The Formentera Office of Tourism is pleased to report that this weekend the island welcomed the second Formentera Astronòmica. Approximately 100 adults, including residents and tourists, joined some of the activities organised during the festival and discovered part of the exciting universe of the stars.

Children's activities were also very well attended. Over the course of the weekend 500 children made crafts and visited the planetarium in Sant Francesc's Plaça de la Constitució, where an astrophysicist expert in astronomy education talked to children about the cosmos.

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Vice President Ferrer expressed her satisfaction with the event, which was enthusiastically received by visitors and local star lovers alike. Formentera's low light pollution makes the island an ideal place to enjoy the night sky, and Ferrer pointed out that Formentera had begun steps to become a "Starlight" destination, a network of the best places in the world for stargazing.

Programme

The daytime part of the event, in Sant Francesc, included talks in a hotel and workshops in Plaça de la Constitució. The nocturnal part was carried out in several natural places with little light pollution. Apart from a melding with gastronomy that included two themed dinners with stargazing, participants travelled into space through telescopes and took part in a night photography workshop. Javier Aranda, an acclaimed, Michelin-starred chef, cooked with local chef Juan Exojo at a dinner with journalists and speakers.

Speakers specialised in astronomy included Carlos Briones, researcher at CSIC; Manuel González, astronomer; Eva Ramírez, INECO expert; Asier Arranz, AI and astronomy specialist at Nvidia; Dalila Dawid, night photography expert; Miguel Ángel Molina, general manager of space at GMV; Rosa Rodríguez of SOCIB.

The Formentera Astronomical Association (AAF) once again collaborated in the event. Two night observations of the cosmos were carried out with the help of new AAF telescopes.

9 May 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

The Formentera Office of Heritage is pleased to announce aid for work on cultural heritage sites and work to rehabilitate dry stone walls and bury overhead utility cables on the island. This year €250,000 has been set aside and the deadline to apply for the aid is 29 July. The terms of the offer have been posted to the BOIB and can also be found at www.conselldeformentera.cat.

Raquel Guasch, Councillor of Heritage, framed the 2022 call for applications as "the continuation and consolidation of a now three-year initiative and a clear statement to islanders about the importance of stewarding our heritage". She cast the money as "a chance to cement our heritage as a hallmark of our identity".

Of 25 grants and €192,278.40 in funding that was awarded last year, 17 went to wall rehabilitations (€125,911); 6 went to on-site interventions (€50,267.40) and 2 went to undergrounding power lines (€16,100).

This year funding for dry stone walls has been increased from 45% to 50%. The €250,000 budget will be split as follows: 35% for work on cultural heritage sites, 50% to rehabilitate dry stone walls and 15% to bury electrical and telephone lines.

Surplus aid may be applied in excess of those percentage allocations, with preference for dry stone wall rehabilitations, cultural heritage site work and utility line burials, in descending order of priority.

Submissions to the 2022 call can involve restoring, conserving, consolidating and rehabilitating assets of cultural heritage like cultural interest sites (BIC) and catalogued sites (BC), as well as assets included in Formentera's Cultural Heritage Catalogue and Inventory, provided that associated work improves and enhances the site in question.

Eligible dry stone wall projects will involve repairs performed using traditional materials and techniques, or swapping out concrete block walls or other unsuitable materials for traditionally fitted dry stone walls.

Finally, utility line burials eligible for subsidies will involve either power lines (medium voltage, transformer stations, low voltage distribution networks and individual connections) or telephone lines.

Applications for these grants can be sent to the Citizen's Information Office [Oficina d'Atenció a la Ciutadania,  Carrer Ramon Llull, 6] or to the Virtual Citizen's Information Office (OVAC), which can be accessed from the Consell de Formentera website.

6 May 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera