On behalf of the local cabinet, Consell de Formentera president Alejandra Ferrer addressed a letter to the associations of the Consell d’Entitats to applaud their solidarity and generosity: after submitting projects to the island’s Pressupostos Participatius (Participatory Spending) initiative, member groups accepted a proposal from the cabinet to “invest the initiative’s 2020 budget of €325,000 in assistance for individuals and businesses, part of a bid to soften the economic blow of the crisis on Formentera families and leave no one behind”.

As individuals and from positions within local groups, islanders are offering to help any way they can. Take the parents’ group at Mestre Lluís Andreu primary school, which contacted the Formentera Department of Citizen Participation to suggest that the 2020 Pressupostos Participatius budget be freed up for investment in social causes. The department connected with the other groups that had submitted ideas for this year’s round of the initiative, and according to President Ferrer, the response was unanimous: today, the priority is those most in need.

Pressupostos Participatius invites Formentera-based groups to not only participate in administering local public spending, but at the same time, learn about the workings of government and management of public money. Similar to the local government’s own budgetary retooling, the proposed change unfolds against a backdrop of transforming priorities, and speaks both to the maturity of the Consell d’Entitats and to the humanity and solidarity of Formentera’s associations. “We’re enormously proud of you”, said Ferrer.

The money—€325,000 previously earmarked for 2020 Pressupostos Participatius—will be allocated for assistance. Projects that won the Consell d’Entitats’ support in previous years remain on track for execution as soon as the current situation permits.

Other budgetary changes
Many individuals, families and businesses on Formentera are already feeling the grave economic consequences of the health crisis. The central and regional governments alike have implemented various measures, including a Guaranteed Social Income (Renda Social Garantida), renter’s assistance and programmes to help businesses and freelancers obtain liquidity.

The Consell is working hard to keep islanders informed about available assistance and to process applications, simultaneously taking steps to extend how far its own resources go to help at-risk families. All branches of the island’s administration are now engaged in work on a package of measures to ease the pressure of fees and levies assessed at the local level. A budgetary retooling is in the works that will free up a maximum amount of available resources for much needed assistance.

Go-ahead recently came from Madrid so that the Consell could divert €200,000 of its 2019 surplus to social assistance. The local government has asked for permission to use the whole surplus to that end.

21 April 2020
Department of Communications
Consell de Formentera

The Consell d’Entitats reconvened today, Thursday 6 February, in the second of two sessions devised to appraise member groups of plans for formentera.eco in 2020. After an initial gathering last week where the proposal was unveiled, today’s session saw groups get answers to some of their questions surrounding the measure and a vote on exactly when “regulated vehicle entry” will be enforced in 2020.

Citizen participation councillor Vanessa Parellada oversaw the event, which administration chief Alejandra Ferrer kicked off with a look back at the “three-pronged sustainable tourism strategy” used by Formentera to court visitors in recent years. “We’re talking about making the island economically, ecologically and socially sustainable”, said Ferrer, “it’s a brand of sustainability that’s grounded in quality of life—and not just for residents, but also with regard to the experience of our visitors”. “Since the very start, formentera.eco has been about keeping Formentera special; maintaining what sets us apart from other destinations; preserving our sense of tranquility; making sure that people can continue to enjoy the island today and for generations to come”.

formentera.eco 2020
For his part, mobility councillor Rafael González indicated that the ceiling on vehicles will likely be lowered by 4% in 2020. Last year the official limit was 22,382, however, only 21,929 motorists were given authorisation to drive cars on the island. The official limit this year will be 21,487. The question of when regulation would be enforced was also put to attendees of the meeting. After comments were heard, participants put the issue to a vote, agreeing to reinstate enforcement from 1 July to 31 August 2020, namely, peak tourist season.

Visitors must pay €1/day for cars and 50 cents for motor-scooters (minimums—€5 for the former and €2.50 for the latter—are also established). Permission to bring a vehicle and operate it on the island can be requested in advance. Such “pre-reservations” (prereserves) can be made from March on the formentera.eco website and formalised starting in April. Authorisation is guaranteed for people who have already reserved overnight lodging or ferry tickets for vehicle passage. A specific portal will be made available for related inquiries on formentera.eco.

Highlighting “a clear path forward this legislative term for an orderly and gradual reduction of highway saturation”, Councillor González indicated that the upper limit on permitted vehicles was expected to fall by four per cent every year—or 16% in four years. Discussion also centred on upgrades ahead to public transport—part of making sure that, for islanders and tourists alike, mobility becomes increasingly sustainable.

6 February 2020
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera

Formentera’s office of citizen participation has rolled back the clock on its previous deadline for project ideas in the 2020 round of “Participatory Spending” (Pressupostos Participatius), signalling that island groups will have until 10 February to submit proposals. Nineteen proposals came in before the original application period concluded on Friday 31 January.

As citizen participation councillor Vanessa Parellada put it: “Precious little time remained in January by the time the holidays had wound down, and we wanted to make the submission process as easy, inclusive and dynamic as possible”. Parellada called on local groups to “share their bright ideas on how to make Formentera a better place”.

Groups have until 10 February 2020 to submit proposals to www.conselldeformentera.cat (AKA the OVAC, or Virtual Citizen’s Information Office) or in person at the OAC (carrer de Ramon Llull, 6, Sant Francesc Xavier). The citizen participation office has sent out a template proposal to Formentera groups to facilitate the application process. Results will be announced at a late-February or early-March session of the Council of Entities (Consell d’Entitats) once proposals have been reviewed and, if necessary, legal and technical appreciations formulated. The Formentera government has allocated €325,000 to fund Participatory Spending projects in 2020.

3 February 2020
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera

Yesterday evening Formentera’s coalition of local associations —the Consell d’Entitats, or CDE— held a constituent assembly setting in motion the 2019-2023 legislative term. Consell de Formentera president Alejandra Ferrer highlighted “the entire governing team’s intention to boost civic participation”, insisting their scope extends to include “more than just local associations, but islanders of all stripes, and particularly young people”.

President Ferrer delegated CDE chairing functions to Vanessa Parellada, who heads Formentera’s office for citizen participation. The head of the local chapter of Asociación Española contra el Cáncer, Pepita Gabaldar, was appointed the CDE’s vice chair.

Crowdsourcing proposals
Consellera Parellada gave updates on the progress of sponsored projects under the CDE’s “participatory spending” initiative launched in 2016. Looking ahead to 2020, Parellada said €325,000 had already been set aside for projects in the initiative, and from Friday 22 November through the end of January, the CDE is accepting proposals from local associations. “Submissions are reviewed and a preliminary selection of feasible projects made in February”, explained Parellada, who said the next step would involve “proposals being presented to the CDE, whose member groups will in turn decide which initiatives will get funding in 2020”.

New communication channels
Meeting attendees also heard proposals about new ways to communicate with islanders. “Emails aren’t going anywhere”, said Parellada, but to make sure information gets to the CDE’s member groups quickly, additional channels of communication, like group text messaging, will be used — a change that was agreed by the whole CDE.
 
Member groups also reviewed the proposed formation of the CDE’s “Sectoral Sections” (Seccions Sectorials) for the 2019-2023 term. The sections were appended to include two new categories which the consellera called “hugely significant on account of their transversality”: mobility and equality. Representatives of the island’s audiovisual operations entity were named at the gathering as well. The CDE is the highest level, and only, body existing to promote coordination between the different associations of Formentera.

22 November 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera