Earlier today, the president and cabinet councillor of the Formentera Council, Jaume Ferrer and Bartomeu Escandell, met with four representatives of the Palma administration on an official visit to the island. Ferrer and Escandell joined Francina Armengol, Govern president; Joan Boned, regional secretary of land; Maria Antònia Garcías, director of the regional institute of public housing (IBAVI) and Carles Gabriel, an architect at IBAVI, on a visit to the building site in Sant Ferran where low-cost housing is currently under construction.

The Govern president lauded all the work which has gone into the project, as well as the contribution of the Formentera Council, which ceded part of the terrain where construction is taking place. Armengol called the housing units «particularly special given their environmental sustainability».

A mix of modernity and tradition

For the Formentera Council president, the project’s strength lies in the balance of modernity and tradition that it strikes. «Both the exterior walls of the building and those of the individual units are insulated using posidònia sea grass», pointed out Ferrer, «a feature that brings about savings of both money and energy». The CiF president expressed his hope that henceforth all public buildings include such green thinking.

The president is anxious to see the island become «a pioneer in green housing», commenting: «Such projects reflect the same image Formentera tries to embody». He expressed his «eagerness for families to move into the 14 apartments», something the administration anticipates for early 2017.

Regional land secretary Boned indicated construction will be complete by year-end 2016 but said the wait list has not yet been opened. He concluded by reminding the audience of the goal of the project: «Decent homes for those whom current market prices leave out».