• Català
  • Castellano
  • English

Tourism

Winners of 14th Christmas Window Dressing Contest get prizes

foto 2020 concurs aparadorisme 3The Consell de Formentera and Chamber of Commerce handed out prizes today to winners of the 14th Christmas Window Dressing Contest. Launched in a bid to foment and encourage the Christmas spirit at hometown businesses, this year’s competition logged a record-breaking twenty participants.

After touring window displays, the panel of judges —OCB’s Savina Majoral, painter Álvaro Mendoza and Amalia Mora and José Manuel Alcaraz of the Formentera Commerce Department— saluted the originality, creativity and imagination on display at the following businesses:

1. Pinturas Cabezuelo, Sant Ferran.
2. Sol Courrèges Boné, La Savina.
3. Be Formentera, Sant Francesc.

This year, judges praised the window dressings at two additional businesses —Pescadería Nuestra Señora del Carmen and Floristeria Formentera— “for creativity and outstanding craftsmanship”.

Deputy premiere and commerce councillor Ana Juan applauded the winners and everyone who participated for “sprucing up window displays and proving that, when the going gets tough, local shops stay lively and dynamic”. Juan said the Consell would continue working with business groups on the island to build capacities and strengthen a unique identity.

Simplicity —a single Christmas tree consisting of a ladder and paint cans— was the name of the game with the display at Pinturas Cabezuelo, a paint store with nearly a quarter century of history serving Sant Ferran. Sol Courrèges Boné repurposed materials for her original window decoration, while Be Formentera’s Christmas display is personalised with products from the shop’s own inventory.

Prizes were delivered to the retailers by Councillor Juan and Lina Tur, of the Chamber of Commerce. Winners took home commemorative plaques and cash prizes of €225 (first place), €150 (second) and €75 (third).

11 December 2020
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

Compra a Casa’s Black Friday gift-card

foto 2020 g munteanuGabriela Munteanu of Sant Francesc has the Consell de Formentera and Pimef’s Compra a Casa to thank for a special Black Friday edition of her new €50 gift-card.

As part of the special edition of the buy local push launched 1 December and set to continue through 6 January, shoppers who show their Compra a Casa card when making purchases of €20 or more will be entered in a drawing for four €1,000 prizes. The drawing is scheduled for 8 January and winners will have one month from 11 January to use their €1,000 gift-cards at participating local businesses.

10 December 2020
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

This winter, Consell to contract 27 of island’s jobless through Reactiva programme of Balearic jobseekers’ office

cartell 2020 oferta xiiThe Formentera Entrepreneurism and Local Development Department reports that this winter local government will contract 27 unemployed islanders as part of the Reactiva programme of the Balearic Islands’ Employment Office (SOIB). The four-month programme entails plans for two separate rounds of recruitment.

The initial round of 16 contracts is expected to start in December, with the second segment of workers to begin during the month of February. Aspiring candidates should visit this link to the SOIB website between Tuesday and Thursday (1—3 December) to register and indicate interest in an offer.

In the words of Ana Juan, Formentera’s deputy premiere and entrepreneurism councillor, the initiative “aims to get unemployed islanders back to work. We hope it will be a big help for residents whose professional prospects this summer were dashed by Covid-19”. “We hope this joint SOIB-Consell initiative provides relief to Formenterencs feeling the sting of unemployment, especially the under-30s and people who have been without work for a significant period of time”.

First-round offers:
-6 administrative assistants (unemployed under-30s registered on Spain’s Youth Guarantee System [SNGJ])
-3 cleaners (long-term unemployed over-30s)
-4 information assistants and 3 brigade members (over-30s whose SOIB jobless status dates back at least three months, or furloughed workers)

Promoted by the SOIB with additional funding from the European Social Fund’s 2014-2020 Operational Programme for Youth and Regional Employment, Spain’s central government and the Sustainable Tourism Impulse Fund (ITS), the €225,810 initiative is part of an emergency programme announced last week that will see Formentera receiving investments of €470,000 between this year and next to the direct benefit of 175 individuals.

30 November 2020
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

Formentera unveils data observatory

foto 2020 observatori dadesConsell de Formentera president Alejandra Ferrer was joined today by Formentera Tourism Department marketing chief Carlos Bernús, department liaison Catalina Ramis and staffer Luz Márquez for a presentation of the Formentera Data Observatory (Observatori de Dades de Formentera/ODF). “As a source of disaggregated local data, the ODF will help us make better informed decisions as we move toward sustainability”, said the president.

The ODF website offers eight visions of Formentera-related information — Society and Demographics; Tourism;  Environment; Transport; Mobility and Accessibility; Economy; Social Welfare and Islander Experience; Culture, Heritage, Education and Sport— which in turn lead visitors to a multitude of increasingly specific resources.

“Until now our data, particularly with regard to tourism and the economy, was aggregated with Eivissa’s. We need that information to be Formentera-specific, not only as they concern these two subjects, but across the board. To be able to enhance the destination we offer tourists and enhance islander satisfaction, the view must be holistic and include islanders’ perspective as well”, said President Ferrer.

Department liaison Catalina Ramis explained how visitors will be able to use the site to access information, graphics and maps and filter search results by keyword. In the days ahead local government will also unveil ODF’s unprecedented “tourist satisfaction barometer”.

Islander satisfaction barometer
Assimilation of new data from the various arms of the Consell de Formentera and other sources into ODF’s dynamic system will be ongoing. And, to assist in development of ODF’s gauge of islander satisfaction, distinct departments of the Consell will highlight areas of future study —the woven baskets Formentera residents have traditionally used to carry their shopping, for instance— that can further enrich understanding of topics like society, the economy and the environment.

30 November 2020
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

Formentera gets €470,000 to finance programmes for jobless

foto 2020 pla de xocThe Formentera Entrepreneurship Department reports that details of the Balearic Islands’ Emergency Employment Plan for 2020-2021 (Pla de Xoc per a l’Ocupació/PXO) were made public today, with planned local investment of nearly half a million euros in direct assistance to 175 islanders.

The package of emergency measures aims to offset the Covid-19 crisis with investments of €116,000 to shield people affected by the pandemic. They money will go to initiatives such SOIB’s Reactiva programme, which promotes employment opportunities for out-of-work islanders, or capacity building for furloughed and unemployed individuals.

After unveiling Formentera’s bespoke PXO rollout, Consell de Formentera deputy premiere and entrepreneurism councillor Ana Juan and head of the Balearic office for economic model and employment Llorenç Pou sat down with stakeholders from local unions and economic institutions.

Describing support for the island’s jobless as one of the Consell’s “fundamental commitments”, Councillor Juan cast inter-governmental collaboration and coordination on such initiatives as “now more important than ever”.

Eighty-seven per cent of the €470,000 package will benefit priority groups like individuals who have been directly affected by the new coronavirus, said the regional office chief. He also flagged €90,750 for long-term unemployed individuals, €117,500 for young people and €86,500 for islanders who have endured gender violence and those at risk of social exclusion.

Pou described PXO’s enactment as “imminent” and said most recruitment would occur in the coming weeks and run parallel to the introduction of various additional measures.

The 20-point plan rests on six fundamental axes

1. Public procurement
2. Business recovery
3. Employment
4. Training
5. Vocational guidance and job-matching
6. Modernisation

The plan sets aside €287,000 for public contracts, €81,000 for training, €64,250 for professional orientation and job-matching and €38,500 for employment creation.

Training at jobseekers’ centre
One modernisation strategy could include training programmes at SOIB–Formentera, said Pou. Tech training courses are also in the works and could start in January.

The director pointed out that the measures make good on the promise of the Balearic Islands Recovery Agreement (Pacte de Reactivació), an integral part of which is policy on quality equitable employment.

PXO’s €72,4 million in total investment will directly benefit more than thirty-three thousand people across the region in 2020 and 2021. An emergency injection of help for Covid-19-related joblessness, PXO marks the first step in creation of the new Quality Employment Plan (Pla d’Ocupació de Qualitat 2021-2023) by the regional ministry of economic model, tourism and labour.

26 November 2020
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

More Articles...

Page 37 of 77

37