Other practical aspects

Hospitals, health centres and private clinics

Madeira has 2 hospitals located in Funchal. The Nélio Mendonça Hospital is located near the centre of Funchal and has 24 hours emergency services, external consultation, internment and surgery. The Marmeleiros Hospital is located in the village of Monte, north of Funchal, and is dedicated to the internment of patients with infectious diseases.

Madeira has also a network of 67 public health centres, distributed throughout the island, which provide medical consultation and, in some case, urgency services until 24h00.

There are, in addition, several private clinics which offer medical consultation, internment and surgery in areas such as dental care, orthopaedics, genealogy, ophthalmology and others. Some of the clinics in Funchal offer urgency services.

Pharmacies

There are more than 30 pharmacies in Funchal and many more spread throughout Madeira, recognizable by a green cross sign. In each village there will always be a pharmacy open after hours, the location of which will be displayed on every pharmacy’s entrance door.

Portuguese teaching for foreigners

A number of language institutes offer Portuguese lessons to foreign residents. Courses are given both during the day and in the evenings. Private lessons can also be arranged through private tutors. The University of Madeira has also introduced Portuguese language courses for foreigners residing in Madeira.

English schools

There are two schools in Madeira teaching in English and Portuguese, the British School and the International School, both recognized by the Regional Secretary of Education. Pupils leaving the school may enter any Portuguese official school without further requirements.

The British and International Schools will accept pupils, of any nationality, respectively, from 3 to 15 years old and from 2 to 10 years old.

Public and private schools and nurseries

There are many public and private schools in all councils of Madeira, as well as nurseries which can accept children as young as 4 months old. In the Portuguese educational system, children start official school attendance at the age of 6 and the minimum mandatory scholarity is of 12 years.

In Madeira, the school activities start at the end of September through to the end of June with interruptions of 2 weeks in Christmas, 3 days in the Carnival festivities and 2 weeks in Easter.

Public nurseries are open for 11 months, whilst some private institutions remain open for 12 months. The holidays month for public nurseries must take place between July and September, whilst private nurseries usually close in August, although a few remain open all year round.

University and technical schools

The University of Madeira (UMa) was created in 1988 and presently has a wide range of courses in areas such as economics, business administration, computer science, engineering, mathematics and social sciences, amongst others. Bachelor and master degrees, as well as doctorate degrees are also ministered at UMa. UMa and Carnegie Mellon University have implemented a joint professional Masters in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) currently taking place at both universities.

Police
The authority responsible for urban security, traffic control and emergencies is the PSP – Polícia de Segurança Pública. Every council in Madeira has at least one police station responsible for the local security.

Utilities

Water
Water is contracted and supplied by the local municipality. The consumption is charged monthly by kiloliter.

Electricity
Madeira uses a 220 volts system, with individual metering per household. The consumption is charged per kilowatt-hour plus a fixed fee. The supply of electricity is contracted directly with the Madeira Electricity Company or at the local branch of the company.

Gas
Gas is the most common source of energy for water heating and cooking in Madeira. All new properties include piped gas connections sourced from a common container supplied by any of the local private gas companies. The consumption is charged by cubic meter. Old properties or isolated houses resort to bottled gas.

Cable TV
The local cable providers offer over 60 channels, depending on the chosen decoder and package. There are channels in English (CNN, MTV, VH1, BBC World, BBC prime, SKY News, Travel, CNBC, Bloomberg, Cartoon Channel, Disney, etc.), German, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Internet
There are a number of Internet Service Providers (ISP's) in Madeira with various connection options available, namely analogue telephone line or ISDN telephone line, ADSL connection which works as a parallel data transfer over the normal telephone line and cable Internet, which works through the Cable TV connection. There are several free Wi-Fi spots in Funchal and other cities in Madeira.

Telephone connection
There are various options available, including fixed and mobile. In the fixed lines, both analogue and ISDN are commonly used. The ISDN line offers 3 possible numbers for telephone, fax and modem internet access. There are several mobile phone operators in Madeira, with a variety of pricing options and packages.

Relevant contacts

Council of Funchal

Câmara Municipal do Funchal
Praça do Município, 9004-512 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291211000
Fax: +351.291226343
E-mail: datendimento@mail.cm-funchal.pt
www.cm-funchal.pt

Hospitals

Nélio Mendonça Hospital
Avenida Luís de Camões, 57, 9000-168 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291705600

Marmeleiros Hospital
Estrada dos Marmeleiros, Monte, 9050 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291782933

Health Centres

Centro de Saúde do Bom Jesus/ Bom Jesus Health Centre
Rua das Hortas, n.º 65, 9054-526 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291208700
Fax: +351.291208888
E-mail: cs.bomjesus@srs.pt

Clinics

Centro Médico Infante Lda.
Avenida Arriaga 75, 2º - Sala 207, 9000-060 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291230900
Fax: +351.291230916

Clínica Santa Luzia
Rua da Torrinha, 5, 9054-516 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291200000
Fax: +351.291200005
clinicastaluzia@grupostluzia.com
www.grupostluzia.com

Clínica Hospitalar da Madeira, Lda.
Rua dos Murças, 42 - 2º, 9000-058 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291524524

Clínica St.ª Catarina
Rua 5 de Outubro, 115/11, 9000-216 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291741127
Fax: +351.291745780
www.clinicasantacatarina.pa-net.pt

Police

PSP – Public Security Police
Rua da Infância, 28, 9050-039 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291208400

University and technical schools

Madeira University
Headmaster’s Office
Colégio dos Jesuítas, Rua dos Ferreiros, 9000-081 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291209400
Fax: +351.291209410
E-mail: gabinetedoreitor@uma.pt

University Campus
Caminho da Penteada, 9000-390 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291705000
Fax: +351.291705149
www.uma.pt

ISAL - Instituto Superior de Administração e Línguas
Rua do Comboio, 5, 9050-054 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291705705
Fax: +351.291705709
E-mail: isal@isal.pt
www.isal.pt

Language and International Schools

Academia de Línguas da Madeira (ALM)
Rua do Ribeirinho de Baixo, 33-B 2º, 9050-447 Funchal
Tel: +351.291231069
Fax: +351.291230211
E-mail: alm@netmadeira.com
www.alm-madeira.com

Cambridge School
Rua da Carreira, 240, 1, 9000-042 Funchal
Tel: +351.291743718
Fax: +351.291743067
funchal@cambridge.pt
www.cambridge.pt

CELFF - Centro de Estudos, Línguas e Formação do Funchal, S.A.
Rua Bela de São Tiago, 20, 9060-400 Funchal
Tel: +351.291222894
Fax: +351.291225429
E-mail: info@celff.pt
www.celff.pt

British School
Caminho dos Saltos, 6, 9050-219 Funchal
Tel: +351.291773218
Fax: +351.291757206
E-mail: ebsdamadeira@hotmail.com
www.britishschoolmadeira.com

International School of Madeira
Calçada do Pico, 5, 9000-206 Funchal
Tel./Fax: +351.291225870
E-mail: info@madeira-international-school.com
www.madeira-international-school.com

Nurseries

Abrigo Infantil de Nª Sr.ª da Conceição
Avenida do Infante, 18, 9000-015 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291220363

Centro Infantil Maria Eugénia Canavial
Rua da Mouraria, 2, 9000-047 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291220802

Creche O Snoopy
Estrada Dr. João Abel de Freitas, 71 C, 9020-158 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291757621

Gas suppliers

FunchalGás – Instalações de Redes de Gás, Montagens de Aparelhos de Queima, Lda.
Rua das Pretas, 38, 9000-049 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291759047
Fax: +351.291742193
E-mail: funchalgas@mail.telepac.pt

Spelta - Produtos Petrolíferos Unipessoal, Lda.
Rua Achada Diogo Dias, n.º 2
Sítio da Nogueira 9135-401 Camacha
Tel.: +351.291.922223
Fax: +351.291923395

Electricity

Empresa de Electricidade da Madeira, S.A.
Avenida do Mar e das Comunidades Madeirenses, 32, 9000 Funchal
Tel.: +351.291211300
Fax: +351.291233324
www.eem.pt

Cable TV and Telephone

Zon TV Cabo Madeirense S.A.
Avenida Estados Unidos da América, Nazaré - S. Martinho, 9000-090 Funchal
Tel: +351.291700800
Fax: +351.291766132
E-mail: tvcabo@zonmadeira.pt
www.zonmadeira.pt

PT – Centro de Telecomunicações S.A.
Rua Tenente Coronel Sarmento, 16, 9000-020 Funchal
Tel: +351.291230300
Fax: +351.291228336
ecsfu@telepac.pt