Mayors, the Forestry Institute and tourism agencies are now blaming tourists who rent vehicles responsible for the traffic jams and overcrowding in the main tourist sites on the island. A problem, they admit, which is occurring on a regular basis, and something that needs to be addressed.
Commenting on the problem yesterday, the President of Madeira suggested that this phenomenon only occurs when the island is ‘overbooked,’ as it is at present. However, many residents say that their lives are a misery as they try and negotiate buses, cars and general chaos on the islands popular streets. In fact, the matter has become so complicated that yesterday the PSP were called out to several locations across the island to install some law and order and create a passage where cars could pass one another.
Further to his statement, the President of Madeira, suggested that the problem was “not difficult to solve. It is a matter of the tourism agencies coordinating visiting times to popular spits and that they were willing to implement this.” He went on to say “that it was a matter of talking to the agents and getting them to agree that they do not all visit a certain place at the same time. This measure is already in existence with some tourism attractions, such as popular levada routes and Cabo Girão.”
Finally, he added that, in order to solve the problem of overcrowding, the Regional Government has planned to reinforce its commitment to the diversify the number of walking routes, which will come under the responsibility of the Regional Secretary for the Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
