News

Half of Formentera's seasonal taxi fleet are hybrid cars

Tuesday, 02 August 2016 17:01

foto parada taxis formentera The Formentera Council's bureau of mobility has reported that four of the eight seasonal taxis on the island this summer are hybrid cars. The Council's action plan on seasonal cabs for 2016 and 2017, created with the local chauffeurs' association, proposed requiring 25 per cent of seasonal taxis to be hybrids, however, as Rafael González, CiF transport councillor, commented, “we revised our outlook. It's improved and now 50 per cent of our fleet is hybrid.”

Seasonal taxi-chauffeuring permits are awarded on a point-based system. Higher scores are given to hybrids, new cars, vehicles equipped for credit-card payment and vehicles which generate returns to the Council that exceed a monthly minimum of 1,000 euros. Under the previous plan five individuals received permits; the current plan calls for increasing that number to eight. In the past, permit-holders could drive a taxi for a three-month period; that has now grown to four months, and there is a broader spread of working times.

Formentera asks Govern to retool regional employment programme

Monday, 01 August 2016 22:46

foto trobada consell eivissa Vanessa Parellada, head of the CiF Office of Social Welfare, attended a presentation on generating employment opportunities that was hosted by the Govern Balear's labour minister, Iago Negueruela, today at the Eivissa Council. The event, which was also organised by the director general of the regional employment bureau, Pere Torrens, and Eivissa's labour councillor Viviana de Sans.

The Palma government officials explained the plan stood to create work for some 182 jobless individuals in the Pitiüsa islands via programmes at the town and island council level. Estimates put new jobs created on Formentera at roughly 28, with potential investment on the island reaching 86,000 euros.

The CiF social welfare councillor urged the Govern reps to ensure those plans are in tune with the local situation on Formentera, so that “they benefit unemployed Formentera residents too”. Parellada pointed out that the Formentera labour force is different to those of the other Balearic Islands and asked consideration be given to each island's idiosyncrasies. She suggested that job programmes be scheduled for winter, or that projects that exceed six months be split into two phases “given the seasonal nature of Formentera's job force”.

Under the programme proposed by the Govern there would be three possible employment schemes, one, for unemployed individuals under 29, offering training for positions at local corporations. Another programme proposes separate training and hiring measures for people over 30. Lastly, Visibles is aimed at benefit-strapped residents that are over 45 and have got dependants to their name.

Formentera police instruct catering service to strike waterside set-up

Tuesday, 26 July 2016 16:41

Foto ocupacio domini public Last Sunday, July 24, an event planning firm contracted by individuals aboard Icon, a yacht wearing Dutch flags, set up catering facilities on public shoreline near kilometre nine of Migjorn beach. Using nautical equipment to cordon off a stretch of the beach, the company set out roughly 30 chairs and 10 tables before proceeding to array parasols and hammocks on the sand as well, to the chagrin of other beachgoers.

Formentera local police and a steward of the Balearic coast guard arrived at the scene and ordered the set-up to be taken down. The municipal employees have now drafted a report about the occurrence that will be passed on to the Formentera Council. According to CiF environment councillor Daisee Aguilera, the administration will now pass along the report to the regional coastal authority, Demarcació de Costes, which will issue a fine.

Aguilera took the opportunity to remind Formentera's visitors that organising events on public beaches, "much less sectioning off areas for private use, is strictly prohibited”. The Council, she said, hopes Sunday's occurrence will help ensure similar events aren't repeated in the future.

CiF convenes July plenary

Friday, 29 July 2016 21:17

foto ple juliol 2016 Members of the Formentera Council (CiF) met today for the July plenary session. By the session's end, attendants had unanimously adopted an agreement between the Balearic Islands autonomous community (CAIB) and the CiF on the places at the Formentera Day Centre for dependent adults. Social welfare councillor Vanessa Parellada said signing the pact was “an issue of political responsibility” but called attention to an unfavourable report issued previously by the centre's administration that underscored insufficient funding to care for all the patients there. At present, Parellada said, the day centre relies on the Council to make up the funding shortfall.

Plenary members also unanimously passed a measure to establish the island's local holidays for the 2017 year. According to Susana Labrador, the CiF's head of culture, the two festivals will be the Festival of Sant Ferran on May 30 and the Festival of Sant Jaume on July 25. The latter is also island's official holiday, known as Formentera Day, or Diada de Formentera.

Cutting energy consumption
The day's session also brought approval for a measure by the Popular Party to maintain fixed thermostat levels (21ºC for heating and 24ºC for air conditioning). Daisee Aguilera, the Council's head of environment, highlighted the administration's support for the measure to improve energy efficiency, which she said would “reduce our energy consumption and offset some of the effects of climate change”. She also predicted a positive impact on the Council's electricity bill.

All the representatives at the plenary supported the socialist group (PSOE) on a measure to re-establish periodic cleaning and telephone services at the Es Cap centre for the elderly. Finally, a one-off measure was adopted regarding town and country planning at Cala Saona. Councillor Aguilera pledged to pass along news of the plenary agreement to the responsible authorities —the coastal authority and the harbour master's office— “so that land use in the area can be improved”. Aguilera cited improvements needed in the way activities at the cove are managed and watercraft safety is overseen, but pointed to “swimmer and beachgoer safety” as a leading concern.

Formentera pigeon hunters get temporary go-ahead

Friday, 22 July 2016 19:21

In an effort to keep fauna populations in check and protect local farming production, the Formentera Council's Office of Rural Affairs has issued a special provision effecting Formentera's game preserves. The following five Sundays —from July 24 to August 21— from 7.30 to 11.30am and 5.30 to 9.00pm, the common wood pigeon may be hunted on authorised game preserves.

Pointing to a recent spike in the pigeon's numbers on Formentera, rural affairs councillor Bartomeu Escandell explained the aim of the move was to “protect crops threatened by these birds, especially on local vineyards”. The hunting techniques permitted will not change from those set out by current laws in force, and hunters' assignments to specific reserves will not be affected. Escandell said the measure was in tune with the Formentera Council's policy of rural renewal and pest control for species that impede it.