Leaked versions of the Draghi Plan revealed that the ECB president has proposed unleashing a bond buying effort that would be ‘unlimited’. The central … Read more
Really struggling with interesting local news. It’s that time of year when nothing seems to be happening. At least the locals are slowly returning from the August holiday and beginning … Read more
The Police have recently served several notices of “infraction for improper parking” on residents in the centre of Funchal. The operation was done … Read more
You can hardly have missed the 61 meter (200ft) “SuperYacht” (some term it a “MegaYacht”) EXCELLENCE V which has been docked in Funchal over the last few days – just … Read more
A few interesting snippets during the last few days – thanks to Peter as usual for keeping me on the ball. Firstly some good news on the back of the … Read more
Several well informed sources have indicated that there may be announcement soon regarding a new ferry service from the mainland to Madeira. This could happen as soon as the autumn … Read more
I wanted to leave Jon’s moving story (see previous post) at the top of the blog for as long as possible, but time to move on and catch up on … Read more
Quite a few people have expressed concern in the Comments section recently about Jon and Deb Parsons and their highly acclaimed B&B since the fires affected the Gaula area. Return … Read more
Thanks again to Peter who alerted me to an interesting section of the Official web site of Câmara Municipal do Funchal. I was aware of part of the below, which … Read more
Not much news recently I’m afraid – most of the headlines over the weekend were focussed on the Madeiran round of the European Rally Championship – lots on You Tube … Read more
According to the website of the European Information System for Forest Fire (European Forest Fire Information System – EFFIS), part of the European Commission, the fires in Madeira between 19 … Read more
What a difference a week makes! After the spectacular and devastating fires that started last Wednesday we now have much needed rain! I was in the Santa Lucia area this … Read more
The National Association of Professional Fire-fighters announced today that it will bring legal proceedings against the President of the regional government of Madeira after his statements about the "strange coincidence" … Read more
The Diario reports that the President of the Civil Protection Service in Madeira says that now, after a week of fighting fires on the island and although there are still … Read more
I had hoped to be more positive today – bad news has to end sometime and we all move on. For the sake of the island it is important that … Read more
Wednesday night’s blog posting and the very first photos of the fires has so far attracted over 11,000 visitors whilst yesterdays had 10,000 “hits”. I can’t take the credit for … Read more
As our photo from last night shows, and the headline on the Diario web site reads "Hell descended into Funchal," with dozens of people running, fleeing the flames in the … Read more
From the Diario:
Men and equipment of four brigades will spend this morning engaged in fighting on multiple fronts of fire that burn in several places … Read more
Photo: Orlando Drummond
The President of the Regional Government choked on food during a lunch held yesterday afternoon at a restaurant in Santana. The Diario reports that after the unexpected … Read more
I tend to put off exchanging GBP into Euros, thinking that I will probably get a better exchange rate “tomorrow”. This is not entirely down to being tight, as recent … Read more
I have always found it interesting that when you talk to Madeirans, particularly local shop-keepers, about the state of the local economy, they have a genuine resentment of the growth … Read more
All this recent talk of garden centres reminds me to remind readers about the truly hidden jewel in the world of orchids – right in the heart of Funchal. Having … Read more
Pedro Proenca, who heads the Euro’2012 football final between Spain and Italy, yesterday stressed the desire to "prove on the field the quality of refereeing Portuguese."
"We represent the quality … Read more
The President of the Regional Government will officially take delivery today of a new fire-fighting vehicle at Madeira International Airport.
The Striker 3000, the first of its kind to operate … Read more
