Madeira News Blog

(24th July). Today’s main news headline : ’296 More In The Army Of Unemployed – Madeira was the region of Portugal that registered the highest (%) leap in unemployment in June. One year ago we had 8,244 without work and today we have 12,483. They are the worst numbers in 40 years’. Unemployment Increased 2.4% In The Month Of June, with 12,483 people signing-on in the Regional Institute of Employment. Or to make it sound even worse, the increase is 47.4% up on the same month in 2008. The 2.4% is the increase from May to June this year. Madeira is in 2nd place for the worst unemployment deterioration in Portugal over a year, with the Algarve registering an increase of 91.5% since June last year, whilst the Azores are in 3rd place (40.3%). What a nightmare, and whilst it doesn’t say what the current rate is against people who work / want to work, it is about 5% of the whole population. 1st quarter figures from the National Institute of Statistics showed official unemployment here at 6.8%. The Government of Madeira, through the Regional Secretary of Human Resources, gave the usual comment on the registered unemployment with the statement: "We continue to notice some slowdown, because the increase in the month of May is less than the case for April" (or something along those lines). I reckon that makes employment here around 7.4%, still lower than the national level of around 9%.

‘Portuguese Point Out Communication Failures In Banks – 75% of those asked consider that nothing has improved in the ability to talk to the account managers’. Nothing has changed due to the crisis a study reveals that was published yesterday, and 48% of respondents expressed concern about the security of their savings.

‘Tourism Lost €309 Million In The First 5 Months Of This Year – The secretary responsible for tourism promises a pro-active attitude from the government’. The €309 million (12%) lost is for all of Portugal, and the prime reason is a 25% drop in receipts from English tourism. Despite the headline, no mention of what this pro-active attitude here is? Doesn’t pro-active mean doing something before it goes pear-shaped?

‘Air Nostrum Starts Charter Operation From Bilbao And Valencia To Madeira – Four weekly connections will run until the end of September’. The charter company of Iberia starts the service today, with flights on Fridays and Sundays, and if all goes to plan should bring over 3,000 Spanish tourists here. The Spanish market for tourism on Madeira dropped 32.6% last year compared to 2007, in terms of tourist numbers, and 24.3% in hotel night reservations.

This from the Journal : ‘Increased Metrological Stations – Two new units installed in Santa in Porto Moniz and São Lourenço in Caniçal’. The Institute of Meteorology has just installed two new weather monitoring stations, that are now activated. The new facilities will provide better weather vigilance and hence forecasting, and reflect in the safety of people and property, as well as air and sea transport, says a spokesman. The operation and collection of data is completely automated, and the two new additions bring the total number of weather stations on Madeira to seven, the others being in Funchal, São Jorge, Ponta do Pargo, Ponta do Sol, and Areeiro.

And another from the Journal : ‘Promenade Of Porto da Cruz Will Proceed in 2011′. The Madeira government has approved a project to construct the promenade, that will serve as an access to Maiata beach, with 2011 being the most likely date for construction to start. The article lists quite a few projects that were approved, including public gardens, a music hall, and car parks in various locations, but as the headline was Porto da Cruz I will leave it there.

I noticed today that the Diário has put the letter of complaint, submitted to the competition authorities, back on the front page of the website. I didn’t remember that it was as long ago as April last year, well that is the date of the letter at least. The complaint is about the anti-competitive practices of the technically bankrupt government owned newspaper ‘Journal da Madeira’, as well as inappropriate use of taxpayers money to keep it going. The whole situation seems to have died a death since the complaint was made. The letter in English is here if anyone needs a refresher DIARIO COMPETITION COMPLAINT

President Jardim has gone quiet, reluctant to talk to the press, but I don’t think it will last. He is cheesed of at the press boycott of coverage of his plans for constitutional review and the debate in the regional assembly on Wednesday. "The debate wasn’t transmitted, just some small reports,  and even the radio went to Curral das Freiras as if it were more important", he said. Poor Bertie, no doubt the management of your newspaper the ‘Journal’ will be punished for their lack of effort.

As you know most of the opposition parties boycotted the debate on Wednesday, organising their own session to discuss the ‘real issues’. They returned to assembly yesterday to find that the PSD were continuing the debate in an attempt to revive interest. The PS, PCP, BE and PND were all back in force, but sat through the session in silence. The discussion will continue on Tuesday, the final meeting of this legislative session.

(22nd May). ‘Rain Affects Sewers – Funchal again feels the effects of the bad weather. Rain water and sewerage mixed causing an unbearable smell. In the west, the high zones of Ribeira Brava were the worst affected’.  Many residents had already been warned that there was a danger of the rain bringing conditions last seen in 2005, when floods caused havoc. In Boa Morte, high above Ribeira Brava, the unceasing rain that fell yesterday morning pushed large quantities of earth and stones into the business park and onto the road that runs nearby, and some was washed downwards, entering some homes. In the worst case, one resident in the area had an influx of mud and stones into his basement, kitchen, living room and other parts of the property, as had happened before in 2005.

The airport was also affected with the bad weather, with one flight cancelled, and eight diverted to Porto Santo and The canary Islands, as well as various problems with departures. The real problems started at around 8.30am, and lasted for around 3 hours. the Easyjet flight to Lisbon was cancelled, and a Porto Santo plane had to return there, unable to land.

I saw the rain was heavy where I am, but I had no idea it was so bad elsewhere, with loads of news stories today about the damage caused and the problems for those trying to have a normal day at home or work, and even a rescue at sea. The south coast turned brown with mud washed into the sea according to one story, and here is the proof :

The Avenida Arriaga (north track) in Funchal will be closed during the holidays in June, which will allow work to be done to stop future problems with sewerage pipes when there is heavy rain. That should stop the rather unpleasant smell that occurs at these times, although it seems that this is project is not a permanent solution.

(22nd May). The Council of Government yesterday approved a new scheme to support lending for housing for the unemployed, one of the promised measures to combat the crisis and rising unemployment. The proposed legislative decree for Madeira will be delivered to the Legislative Assembly of Madeira for discussion and approval, complementing another measure to support property rental for the unemployed, in force since April 15th. An explanatory note from the government explains that this is a measure of "exceptional support of a transitional nature" introduced to support "Madeira families affected by the consequences of the current international and national economic crisis, as has been done for those who live in rented accommodation". The rules are clear, it is only available to those who worked for companies and lost their job involuntarily, and who then sign-on at the Employment Office of Madeira and are eligible to receive unemployment benefits. If one person from a couple is unemployed and the other working, €175 a month in assistance will be paid. If both of the couple are unemployed and meet the criteria, then €350 a month will be paid. It is predicted that the new measure will cover around 1,000 families in the first year, and will cost the taxpayer €2 million.

(22nd May). The 6th animal sterilisation campaign on Porto Santo Island resulted in 191 animals being ‘done’. VetFunchal, in collaboration with a German organisation, ran the free-of-charge campaign for 5 days, with 88 bitches and 103 cats getting ‘snipped’. They were also micro chipped, photographed, and recorded on a computer database. Since 1999, the year marking the beginning of these campaigns, 724 sterilizations were performed free of charge on Porto Santo, of which 351 involved bitches, and the remaining 373 were cats.