Albuquerque and Jesus are blind to it, but the rest of us know.
DW Travel, which is not “television” in the classic sense, being a travel brand/edition of Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international public broadcaster, known simply as DW, has just published a video on YouTube entitled ‘Too Many Tourists? How Madeira Deals with the Crowds’, which addresses the impact of mass tourism in Madeira and the measures being implemented to manage the flow of visitors.
Hosted by reporter Anja Koch, the video begins by highlighting that Madeira attracts visitors for its stunning landscapes and mild climate, but in 2024 it received more than 2.2 million tourists for a local population of around 250,000 inhabitants.
The video quickly moves on to show congested tourist spots, that is, emblematic locations in Funchal that quickly become crowded, especially with the arrival of cruise ships, such as the Old Town of Funchal, the Farmers’ Market (with inflated prices for tourists as noted by DW Travel) and the traditional wicker toboggans in Monte, which can have waiting lines of up to 30 minutes.
DW Travel took the opportunity to interview the Regional Secretary for Tourism, Eduardo Jesus, who explained that there are restrictions on issuing new local accommodation licenses in residential buildings in Funchal to protect the tranquility of residents.
The official explained to DW Travel that, to avoid overburdening nature, a new rule has been implemented requiring paid reservations and time slots to access some of the most popular trails, such as the Levada das 25 Fontes.
However, the reporter says it is very difficult to believe that there isn’t an excess of tourists, and to justify this position, the video follows the experiences and complaints of some tourists about the lack of spontaneity and the complexity of the reservation system.
However, at the end of the video, a local German guide shares alternative, lesser-known trails that lead to the same popular destinations, but offer a much more tranquil and secluded experience.