The Council of Formentera's office of social welfare has announced its decision to construct the future municipal morgue on a plot of land that is just across the street from the municipal cemetery. The chosen site – a 10,000-sq-m lot originally acquired by the Council to accommodate the day centre residence – has its entry on the other side of the same access road, between the cemetery and the local day centre.

In the wake of the announcement the project will begin moving forward immediately, the first step of which requires drafting and public tendering of building plans. These measures have been anticipated since last year, when the 2015 council budget was formulated to include a line item for capital investments in the amount of €50,000.

Following the most recent discussions on the state of affairs on the island – a series of talks that took place over six days in June 2014 – participants at the attending council plenary voted unanimously to endorse construction of a municipal morgue.

Initial plans called for placing the morgue on the same lot as the cemetery itself, an old structure whose cultural and architectural value accord it certain official protections. Council planners then proposed searching for a site adjacent to the cemetery and various conversations were held to this effect with neighbouring landowners. After much review the Council opted for the current site, a swath of public land just metres from the cemetery.

This morning, attendees at the plenary hall of the Formentera Council saw details unveiled regarding the island's first-ever footrace for women. Scheduled for 1 March at noon in Sant Francesc Xavier, the event was conceived as a way to benefit the Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC, for its initials in Spanish). Funds collected from registration dues (€10) will finance cancer research.

At the presentation were Espai Dones local chapter president Vanessa Díaz; AECC representative Mari Carmen Gabldar Cordellet; president of Grup Esportiu Espalmador, Omar Juan and Formentera's councillor of sport Sergio Jiménez.

In the words of Councillor Jiménez, organisers want to ensure the footrace “is for everyone: walkers and runners. The important thing here is solidarity behind a common cause and raising money to fight cancer”. Enrolment is being held at the Antoni Blanc sports centre between 8am and 10pm and online at formenteraesports365.com. Participants will also receive a commemorative dark-pink T-shirt.

Espai Dones president Vanessa Díaz alluded to the significance of the T-shirts, explaining the call to deck out supporters in pink as a way “to increase visibility for the support of cancer research”. Díaz also reminded the crowd that after the walk-run, a community paëlla (€15; 2pm) would be held to take fundraising efforts even further.

AECC representative Mari Carmen Gabaldar Cordellet thanked the Formentera Council and all the other groups involved for their participation and reminded listeners of her organisation's many needs. “We provide assistance that is both physical and psychological. Unfortunately, the world is full of individuals living with cancer and all help is welcome”.

For his part, Omar Juan, president of the Espalmador sports group, offered specifics about the race itself. “This was essentially hatched as a way to bring together sport and healthy-living. The 2.5-km circuit was conceived for walkers rounding the course one single time, or runners who prefer to make two laps.” Juan said that the route would not stray far from town, “which is why Sant Francesc will be closed to vehicle traffic during the run”.

Organisers were sure to emphasize one point: the race is for everyone. From pram-pushers and parents accompanying kids on training wheels to runners bent on a livelier step, anyone supporting the cause will be welcomed.   

For more information:

Espai Dones, 697941016
Spanish Association against Cancer, 670291414

This week, restoration work began on the Es Pi des Català defence tower, located on a stretch of the eponymous neighbourhood just inland from Migjorn beach. The project has an estimated cost of €170,603, some of which will be covered by funds from the Pitiüsa Island Leader programme. The end of construction is expected for the month of June.

Design of the project is headed by architect Marià Castelló and archaeological oversight is being provided by archaeologist Maria José Escandell. Specialists in historical patrimony, Refoart Ltd. is at the helm of construction.

Two different facets set the project apart from others of its kind. First, in their restoration of the tower, workers will make use of some of the original structure, which dates back to the second half of the eighteenth century. Second, Castelló has turned heads with his decision to convert the tower's wide aperture – initially regarded as a problem by conservationists of La Torre – into an asset for the reformed defence tower.

The move involves an opening located at the ground level that allows passage into the tower. This cavity – which, due to its size, constituted a fairly aggressive incision into the tower – will serve as an entrance permitting visits by the public. This same solution was ruled out at the recently-restored Torre de la Gavina because the entryway there had been cut out nearly four metres above the ground.

The Torre des Pi des Català monument has been declared cultural heritage site (also referred to as a BIC, for 'bé d'interès cultural') and is included in Formentera's catalogue of cultural patrimony with level-A protection. In accordance with the provisions of the law on patrimony and public administrations, the site was ceded by Madrid to the Formentera Council in May 2012.

Increases to the rates of recyclable waste collection significantly surpassed increases in normal waste collection in 2014. The curve expressing paper, glass and plastic collection displayed sharper growth than the population curve itself, while increases in normal rubbish collection trailed below. Plastic recycling was the undisputed leader in growth, for it displayed positive increases of 25% compared to 2013 figures.

In terms of standard waste collection –the rubbish tossed by Formenterencs that ends up in the local tip– , the year 2014 saw the generation of 7,215 tonnes compared to 6,841 tonnes the year before – equivalent to an increase of 5.47 percent. During this same period the local population grew by 7.5% (on 1 January 2014 the Institut Nacional d'Estadística registered 11,548 residents; one year later this number had grown to 12,423). Some adjustments are of course necessary for an especially busy summer season, one whose May-through-September occupancy rates were 80.45% compared to 78.10% twelve months earlier.

Curiously, the month in 2014 that logged the most deflated standard waste collection was February (253 tonnes). Comparisons made with the month of August -when at 1,192 tonnes the figure was at a yearlong high- reveal growth by a factor of nearly five.

Recycling

Collection of recyclable plastics reached 305.96 tonnes in 2014, 25% percent more than in 2013 (244 tonnes). These figures were at their highest in summer -July, August and September had monthly collection totals of some 45 tonnes- and bottomed out again in February, during which time plastic collection was at a meagre seven tonnes. This put recyclable plastic collection six and a half times higher in the peak of the high season than in the trough of the low season. Recycling taking place at beaches -zones where high levels of packaged- and canned-good consumption occurs- is one potential explanation for the impressive figures. Here we must recall the change that switched out normal rubbish wastebins for more inclusive recycling bins and simultaneously placed these directly at points of entry and exit to Formentera beaches. The move was immensely successful, all the more so because for the majority of Formentera beachgoers –who often hail from urban environments– recycling is already an acquired habit.

In 2014 recyclable paper and class collection were up by between eight and a half and nine percent – 846 tonnes of paper and cardboard were rounded up compared to 778 tonnes the year before. The crescent-and-trough trend is repeated here as well, with August as the highest-generating month for paper and cardboard (129 tonnes) and February being the lowest (29 tonnes). Growth in recyclable glass collection came in at 8.5 percent, meaning that the 760 tonnes collected in 2013 became 823 tonnes the year after. For glass, the lowest-generating month was January (27 tonnes) and the highest-generating were August and September (151 tonnes each).

Electric appliances and slaughterhouse

Electric appliances make up a percentage of the standard or separately-collected rubbish each year. For the period between 2013 and 2014 this indicator rose from 103.6 to 167 tonnes – a 62% increase. Hopes are high that with the soon-to-be-opened rubbish tip these figures will improve even more. The local slaughterhouse generated 5.34 tonnes of waste in 2014, relatively unchanged from its 2013 level (5.76 tonnes).