A tour guide shared her concerns with JM yesterday about the chaotic traffic, which is also felt in the Santo da Serra area, due to the large influx of visitors in private cars.
According to her, tourists in rent-a-cars, and even Madeirans, protested due to the presence of the tourist bus in which she was performing her function.
“One day we won’t be able to ride a bus in this country. Drivers have never had so much stress in their professional lives. They forget about the drivers. They only remember them in the event of an accident, but they prevent countless accidents every day,” she stresses.
Regarding the situation experienced today in Santo da Serra, she told the newspaper that they could barely get off the bus, unable to stop at the bus stop, “Impossible,” she said.
“Chaos and no police,” adds the guide.
Mass tourism, which is reflected in the increase in light vehicles circulating throughout the island, has been changing, according to the same source, the routine of tourist excursions.
“We have to go to Ponta de São Lourenço early in the morning, to Guindaste view point early in the morning, and to the Santo market early in the morning. And we are constantly changing our itineraries to accommodate this mass tourism. I still remember when we could do everything as planned… Now, every day is different,” she says.
In defense of professionals who, like her, face these daily difficulties, she reminds us that it is not the guides who create the itineraries, but the agencies.