Stronger links with Madeira

Thursday 09 January 2014

St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft is in Madeira this week to improve relations between the islands.

He'll be meeting the new Mayor of Funchal Paulo Cafôfo to discuss twinning initiatives. They want to improve cultural links between the Islands’ schools, specifically at secondary level, as well as musical links and the possibility of more sporting teams visiting to compete against each other.

It will be the Constable's first meeting with the new Mayor who took office in October. During his week-long visit he’ll also meet the Minister for Agriculture and Economic Development and the Minister for Tourism.

Constable Crowcroft said that the environmental assets of Madeira and Jersey are already well known and he believes there are great opportunities for the environment departments in both islands to work together on promoting and protecting what they have.

A twinning agreement between St Helier and Funchal - the main town in Madeira - was signed in 2012, and Jersey now has a Rue de Funchal, while the Atlantic island has a Rua de St Helier. Madeira is more than six times the size of Jersey and has more than 267,000 inhabitants.