This coming Friday and Saturday, two authors whose most recent publications won't likely be shelved anywhere near each other when they hit bookstores will present their work before Formentera audiences.

The first of these two events will take place Friday 7 November, 8:30pm, at Sant Francesc's Marià Villangómez Library, putting the spotlight on Nora Albert and Laia Moreto Alvarado's most recent offering, a book entitled 'Punta Galera'. Next day at the same hour, though this time at the Casa del Poble in La Mola, Pere Galiana will appear before members of the community to present his own work, 'Formentera, la vida en el passat' ('Formentera, life in the past'). Both presentations have been coordinated by Obra Cultural de Formentera and have received funding from the Formentera Council.

Albert and Moreto's book is a merging of poetry and photography bound together in the centre by one common theme: the bay of Punta Galera in Eivissa. Making it instantly attractive for readers in Formentera, the book is awash in a distinctly seafaring – and island-bred – brand of language. The talk will be hosted by Agnès Vidal and Maria Teresa Ferrer and will include a number of poetry readings taken directly from the book.

Second in line, and based on a true story, 'Formentera, la vida en el passat' is a narrative account of a Formentera family in the not-so-bygone past. Rather than an end in and of itself, the family's story serves as a common thread to guide what is essentially a story about the transformations taking place in mid-XXth century Formentera.

Participants at the second event (to be moderated by Isidor Torres and Maria Teresa Ferrer) will be able to dialogue on a range of topics relevant to local Formentera society, past and present. Some of the topics on the table are the historical evolution of goods purveyance in La Mola, changing generational mores on the island, the Spanish Civil War, the hydroplane base at Estany Pudent and the prisoner-of-war camp in La Savina, recently-declared a cultural interest site by the Formentera Council.

Services of the Formentera Council office of social welfare will extend their public opening times to include two weekday afternoons, times the offices had previously remained closed to the public. Starting in November, the offices of social services will assure a morning schedule of 9 am to 2 pm, Monday through Friday, and an afternoon schedule of 5 to 7 pm on Mondays and Thursdays.

Afternoon service will be identical to the service such as it has always been provided in the mornings. The change means a host of services - social workers, departments handling issues related to immigration, minors and family services, as well as the scheduling service for appointments with the National Police in Eivissa - will now be operational both morning and afternoon.

According to councillor of social welfare Dolores Fernández, the new schedule reflects the  effort by the Council “to make social services more accessible.”

This morning, the Formentera Council held its October plenary. At nearly three hours long, it was an uncommonly lengthy session and one that boasted the participation of council president Jaume Ferrer, who had been on sick leave the two weeks prior to the meeting.

The plenary session was also noted for the consensus obtained on six agenda issues between the governing political parties – Gent per Formentera (GxF) and the PSOE – and the opposition parties – the PP and Grup Independent de Formentera (GUIF).  

The first such consensus was reached with respect to an accord with the Govern Balear's regional department of family affairs and social welfare to provide funding for the Formentera Day Centre. “The funding set out by the accord is wholly insufficient to finance the activity at the day centre,” explained Dolores Fernández Tamargo, “even if it is an improvement on the situation last year. Under the previous funding regime, the Council was responsible for meeting 50% of the centre's costs of operation; the present accord lowers that figure to 40%.” Despite the fact that those in attendance at the plenary eventually approved the measure, Councillor Tamargo lamented the fact that “the accord is still a far cry from the 100% funding provided in 2011 and 2012.”

Attendees were also unanimous in their decision to declare as 'cultural heritage sites' – or BIC (béns d'interés cultural) – the archaelogical sites of Es Cap de Barbaria and Sa Murada de sa Cala. They were, however, unable to reach consensus on the application of this same designation for the Es Campament former prisoner-of-war camp in La Savina. Both the PP and GUIF abstained from the Es Campament vote, PP spokesman José Manuel Alcaraz calling the territory affected by the proposal “excessive”. Making any direct comparison difficult, the floor was not opened for specific comments or objections in the case of the first two sites.

Councillor of culture Sònia Cardona affirmed that “in all three cases the criteria to determine the eligibility of the sites was identical and based purely on technical factors.”

Participants of the plenary voted unanimously to sign on to a country- and community-wide pledge for the rights of children. Dolores Fernández explained, “In joining this pledge – and I believe this is reflected in UNICEF's recent decision to grant Formentera 'Child-friendly City' status – we hope to make the Council's stance clear. This will be an invaluable opportunity to observe what is being done on this issue elsewhere and around us.”

Councillor of tourism, trade and transport Alejandra Ferrer took the occasion of a recent Formentera Council plenary meeting to summarise her office's work over the last year.

Ferrer opened her address with a report on tourism and the findings of entry and exit surveys given to visiting tourists in 2014. According to respondents, the island's most attractive characteristics were its beaches, natural beauty, nature and climate, though cleanliness and safety were also high on the list.

As for aspects that could be improved upon, respondents pointed out “excessively high prices, noise pollution and excessive commercial development.”

Councillor Ferrer said that the work of local government must be to “regulate, delimit and maintain our natural resources on the island. [We must] ensure that Formentera remains a unique quality destination, but most importantly, we must protect the high quality of life of our residents.” Said the councillor: “The majority of locals share this belief, as we've seen in the last several meetings of the Council of Entities.”

Councillor Ferrer rued her office's lack of resources for tourism-related promotions and said that such resources needed to come from Mallorca, “which also happens to be one of our competitors in this area.” The councillor spoke of work by the administration and local business owners to raise the bar in terms of quality standards at tourist-oriented businesses. She also cited changes that have allowed residents to request permission to accommodate tourists, thus providing the proper channels to legally open and operate such businesses.

In a related subject, Councillor Ferrer also spoke about the initial success of proposed guidelines for tourist accommodations. For the time being the guidelines are temporary, but if the advisory council created to that effect issues a favourable report, the regulations will soon become definitive. Ferrer reported that at the end of October the Citizen Information Office (OAC) had received more than 200 inquiries on the subject.

Ferrer explained: “The goal is to assure a high-quality product for tourists, and for those dwellings that don't meet requirements, our work is to discourage owners from continuing to rent illegally. The goal must be to encourage owners of these other dwellings – those that don't meet the established tourist quality standards – to instead open them up to year-long renters. The demand for year-long accommodation is currently extremely high.”

Ferrer also talked yesterday about two more of the tourism office's recent undertakings: first, the inclusion of a reservations portal on Formentera's official tourism website (formentera.es) and second, continued vigilance to ensure businesses abide by established operating hour and noise regulations – “all part of the effort to make tourism on the island compatible with the repose of local residents.”

Ferrer explained that the goal of Formentera tourism promotion was still “diversifying markets to improve our figures in the beginning and end of the tourist season.” She thanked the local tourism industry as well as local restaurants and other businesses for their efforts and noted the collaboration of these establishments in pre- and post-season cultural programming. At next weekend's World Travel Market tourism industry trade show, representatives from Formentera will present brand-new promotional material that pitches the island as a destination for vacationing families.

Councillor Ferrer also expressed her satisfaction with recently-published figures qualifying the 2014 tourist season. The statistical findings, which place September occupancy on the island at its highest point in six years, also demonstrate clear improvements in the month of May (the rate of occupancy during that month increased by seven points, from 38% to 45%). Another important factor according to Councillor Ferrer: “Market diversification is greater now than it has been in recent years. This is helping us reach our objectives.”

In transportation, the councillor highlighted the details and impact of a recently-revised directive concerning public transport for Formentera's visiting tourists. Revisions to the directive have meant that five new chauffeur permits and one chauffeur permit for a handicap-accessible vehicle have been issued this year, a change Ferrer qualified as “extremely positive”. Councillor Ferrer also reported that “new ad campaigns for buses and an information stand at the port – together with physical changes made to the island's bus stops – have contributed to an overall improvement in the public transport service.” The councillor of transport reported that a reordering of public transport within the limits of the Ses Salines National Park was underway, declaring, “we want to ensure that this natural haven is enjoyed by all – and reduce the reigning feeling of overwhelming crowdedness.”

Councillor Ferrer also spoke about the Council's current collaboration with electric car rental agencies and the growing size and importance of that niche. She used the occasion to hint at “an upcoming announcement regarding Formentera's nature trails,” called rutes verdes. “The rutes verdes project aims to collect and compile information on Formentera's network of small country roads into one single place. We hope that such a resource will lead to an increase in the number of people choosing to cycle or walk.”

When given the floor, Cristina Costa of the GUIF praised the local tourism advisory board – el Patronat de Turisme – for its work and effectiveness. Asserting that “tourism here in Formentera works,” Costa outlined a plan “to bring quality” to local tourism, calling for more checks on noise levels in Es Pujols and police stops on the Illetes portion of the highway.” Costa asked for the help of the local administration to guarantee such changes occur.

For his part, José Manuel Alcaraz attributed the recent success of Formentera tourism to “the role played by local business owners.” According to Alcaraz, “Formentera already has what it takes to bring tourists in July and August. The new objective has to be the beginning and end of the season.” Alcaraz recognised the importance of local athletic and cultural programming, saying, “all of our energy needs to be put toward the organisation of such events.”

At different points in the plenary Dolores Fernández Tamargo, representative of the PSOE, and Bartomeu Escandell, of Gent per Formentera, also took the floor to make statements commending Councillor Ferrer and her team for their work.