Construction to start on industrial estate

Development of the industrial estate began in October and has been presided over by the Islasfalto Ltd., which was awarded concession rights to the contract. The end of the project is anticipated for April of next year, set to precede the start of the tourist season.

It should be made clear that industrial activity per se does not exist on Formentera. Rather, work will include fitting the zone for logistical services and increased storage in a move to better prepare the zone's businesses to serve the rest of Formentera.

The plans, promoted by a consortium of landowners of Formentera's industrial zone (known in Catalan as a junta de compensació), which includes all of the surrounding neighbours as well, received approval from the Evaluative Technical Commission (CTA) of the Formentera Island Council in March 2013. With this approval received, the project was able to move forward after more than 20 years of legal precariousness.

Palma's definitive approval for the industrialisation project redounded in simultaneous legal approval for the development plans, land-use and easement.

Since the landowners' consortium is also the project promoter, it falls upon the consortium to oversee asphalting of roads, construction of pavements, installation of public lighting, water and sewage works, street furniture and other services. The project's main aim will be to provide the zone with the logistic services necessary to proper business operations, increasing comfort for the local population in general and for the business sector in particular.

Special care has been taking to assure that the impact of construction is minimum and adapted to the immediate surroundings. An important feature of the project will include the planting of trees alongside the highway in order to mitigate this potential visual impact.

This project is the first step toward a normalisation of activity in the zone, which had heretofore occupied a legal grey-area. The changes will allow for the creation of a well-ordered and regulated service area on the island. Beginning with the improvements contained in the current project, other sources of bothersome activity – currently scattered across the island in towns and on rural terrain – can be relocated to the newly-fitted industrial zone, thus progressively eliminating unsightly collections of machinery, construction material, vehicles, et. al. that are currently having a notable impact on Formentera's natural beauty.

The industrial zone improvement project, located along the portion of PM-820 between Sant Francesc and La Savina, is another example of an application of Formentera's Subsidiary Town-Planning Regulations (Normes Subsidiàries de Planejament Urbanístic), a clear step forward in the land-use protocol for our island.

Councilor of Territory, Bartomeu Escandell, expressed his satisfaction in finding a solution for the problems of the industrial zone. “It has been four years of hard work between the junta de compensació of the industrial zone and the Formentera Office of Town-Planning that allow us to stand here today and boast the success of a project that will finally serve the real needs of this area of the island.” Adding that, “after twenty years, Formentera will finally have a service and logistics zone with the quality required by the island's commercial and tourist industry sectors.”