Around Madeira

Local press are reporting that the IFCN ( Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation) has advised that the recommended walking routes under its management will be closed on Monday, 20th January owing to forecast bad weather - that's all the walking routes with a PR designation. The closure may be extended depending on weather conditions. Please note that this is not simply advice, the closures have legal force. Please do not put yourself - or your potential rescuers - in unnecessary danger. Please note this closure announced for 20th January has been extended to 21st owing to continued bad weather, particularly at higher elevations

The rain has been wreaking havoc. No sooner was the landslip cleared on PR18 and the route reopened than PR9 had to be closed for similar reasons. Probably best to expect short notice closures in the current circumstances.

The IFCN has announced the closure of PR!8 (Levada do Rei) owing to a landslip. There has been no news so far of the likely duration.  In better news, the detour on PR10 (Levada do Furado) is now optional as the original route has been reinstated. The detour involved a greater height gain and so the walk is now more accessible, but the detour remains available for those who wish to use it.

According to press reports, Horários do Funchal has extended the deadline for using up the credit on the old-style pre-paid Giro cards that are being phased out. HF has accepted that there will be a significant number of people - many of them tourists - who will be unable to use up their remaining credit before the previously-announced deadline of the end of November, 2024. Consequently, the old tickets will continue to be accepted until 31st May, 2025. The company will also allow the old cards to be topped up with new credit until the end of this year. Update (19-Jan-2025): there has been press speculation regarding the future of SIGA, the new public transport authority, and its ticketing arrangements. Visitors arriving in 2025 may need to check before use whether their pre-paid tickets from 2024 remain valid.

By 1st January, 2025, there will be a charge for everyone using the regionally recommended walking routes (with numbers prefixed by PR). However, some routes are payable from 28th October. These are: PR1 - Vereda do Areeiro PR1.2 - Vereda do Pico Ruivo PR 6.1 - Levada do Risco PR 8 - Vereda da Ponta de São Lourenço (existing charge goes up) PR 9 - Levada do Caldeirão Verde PR 11 - Vereda dos Balcões PR 18 - Levada do Rei  A payment of 3 Euros per person, per route per day should be made in advance online via the SIMplifica portal. Your permit will only be valid on the date and route for which it was issued, though you can contact the call centre to change it to another date or another route  if you're unable to embark on the walk you have booked. For a transitionary period, there may be staff available on site to take payments. Spot checks will me made to check people have paid the fee and penalties may be issued. Children of 12 and under are exempt, as are residents of...

As the Madeira Organ Festival draws to a close, a reminder that 2024's Madeira Piano Fest will take place in Funchal's Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias beetween 2nd and 10th November. The programme includes a variety of performances for solo piano, four hands on a single piano and pieces for two pianos. In between the two, the Maderia International Guitar Festival runs in various locations between 25th October and 3rd November.