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Regulació Estany des Peix

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For group show this Christmas, local artists pay tribute to David Vergara

foto-expo-nadaljp-1-Last night, participating artists in a group show at the Ajuntament Vell gallery pulled back the curtain on a tribute to David Vergara. Formentera’s president and culture chief, Alejandra Ferrer and Susana Labrador, seized the chance to congratulate the group on an exhibition that has been included in the island’s Christmas holiday programme.

Thirteen Formentera artists from a breadth of disciplines will display paintings, sculptures, comics, collage and pottery in a show that runs until 6 January. Texts have been written by the honoree’s daughter Luz and Brenda Novak.

Consellera Labrador described the display as “an homage” to Vergara, who together with his wife Sabine, “newly arrived on the island in 1995, became the driving impulse for art and exhibitions at the Sala d’Exposicions”. “Even though both have left us, their memory will always be right here in the gallery that they filled time after time”, she proclaimed.

Contributing artists at the show include Robert Hawkins, Aaron Keydar, Mar Ample, Franz Kokowashi, Anna Ametller, Enric Riera, Maribel Escandell, Diana Massiliauskas, Teresa Matilla, Josep Ma Moreu, Pilar Mena, Juan Moreno and Lesley Hulme. The exhibition will be open from 11.00am to 2.00pm and 6.00pm to 8.00pm until 6 January.

3 December 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera

Formentera meets with luxury tourism firms at Cannes travel expo

promocio---fira-cannes1Today through Thursday, 5 December, Formentera representatives will be in Cannes, France, promoting the island at the International Luxury Travel Market. From the island’s tourism bureau, Carlos Bernús will attend working meetings with travel agents and luxury tourism company reps who have shown interest in the island as a travel destination.

“We’ve had people reach out in the USA, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand—sources of potential visitors”, said Bernús, who highlighted points of interest like family tourism and “experience-seeking individual travellers with high purchasing power”.

In meetings, Formentera’s marketing chief gives a presentation spotlighting features of the island —history, culture, gastronomy and tradition— that make Formentera an off-season hit with tourists. “ILTM is a showcase for in-demand destinations”, said Bernús, “the expo’s a way to give travellers unique opportunities”.


3 December 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera

Formentera calls for reinstatement of surgeries at hospital, joins response to climate emergency

ple-2019-novembre-1jpRepresentatives gathered today for the November plenary sitting of the Consell de Formentera. Assembly members came together to urge the Balearic government to “restore surgical service at the Formentera Hospital” —which a recent departure left without its specialist surgeon— “as soon as possible”.

Conseller Ramírez brought the proposal, in which the administration points out that a hospital's ability to perform surgical functions is “crucial to proper healthcare provision”, and insists the regional government go beyond the contingency plan currently in place to assure “a professionally-staffed and properly-run service at Formentera's hospital”.

Climate emergency
In a nod to Climate Change Day and thanks to backing from the GxF-PSOE governing team, a declaration of climate emergency passed despite the abstention of opposition group Sa Unió. Backed by environment conseller Antonio J Sanz, the proposal refers to the grave peril faced by the planet, living beings and ecosystems and recognises “the veritable existence of the climate crisis, and the gravity of the situation”. That's why, the text continues, “reducing emissions is the only sure path forward for the island”.

Declaring climate emergency means enacting efforts to educate and change the habits of every islander, and accepting the ecological crisis as a real one. The Consell de Formentera pledges to set in motion such a process of social change and promises to reach the initiative's general objectives. Formentera makes other pledges as well, like implementing new regional legislation on climate change that took effect this year; making the necessary political commitments and assuring the resources necessary to cutting greenhouse gases; progressively replacing fossil fuels; assuring sound management of public spaces; working to recover aquifers and fomenting a locally functioning economy.

Government proclamation
The plenary session also came with unanimous approval for a proclamation on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Equality consellera Vanessa Parellada pointed out that “after the Canary Islands, the Balearics see more cases of gender violence than anywhere in Spain”. Twenty-nine women have denounced domestic violence this year alone, said Parellada, “13 in emergency situations and 16 following recommendations from primary care providers”. In the document, Formentera's political representatives pledge their commitment to the fight to end gender violence, promising to use “public policy and action to promote male and female equality — to achieve a society where every individual's equality and dignity are part of humankind's inalienable rights”. Formentera also calls on the central government to keep the promise it lays out in its “National Pledge” (Pacto de Estado) to stop gender violence.

Molí Vell de la Mola
The session brought cross-party approval for two other proposals. First, to classify the “Old La Mola Mill” (Molí Vell de la Mola) as a cultural interest site. According to patrimony chief Raquel Guasch, “as one of seven local flour mills which at one point existed on the island, this windmill is part of Formentera's ethnological heritage, and the only one with original machinery is still in place”. La Mola's Molí Vell is included in the Formentera Catalogue of Cultural Heritage Sites, established in 2010 and mandating maximum protection for the monument.

Other proposals
One proposal to score cross-party support came from Sa Unió, calling for local government to implement a door-to-door service to pick up deceased animals. The authors of the proposal described it as a “petition from many animal owners and animal professionals” and pointed out that “such a service is envisioned in the protocol for the public service of solid waste collection and transport”.

Another two measures passed with GxF-PSOE support and despite the abstaining vote of Sa Unió representatives. One deals with an oversight regime and limitations on spending and obligations pursuant to article 13 of Royal Decree 424/2017, issued 28 April. “The new protocol is designed to make the oversight process observed by local government employees more objective and responsive”, said economy and tax office conseller Bartomeu Escandell, even as he asserted “some controls by inspection staff will always be necessary to guarantee the process”.

The second proposal to get the go-ahead called for changes in the ordinance regulating the fees imposed on private citizens for using municipal fitness facilities and services and taking part in sports-related activities. Sport consellera Paula Ferrer described the modified regulations as “key to streamlining administrative procedures so we can improve the service delivered to islanders”.

The newest representative of Sa Unió, Maribel Castelló Yern, assumed her office during the plenary session. Castelló takes the place of Anna Negre.


29 November 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera

Formentera and Chamber of Commerce reward local businesses that decorated shop windows for holidays

foto 2019 aparadorisme 3The Consell de Formentera and Chamber of Commerce celebrated the top three contestants today in the thirteenth Christmas Shop Window Decoration Contest (Concurs d’Aparadorisme Nadalenc), a yearly initiative to get out the holiday spirit at Formentera businesses.

The winners were selected by a team of judges made up of Enric Riera, Sol Courreges, Álvaro Mendoza and José Manuel Alcaraz. (Riera is a painter and art teacher at Marc Ferrer High School; Courreges and Mendoza are artists; Alcaraz works in Formentera’s Department of Commerce.) Judges commended the imagination, originality and creativity on display at the following storefronts:

1.-Wecobol
2.-De Vino
3.-Atelier Kentia

Wecobol Construction scored the first prize for a Christmas tree pieced together from recycled material (think driftwood, parking passes, building bricks and scrap metal). Wecobol’s director, Jane Wenham, pointed out that every single employee had helped build the tree, and said the company would donate its prize to the Pau Mayans Association for the Integration of People with ASD. Second prize went to De Vino bodega, where the creators crafted angels out of bottles and customer snapshots, and the third prize went home with the florists of Atelia Kentia.

Commerce consellera Ana Juan and Lina Tur, from the Chamber of Commerce, visited each business to give the Yuletide decorators their due—three commemorative plaques and cash prizes of €225, €150 and €75.

2 December 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera

8 students complete thirteenth Social and Cultural Integration Course

curs-2019-integracio--jpClasses recently ended for a group of eight students enrolled in a Department of Social Welfare-backed course on social and cultural integration held this November at the island's adult learning centre. Chief of social welfare Rafa Ramírez gave students their accreditory diplomas yesterday, for coursework ranging from topics like Spain's constitutional values, human rights and civil liberties, the Balearic Statute of Autonomy, the European Union and gender equality, among others. The twice yearly course is designed to help participants prepare for the CEE citizenship test or demonstrate integration during the early phases of their stay in Spain.

28 November 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera

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