The Original Madeira Island News Blog
JM report that easyJet has cut back the number of flights scheduled for Madeira airport this autumn/winter.
The airline says this is due to lower demand than initially expected.
Meanwhile, TUI has announced today that it is canceling all holidays to Madeira up to the end of October – the Express ............
The Diario reports that twelve new palm trees have been planted on Avenida do Mar, replacing ones that had been removed after becoming infected with the beetle pest that habitually attacks palm trees.
The occasion was attended by Idalina Perestrelo, the Vice-President of Funchal City Council, who ............
JM reports that Câmara Municipal do Funchal (the City Council), through its Economy and Culture department, have developed a project called ‘Streets of Funchal – QRC’, covering, for now, a set of 10 streets in the city ............
On a day that seems to be featuring videos, the Diario reports on a German, Stefan Zimmerman, who spent 1400 hours editing drone footage to create an amazing 11-minute video that was released on YouTube yesterday entitled “Beautiful Madeira Island”.
Nice to meet you!
I am Stefan. ............
FN feature a new video from prolific YouTubers Pamela and Rafael Scapella.
“We stayed in a paradise in the North of Madeira Island. Discover our wonderful accommodation at Quinta das Hortênsias and come with us for a walk (levada) and eat a typical Madeira skewer. Find out more about Quinta ............
JM reported yesterday that six new positive cases of COVID-19 had been screened at the airport. These are four travellers from Poland and two from France.
There are now 60 active cases, of which 50 are imported cases identified in the context of surveillance activities implemented at Madeira ............
The Madeira Tourism Secretary said today that tenders for the traditional Christmas and New Year celebrations in the Region have already been launched, but the programs will be adapted to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have already launched the contests and we have some surprises in store ............
The use of drones to collect waste deposited on Portuguese coastal beaches is the goal of researchers at the University of Coimbra, who are aiming for it to be operational by 2022.
Since 2018, the team of researchers from the Institute of Systems and Computer Engineering of Coimbra (INESC) has been ............
The Sunday Times reports today that thousands of retired British expats across Europe could be hit with punitive charges to access their pensions if their UK bank accounts are closed after Brexit.
Pensioners may be forced to re-route their retirement funds through accounts held by European banks, leaving ............
Thanks to Jaime for a link to a surprising report in the Portugal News two days ago, with the apparently excellent news that the share of renewable energy in Madeira is set to reach 50% by the end of the year, thus reducing its dependence on fossil fuels, according to an announcement by the regional ............
JM reports that there is now one more patient hospitalized in the Multidisciplinary Unit for COVID-19 at Hospital Dr Nélio Mendonça. The patient was found to be positive upon admission to a private health unit. It is understood to be the latest case of local transmission.
The patient came ............
In a leaked recording obtained by BBC News, pilots’ union official Martin Entwisle described the company as being in a “really, really dire situation.”
Mr. Entwisle made the comment after a meeting with the airline’s chief financial officer, Andrew Findlay. easyJet denies that ............
Both the Diario and JM report online that the President of the Regional Government announced this morning that Madeira will have a firefighting helicopter all year round, starting next summer, 2021.
Miguel Albuquerque, who was speaking during a visit to the cable car rescue training centre, located ............
The Portuguese government has extended measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic until at least October 14, at a time an increase in the number of daily cases in the country continues to worry authorities at home and abroad.
The whole country will remain under a “State of Contingency” until ............
Nothing to do with Madeira but could provide a salutary lesson to those thinking of ignoring quarantine guidelines: A cluster of around 100 COVID-19 cases in Iceland has been traced back to two French tourists who refused to isolate, a local newspaper reports.
The French couple arrived in Iceland ............
JM reports that the Sun newspaper today published a list of 12 holiday destinations with no quarantine rules on arrival or return to the UK for British travellers.
They point out that while mainland Portugal is currently on the UK quarantine list, although the islands of the Azores and Madeira are ............
JM reports that the Hotel Union on the island hopes to know quickly, possibly as soon as today, on the decision of an investor who will have expressed interest in Café Apolo.
The emblematic cafe over 70 years old, located in the centre of Funchal opposite the Sé ............
The cover of JM today once again highlights the major drug operation in Funchal on Wednesday morning, which left two suspects in pre-trial detention and ‘trapped’ a ............
On the Portuguese mainland, Diário de Notícias reports that legal action is being taken against the Austrian government over how, in March this year, they managed the coronavirus outbreak at the Tyrolean ski resort.
Ischgl, a ski resort in Tyrol with 1600 permanent inhabitants, has been officially ............
Average life expectancy at birth in Portugal was estimated at 80.93 years for the 2017-2019 three-year period, reveals a publication by the National Statistics Institute earlier this week.
Women continue to have an average life expectancy at birth higher than that of men, 83.51 against 77.95 years. ............
JM reports that Calheta Parish Council, through its official Facebook page, has reported that “salespeople are walking from door to door, offering to carry out the COVID-19 screening test at a cost”.
The parish authorities have warned the population that it is a scam and recommends the population, ............
The Diario reports that MEP for Madeira, Sara Cerdas, believes that in order to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic in the tourism sector, “it is necessary to give immediate and urgent answers to entrepreneurs and workers in this sector. It is necessary to unlock funds, invest in simplification ............
JM reports that the former president of the Regional Government of Madeira did not spare criticism from politicians and asked for a firm pulse, discipline and human respect in these troubled times of pandemic caused by COVID-19.
On the sidelines of the opening of Nicos’ Burguer at Madeira Shopping ............
FN report that drugs raids took place in several places in Funchal this morning, with searches in homes and other properties. The security police, the PSP, detained several people in am operation that was part of an investigation associated with drug trafficking.
In the operation, which took place ............