The Formentera Council bureau of tourism reports that today through Sunday, visitors dropping in at Flavourites, a travel expo in Amsterdam, won't just get an eyeful of Formentera—they'll get its gastronomy, too.

CiF tourism secretary Alejandra Ferrer described the trade fair—“an opportunity to meet end users face to face in the street”, she said—as mainly about new experiences, and particularly those of the gastronomical variety. “The Netherlands are a growing market for the island”, pointed out Ferrer. In the last twelve months connections with Eivissa are up 2.4% and tourism officials cite upticks in recent years in the number of Dutch tourists opting to spend their holidays on Formentera.

Formentera's stand is decked out in photos of the sea and nature scenes, and Dutch-language promotional material features everything from general interest information to the island's catalogue of hometown gastronomy. A four-piece set of posters has also been teed up for the occasion so visitors can put up shots of Formentera around the house.

The goal, says Ferrer, is to reach thousands and spread the word about Formentera among travellers keen on nature, gastronomy and once in a lifetime experiences.

Formentera has also brought in BALTRUS Communication for promotional assistance at Flavourites, where the company's representatives will be able to give first-hand information about the island in Dutch.

The Formentera Council held a town hall-style gathering Wednesday evening for the presentation and review of participatory budgeting for 2018.

Chaired by two CiF secretaries—Sònia Cardona, of citizen participation, and Rafael González, of the infrastructure and mobility departments— the session got started with a progress report on participatory budgeting projects from last year.

Of the 2017 initiatives, the planned children's park in Sant Ferran is on track for completion in summer of next year, while plans to equip the town with a fitness circuit are facing delays due to multiple land transfers required to move forward. Work will continue on both projects, which will be rolled over into the 2019 budget.

The ensuing presentation featured a round-up of the 26 initiatives from last spring, most of which fell into the categories of sport (30%), youth and social services (30%) and environment (21%).

The various projects, brought last year by roughly a dozen local groups, included road improvements in Es Caló and on the stretch of road connecting Sant Ferran and Es Pujols; a skate park in Sant Francesc; water fountains in public schools; a climbing wall in the Marc Ferrer high school's sports structure; a children's park in La Mola; wastebins equipped for recycling; crosswalks with enhanced safety features; and a unification —by installing metal gates to block vehicle traffic—of the distinct buildings of Mestre Lluís Andreu primary school.

Projects considered viable (approximately half of all those presented) will be passed along to the Consell d'Entitats, or Council of Entities, for review and ranking. Member groups have until December 10 to vote on projects and decide which make the final cut.