Some years ago, just after the US Air Force had delivered Viscount Carrington to the NATO base on Porto Santo by mistake, Mr. Carrington remarked that it couldn't have possibly been Madeira due to its enormous wealth of sand. Porto Santo is Madeira's desert island annexe.
It has 8km of unspoiled golden beach, a house once lived in by Christopher Columbus, and almost nothing else. But there is such an abundance of nothing as to make it austerely beautiful. Fifty kilometres to the south, the Desertas are wild, wind-buffeted rocks inhabited mainly by seabirds, rabbits and goats. The Desertas are now a nature reserve and are hard to visit, but hundreds of Madeirans head to Porto Santo in the summer for the novel experience of sunbathing on sand.
The beach can easily accommodate them, and the climate is warm enough to keep northern Europeans happy all year round. Windier and flatter than Madeira (the highest point is a mere 507m above the sea), Porto Santo lies 74km northeast of Funchal and is the only other populated island in the archipelago. Twelve kilometres long and 7km wide, with just three major hotels and a handful of restaurants, it is as 'Undiscovered' as any European resort could be.
To really appreciate the island you need to spend some time here, rather than come on a quick (and expensive) day trip from Funchal. To talk of slipping into Porto Santo's rhythm would be misleading. It doesn't appear to have one. Rather, you become part of a gentle stasis that becomes very difficult to leave. Most of Porto Santo's 5000 or so inhabitants live in Vila Baleira, the tiny port. Here, tourists and fishing provide the most visible source of income.
Most of the island is arid, though the grapes produce an especially flavoursome madeira wine.