Madeira News Blog

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Eiryl … Xmas scene from Câmara de Lobos (pt 2).

"The airport was opened on 18 July 1964 with two 1,600m runways. The airport was once infamous for its short runway which, surrounded by high mountains and the ocean, made it a tricky landing for even the most experienced of pilots. The original runway was only 1600 metres in length, but was extended by 200 metres 8 years after the TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 incident of 1977 and subsequently rebuilt in 2000, almost doubling the size of the runway, building it out over the ocean. Instead of using landfill, the extension was built on a series of 180 columns, each being about 70m tall. This airport is also considered the Kai Tak of Europe because of its singular approach to runway 05". MADEIRA AIRPORT ARTICLE

The Diário de Notícias newspaper has published a Christmas colour supplement if anyone would like a browse through it’s online HERE with lots of photos.

The charges for electricity are going to rise by 2.9 percent in 2010 in continental Portugal, the equivalent of a €3 increase for an average bill of €40. In Madeira the increase is of 2.5 percent and in the Azores of 2.1 percent. PORTUGAL NEWS Well of course you already knew, you always hear it here first!

Nothing to do after the new year’s eve celebrations? This might appeal to the younger ones, and might offend the older ones …

Most Levada walks are difficult for anybody with the slightest fear of heights; so when reading  about a short walk described as ‘easy’ and ‘flat’ it already had sounded interesting .  A short ride on  a local bus up to the Palheiro Gardens (Blandy’s gardens)  where you can enjoy the peaceful surroundings of what must be a beautiful garden at the height of summer, a little short on colour in December but still interesting.  A short walk, approximately 45 minutes to the renowned Jasmine teahouse; once there you can  have a refreshing cuppa before catching the bus (conveniently the stop is just outside the tea house) back to Funchal. Funchal Really Easy levada walking

"Higdon Life in Madeira: Jardim do Mar, Madeira Island, Portugal: We live a simple life on the beautiful island of Madeira off the coast of Morocco. We have three beautiful children that God has blessed us with-Kaija, Mikkai and Adelei!" Never post anything private about Madeira on the web … I will find it! HIGDON FAMILY JIG

Yesterday’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

(There is no newspaper today, as I guess the reporters all had yesterday off … what a luxury, and yesterday’s newspaper just had a handful of stories, some already covered here a couple of days ago).

Rock fall forces family from home. The car was buried inside the garage, and the house damaged, early on Christmas morning in sítio do Calvário, in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos. There were 5 people in the house when it was stuck at about 1.30 am yesterday morning, but all escaped uninjured. The fire brigade attended, but there was little they could do, so the matter is now in the hands of the council to clean up and secure the location from further problems. Also up until early yesterday morning the fire departments were called to Funchal, Tâmega (Ribeira Brava), Fontaínhas and to Quinta Grande to deal with trees that had fallen into the roads. At Levada dos Piornais a wall collapsed. Somehow I suspect there must be many more stories of problems than just the few cited here, but everyone deserves a day off, so bad luck for the firemen as well as for those badly affected.

Expense with unemployment benefit soars – Compared to 2008, this year obliged Social Security to spend 40% more on benefits. With unemployment up around 50% in the same twelve months, they did well to keep the increase in expenditure down to 40% in my opinion. The article is full of facts and figures, but luckily for me the Diário also published them in a table, saving me some work.

Yesterday’s main news headline and with most of the front page with a great big picture of a Santa statue : Bring back the good old times [?] – The period of celebrations has been marked by storms and damage. And the forecasts for the next few hours are not the best. But there are compensations that help to fuel the dream and to maintain the tradition.

Footballers : Living Christmas in the traineeship – Christmas dinner in the home of Cléber. A bit of a space filler methinks. The story looks at  three 18 year old apprentices from Nacional football club of Madeira, who are spending their first Christmas away from home. Their normal home these days is in the athlete’s accommodation at the Choupana Stadium. Everyone else has returned home for Xmas, but these 3 Brazilians stayed on Madeira, using the time to play computer games and play snooker, because it would take too long to return to Brazil with just a short break ahead of them.

At the moment I can’t get into any other online stories, but may try again later.

If anyone else can oblige with any other news stories, Thank you in anticipation.

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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.

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

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TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … The cruise ship AIDA Luna

Many thanks also to Tobi for this piece on the Ilhas Desertas : (Source : Essential Magazine).

One of the newest opportunities in nature tourism on Madeira is the chance to spend 1 or 2 nights on the Desertas Islands. The islands which dot the horizon from the south, south east of Madeira trigger much curiosity, and visiting the islands has been allowed for some time now, but staying over night has only just become possible. Madeira Natural Park, that manage the nature reserves on the islands, want to attract a growing number of people, but in controlled numbers to help promote the work they do, and raise awareness of good environmental habits.

Anyone can take advantage of this opportunity, all you have to do is ask the Madeira Natural Park for permission. From there you will need a tent or sleeping bag and anything else you may need to spend your time on land.

The islands are very popular for bird watchers and are a great place to see the  Monk Seals , and don’t forget the Desertas Wolf Spider. Photo : Wardens house on the Desertas

Madeira Natural Park can be contacted on 291 214 360, or diliamenezes.sra@gov-madeira.pt  or WEBSITE

I know we have a few Mandolin Orchestra fans amongst us, so this might be of interest. ‘Fabio Machado was born in Funchal, Portugal and started studying mandolin at the age of 9 years. He joined the Madeira Mandolin Orchestra (Recreio Musical União da Mocidade) and became its Concertmaster for several years, performing in several venues as a soloist’. NEW BOOK IN ENGLISH Anyone know what the differences are between a Bandolim a Ukulele and a Mandolin? I certainly don’t!

"Madeira is a tropical island. The Laurissílva Forest, in the Madeira Natural Park, is the largest evergreen forest in the world – a fact that has earned it classification as a world heritage site". I thought we were sub-tropical, but anyway I didn’t know about the "largest evergreen forest in the world" bit, but that’s what it says HERE. Is it true?

This is an article composed of an interview with a travel journalist, and although it does cover Madeira briefly, it might also be useful or of interest to anyone thinking of travelling to PORTUGAL

Some of today’s main news stories :

Public Libraries celebrate 30 years – Various activities will mark the occasion. An exhibition, a video of the history, a children’s guide and other projects will be announced today. Details on the LIBRARY WEBSITE 

17 thousand people living on benefits – The number of Madeirans who depend on social benefits to survive grows. It is the crisis intensifying the situation in the world of poverty and unemployment. Today’s main news headline. In September there were 8,685 on unemployment benefit, and 8,372 on social integration income (RSI). Over a year the people totally dependent on the state that receive theses two benefits has increased by 4,735. The picture, which is reflected nationally, shows no signs yet of improvement. Loads of unemployed over my way, as what little tourism there was plunged a long time ago, and other Summer seasonal work starts to decline. I think I know as many unemployed as employed people, but generally I don’t need to worry about them too much … all resourceful people, normally with a foot in both camps, if you know what I mean.

Firemen abandon Nogueira – Brutal aggression to a fireman leads to the closure of the fire station. The 43 year old fireman was violently assaulted on Saturday night, with a bottle, leaving him with serious injuries to his face and arm. He was released from hospital after treatment (stitches) early the following morning. Yesterday the fire station was empty, with no flags flying, leaving Camacha now to depend on Santa Cruz central fire station for service. Three men, an ambulance, and a light fire fighting vehicle have now been moved to Santa Cruz. A spokesman for the fire brigade said that "many situations in that location have already occurred, but never as serious as this". On this morning’s TV news it said that the fireman was breaking up a fight between two people outside the fire station when he was attacked.

Cultural centre in London in difficulties – The 27th birthday party just served to expose the financial problems. The president J.M. Sousa is going to put up a fight. 

Health professional may refuse the Gripe A vaccine – The Orders of Doctors and Nurses are recommending that the professionals accept the vaccine. The acceptance of the swine flu vaccine is not obligatory.

Ambulance company insufficient – 24 ambulances and 36 teams of ESB are not enough for nearly 500 transport requests per day. The patients complain of long waits. The company promises to boost resources. The Empresa de Serviço de Bombeiros is equipped to respond to 300 transport requests per day, but the reality is around 430 daily requests to take people to hospital. The current poor level of service is generating many complaints, as patients are left waiting at their front door, miss meals, and miss doctors appointments. Last month generated more complaints than ever before. ESB has bases in Funchal, Machico, Santana, São Vicente, Ribeira Brava and Porto Santo. With it’s 24 ambulances and 36 teams (2 in each), it provides free transport for the users of SESARAM.

Djalma pair in latest victory of Marítimo also gets a big chunk of today’s front page. Marítimo managed a fine 3 – 1 victory over Paços de Ferreira yesterday afternoon, that lifts them to 7th in the premier league. Nacional face Benfica away tonight. Watching the goals on this morning’s news, with three sides of the football pitch closed off due to the €45 million redevelopment project, one might have expected the remaining side to have been full of supporters, but it was far from that.

Yesterday’s top news stories courtesy of Elaine :

Domestic violence complaints continue to increase. Leave the region to escape the aggressor. More bad statistics. The number of complaints about domestic violence have risen, 702 by the end of August against 896 last year. Monthly average of 86 compared to 37 in 2006, 56 in 2007 and 75 last year. The Regional Plan Against Domestic Violence is being finalized, ready for public presentation on November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. These figures are no worse than the rest of Europe. Madeira has three shelters for women where they can live for a period of months until they can be reintegrated back into society. Some get new homes and jobs, others return to the abuser. Some are forced to leave the region, often to shelters on the mainland. Women complain after around 35 attacks as they often stay with the abuser for years, and abuse can be learnt by children. Abuse can be physical, psychological, sexual, coercion or threat. There is also elderly abuse, often reported by aides to the home. To get help with abuse, a criminal complaint should be filed but there are also three other ways: a social emergency line (phone helpline by Social Services), private institutions, police have specially trained staff and the shelters providing 41 beds. A break-down of regional statistics since 2006. ——No analysis given, e.g. demographic changes

Alexandre Camacho wins the Faial Rally but bids farewell. Due to lack of sponsorship / money. He had an easier win than predicted due to early withdrawal of Miguel Nunes because of engine breakdown.

—–Thought you would enjoy the photo of the cat having a lucky escape.

Commemoration of 99 years of Marítimo. 600 supporters (including Jardim) at a dinner held in the well-decorated club pavilion. Included a large cake as ‘a birthday party without a cake is not a party’. Carlos Pereira, the President of Marítimo criticized the rival club (no mention of name) for using expensive flights when travelling abroad and the hostile media. He thanked Jardim for the construction of the future stadium and Government support. —– Cake for 600!

Region ‘rejects’ promotion in ‘El Corte Ingles’. Madeira under-represented at the fair in the commercial centre in Lisbon for local produce from Portuguese and Spanish islands. There is not enough space for Madeiran products, only showing bolo de mel, cane sugar, poncha and Madeira wine (not many varieties), products which are almost impossible to buy in Portugal.

Port has a ‘full-house’. Saturday had a full-house with four cruisers and three on Sunday. Saturday, the Arcadia arrived at 12.00 but could not berth until 18.00 when another ship left, and stayed overnight. The Diário highlighted that the local commercial areas remain closed on a Sunday and the daily information given on reception advises a visit to the farmer’s market, described in the brochures as ‘unique, beautiful and pleasant’.

Military ready for new security threats. Speech by the Commander of the Military Zone on Army Day on Saturday. The three branches of the armed forces, security forces and civil protection have undergone new training to protect against terrorism, transnational crime and accidents or natural disasters. The ceremonies were also to welcome back the soldiers who have spent a year in Kosovo. In the past 20 years, Portuguese soldiers have been in Africa, East Timor, Bosnia and Kosovo. —– No mention of Iraq or Afghanistan.

1420 staff at 284 polling stations for September 27 elections cost 108,000 Euros. Each person will receive 76.32 Euros but it will take four months to pay them all. Each station required five members – a president, vice-president, secretary and two tellers.

Food Bank Against Hunger in Madeira in 2010. Part of the European venture to avoid food wastage whilst others go hungry. In Portugal, including the Azores, the 17 units cater for 250,000 people. The charity volunteers in Madeira are already being trained. Food is donated from hotels, retailers, individuals, often from excess agricultural production, and supermarket collection campaigns.

17 years in prison for three drug traffickers. All from Câmara de Lobos, including the ‘drug baron’. Two brothers aged 22 and 36 received sentences of five and a half years, and the third of six years. They sold cocaine and heroin to users in their homes for  ‘lucrative’ incomes in 2008. Two denied the accusations and one refused to speak in court. The ‘drug baron’ had individual drug doses hidden inside ‘Kinder’ eggs and these were both in his home and buried in surrounding land belonging to other people, as well as plastic bags containing money. —– Kinder surprise! You know who to take on your next Easter egg hunt.

—– Article in the Daily Telegraph on the 4 June 2009 entitled ‘Postmistress foils Kinder egg cannabis delivery’. A village sub-postmistress in Cambridgeshire foiled a dealer’s attempts to mail drugs hidden in Kinder eggs after she detected suspicious smells from the parcels. He received a 12-month suspended sentence and ordered to complete 220 hours of community work.

Portugal news.

First of 16 lynx arrives on Monday to prevent extinction of the species that only exists in the Iberian Peninsular. They do not know the  population numbers but that they are not stable and they have been threatened for several decades. The female lynx to arrive at the centre in Silves in the Algarve is called Azahar, the Arabic name for orange blossom.

The first luxury hotel to be built on the west coast of the Algarve has the natural park as a selling feature. Leacocks are to build a five-star hotel in Aljezur in part of the Natural Park of Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina. Some hotel areas will be below ground so as not to interfere with the surrounding area.

Portuguese Phonographic Association President asks the new Minister of Culture to control "unruly access to music via the internet, which is killing the music industry". Recently in the British Daily Mail, a Columbian singer, Shakira, argued the opposite, supporting illegal downloading as "It is a way to democratize the music and the music is a gift."

In the inauguration of the sixth Portuguese government in 15 years, there was the usual repeated lists of promises and the difficulties facing the country. Antonio Guterres, 15 years ago, highlighted modernization of the economy and increased productivity needed. In that speech, the President, Cavaco Silva fainted and afterwards apologised for the disruption, caused by the death of his father. Then four years later, Guterres highlighted Social Security reform. Barroso in 2002 highlighted public accounts. When Barroso resigned to go to Brussels, Pedro Santana Lopes pledged to maintain strict financial discipline. He gave a confused speech by not sticking to the script. Eight months later, Sócrates said pharmacies would not be exclusively allowed to sell non-prescription drugs. On Wednesday, Sócrates started his second term, with a reduced majority, so might have to seek agreement with the opposition to get his policies passed. Has been talk of a coalition but ridiculed by Jardim, who still calls the Portuguese ‘masochists’ for re-electing socialist governments. Jardim Ramos of the Madeiran Government still hopes for good relationships with Lisbon, especially for funding for the new hospital as a community project.

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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. 

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

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A quick look at today’s front page news headlines:

Machico continues in commotion – Whilst the chamber of commerce ACIM mobilises the ‘troops’ against the Chinese megastore, Jorge Sá, who invested €15 million for just 1,500 square meters  in the Hiper Sã supermarket, warns : "They are going to explode the trade of Machico". The president of the council says : It is the law that decides. The first boxes are already being unloaded as the picture shows. The ACIM says that there are two Chinese ‘Grande Bazares’ being opened in Machico, and the president of ACIM is preparing three initiatives that will develop over the next few days. A difficult situation, but Jorge Sã for one should keep his hypocritical views to himself, as how many businesses did he close when he opened his supermarket in Machico (and the rest of the island for that matter). Only one way to beat these things, and that is to compete, but these traders and local businessmen seem to think that they can cherry pick and enjoy the parts of European legislation that suit them, and ditch the rest. Would there be the same rumpus if it was a Madeiran entrepreneur importing and selling these good in a superstore? Anyway, I feel the fears will be unfounded, as they won’t be as cheap as people expect, the quality will often be dubious, and the people of Machico will ultimately decide who lives and who dies.

Illegal landfill born in Campanário – The site is close to houses and has no authorisation. The council of Ribeira Brava says that is is for agricultural purposes; The Forestry authorities talk of a car park.

Warnings of ‘Danger of Death’ surround park dos Lamaceiros – It is a leisure zone with a well discovered and a transmission antennae nearby. Until today nothing bad has happened, but those responsible admit to expanding the precautions. Refreshing change in this world for something to be done before someone gets hurt or killed … wonder what brought that on?

Many thanks to Elaine for these news stories from yesterday :

Renovations and surveys for the two rescue boats ‘Arun’ cost almost 200,000 Euros. These two boats were acquired from England in 2003 and for the past six years have been in dry dock. This has cost SANAS 198,600 Euros, more than double the purchase price of 82,300 Euros. The law forced the name of the boat which is now operational to be changed to ‘Saviour of the Sea’. The boats had to be remodelled, bilge pumps and more batteries fitted, the communications systems changed from English to Portuguese, video surveillance systems installed and all documents had to be translated into Portuguese.

25% of child abuse victims are less than one year old. 6% have not lived for a month. Abuse can be physical, emotional (neglect) or sexual. Both genders are equally affected and 25% are in single parent families. In 65% of the cases, the father is the abuser, 45% are alcoholics, 13% are drug addicts, 10%  have a mental disability and 10% have committed previous crimes.

The baby who was removed from a drug addict mother at birth and kept in hospital under a Child Protection Order, received unexplained injuries whilst in the ward (broken arm and bruising to the head). This occurred on 15th August and the family were prevented from visiting and the case is still subject to a lawsuit. The baby, now five months old, is being temporarily cared for by her uncle whilst the mother attempts to gain permanent custody.

A 59 year old man from Ribeira Brava is held at the Casa de Saúde São João de Deus (psychiatric hospital) after being charged with sexual abuse of a 10 year old boy, on more than one occasion.

Repeated vandalism. Vandalism at the dock at Ribeira Brava. Sacks of rubbish  were again dumped in the sea and not all of the contents could be recovered by the Council due to the tides. There is a lack of vigilance at night.

More dog poisoning, the third episode in two years. At least five dogs were poisoned in Eiras, Santa Cruz and died at dawn in the backyards and streets just outside where they lived.

Bridge at the Ribeira do Porto Novo closed for another five months. The bridge was closed in 2005 for safety reasons and the work has now been started to strengthen and widen it, replace the flooring and install new safety equipment.

MEPs to visit Madeira. Seven MEPs of the Committee on Regional Development of the European Parliament will visit between 26 – 28 October in view to increase funding. They will visit Government ministers and companies and learn how funding has been used at Caniçal, Câmara de Lobos, Machico and Funchal.

Publifunchal bring mobile advertising to Madeira. Four ‘Vespas’, bikes with advertising placards on trailers, were in evidence in Funchal yesterday. There will also be people walking around with advertising placards on their backs. Also expect advertising cards placed in car windscreens. This has arisen to help businesses in the time of economic crisis. It is due to a partnership between the firms Publifunchal and WON.

Regional Band Meeting in Ribeira Brava ‘unfair competition’. The President of the Association of Madeira Bands wants the Regional Meeting of Bands to be held before summer and to rotate around the counties rather than in Ribeira Brava each year. The cost is split between the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs and the Municipality of Ribeira Brava, and altering the venue would depend if other councils would invest the same amount into the meeting.

Jose Saramago’s latest book angering the churches. The Nobel Prize laureate has written a book entitled ‘Caim’ (Cain) which is causing a stir as it labels the Bible as a catalogue of cruelty and the worst of human nature. An MEP has asked him to renounce his Portuguese citizenship due to his ‘embarrassing’ statements under the guise of freedom of expression.

1,256 unemployed people have had social security benefits stopped. The Employment Institute has notified the Social Security Department that in the past six months, these claimants have not complied with conditions for receiving benefit. They have been missing sessions at the Job Centre or refusing vocational training or a job. Resumption of payment depends on their ability and willingness to work. Some have gone onto disability or old-age pensions.

Cunard tries to charm Madeirans. There was a meeting on board the Queen Victoria yesterday for travel agents. The Queen Victoria returns in May and December and the Queen Elizabeth in December and both allow boarding and disembarking at any port (a policy of Cunard).

Penultimate visit of the Costa Europa. The visit on Tuesday was its 89th, with 1,500 tourists. The last time it will visit will be on November 3rd. From April next year, it will operate for Thomson Cruises for 10 years.

Jardim spent several days working in Budapest and Strasbourg. No one knows how many days as it has not been disclosed. Sounds like another of Uncle Bertie’s disappearing acts that he was criticised for last year. He is supposed to inform the Madeira assembly of his movements, but never does, and then disappears with telling anyone where or for how long. Whilst away he will stay in the top hotels and maybe have a chauffeur driven car, and it will all be with the excuse of one barely relevant meeting, for which he has representatives, and doesn’t need to attend himself. President César in the Azores never attends such meetings, leaving the appropriate job holder or representative to attend. Der