The Formentera Council henceforth holds the title to the island's day centre. This morning, regional minister of family and social services Sandra Fernández and Formentera's councillor of social welfare, youth services and equality Dolores Fernández met in person to make the transfer official. The two politicians were joined by José Alcaraz, the Govern Balear's envoy on Formentera, and the chief of staff at the centre, Carmel Redondo.

Day-to-day operations at the centre for the elderly and disabled have, up to today's date, been assumed by the Formentera Council. Today's transfer affects the title of the property and facilities themselves, and happens in accordance with law 14/2001 [29 October] concerning the authority of the island councils on matters of social services and social security.

Dolores Fernández said she was glad to see the Council receive legal ownership of a facility over which it had already overseen the administration. The councillor affirmed delays to the building's cession were due to the need to wait out the guarantee periods associated with the originally-constructed building – “to assure that the facilities being received were in proper conditions”.

Sandra Fernández, for her part, offered: “The Govern has complied in every step of the process to transfer ownership of the day centre to the Formentera Council”.

Services at “el centre de dia”, as it is known in Catalan, launched on 26 April 2011. Construction of the centre – which took place on a plot of land ceded by the FiC – was priced at €2,781,000 and funded by social healthcare consortium of the Govern de les Illes Balears. The centre can receive 30 Alzheimer patients, 15 patients with physical disabilities, 15 patients with mental disabilities and a relief unit equipped for four.

El próximo 12 de marzo, a las 17h de la tarde, en la Biblioteca de San Fernando tendrá lugar una nueva edición del taller de ajedrez dirigido a todas las niñas y niños de Formentera.

Se trata de una actividad gratuita que se realiza un jueves de cada mes y que organiza el Consell de Formentera con la colaboración del Club de ajedrez Quatre Torres.

El objetivo de este taller es iniciar a los niños con la práctica del ajedrez, un juego de mesa que tiene muchos beneficios como el trabajo de la toma de decisiones, la imaginación, la capacidad de concentración, reforzar las actitudes de quietud, silencio y tranquilidad o trabajar la previsión de las consecuencias de los actos.

The Formentera Council's office of social welfare is in the midst of programming a free course on socio-cultural integration that will take place over four weeks this spring, 17 March to 15 April. Organisers plan to use space available at the old Sant Francesc teacher's centre, located on the thoroughfare linking Sant Francesc with La Savina. The deadline for enrolment is Friday 13 March. Any interested in attending are asked to telephone 971321271.

The course will be spread across two weekly sessions, from 11am to 1pm, and is intended for Formentera newcomers with an interest in learning about the political and social context of the island on which they live. Although not obligatory, the course will assist immigrants in the obtention of certain documentation. Attendance can be used to validate the Informe d'Esforç d'Integració, a document expedited by the Balearic Islands autonomous community.

The Informe d'Esforç d'Integració (translated literally as 'report on effort to integrate') is a report intended to certify the effort an individual has made to integrate into the local community. The document can be useful for recently-arrived immigrants as supplementary information in the event that they are unable to accredit any portion of the conditions required for renewal of their work/residency permits. Moreover, attendance at such courses as this one often positively affects a person's application for Spanish citizenship.

Dolores Fernández Tamargo, councillor of social welfare of the Formentera Council, noted that the goal of the course was “to improve conditions of daily coexistence and social cohesion on the island” and boasted “Formentera's diversity is a plus...the population today is made up of people whose origins run the gamut.”

Classes will include lessons on the equality of the sexes, values of the European Union and introductory notions on subjects such as the Spanish constitution and the Autonomous Statute of the Balearic Islands. The course will rely wholly on the resources of the Formentera Council; coordination and teaching duties are shared by the Council's immigration services and staff trainers.

For more information and statements:
Dolores Fernández; 647620069
Laura Guaita (staff); 971321271

This morning at offices of the Formentera Council, details were announced regarding the fifth annual edition of Jornades Joan Marí Cardona, a series of conferences dedicated to promoting research on Formentera's cultural heritage. Councillor of culture and local patrimony Sònia Cardona was on hand to explain the calendar of events, scheduled to take place from 16 to 28 March.

Cardona prefaced the presentation by reminding the audience that the Jornades event “also serves to provide source material for a scientific journal, released annually, that we hope will one day soon become a reference in local scientific research.”

The conference series will get under way with an exhibition - “Pedres escrites. Testimonis epigràfics àrabs de Formentera” ('Written stones. Arabic epigraphical testimonies on Formentera') – slotted for 8:30pm, 16 March in the sala d'exposicions of the old town hall. The event aims to promote Formentera's archaeological patrimony on display at the Museu Arqueològic d’Eivissa i Formentera.

Pedres escrites will showcase the four gravestones with inscriptions in Arabic that were found on Formentera and now form part of the Museu Arqueològic's permanent collection. The exhibition will also feature a fifth gravestone found in Es Ca Marí by Mr Rolph Suanberg and recently donated to the FiC by Suanberg's daughter and grandson: Mrs Lena Joy and Mr Michael Warner.

Conferences

The first conference will be given 17 March at 8:30pm in the multipurpose room (sala polivalent) of the office of culture, located next to the Sant Francesc library [All but Dr Enamorado's conference dealing with gravestones will have the same time and location]. Heading a project entitled “Les Primeres escoles a Formentera: mestres pioneres” ('The first schools in Formentera: pioneer schoolteachers'), Fanny Tur Riera, graduated with a bachelor's in History and on the technical staff of the Arxiu Històric d'Eivissa, will share information from her research on the first Formentera schools.

The second conference will be held the very next day, 18 March, with the title, “Des de Formentera, la lluita per la protecció i difusió del dret civil de les Pitiüses” ('The struggle in Formentera to defend and promote Pitiüsa civil law'). Àngel C. Navarro Sánchez, graduated with a bachelor's in Law and employed on the FiC staff as deputy secretary on national affairs, associate professor at the Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) and member of the Consell Assessor del Dret Civil d'Eivissa i Formentera (Eivissa and Formentera Assessorial Council on Civil Law), will take the opportunity to discuss his research work on civil law in the Pitiüsa Islands.

19 March brings a conference entitled “El seguiment arqueològic a la casa rectorial de l'església de Sant Francesc Xavier” ('Archaeological process at the Sant Francesc Xavier church rectory') to be restoration expert Maria José Escandell Torres. Graduated with a bachelor's in History, Torres has been indispensable to restoration work on the Sant Francesc Xavier church rectory.

Francesca Tugores has many honours to her name – a doctor in Art History employed on the staff of the Mallorca Council as technical specialist in historical patrimony, Tugores is also an associate professor at the UIB. She was chosen this year by the Jornades organising committee to share details of her research on nineteenth-century travellers in the Balearic Islands and her thoughts on historical patrimony. On 20 March she will lead the conference “L'obra illenca de l'Arxiduc Lluís Salvador: mètode, aportacions, trascendència” ('Archduke Lluís Salvador's island work: method, contributions, transcendence').

The 2015 series will close with an evening led by Virgilio Martínez Enamorado, doctor in History. Enamorado has become known for his research on al-Andalus epigraphy, the topic on which he will base his conference, “Epigrafia àrab de Sharq al-Andalus. El cas de les Pitiüses” ('The Arabic epigraphy of Sharq al-Andalus. The case of the Pitiüses'). This special closing portion of the conference series will be held at the ajuntament vell (old town hall) at the normal 8:30pm start time.