News

Four local volunteer seamstresses crank out 300 masks for island shops

Tuesday, 07 April 2020 14:13

foto 2020 mascaretes The Formentera Department of Commerce coordinated the production of three hundred masks by four local volunteer seamstresses. Department chief Ana Juan applauded the efforts of Josefina Mena, Pepita Gabaldar, Maria Luz Barales and Maria Juan Ferrer, not to mention local shops Teixits J. Marí Serra, La Caracola and Merceria Verdera for offering up free materials for the task.

“We are very grateful for the collaboration we’ve seen from normal islanders. So many individuals, businesses and groups reached out to the Consell to offer their help”, said consellera Juan, “and these masks are an example of that kind of altruistic service”.

The masks aren’t certified for use in healthcare, but afford a complementary protective barrier against the spread of Covid-19, and some have already been distributed across local businesses.

Additionally, interior conseller Josep Marí saluted two other local businesses for similar efforts: Taller San Fernanando Motor for sanitising Formentera Local Police cars at no charge and Can Teuet for providing Civil Protection corps with protective gear.

7 April 2020
Department of Communications
Consell de Formentera

Consell de Formentera releases info sheet re: Internet access possibilities on island

Tuesday, 07 April 2020 12:56

The Formentera Departments of Education and New Technologies have unveiled an informational poster highlighting possibilities for Internet connectivity on Formentera. The document was designed to give primary and secondary schools information that teachers could pass along to parents in an effort to ensure pupils have Internet access while kept at home by the state of alarm.

cartell 2020 acces internet covid1

How can we get Internet access for our children?

If you don’t have Internet and you’d like to, there are a number ways to get connected, whether you live in town or out in the countryside.

1) Do you have a cable connection and/or a landline?

Then most likely you can get a fibre optic or ADSL connection. Multiple companies offer the service; if phone them and tell them your address, they’ll advise you on the best option, cost and how long it will take to get set up.

2) Your house can’t get cable or fibre optic? Or you prefer not to instal a cable Internet connection?

2.1 Do you have a mobile phone and get good service (signal reception) where you live?

As long as reception is good where you live, all you need is a mobile phone with a contract for data service or with a SIM card equipped for data service. If they let you share data via Wi-Fi, you’re all set. No installation is necessary. It’s important you contact your service provider so you can review your options and find out about conditions concerning data use.

2.2 You don’t have a mobile phone, but service where you live is good.

You can connect to Internet with a SIM card and a 4G modem. No installation is necessary. You don’t even need a contract; prepaid services work, too. Prices vary per data use.

2.3 Reception is bad were you live?

You also have the options of a wireless radio-wave (WiMAX) connection and satellite connection. For these services you’ll need to contact a WiMAX or satellite Internet service provider. They’ll advise you about the best option, prices and how long it will take to get set up.

How can we help our neighbours’ children get Internet?

If you live in a building in town, your Internet connection might be useful to your neighbours’ children.

How do you do it?

Don’t set a password on your home Wi-Fi connection and configure it so others can connect.
If you know your neighbours don’t have a connection of their own —and you think they may be able to use one for schoolwork, email, online platforms and a bit of daily entertainment— give them your password.

And what if families can’t afford an Internet connection?

Contact the Formentera Department of Social Welfare (Benestar Social) via phone or email: 971 32 12 71 / benestarsocial@conselldeformentera.cat

7 April 2020
Department of Communications
Consell de Formentera

Computers for pupils of Formentera high school

Monday, 06 April 2020 14:40

foto 2020 protec civil ordinadors The Civil Protection corps will hand out 12 laptops, property of IES Marc Ferrer, so pupils at the high school can follow classes online.

Corps volunteers are scheduled to deliver the computers this afternoon, and recipients will be pupils without a computer at home and unable to keep up with studies whilst in-person learning is suspended. The effort was coordinated by Formentera’s Department of Social Welfare with collaboration from the Departments of Interior and Education.

Primary schools on the island are in the process of gauging needs in an effort to help families without a computer at home.

6 April 2020
Department of Communications
Consell de Formentera

51 islanders ticketed for breaking rules of confinement

Tuesday, 07 April 2020 10:09

foto iv2020 drons3 The Formentera Department of Interior reports that since the state of alarm was invoked, local law enforcement have written 51 citations to islanders who failed to comply with confinement orders, namely, by leaving home for activities not allowed under the emergency decree.

Last Friday, Formentera Local Police began using a drone to assist in patrols of the island, issuing fifteen tickets by the end of the weekend. According to Department of Interior chief Josep Marí, “most of the violators were located thanks to the drone, which affords a much wider visual scope than is usually possible in many parts of the island. Ground surveillance here can be quite tricky”.

In randomly selected areas of the island, the aircraft supports the police department’s normal surveillance operations by performing aerial sweeps of randomly selected areas of the island—flights that will continue as long as the state of alarm remains in force. A citation cannot be issued based on drone-captured images alone, rather, the location of possible offenders must first be determined and agents can issue a ticket once on the scene.

Drone operations, just one part of the island police force’s control measures in towns and on local roads, are meant to dissuade Formentera residents from violating the rules.

7 April 2020
Department of Communications
Consell de Formentera

Formentera asks for freeze on non-essential activity to continue until at least 26 April

Monday, 06 April 2020 14:21

On behalf of the local cabinet, Consell de Formentera president Alejandra Ferrer will petition Govern balear premier Francina Armengol to hold off on reactivating non-essential sectors of the economy at least until 26 April. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez announced this weekend that non-essential businesses such as construction firms could return to work on Monday 13 April.

“The Balearic chief executive made a similar request of the central government yesterday, and this is a way to offer backing in that regard”, President Ferrer said. “To lift part of the confinement measures could be dangerous for Formentera, particularly because we have some workers in non-essential sectors who travel to get here, and that poses an added risk.”

Ferrer also offered that firms in non-essential sectors could file for temporary layoff, or ERTO, status—a route taken by businesses forced to close when confinement began. “For many of these business owners asked to assume the economic costs of the two-week freeze, it’s unsustainable”, said the president, “and we’ll need to help them if this goes on much longer, just like we did with the others”.

Infrastructure for isolation
The president pointed out that hotel owners and the local tourism industry made lodgings available for health emergencies, like individuals with possibly mild cases called on to self-isolate from their families. “Thanks to the gesture by the hospitality and tourism sectors, people asked to self-isolate can do just that”, she said.

Ferrer added that such rooms could also help prevent the local spread of Covid-19 by devoting them to asymptomatic patients. “When we receive the tests Madrid says it is sending to the autonomous regions, we’ll see whether they’re effective detecting mild or asymptomatic cases. If they are, we’ll be able to adopt more preventive isolation measures.”