Leader fund provides €189,000 in financial backing for five Formentera projects

The local action group of Eivissa and Formentera – known as the Leader project – has decided to fund five projects presented by the Formentera Island Council. Altogether the projects will receive a total of €189,040 in assistance.

The greatest portion of the funding will go to a project that aims to chart the location of rural homes across the island. The goal – replacing the current I.D. plaques on remote Formentera homes with a newer model – is that homes can be located automatically in case of emergency. The estimated total cost of the project is €275,900, of which the Eivissa-Formentera Local Action Group will fund half: €137,950.

The second project that will receive support from Leader includes a refitting of the Formentera Image and Sound Archive, a plan which would equip the archives with the instruments necessary for the storage of local photos and sound files. The Leader project will provide €22,024, sixty percent of the estimated 36,707€ required.

Money will also be provided for the restoration of four wells ('pous' in Catalan) – el pou de ses Illetes, el pou Marès, el pou de ses Rates and el pou des Verro. Assistance for this project will total €15,222, also sixty percent of the project's estimated €25,370 cost.

Both of the two final projects set to receive financing are related to the Antoni Tur “Gabrielet” Centre. At a cost of €10,575, the first project will oversee the purchase of refrigerators and scales for the farmer's market organised at the centre. Of the total cost, the Leader project will cover 75%, or €7,931.

Also for the “Gabrielet” Centre, though this time for its role as an art venue, half of the €11,800 total required for shelving, machinery and materials for use at exhibitions.

Formentera is a member of the Leader project, whose objective it is to improve quality of life in the countryside, stem population flight from rural areas, and – by diversifying activity in the agricultural sector and developing small-scale farming businesses – to increase revenues in Formentera's rural sector.