Tourists believe Madeira is becoming a place to avoid.
Several tourist vehicles were stuck at that tourist spot due to illegal parking.
It was a difficult dawn that many tourists and tourism professionals experienced today at Pico do Areeiro. What should have been a start to the day of contemplation and communion with nature quickly turned into “chaos”.
The reason is the large influx of people who, even before the sun rose, took over the only access road to the top of that tourist spot, divided between the municipalities of Funchal and Santana.
Illegal parking on the side of the road, on both sides of the road, even on bends or junctions, made it very difficult for vehicles to get around the highest part of Pico do Areeiro. Several vehicles, including buses and tourist vans, were “stuck” due to illegal parking.
“Chaotic” was one of the most used adjectives, both by those who visit us and those who, almost every day, have to deal with similar situations, in the different tourist spots in the Region.
One of the professionals told DIÁRIO that his clients were very unhappy with this scenario, “regretting that Madeira has become a destination to avoid”, as pointed out by some of the people who accompanied him, who, this week, had to wait more than an hour to be able to leave Ponta de São Lourenço.
“We have an excess of tourism and our government officials don’t care, nor do they take action”, noted the professional, highlighting that this is also the scenario almost every day in Ribeiro Frio or Cabo Girão, situations that have sometimes been reported by DIÁRIO.
In an attempt to counter this situation, the company Horários do Funchal has been providing a public passenger transport service between Funchal and Pico do Areeiro since August last year. However, those who frequently have to travel to that tourist spot for work say that this has not helped to alleviate the problem. “There are more and more rent-a-cars,” says another tourism professional, noting that the car park set up just above Poço da Neve was already practically full by 7am.
There have also been frequent positions taken by various members of the Regional Government, with decision-making power in the areas of Tourism and the Environment, which would counter a possible scenario of excessive tourism, but the truth is that situations like those experienced this morning in Pico do Areeiro are repeated quite frequently.
Eduardo Jesus, who will take on the Environment portfolio in Miguel Albuquerque’s next government, joining it to the Tourism portfolio he currently holds, has been one of these leaders. “Madeira does not have too much tourism, Madeira does not have tourist pressure, we are a long way from the territories that are experiencing this phenomenon”, said the regional secretary in September last year.
At the time, he even pointed out the ‘formula’ to reach this conclusion: “It’s taking the overnight stays and dividing them by the residents, and taking the tourist flow and dividing them by the square kilometres of the Region”, stressing that “what you find out here and compare it with other tourist destinations, you can see that we are an endless distance away”.
Last November, Miguel Albuquerque already admitted that there was a “management problem”, which led to a scenario of “overload”. Even so, the president of the Regional Government did not see this as a ‘greater evil’. “The problem would be if we had empty rent-a-cars and no customers”, he pointed out at the time.