News

Formentera submits plans to implement Es Ca Marí sanitation grid with funding from ITS

Thursday, 08 September 2022 09:28

642
9.28
Formentera submits plans to implement Es Ca Marí sanitation grid with funding from ITS

The Consell de Formentera has answered a yearly call for proposals for Promoting Sustainable Tourism (Impuls del Turisme Sostenible) with plans to implement a sanitation grid in Ca Es Marí. According to Alejandra Ferrer, vice president and councillor of tourism, projects associated with the Sustainable Tourism Tax (Impost de Turisme Sostenible, ITS) are crucial for the island because they "create the possibility of special funding for projects like the Es Ca Marí sanitation grid. This is a very important request by area residents and will reduce our reliance on outfalls and move us towards the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely around clean water and sanitation".

This project will provide this nexus of tourism with a sewerage system in which waste water is treated at the local treatment plant and pulled from the irrigation pond to irrigate the island's fields and close the water cycle.

The works will cost an estimated €1.5 million, with the Consell de Formentera covering 16% (€250,000) and requesting that the remaining 84% (€1.25 million) be paid for with funding from the ITS. Plans will be carried out in three phases: winter 2022, winter 2023 and 2023-2024.

1. Phase "zero", currently planned for 2022: land acquisition (€250,000).
2. Phase one, currently planned for 2023: canals inside the town (€500,000).
3. Phase two, currently planned for 2024: pumps and remaining canals (€500,000).

The Consell de Formentera and Es Ca Marí Residents' Association have held several meetings in which both parties agreed on the primacy of a sewage system where waste water generated in Es Ca Marí can be sent to the island's water treatment plant to close the water cycle using the tertiary water irrigation pond to irrigate local fields.

Developing the "Planned execution of the municipal sewage network for Es Ca Marí settlement area (phase one)" project required a one-off modification of the Territorial Island Plan (Pla Territorial Insular, PTI), including a rezoning of the land in question.

Among the objectives of this and other ITS-funded projects are:

- Climate change mitigation and adaptation: replacing existing materials with more efficient and sustainable ones. The initiative will safeguard against leaks, clogging and rainwater permeability, and ensure that the general pump reaches, first, Formentera's waste water treatment plant, and second, the irrigation pond, where it can reused by the local primary sector.
- Sustainable blue economy, marine biodiversity and marine science: improving the quality of waste water and how it is used to reduce the amount of water leaving the outfall and protect marine biodiversity.
- Circular economy: under current plans, the local irrigation pond will be supplied with waste water, thus closing the water circle on Formentera, decreasing consumption of water from the desalination plant and reducing the amount of water entering the sea from outfalls. For this to be possible, water that reaches the irrigation pond must be high quality, and improving the irrigation pond will benefit the local primary sector as well as locally grown produce and locally made items.

8 September 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Marià Villangómez library extends opening hours to Friday afternoons

Wednesday, 07 September 2022 09:16

Today the Formentera Office of Culture presented the new winter schedule at Marià Villangómez library and the reopening of the Sant Ferran Reading Spot (Punt de Lectura).

Monday 12 September, as the school year gets under way, Marià Villangómez library will begin its new winter schedule. This school year, the library will open Monday to Friday mornings 9.30am to 1.00pm and afternoons 4.00pm to 7.30pm. The new hours mark an extension of last year's timetable, which didn't included Friday afternoon/evening.

The expanded hours can be traced to a plenary agreement in which the Consell undertook to study urgently offering service Marià Villangómez library on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings in response to public demand. "We have retooled staff schedules to open Friday afternoons", explained Susana Labrador, councillor of education and culture. "The current situation does not allow for service on Saturday mornings, but as soon as possible we will implement it."

The Punt de Lectura will also reopen 12 September with its usual schedule: Monday to Friday, 4.30pm to 7.00pm.

cartell 2022ix hivern biblio

Services
Marià Villangómez library offers check-outs, bibliographic information, photocopies and technical assistance at the computer lab. Seven computers are available for consultation, work and study and one computer is available exclusively for consultation. The study room has also been expanded. It is now equipped with 24 seats for study and personal computer use. Three reading areas have been set up as well.

The children's room is open during the same hours and contains material for reading and entertainment.

The Punt de Lectura offers check-outs, bibliographic information, three computers for visitors, and study stations for adults and children. The Punt de Lectura is located in Sant Ferran's Espai Cultural.

Activities
Both Marià Villangómez library and the Punt de Lectura regularly programme recreational, educational and cultural activities for adults and children. They also host writing and photography courses, book presentations, and more.

For further information and inquiries, please send an e-mail to biblioteca@conselldeformentera.cat or call 971 32 33 86.

7 September 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Formentera unveils photographic treasure hunt and family-friendly tour of island's cultural and scenic heritage

Tuesday, 06 September 2022 10:19

The Formentera Office of Tourism is pleased to present a photographic treasure hunt of local landmarks and a family gymkhana in which two fictional children's characters highlight part of the island's heritage and history. According to Alejandra Ferrer, Consell de Formentera vice-president and councillor of tourism, the initiatives are about "offering experiences to our visitors, whether they come alone, with friends or family". The two initiatives offer detailed information on featured monuments. The first encourages interested parties to participate by taking souvenir snapshots which can later be printed out at the Tourist Information Point in La Savina. The second offers participating families a book for the little ones.

Photographic treasure hunt
The treasure hunt covers ten points of cultural and scenic interest on Formentera. Each one is equipped with a special stand where visitors can place their mobile phones and take a souvenir selfie with an ideally framed shot. Photos can then be shared on social media by tagging Formentera Tourism @visitformentera. Sharing entitles participants to print two souvenir photographs free of charge at the Tourist Information Point of La Savina.

foto 2022 ruta foto D

"The initiative has the added benefit of promoting the island so that we get photographs on social media that show Formentera at its best", said Ferrer. The creative minds behind the initiative prepared for the project by studying the most suitable locations, including a panoramic view of La Savina port, Plaça de la Constitució in Sant Francesc, La Mola lighthouse and more.

Family gymkhana
With a parallel gymkhana made specially for families, two fictional children's characters, Trobi and Tana, lead participants on a tour of some of Formentera's heritage and history. The gymkhana spotlights ten points of interest, some of which coincide with those featured in the photo route. At each stop visitors will find a QR code that they can scan to learn about the featured landmark in question. Families that scan the QR code at six of the ten points can visit a Tourist Information Point and pick up their own copy of "Explore Formentera with Trobi" (Explora Formentera amb Trobi), in which Tana, a local lizard, shows visiting Trobi some of the island's charms.

Information on the two routes is available at Tourist Information Points, on the Formentera Office of Tourism website (www.formentera.es) and by scanning QR codes at photo stands.

Photographic treasure hunt: https://turs.photo/qr/formentera/?turs=frm01#section-blog
Family gymkhana: https://gymkhana-formentera.trobatea.com/inicio

6 September 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Municipal archive acquires 18th- and 19th-C. documents on Martí family's claim to Formentera

Wednesday, 07 September 2022 08:57

foto 2022ix arxiu A The Consell de Formentera archive has acquired documents from 1743 and 1804 related to the Martí family's alleged claims to Formentera. Raquel Guasch, councillor of heritage, cast the newly incorporated documents as "proof that the Consell de Formentera achive is actively engaged in conservation and in growing its documentary collection".

The Martís' claim to the island has roots in a 1453 bequeathal by Alfonso the Magnanimous, King of Aragon, of the then undivided fourth part of Formentera, an uninhabited island at that time, to Ibizan Joan Martí. King Alfonso imposed certain conditions, like construction a new fortress and a ban on trading of salt harvested on the island. Joan Martí was royal prosecutor on Eivissa, but the University of Eivissa and Formentera strongly protested the bequeathal and the king revoked it the following year. Years later, Francisco Martí, likely Francisco Martí Torres, son of Sebastià, doctor in laws (1695-1781), sought to prove his lineage with the 15th-century Joan Martí with a view to recovering his ancestor's claim to Formentera.

Documents make reference to the construction of a tower on S'Espalmador predating the structure which currently stands at the site. Interviews with Eivissa residents were also included in an effort to demonstrate the tower was indeed built and that a house in Dalt Vila conserved the Martí family's coat of arms.

The Consell de Formentera archive holds documentation tied to official functions and powers, especially when these were restricted to those of an ajuntament. Among the oldest documents on file are from the civil registry and justice of the peace. The Consell de Formentera archive is divided into two sections: Historical (until 1980) and the Administrative (1980 onwards).

Consultation hours are 8.30am to 2.00pm, Monday to Friday. Visits can be scheduled by sending an e-mail to arxiu@conselldeformentera.cat and indicating which documents an individual wishes to consult.

7 September 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Blues, jazz and rock drive Formentera Guitars Festival in Sant Ferran

Tuesday, 06 September 2022 09:22

The Formentera Office of Culture is pleased to report that the thirteenth Formentera Guitars Festival will take place between 16 and 18 September. Organised by the Formentera Guitars association with the collaboration of the Consell de Formentera, the festival of blues, jazz and rock music has become an unmissable entry on the local summer calendar.

Musical activities start at 10.00pm on Friday 16 September in Sant Ferran's Plaça de l'Església, when scheduled performers will include Piolet Swing, Sgt. Pepe's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Los Peligrosos Gentlemen and The Raters. When the programme picks up at the same time the following day, performers include Maya Alexander Group, Cecilya, The Mighty Groovin's Stuff and Chris Lee. Finally, at 9.30pm on Sunday 18 September, the Sant Ferran restaurant Sa Panxa will host the festival's closing jam-session.