Madeira 2026

Madeira

Date of Issue: 9th May 2026

one stamp (1.30 €) and one souvenir-sheet (3.75 €)

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

the souvenir-sheet depicts the design of the 2018 Europa issue (Bridges) of Madeira

Madeira 2025

Madeira

Date of Issue: 9th May 2025

one stamp (1.21 €) and one souvenir-sheet (3.51 €)

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

The sugar industry or ‘White Gold’ (Funchal)
With the collaboration of the A Cidade do Açúcar Museum team, a group of artefacts was selected, including a ceramic sugar loaf form, which is part of the archaeological remains exhumed during the excavation of the house of the sugar merchant Janine Esmenaut, João Esmeraldo to the Portuguese, one of the oldest in the 16th century. This cultural asset, recovered by Modern Archaeology in Portugal, illustrates the important and lucrative island industry of sugar production, which began in 1425 with the planting of sugar cane, a central activity in the economy of the Atlantic islands, soon after the colonisation of the island, discovered in 1419. Within thirty years, Madeira, driven by mainly Genoese capital, initially using hired labour from Morocco and later African slave labour, as well as intensive forest clearing used to feed the sugar factories (around fifty kilos of wood were needed to produce one kilo of sugar), became the largest sugar producer in Europe, earning it the title of the ‘White Gold Islands’. From the first decades of the 16th century, production began to decline, with São Tomé and Príncipe and, above all, Brazil gradually emerging as new production sites, until it was definitively extinguished in 1986 with the closure of the William Hinton factory.

Madeira 2024

Madeira

Date of Issue: 9th May 2024

one stamp (1.20 €) and one souvenir-sheet (3.- €)

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

1. Purple-striped jelly (Pelagia noctiluca) - Wikipedia article

2.1 Sea anemone (Telmatactis cricoides) - Wikipedia article

2.2 Black coral (Antipathella wollastoni) - Wikipedia article

Madeira 2023

Madeira

Date of Issue: 9th May 2023

one stamp (1.05 €) and one souvenir-sheet (3.- €)

 

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

Madeira 2022

Madeira

Date of Issue: 9th May 2022

one stamp (0.95 €) and one souvenir-sheet (2x 0.95 €)

 

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

Legend of Machin - There is no historical evidence to prove it, but for a long time the narration of the facts that led to the discovery of the island of Madeira has had a much more poetic version than the usual description of the arrival of Tristão Vaz Teixeira and João Gonçalves Zarco, in 1419. According to the tale, it was the young Englishman Robert Machin, along with his beloved Anne of Arfet and some companions, who were the first to land there, in 1377. Robert, a man of modest condition, frequented the court of King Edward III (1312-1377). It was there that he met the aristocrat Anne of Arfet, with whom he would fall in love. Their desire for marriage, however, was at odds with that of Anne’s relatives, who considered her only within the reach of a suitor from the nobility. This opposition led Robert Machin to decide to flee with his intended towards France, a country with which England maintained a long military conflict, which would come to be known as the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453). The elopement took place on the eve of Anne’s arranged marriage. On the high seas however, a strong storm blew the couple and the crew off course from their intended destination. After countless days lost at sea, they sighted land with lush vegetation and, once disembarked, began to explore the island, looking for water and food. However, a new storm approached, forcing them to seek refuge among the roots of a massive tree. When the storm subsided, they realised that their boat had not weathered the storm and they had no way of getting out of there. Worse yet, shortly afterwards, weakened by the trip, Anne died. Robert buried her next to the leafy tree where they had taken shelter, and erected a wooden cross to mark the spot. A week later, broken with grief, he too perished, being buried next to his beloved. As for the remaining crew members, some died, others were eventually captured by Moorish sailors and sold as slaves in North Africa. One of them was eventually rescued and his story reached the ears of the Portuguese, who, when they arrived on the island, years later, came across the cross and an inscription telling the couple’s saga. In honour of Machin, they named that region Machico.

Madeira 2021

Madeira

Date of Issue: 7th May 2021

one stamp (0.88 €) and one souvenir-sheet (2x 0.88 €)

 

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

Madeira 2020

Madeira

Date of Issue: 25th May 2020

one stamp (0.86 €) and one souvenir-sheet (2x 0.86 €)

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

Madeira 2019

Madeira

Date of Issue: 9th May 2019

one stamp (0.86 €) and one souvenir-sheet (2x 0.86 €)

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

Madeira 2018

Madeira

Date of Issue: 9th May 2018

one stamp (E20g value = 0.86 €) and one souvenir-sheet (2x E20g value = 2x 0.86 €)

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

Madeira 2017

Madeira

Date of Issue: 9th May 2017

one stamp (0.80 €) and one souvenir-sheet (2x 0.80 €)

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

NOTE ! - On the 8th of January 2020 the Europa stamp has been issued in a reprinted and self-adhesive version in a booklet with a new value of E20g

Madeira 2016

Madeira

Date of Issue: 9th May 2016

one stamp (0.75 €) and one souvenir-sheet (2x 0.75 €)

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

Madeira 2015

Madeira

Date of Issue: 8th May 2015

one stamp (0.72 €) and one souvenir-sheet (2x 0.72 €)

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

NOTE ! - On the 8th of January 2020 the second stamp only issue in the souvenir-sheet has been issued in a reprinted and self-adhesive version in a booklet with a new value of E20g

Madeira 2014

Madeira

Date of Issue: 9th May 2014

one stamp (E20g value = 0.72 €) and one souvenir-sheet (2x E20g value)

the stamp is issued in a mini-sheet of 10 stamps

NOTE ! - On the 8th of August 2016 the Europa stamp has been issued in a reprinted and self-adhesive version in a booklet of 30 stamps (6x 5 stamps)

NOTE-2 ! - On the 8th of January 2020 the second stamp of the souvenir-sheet has been issued in a reprinted and self-adhesive version in a booklet