Something about this 3 December set it apart from other days – this Wednesday doubled as the United Nations' International Day of Persons with Disabilities. And not just on paper. A host of activities marking the occasion were organised by the office of social welfare. Starting in the morning, an informational table was pitched at la plaça de la Constitució in Sant Francesc and manned by the associations on Formentera that work in support of the disabled.

Three associations – the Pau Mayans Association for the Integration of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (APMIPTEA), Eivissa-Formentera Association of Persons with Special Needs and the Association of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue (APNEEF) – had representatives staffing the table at different points in the morning

Similarly inspired programming for the day included a sensorial circuit. Marta Uriarte, the Council's technical advisor on disability issues, described it as “an awareness-raising activity” intended to address the difficulties – normally overlooked by non-disabled individuals – encountered by people who are wheelchair-bound. In another exercise, obstacles were strewn across the ground and participants were asked to complete the course with their eyes banded.

Dolores Fernández Tamargo, councillor of social welfare, was on hand to outline the different services offered by the Council to persons with disabilities. The Formentera Day Centre is a facility created to provide care options not just for the island's disabled population, but also Formentera's elderly and those suffering mental illness. Currently, six Formentera residents with disabilities receive individualised treatment to promote their personal autonomy. The Day Centre also has two programmes open to minors and their families.

One of these is overseen jointly with APMIPTEA and focuses on therapeutic treatments. The second – another joint project, this time with APNEEF – works with patients and family members and concentrates on the psychological and physical aspects of disability. The two programmes serve a total of 25 families.

Councillor Tamargo described the next activity, organised that afternoon: a workshop, led by local artist Sol Courrèges, “so that kids – girls or boys; disabled or not – could come together and play”. Finally, the local youth centre put on an evening projection of a documentary, capping off a full day of commemorative programming for the international event.

This Tuesday, following a month-long effort during which sacks of animal feed were handed out in Es Cap and La Mola, the Council's office of agriculture completed its assistance to local stockbreeders.

An unusually dry year in 2014 meant reduced harvests of those crops traditionally used for livestock feed production. To counteract these effects, the Formentera Council developed an aide package composed of two types of concentrated feed packs. Assistance packs for sheep or goats contained cereals, protein and compound feed; packs for pigs contained barley flour.

Each feed sack was valued at €16.40. The most recent livestock census on Formentera counted 878 sheep, 201 goats and 94 pigs – to wit, a total of €19,237 in aid (VAT included).

Island ranchers belonging to the Associació de Defensa Sanitària, a group promoting proper livestock hygiene, had the opportunity to claim vouchers for free sacks of animal feed at the office of agriculture.

Councillor Juan stated: “This is an extraordinary opportunity and – given the dry season in 2014 – extremely necessary. This assistance is on top of the free medication provided during vaccination drives and the €32,000 in aid already received by local ranchers following the joint accord between the Council and the local stockbreeders' association.” Juan explained that these were just some of the different measures adopted by the Council to “preserve and promote the rural areas of Formentera, whose future depends precisely on the harvests we reap from them.”

In a move aimed at improving rural landscapes and the natural beauty of the island, the Formentera Council has overseen removal of 1,102 metres of aerial electricity lines and 33 utility poles from along camí de Cas Simonets, an artery in the vénda de Migjorn area of the island. The operations also provided an opportunity for council workers to upgrade the connection of 33 nearby homes to the local electric grid.

The actions accompany a broader project – launched in October 2010 with a budget of €614,747 – to beautify the camí de Cas Simonets country road. As part of improvements along the road, electric and telephone lines have been buried and new asphalt laid between the camí de Cas Simonets-Ca Marí road convergence and several metres to the south of the Coves de'n Geroni. The project was scaled back so as to avoid operating heavy machinery over the en Geroni caves, judged too risky given the importance of the site.

Funding for the camí de Cas Simonets improvements is included in the Formentera Development Consortium (or CFD, for Consorci Formentera Desenvolupament) budget, a portion of which is devoted to physical improvements to the Formentera's rural surroundings. Santiago Juan, Formentera's councillor of infrastructure, affirmed that “the dissolution of the CFD does not equal a dissolution of the CFD's rural improvement projects. The Formentera Council has assumed and will continue to assume responsibility of these objectives.”

This morning, the Formentera Council unveiled a holiday activities programme conceived to break the Christmas mould and raise the Yuletide bar – child-friendly, fun-filled, cultural and festive, all at once. Sergio Jiménez, councillor of sport, local holidays and community involvement together with staff specialist Anna Costa were on hand to introduce the winter 2014 programme calendar, which this year has the particularity of placing Formentera's youngest front and centre.

Christmas for every boy and girl

No doubt the most closely-watched spot on the programme is the Royal Cavalcade of the Three Wise Men of the East, which will sally forth at 4pm from the Port of La Savina before cutting a path across the villages of the island, bringing with it street-theatre performances where a giant giraffe or two just might make an appearance.

Before that, though: Diverespai. From 17 to 21 December, mornings and afternoons, an array of inflatable games and other youth-oriented activities will be set up at the IES Marc Ferrer (secondary school) sports complex, forming a recreational installation that has become a Christmas favourite on the island. And for those crisp winter evenings: the Sant Francesc Christmas Market (Mercat Nadalenc de Sant Francesc), operational from 5 to 7pm, will host a variety of games and face-painting workshops for kids.

Then, for any children who still haven't had their fill, plan on special workshops (Christmas decorations workshop; 4 December, 5pm; Sant Ferran library), storytelling (“Contes d'Aprop” [Near-off Stories]; Friday 2 January, 5:30pm; Marià Villangómez library/“Contes del Cel” [Heavenly Storytelling]; Sunday 4 January, 5:30pm; cinema); silver screen productions (“La Niñera Mágica”; 10 December; Marià Villangómez library); and Santa-chaperoned kids' parties (22 December, 5pm, Sant Ferran tent, organised by Showsibiza) to make sure they do.

Christmas festivities

This year, the Christmas tent will be found at La Plaça de Sant Ferran, with a bill packed with festivities and a revolving cast of characters to ensure that everyone catches a bit of the holiday spirit. On 26 December, getting under way at 10pm, “Poptour” regroups members of the most memorable names in 80s Spanish pop.

The following Saturday, 27 December, the evening toning of the church bells will drag another holiday hibernator from his bed, DJ Pharma scheduled to take the stage at ten o'clock to wrap up Christmas right. The weekend after, on Saturday 3 January and at the same time, Aires Formenterencs and Projecte Mut will both do their part to rock and roll in the new year.

A Christmas full of culture and entertainment

In addition to the kid-friendly and musical, the 2014-2015 holiday calendar offers a plethora of cultural activities: an organised hike on 7 December with Eivissa Rural (to register, call 629386348); two childen's workshops – one centred on Christmas decorations (4 and 9 December, 5pm; Casal de Joves) and another designed to guide participants through preparation of their favourite Christmas cookies (20 December, 5pm; Casal de Joves) –; a concert of a cappella Christmas carols (11 December; first session at 10am and additional 11:30am session for visits by local schools; cinema); a live-action re-enactment of Christmas in Bethlehem put on by students of Col·legi Verge Miraculosa in Sant Francesc; a group Christmas exhibition by local Formentera artists (23 December – 10 January); traditional caramelles songs (12 midnight; Sant Ferran church; led by L'Esquadra de Caramellers de ses Roques); and finally, the stand-up comedy of José Botó, member of the Paramount Comedy Club and Club de la Comèdia (Sunday 4 January, 9pm; cinema).

Sergio Jiménez noted that the Council's collaboration behind the 2014-2015 Christmas and New Years calendar was aimed at “encouraging people to stay here over the holidays” and took the opportunity to push local residents “to do their holiday shopping at local Formentera businesses,” a nod to the Formentera chamber of commerce and Formentera Council's jointly-organised seventh annual Christmas window-decorating competition. Finally, Councillor Jiménez wished to show gratitude to the local Three Kings of the East association – Associació dels Reis Mags – for “their participation in the organisation of many of this year's events.”