Beach guide, Jobs on Porto Santo, Madeira Wine, and not much else …

TODAY’S PHOTO : thanks to Vic, the cruise ship Costa Europa leaving Madeira last week (If I could afford to pay you Vic, I would give you a job as the official nautical photographer for this blog). What ever happened to the sister ship Costa Fortuna, its seems to have stopped coming to Madeira now?

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 21/6/2008

The Diário publishes a handy guide to 36 beaches of Madeira : its shows entrance charges (if any), parking facilities and charges, presence of lifeguards, ‘blue flag’ status for water quality, bars and restaurants (with a quality indicator), sanitary installations and changing rooms, and other features and facilities. 12 of the 36 beaches charge an entrance fee, the highest being €4 in Santa Cruz, and in many cases car owners will have to pay parking charges on top of that.

No football as such to report, but Cristiano Ronaldo with his mother and girlfriend in tow makes a sad figure as he arrives in Lisbon where he is to have a minor surgical procedure undertaken on his right foot. This should cure some discomfort that he has been having for the last 3 months.

Other News :

Two individuals have been arrested after smuggling in to Madeira enough cocaine for 12,000 hits. The drugs were hidden in the fabric of a suitcase along with some moth balls intended to fool the sniffer dogs.

Another article about the employment situation on Porto Santo Island. Existing and new hotels being built are struggling to recruit enough staff to operate properly, and the local unemployed (though few in number) won’t take the jobs. The new Columbus resort which will be complete at the end of the year will require another 350 employees. The Pestana Group has taken on staff from Mozambique and Brazil to fulfil it’s needs.

I don’t often see much in the news about the real Madeira wine, but in an article about an important wine auction in Portugal on 2nd July has one or two Madeira classics on offer that might be of interest to Madeira wine aficionados. A bottle of vinho da casta terrantez of 1795 produced by the Companhia Vinícola da Madeira has an upper estimate of €1,500, and another of the same type from Madeira made by Luís Gomes da Conceição em 1847 has an upper estimate of €1,000.

In a national story titled ‘Robin Hood is the name of the tax’, the talk in Europe according to President Sócrates is of increasing the tax on fuels and oil based products to fund budgets aimed at social support. The mythical ‘Robin dos Bosques’ is a well known story in Portugal, about the man who stole from the rich to give to the poor. I don’t know about Robin Hood, but the person who puts this through legislation might end up about as popular as Basil Fawlty.

In summary, not much in the news yesterday!

So Summer and the longest day of the year have officially arrived. Summer just seems to blend in with Spring and Autumn here so not really much difference except that suddenly the beach season officially starts, and the lifeguards appear.

I hope nobody will mind a little plug for the new madeira4u car hire (including motorbike and bicycle rental) arrangements. We have agreed special terms with a local company and put prices and a booking form on the main website. The prices are fully inclusive which makes life easier, so please mention to any family or friends that might be thinking of hiring a car. Obviously we get a commission from any rentals, but it will only help with the running costs for madeira4u, and I won’t get a centimo of it for myself I can assure you.

http://www.madeira4u.com/m4u_madeira_holiday_extras/car_motorbike_hire_rental…

www.madeira4u.com

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