Portuguese news will be full of for a couple of days, or even for a good few months. My condolences to those who dislike football … there’s always hibernation!

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

Madeira Tourism site now has end of year program in English.

CDS wants to concentrate transport in Ribeira Brava. The CDS-PP surprised the ‘new’ town council (mainly PSD and PS) at the first public meeting of the current mandate, with four proposals. One proposal is a central parking area for public transport, tourism buses and taxis which will be on a platform suspended over the bed of the river in Ribeira Brava. The idea is to make a central hub where the passenger, be it resident or tourist, can take another means of public transport to reach the desired destination. For example, a bus passenger could then take an immediate taxi to go to the outer districts. Concentration of these services instead of the current dispersion will give greater convenience to passengers. It would increase security in the bypass road where one of the lanes is currently occupied by buses, which is dangerous for other road users and pedestrians. The desired location is on the river at the old North Bridge. Faced with the impact that such a structure may have on the environment, the architects would have to find the best solution to mitigate the impact on the landscape. The Council has technicians capable of knowing how this project would fit in with the surrounding setting. Asked if this bold proposal by the party in opposition will be considered, a centrist councillor replied, "The proposals can always be accepted or not. It depends on the sensitivity of the people. But we believe that this is a valuable proposition and I think it does not hurt political sensitivities. Above all, it is in the interests of the municipality and of residents."

Two weeks without sessions. The Legislative Assembly will not hold sessions until the 15th December. This is when the debate and votes on the Plan and Budget for 2010 has been completed in Lisbon. The discussion of the proposal for the budget will take place between the 15 and 18 December. A condensed discussion is unpopular with the opposition parties and it reduces the time of the plenary sessions. The opposition parties only have short periods of time during the debate to ask questions to the regional secretaries. The plenary meetings will not return until January after the Christmas holidays and a date has not been set for the first meeting of 2010.

Gouveia is in reverse and Rodrigues is in Lisbon. Having advocated a tough stance against the Government and Alberto João Jardim, which would be a boycott of the budget discussion, the leader of the PS has retreated after a meeting of the parliamentary group, confirming the presence of members of his party in the discussions that take place between the 15 and 18 December. João Carlos Gouveia admitted only a week ago, the PS was a clear voice of protest against the regiment of the debate of Planning and Budget 2010, but the way of expressing socialist discontent has changed. Yesterday, the parliamentary group was convened and decided to attend the debate. The leader went on to defend that strategy. Gouveia acknowledged that it would be difficult to explain to Madeira the absence of discussion of a proposal by the Government which affects the lives of all. The president of the PS, who is also the parliamentary leader, recalls that by the end of the year there will be no more debates in the Assembly so the boycott will be even more complicated. Although  he dropped the withdrawal strategy which was to demonstrate against the violation of rights of the opposition, he accused Jardim of behaving as a dictator who refused to discuss the budget with his deputies. The PS complain about the time distribution among parties, but especially the fact that the President of the Republic is not subject to questions in Parliament. "Then at the end, and without a time limit, he can insult the deputies." The leader of the CDS-PP, José Manuel Rodrigues, will not be at the Legislative Assembly to attend the debate on the Regional Budget of 2010. He will be in the regional parliament to discuss the most important aspects of the Plan and Budget, but would not join the debate and vote. The main reason for his absence is that he has to be at the Assembly of the Republic when they discuss specific proposals that affect the region. He will be in Lisbon to discuss the revision of the law of regional finances, scheduled for the 11 December and other legislation arising form the Legislative Assembly of Madeira.

200 cars in Used Car Show. Initiative of the company Camacho. ExpoGonfirpe from yesterday until December 6 at Madeira Tecnopolo (free entry). There will be 200 cars exhibited with promises of unbeatable prices. Financing available with their partner Santander Consumer, the average interest rate (APR) of 6% and car insurance with Lusitania and AVS, for example insurance liability (broken windows) of around 160 Euros. These shows are held twice a year, the last one was in June when they traded almost 100 cars.

Record of Madeira might have fallen last night. Madeira must have lost last night its only recognized record in the famous Guinness Book of Records, the fireworks display of New Years Eve 2006/7, which was recognized as the largest of its kind. Yesterday in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates far outpaced the record of eight minutes from Madeira and the news has reached the Diário through the news agencies of the Persian Gulf that the show lasted 45 minutes and the fireworks reached a height of 2,000 metres. 100,000 fireworks were released from 12 barges located in front of the Marina Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The inspectors from the Guinness Book of Records were in attendance and within a few days, Madeira will know if the firework display which marked the 38th National Day of the United Arab Emirates is approved as a new world record in that category. In November 2008, the Emirate of Dubai, at the opening of the Atlantis Hotel on an artificial island had a show of fireworks which earned the rank of the world’s most expensive. The cost was 3 million dollars.

Madeiran Christmas in the Palace of Belém. Nini Andrade Silva designed the Christmas decorations for the Presidency of the Republic. The Palace of Belém, where the Head of State, Cavaco Silva and his employees reside, the Madeiran designer Nini Andrade Silva was invited to decorate for Christmas. This renowned interior designer is responsible for the interior decoration of some prestigious hotels in Portugal and abroad, winning several international competitions. The Madeiran insisted on taking to Belem decorations and arrangements produced in Madeira as well as many fresh flowers originating in the gardens and greenhouses of the region. Nini also took the team of decorators to Lisbon for the finishing touches and three companies collaborated in the project. The inauguration of the Christmas tree at the Palace, a ceremony marking the opening of the Christmas spirit, will occur today. The tree itself was also from Madeira.

SPAD needs blankets and food for the rescued animals. This year, SPAD will not be able to promote the usual December collection of food for the dogs and cats it rescues, due to a lack of volunteers.  There is a particular need for food for infants / young due to the growing number of litters of dogs and cats. They also need blankets, any old ones which are no longer used, and Turkish towels. The cost of adopting an animal is 40 Euros, which pays for vaccinations, deworming, an identification chip and sterilization. Membership is 25 Euros per year and allows 20% discount on services.

Region has completed the POG areas of conservation. Six Plans of Organization and Management required by the EU for the Special Areas of Conservation have now been completed with the Laurissilva the last one to be executed. The plans required both the Directorate of Forestry and the Natural Park of Madeira to work together. The other ones have been for areas of the Desertas, Selvagens, Ponta de Sao Lourenço and  Porto Santo. This plan covered the forests of Santana, São Vicente, Ponta Delgada, Boaventura, Seixal, Ribeira da Janela, Porto Moniz and Poiso.

Adventurous tourist required rescuing.  A tourist born on the continent required help yesterday afternoon in a rocky area of Fajã Escura in Nun’s Valley. The walker was alone on a path by Pico do Areeiro, then left the path to go up a rocky slope thinking it would lead to another path. This was not the case and showing signs of muscular fatigue, thought it was best not to try to descend back to the original route. Asking for help, was assisted by the bombeiros from the Curral Section. After being helped back to the levada, the tourist continued the walk alone.

German camper helped. The German citizen who was camping for some time in the Admirante Reis gardens was picked up by the police and is now being helped by the Association for the Protection of the Poor. He was in a very precarious position in terms of food and hygiene and was taken to the hospital and later contacted by Social Security. He is now being helped by the Association for the Protection of the Poor, especially due to his physical limitations.

Man attacks another with knife to kill pigs. A man used a ‘knife used to kill pigs’ to attack another, with some gravity, near to the Casa da Luz – Rua Artur de Sousa Pingo. The attack occurred during a brawl and despite a deep abdominal wound, the victim is out of danger. A man is detained by the police, awaiting a court appearance, and claimed he used the knife that day to kill pigs. Under the new arms law, it is illegal to be in a public place with a knife or sharp object.

Carristur launches ‘Sparkling Funchal’. The panoramic tourist buses will for the third consecutive year run trips to see the Christmas lights in Funchal. The ticket costs 3 Euros and is free to children under 12. The trips are held from 4 December to January 6, omitting December 24, 25 and 31. They begin at 19.00, 19.30, 20.00 and 20.30 from near the Marina, Avenida do Mar.

37 tons of food collected by Caritas. Christmas campaign was a success. Thirty-seven tons of food were collected last weekend, 4 tons more than in the campaign in June and 10 tons more than last Christmas.

Câmara de Lobos seafront plan. Urban redevelopment project of the seafront between Socorridos and Fajã do Mar, includes new access and a promenade. The promenade will be between Praia do Vigário and the new fishing port. There will be new access to the seafront, both pedestrian and by road, and recreational areas and green areas. There will also be specific zones for nightlife. The plan will be completed by the end of 2011. The countryside will also be preserved with sitting areas and recreational areas installed in each parish. Air quality will be monitored, more solid waste recycled and the domestic water supply upgraded. There will be a new Fisherman’s House created, integrated in the recuperation of the Historic Zone, renovation of the Sao Bernardino Convent and old chapels and churches, and the building of a new Church of Santa Ceclia. Social support to the elderly will be intensified with community centres built and a new community and social area at Fajã das Galinhas.

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

Tourist promotions continue without funding – There are €2 million of arrears from the Madeira Government and Tourism of Portugal, and the budget for 2010 will be diverted to the internal market. The State and the Region don’t make the transfers, which leads to collapse in the Associação de Promoção da Madeira. Conceição Estudante and Bernardo Trindade, secretaries for tourism at both levels, get the blame for the 40% shortfall in AP-Madeira revenue this year. They should have together contributed €2 million for the activities of the association, that is responsible for promoting Madeira for tourism purposes. Attempt to resolve the issue were ‘smothered’ by Tourism of Portugal, who refused to settle the account.

Today’s main news headline : Gripe of the people of Funchal treated in Santo António – It is starting on Monday for the residents of the capital with flu symptoms, who will be treated in the centre of Santo António, and not in the hospital, that remains allocated for pregnancies and babies. From 7th December, the health centre (Centro de Saúde) of Santo António will be the destination for anyone from Funchal showing symptoms of flu (Gripe A or seasonal flu). This was always part of the contingency plan, to set up a specialist unit, the Serviço de Atendimento à Gripe (SAG), and the decision was taken to implement the measure following the recent increase in the number of people becoming infected with H1N1, particularly in schools. SAG will be open 7 days a week, between 8 am and 8 pm on weekdays, and weekends and public holidays between 8 am and 1 pm. Outside these working hours, only serious cases may go to the hospital for examination and treatment. The president of the health service IASAÚDE said that those living outside of Funchal should continue to go to the nearest Centro de Saúde that has the facilities (valences?). Pregnant women, babies under 1 year old, and chronically ill people will be the only exceptions to the rule. 55 schools have now registered outbreaks (2 or more cases). Did you know that to date Porto Santo island has been Gripe A free?

Museums awarded – Portuguese Association reveals innovation of Palácio de São Lourenço and Estação de Biologia. (Marine Biology Station?). The two institutions were recognised by the Associação Portuguesa de Museologia (APOM) with awards for Innovation and Creativity,  for making themselves more accessible, with blind people in particular mentioned as beneficiaries of the actions taken.

Taxi Judges – In the performance of their duties judicial officials catch a taxi on the rank, or a ‘Carroça’ from home. Carroça translates as a cart or wagon, but it just means ‘own car’  in this case. Elaine of the West very kindly translated this article … many thanks.

An ancient car in poor condition remains the only means of official transport official in the service of the courts of Madeira. This car is given over to the General Circuit Court of Funchal, although occasionally, when available, it is ‘borrowed’ together with a driver for the duties to be carried out by the Judicial Court of Funchal. But when this is not possible, judges and officials of the Justice Palace in Funchal have no option but to resort to using taxis or even their own private cars to travel where they need to in the course of work.

The issue of transport for the Madeiran judges and court officials is not a new one. About two and a half years ago, the DIÁRIO recognised this problem in connection with the criminal court of Funchal. After that time, the scenario remains, though, on the other hand, the number of external representations also declined. The regional representative of the Association of Portuguese Judges, Paulo Barreto, recognizes that the only official car in Madeira is old and on several occasions it has broken down, leaving the officials stranded on the road. The demand for a new car has already been issued a while ago, but so far the Ministry of Justice has not responded positively. He argued, “Here in the Circuit Court on Fridays we have to go to Santa Cruz, São Vicente and Ponta do Sol, so it is important to have a car".

However, Paulo Barreto questions the real need for an official car at the service of a district court, since trips performed as part of the proceedings are normally short. Except, of course, the district of Funchal, which, said the judge, has a remit which extends as far as Santana. The magistrate further clarified that it is only when it is a criminal case that the State assumes the costs of transport, which are then forwarded to the defendant in the case of conviction. In civil cases, the value of travel is borne by the parties as part of the expense of the process. The coordinator of the Regional Delegation of the Union of Judicial Officials, Danilo Pereira, believes that one solution to the problem of lack of transportation would be to use those cars seized by the courts which are in good condition. However, he admits that the issues of who would pay for the fuel and insurance are not easily solved. What is more, ends Danilo Pereira, “The risk of conducting an investigation using a private car, particularly in certain housing estates, must be taken into account.”

and Jon of the East also … Sod’s law I think it’s called, after over a week of trying this ploy!

The Judges of Madeira that have to travel to various Courts around the Island (in pursuit of their duties) wish to have a new "official" car supplied to them to enable them to do this. Currently they have an "old banger" that is worn out and not roadworthy and so have to resort to private taxi hire between home and the various courts. Whilst the costs can be claimed back it does take some time and is less convenient than having an official car. It is two years since they applied for a new vehicle but as the legal system here is somewhat slow and many cases are "log jammed", the relevant government department has yet to approve the "issue" of a car. It has been suggested (by the Judges?) that perhaps vehicles "appropriated" by the Police could be used instead …… I can’t believe that there is no official transport for our fine and respected legal gentlemen – unless of course they are unpopular with Uncle Bertie?  

Many thanks to you both, and your stories collaborate too, so 10 out of 10! 

Over half of the front page today is given over to a photo of the president and players of Nacional, looking rather dejected leaving the pitch in Germany last night. Defeat in Bremen finishes any mathematical chances of qualifying – Liga Europa : Alvinegros show too much respect and lose 4 – 1.

Marítimo has another player (Kléber) infected with Gripe A. It was already reported this week that Bruno is laid up with swine flu. No doubt if there are any more, the president (you choose which one) will be calling for games to be postponed.

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

(more…)

TODAY’S PHOTOS : Thanks to Selina … "This is a view of the Sea front Marina, just after the rains had finished at 1.30 pm on Sunday afternoon (4th October). The sun had just come out and everything was drying up. The area was mostly deserted, the entrance by the tunnel was closed again due to a small rockfall. We walked along the marina to view the huge amount of water cascading down in the waterfall, behind the marina buildings. The car parking at the far side was under water, resembling a very large swimming pool".

Lord of The Rocks is continued with today’s instalment – "Flip Rocks".

Read on dear reader if you dare……

The Saturday sun rose orange above the green lands – Flip and Robin looked North to the bad lands and, saddened by the gathering orange dust cloud of Percy’s bad men gathering to fight them (a little bit) looked a right angle to the West – to Percy’s seat. It was huge and worth many swiggles and had many places to sit in the great palaces that Percy had had built – some for him, his family and some (empty) just to get the swiggles from the European Union….

"Flip" said Flip and Robin (hood) winked……"we can’t fight them this way, for they are too many, I have a cunning plan……."

And so it was that Flip and Robin spent all the day travelling up and down the secret steps deep into the ground where the FlipFloppers stone lay, buried and hidden from Percy. They carried away many many precious stones (and rather nice pieces of precious metals as well) from the stone but their task was huge…..they needed help. And so it was that Flip secretly summoned his "Just Poor People" friends and they also secretly began carrying away many many good bits of the stone, soon they had nearly all the people from the green lands helping and some also from the land of the Whales boyyo.

Flip and Robin handed out the good bits of stone (worth many swiggles) to all their peoples and by the rise of the not so orange sun on Sunday, everyone had a plenty and a promise of no longer being "Jolly Poor People" but "Justly Proud Participants" of the rule of their lands – they had more squiggles than even Percy!

And it came to pass that Percy did hear of this and he and his bad, greedy family and friends all rushed into their tunnel towards the stone to grab what they could……but so big was the hole left by Flip and Robin and the JPP that Percy and ALL fell headlong into and down the hole never ever to be seen ever again (promise)!

This of course left Flip and Robin to rule fairly over the Land of the (one less) Rock with a fair hand and heart and ALL the people of the lands lived happily ever after.

Ah, I think I am seeing a bit of a picture here, and it sounds like today is an important day!

"We are also thinking of stopping at Porto Santo, when we leave Funchal.  Porto Santo is the other inhabited island of the Arquipelago Madeira.  The Arquipelago is made up of five islands but only two Madeira and Porto Santo are inhabited.  Porto Santo is known for its long white sandy beach.  Not counting tours, there are less than 3,000 people on the island". If you have been following the voyage of the Resolution, this is the next short episode of the captains (b)log. What happened to the other 2,000 people on Porto Santo though? RESOLUTION

The gym at Ribeira Brava has introduced two new classes, and as a promotion they are free to attend during October.

1. Kickboxing – Mondays 7.30 pm

2. Indoor Cycle ? – Tuesdays & Fridays 8 pm

I am off to do my duty very soon. The PS gets my vote today, as they gave me the most goodies (baseball cap, pen, pencil and notepad), although I really did want the oven mitts, I have managed to forgive that oversight now. The BE left block came a close second choice, having the catchiest campaign song, but I think that would be an even more wasted vote anyway. DD (democracy day) has come at last, or will Unc. Bertie have his henchmen out with big sticks. I will let you know if I see any.

Porto Santo is all out of petrol. A breakdown in the main filling station has meant that excess demand had drained all the petrol elsewhere. The Portugal Airforce has already started an operation to provide petrol to the island. The petrol station with the breakdown cannot be fixed until Monday. I can think of more disastrous scenarios I must admit, after all, apart from emergency situations, it wouldn’t do anyone any harm to to a bit of walking on a Sunday.

I received an email from someone who lives on Madeira on last night asking me to send them money to help them out of a ‘desperate situation’. It looked like a hoax, and it turned out to be just that. Apparently many hotmail accounts have been hacked, allowing crooks to use the email accounts of innocent people to try and con the contacts in their address book.

UPDATES :

You can probably guess the big front page story today, especially if you followed the football yesterday. Cristiano Ronaldo promised a goal, and went off injured instead, but the team went on to win despite an inconsistent performance. Portugal 3 Hungary 0. They need to win against Malta on Wednesday to stay in 2nd place in the group and reach the play-off games for next years World Cup.

Also in football, Mitchell Van der Gaag has been confirmed as coach for Marítimo and his duties with Marítimo B have been given to Nélson Caldeira.

The main political story is of course the elections today : Madeira Elects 772 Councillors – They are in play in the organs of local power regarding the 11 regions of Madeira and the 54 freguesias (parishes), the president of the republic appealed for the vote. Cavaco Silva made a national broadcast on TV yesterday evening to try and get people out to vote today.

And finally from me : News in Black and White. The Diário newspaper completes 133 years in service today, and the Sunday magazine with today’s printed edition travels back to look at the newspaper in 1876. These days we are accustomed to around 50 pages a day, filled with photographs and information graphics, signed texts, interviews, letters from readers, cases of the day, colourful advertising media and then of course there is the online edition. Back in the old days it was a huge buzz caused by four-page black and white offering with no pictures or authors, produced without much graphical care or  design rules. No pictures it says, but just browsing through the news stories from 133 years ago one caught my eye about a lady in Santa Luzia who had just given birth to a very very  noisy stroppy baby, who threw all his toys out of his wooden wheel-less pram at the slightest little thing, and could insult all and sundry within range within just a few hours of being born. It’s not easy to read such old text, but let me see … yes I think his name was Alberto João Cardoso Gonçalves Jardim. Anyone ever noticed that Santa is an anagram of another rather scary word?

Yesterday’s news stories, courtesy of Elaine in Garajau :

MADEIRA NOT READY TO HAVE A EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE. The Secretary of Education and Culture admits that Madeira is not yet ready to enter an application for the award.

DENUNCIATION OF CHEATING IN ALBUQUERQUE. The Communist candidate for Funchal stated that the council had announced eleven times the redevelopment of Pico dos Barcelos, and promised four green spaces/parks in Santo Antonio, but none created. "If Dr. Miguel Albuquerque participated in a film of Pinoccio, his nose would have grown so much that it would not fit on the screen."

‘FUGITIVO’ CASE WHICH ACCUSES 2 PSP OFFICERS OF ACCEPTING BRIBES POSTPONED UNTIL 9 DECEMBER. 12 defendants from a raid on a nightclub in 2006. Found ‘waitresses’ and ‘dancers’ appearing to be acting as prostitutes. The 2 PSP officers are accused of accepting VIP treatment at the nightclub for passing on information about raids. The 72 year old Brazilian ringleader, his 58 year old brother and other workers at the club are charged with various illegal activities including arranged marriages to Portuguese women. The women involved at the nightclub were Brazilian, some illegally immigrated.  

TWO ACCIDENTS YESTERDAY (FRIDAY) CAUSED LONG QUEUES ON HIGHWAY. Two accidents on the Santa Cruz/Funchal road. In the first one, a 33 year old woman had to be cut free from her Ford, which is to be scrapped, but she was released from hospital in the afternoon. She changed lanes without warning and a Ferrari driver from behind could not take avoiding action. His car will cost a few thousand to repair. –The commentators in the newspaper are not sympathetic to the Ferrari driver – excess speed? 

STUDENTS GIVEN TIPS FOR FLIGHTS PRICES. Students flying between Madeira and Lisbon can save money by booking in advance, booking directly via the websites of SATA, TAP and Easyjet rather than through travel agents, and a small change in date/time can make a difference. So instead of 400 Euros, the cheapest prices were for SATA 73 Euros, TAP 95 Euros and Easyjet 121 Euros, between 14-17 December and return 7-10 January.

PRAZERES GALLERY HAS FIRST ANNIVERSARY. The gallery in front of the Quinta Pedagogia has had 20,552 visitors to 11 exhibitions.

MSC ‘FANTASIA’ OFFERS CRUISES FROM FUNCHAL. November 23 and 4 December a 11 night cruise costs from 1380 Euros and a port fee of 130 Euros. A 6 day cruise on the 15 December costs from 878 Euros. An offer for an accompanying passenger.

MADEIRA TOURISM CHARM 170 FRENCH ON MONDAY. To coincide with the arrival of the low-cost carrier, the Tourism Office will host a two day tour of the island for French tour operators, tourism representatives, travel agents and media. They will have a welcome cocktail, dinner, trips to the Famers’ Market, wine lodges, Monte, walks, rides, jeep safaris and dolphin watching trips.

MILLENNIUM BCP WILL OPEN SATURDAYS. This bank will open on Saturdays from today. Anadia branch 9.30 to 13.30.

… and today’s too … thanks Elaine :

Quinta do Lorde resort promoted in England and France. 99 apartments and 23 single houses for sale. Already promoted in Madeira, promotion in England to begin in November through Savilles Estate Agency in London, then Glasgow in February and Manchester in September. They are betting on selling to the UK market as there is a strong English tourism base. They are using Savilles which have an exclusive clientele. Also promoted on the web sites of the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times and Financial Times. It will then be promoted in December at the Cannes International Luxury Travel Market fair, which is only open to ‘VIP buyers’, who have to be able to prove that they have a certain income and lifestyle to visit it. Later promotions in Sweden, Finland and Denmark. They still do not know when the resort will be finished and  realise that now is a difficult time to sell. —Another half-sold development?

Eco Line occupancy rate has tripled. To reduce mobility needs, traffic congestion and accidents in Funchal, energy consumption and pollution, the Eco Line buses have been made free since the 1 September and their usage has tripled. There already is one Green Line bus (no 1) running between Piornais and the city centre and the Funchal Bus Company is buying more buses (hybrid technology or electrical) to run one every seven minutes. This is part of the CIVITAS project, involving the council, Technology and Science Park and Energy and Environment Agency. They are still surveying the usage of  buses in order to plan a better service.

Fraudulent PSP e-mails. These e-mails, purporting to come from the police, are still being issued and the police are getting about 50 enquiries a week. These notify the recipient that they are required to attend a court hearing but the attached file contains a ‘phishing’ message.

Condominium Management Companies more competent. The Bureau of the ACIF Business Condo has eight members which represent 50 – 60% of the sector. There is a draft law to be debated, which has been designed over the last three years, to regulate the industry. The management firms often have problems with 20 – 30% of the owners and recovering debt by litigation is expensive and lengthy, so a last resort.

Young people want more time with parents. Lack of love, values and dialogue, summarises more than 3,500 people aged between 12 and 21, enrolled in the Youth Service at Bom Jesus Health Centre, Funchal. These are from dysfunctional families which now occur in all sectors of society. The parents do not have time for them, no family meals and no joint activities. This service is run by a 24-strong multidisciplinary team, including 4 doctors, 8 nurses, 3 psychologists and a nutritionist, who promote healthy lifestyle and less risky behaviour. Last year they started three new projects, for pregnant teenagers, eating disorders and sexually-transmitted diseases. They next want to be able to monitor health of pre-adolescent 10 to 13 year olds. —Unfortunately, sign of the times.

SPAD requests the inclusion of  animals in the declaration of IRS. At yesterday’s  Blessing of the Animals ceremony in Funchal Municipal Park, there was much barking, with a few dogs but no cats. The SPAD (equivalent of the PDSA) representative wants the cost of pets to be deductable in tax returns.

Best way to book travel? It has been thought that Travel Agents might disappear because of increased use of internet booking, but the cheapest deal might not always be the best, mainly due to the conditions and limitations of the cheaper tickets. Travel agents often have agreements with airlines so they can offer good rates not seen on websites, and the service charge pays for them and security as the agents do not receive commission. It is easier to book a holiday package through a travel agent, and they build up knowledge over time so can advise. WTTC-affiliated agents are more secure.

Voting complaints. In Sao Roque do Faial, a complaint about PS propaganda leaflets near the ballot box (illegal). Also several complaints about the politically-known arranging transport to polling stations (influence?).

—–I noted that last night at the Santana Theme Park OCM concert, they also erected screens for those wanting to watch the football match.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or 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. 

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions or comments and photos / videos, or if you can contribute regularly, I can give you a special account that allows you to create your own blog postings.
—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

(more…)