Porto Santo (island)

The island of Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) – so named, according to Frutuoso, because it was there that Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira escaped a violent storm, as already mentioned, which had made them lose ‘all hope of their lives’ – is one of the five islands of the archipelago. It measures 11.4 kilometres in length by 7 in width, and its surface area is calculated at about 50 kilometres. Including its outlying islets, it lies between 32° 59′ 40″ and 33° 7′ 50″ north latitude, and between 16° 16′ 30″ and 16° 24′ 35″ west longitude of Greenwich. Its capital is the town (vila) of Baleira, or of Porto Santo, which stands at the head of a vast and beautiful bay, sheltered from the winds from SE round by W to NW (1921).

Porto Santo is much flatter than Madeira, and its highest point, Pico do Facho (‘beacon peak’), is only 507 metres above sea level.

Porto Santo has the largest beach in the archipelago. This beach, which is about 10 kilometres long and formed of calcareous sand, has a gentle slope, and the tides there do not rise more than 2.13 m. As there is as yet no quay of any kind (1921), people who wish to land on the island have to be carried on men’s backs from the boats to dry ground.

Porto Santo is very prone to droughts and poor in water. Its principal springs are the following: that of Areia, in the north; that of Tanque, which supplies water for some of the crops of the town; that of Fontinha (see that entry), known throughout the archipelago for its medicinal properties; that of Voltas; and that of Enguias. The water of the Areia spring is as good as the best in Madeira; that of the other springs generally contains certain salts that make it unpleasant to the taste of visitors to the island. (See Porto Santo (waters) and Health resort.)

Both in the town and outside it, there are many rough hovels roofed with clay, which sometimes shelter large numbers of people. Although they offer little comfort, a certain standard of hygiene can be observed in these hovels, and this, together with the island’s healthy air, makes the population generally quite robust.

The town has no notable buildings, but its houses are as a rule of good appearance. In the Largo do Pelourinho (‘pillory’), which is laid out as a garden, stands the town hall (Paços do Concelho), and near it is the parish church.

The town also has the chapel of the Misericórdia (Holy House of Mercy) and the chapel of St Catherine. Next to the latter lies the cemetery, one of the oldest in the archipelago, for it was opened in 1838, on the feast of Corpus Christi.

The dragon trees and junipers that covered Porto Santo at the time of its discovery are now completely extinct. The only native shrub species worthy of note that can still be found there are the hawthorn, the marmulano (Sideroxylon marmulano, a shrub), the durazia heath and the olive.

The tamarisk, introduced in 1834 by João António Pedroso, is common on Porto Santo, and the palm, the maritime pine, the tree of heaven, the poplar and the myoporum grow in some parts of the island. If proper use were made of this last species, a good part of Porto Santo could easily be afforested in a short time. On Pico do Castelo (‘castle peak’) and its surroundings there are some stands of trees planted over the last 20 years by the forestry officer (regente silvícola) António Schiappa de Azevedo (1921).

The island produces vines, wheat, barley, rye, lentils, broad beans, pumpkins, melons, watermelons, potatoes (semilhas, the Madeiran word), sweet potatoes, garlic, and some cabbages, onions, maize and sugar cane. There are also many fig and mulberry trees there, and some pear, pomegranate, almond and tabaibeira trees. See Porto Santo (vegetation).

The numerous soundings made by Vidal in the waters around Porto Santo seem to suggest that the island was once larger than it is today, and in some parts of its territory there are clear signs of uplift caused by volcanic action. T. D. A. Cockerell states that the oldest fossil deposits are Miocene and marine, and that shells and corals mixed with a black volcanic rock, which appears to come from a lower zone, can be found on Ponta da Calheta (‘small cove’). Between the peaks of Castelo and Facho there are whitish-grey trachytes, and on the summit of the latter height there is a rather curious dyke.

To irrigate the land of Porto Santo there are several wells sunk by private individuals, from which the water is raised by means of noras (water wheels). Without this resource, many plots that now yield good harvests would perhaps lie barren, since the island frequently suffers from a lack of rain.

Porto Santo, whose population is 2,701 inhabitants (1940), is an interesting and curious place from several points of view, with certain customs and practices unknown in Madeira, at least at present. If frequent steamer services were established to the island and visitors found there the amenities and comforts demanded by modern civilisation, it is to be expected that this land of the archipelago where Zarco and Tristão Vaz first landed, today almost unknown, would become at certain seasons a meeting place for Madeirans and foreigners, eager either to try the curative effects of the waters of Fontinha on stomach ailments or to enjoy the magnificent resources the island offers as a bathing resort. In 1919 Porto Santo was provided with the important improvement of a Radio-Telegraph Station, inaugurated on 17 March of that year, which broke the isolation in which the island had lived, especially in winter.