Tourists spend the night next to the Fort of São Tiago

Tobi Hughes·
Madeira News

A JM reader reported today that tourists have been spending the night, in recent days, near the Forte de São Tiago, in Funchal.

According to the local resident, “tourists turn the beach into local accommodation”, which in her opinion generates “visual pollution”.

The resident also leaves the following sarcastically-charged criticism: “Madeira tourism at its best”.

From Jornal Madeira

Previous ArticleARAE issues warning about Pingo Doce’s ‘black pepper’
Next ArticleFrente MarFunchal warns of rough seas
Tobi Hughes

22 Responses

  2. Elizabeth Owen
    Vagrancy laws in Madeira, as part of Portugal’s legal system, generally aim to address issues like homelessness and public disorder. While specific details may vary, the focus is often on protecting public safety and order, rather than simply criminalizing poverty.But this type of attitude and behaviour is becoming ridicule by certain tourists .

    Reply

  3. I’m sorry but if the authorities increasingly encourage mass tourism in the way they do, this sort of thing is bound to happen more and more. Madeira can’t have increasing revenue and believe that increasing issues don’t come with it. It’s time to take a step back and seriously consider the problems that exist now let alone those that can be expected in the future if nothing is done.

    Reply

    1. Mass tourism is the economic life blood of Madeira. You can’t stop these people coming, what you can do is an immediate stamp down and move them on by the Police. This will result in the details being posted world wide. These people live by social media, the news will travel fast.

      Reply

      1. George Nabbs
        Complete right the news travel fast and will be the new popular spot of wild camping will be Forte de São Tiago, in Funchal eventual will have a other facilites that will help anyone thinking doing wild camping

        Reply

        1. Isabel, you can’t have it both ways. If the news travels on Social media that people are wild camping on Forte de São Tiago, the news will travel that, we hope, the Police are vigorously upholding the law and moving on and fining these law breakers.

          Reply

      2. Of course tourism is the life blood of Madeira. I am not suggesting that restriction on visitor numbers should be considered but rather that the consequences of the increase in growth (up 20% in the last 5 years) be properly thought through and measures put in place to deal with the ever increasing effects. For example, what visitors can and cannot do is left entirely to the visitor to research through tourism websites, tourist information offices, travel guides, and local guides. Perhaps it didn’t occur to the people who are the subject of this post that they were doing anything wrong. Here I am not suggesting that ignorance is a defence in law, only that a more proactive approach on the part of the authorities could go a long way to avoiding this type of thing. How about making sure that every tourist is handed a summary of dos and don’ts at the airport or dock? In that way, it would be far easier for the police to enforce the law in the event of transgression.

        Reply

    3. David Boyd
      In that one wrong in a RTP TV channel of Madeira in May 14, 2025, 4:40 PM The President of the Regional Government Miguel Albuquerque said that to illegal camping and motorhome tourism on public roads.motorhomes will not be tolerated and anyone caught fines will be applied

      Reply

  4. Wherever people come together, there’s always a touch of humanity – and this is especially true in tourism. Madeira is a welcoming and beautiful island, attracting people from all over the world, each bringing their own unique cultural background. Naturally, not every visitor arrives fully aware of or prepared for the cultural needs of the local community. But this isn’t a one-way street: Madeirans, too, enjoy traveling to countries where customs and expectations may be quite different from their own, and sometimes their own behavior may be misunderstood or even met with disapproval.

    That’s why I warmly encourage everyone to embrace open and kind-hearted communication, mutual understanding, and to let go of the urge to judge. When we approach each other with curiosity and respect, our shared experiences become all the richer – for locals and visitors alike.

    Reply

  5. Tourists without pre booked accommodation should not be allowed onto the island.
    This sort of behaviour gives the annual visitor who contributes to the Madeiran economy a bad name

    Reply

    1. In my experience you are always asked at Security before leaving the Airport where you are staying and for how long.

      Reply

      1. Not if you are an EU citizen. Rights of free movement mean that the border staff just check your passport and let you on your merry way. Most of the ‘offending tourists’ (and for that matter, non-offending too) are from EU countries so there is no way to stop them unless there is a clear press drive by the Madeira authorities to forewarn visiting tourists what they can’t do and then catch and enforce fines if they come and do.

        Reply

      2. I have been visiting Madeira on an average of three time a year since 2010 and while I am always asked at border control how long I plan to stay, apart from the times during the pandemic, I hve never been asked where I am staying. The comment that you replied to suggests providing evidence of accomodation and I would be all for that.

        Reply

      3. That was also our experience on our recent first visit to the island; we were asked where we were staying and for how long. I would be quite happy to also supply proof of accommodation if that became a procedure on entering the country.

        Reply

      4. Only once have we been asked the name of our hotel in many visits, perhaps the multitude of Madeira customs stamps suggest we will have somewhere to be?

        Reply

  6. As someone who first visited Madeira in 1982, and who has been coming back at least once a year since 2005, I am of a generation that appreciates the quiet charm of an island that has traditionally been free of the kind of tourists that have not previously been attracted to Madeira. By directing their marketing at a younger generation in an attempt to increase tourism in Madeira, which will inevitably result in the kind of behaviour that we are now seeing, the authorities will put people like me off from visiting the island. Unless the authorities crack down hard on antisocial behaviour such as this, bit by bit, the nature of tourism on the island will change for the worse, creating a vicious circle which will only be stopped if the authorities crack down hard on antisocial behaviour. In any case, it’s a wrong-headed strategy, as it’s not back-packers but the older generation that have the most disposable income to feed the island’s economy – and there is surely no shortage of older people with a desire to visit Madeira! And by the way, as an Englishman who is no longer a citizen of the EU, I have never been asked where I am staying at passport control. But then again, I couldn’t look less like a back-packer if I tried, so that might account for it. I’m looking forward to returning to my ‘second home’ in September, but I hope that I don’t find myself ‘tut-tutting’ all the time as a result of witnessing these kinds of incidents!

    Reply

  7. We fly in and out several times a year and now look for the queue at passports with the least 20 somethings in it, as they are asked for the address of where they are staying which results in much hunting around for phones and paperwork and takes ages.

    Reply

  8. I totally agree with the comments by Clive Nunn above. We first came to Madeira in 1992, returned in 2011 and have visited every year since and sometimes twice a year. Also again this September. Until Covid the type visitor was older people, many who returned year after year – but it appeared during and after Covid that the type of visitor started to change evidently in a downward spiral. It is agreed the Madeira is reliant on tourism but as with all destinations the visitors should comply with the local customs and laws all of which should be enforced by the local authorities. It is accepted that times change, not always for the better.

    Reply

  10. After holidaying ( in hotels!) on Madeira for the past 20 years, I can see that the island authorities are coming close to killing their Golden Goose of tourism. Mass tourism means cramming as many visitors into key attractions without consideration for safety, traffic control, waste disposal or the needs of the Madeiranese population. How long before Spanish-style anti tourist protests? Wild campers are only part of the problem, but because they are more visible, they are today’s topic of the nuisance of too many tourists. – Or perhaps because they don’t spend enough money when they are here? It’s OK to be an annoying rich tourist, but not OK to be a poor one?

    Reply

I encourage you to leave comments, I read every single one.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

© 2023 Madeira Island News | Privacy Policy