Madeira dispatch

Madeira is an extinct volcano situated 500 miles off the coast of Morocco. It looks tiny on a map, but is actually half as big again as the Isle of Man and features peaks that reach nearly 2000 metres above the sea. and these are only the tips of a huge shield volcano which stretches 6000 metres down to the abysmal plain of the Atlantic ocean. Its topography is extraordinary: deep valleys surrounded by dramatic cliffs a kilometre high, providing varying micro-climates which allow all sorts of exotic fruits to grow, from apples and pears in the upper reaches to bananas and even pineapples in wind-shaded sun-traps.

In the winter it has to endure everything the Atlantic weather can throw at it. At one point, out on the far north-western tip of the island we were almost blown off our feet by some of the strongest gusts of wind I have ever experienced, On another occasion we drove from pleasant, if cool conditions in Funchal up to the central plateau which is at 1500 metres above sea level, where we were eventually driven back by heavy snow which rendered the road impassable.

It is clear billions of euros have been expended on the island's infrastructure in recent years. The roads are in good condition; there is even a motorway of sorts running along the southern rim of the island which features dozens of tunnels which had to be blasted through the incredibly hard volcanic tuff from which the whole island is made. One is no less than 7 km in length; several are 3 and 4 km long and scores  are up to a kilometre long. Thus the "V1" as it is called must have cost at least £50 million per mile to build its 20 mile length. Yet the traffic on these roads is scanty at best, except for an hour twice a day entering and leaving Funchal. And what traffic there is is at least 50% hire cars.

That isn't the half of it. Many tiny villages feature large community centres which seem largely unused: did anyone ask the locals if they actually wanted these amenities? Based I suspect on huge EU grants, a tiny group of developers and raw material suppliers must have made a huge killing as all this development proceeded, but has it really helped the island's 75,000 inhabitants? I wonder. All I know is the island must have changed out of all recognition from the ocean paradise so loved by Winston Churchill in the 1940s and 50s. But for the better? I'm not sure.