Miguel Sousa Tavares commented on a photograph of Miguel Albuquerque on the beach in Porto Santo when, allegedly, Madeira was already burning.
“This is a lack of respect for the people of Madeira”, said the political commentator in his weekly opinion section ‘5th Column’, before adding: “This photograph is as if the battle of Aljubarrota was taking place and we saw Nuno Álvares Pereira on the beach of São Pedro de Moel sunbathing during the battle”
Miguel Sousa Tavares was not kind to Miguel Albuquerque. In his commentary section on TVI, the columnist used a photograph of the president of the Regional Government, on the beach of Porto Santo, to say that the portrait “is fatal”.
The portrait was allegedly taken when Madeira was on fire and the ruler had returned to the Golden Island to enjoy the rest of his vacation, which was interrupted by the fire. In the ‘5th Column’ , Miguel Sousa Tavares admitted that the photograph on the sun lounger “deserves to be seen”, because it is worth “more than a thousand words”.
And the political commentator also took the opportunity to establish a historical analogy. “This photograph is as if the battle of Aljubarrota was taking place and we saw Nuno Álvares Pereira on the beach of São Pedro de Moel sunbathing during the battle”, he criticised.
By admitting that he is not an expert in fires, “just as a Portuguese person used to seeing” the country burn, Miguel Sousa Tavares admits that over the years he has “learned something” and, as such, he cannot understand “what the strategy is, successful or not, which consists of letting it burn”.
The writer also made a comment on the management and protection of the Madeiran forest, noting the number of members of the forest police force.
“I saw an interview the other day with someone who had worked in the Madeira forestry services, who said that in 1975, when he joined, there were 2,300 forest rangers in Madeira. In 2015, when he left, there were 300. Where did they go? To the Civil Constitution, to the hotel industry, that is, Madeira invested everything in hotels, but the customers who come to Madeira hotels come mainly to see the forest, but everything was invested in hotels, because they are more eye-catching, they give more money to the private sector. So, there is an option here”, he mentioned.
Miguel Sousa Tavares also addressed the fire in Madeira, preferring to highlight a specific situation: that the use of fireworks is prohibited during the summer period. “At the beginning of the fire, there was talk of fireworks. And the first thing I don’t understand is that fireworks are allowed in Portugal at summer parties. I swear I don’t understand.”