Formentera sees ban on excursions as essential part of 'Maritime Transport Act'

President Jaume Ferrer wishes to report that the Formentera Council has submitted representations concerning the regional government's proposed Decret de Transport Marítim, or “Maritime Transport Act” during the period for public hearings. According to the Council chair, the administration's greatest concern lay in “how the act deals with the issue of regular maritime transport” and maintains an “absolute embrace of its prohibition of single-day organised trips to Formentera”.

As part of the appeal, the administration lobbied for an act that includes “guaranteed Formentera-Eivissa ferry connections early in the morning and late at night, a ban on departure time overlap between transport companies and full accessibility for individuals with reduced mobility”.

Ferrer also highlights the administration's full support for the proposed ban on so-called excursions turístiques (“tourist excursions”) and confides that “any walking back of previous requests in that direction is not on the table”. In fact, the CiF chair maintained it was “crucial the Maritime Transport Act put an end to the current situation and offer solutions to the issues of overcrowding that plague the island in summer”. “Taking this act forward makes sense”, says the president, “because it tracks with Formentera's own legislation on environmental and financial sustainability which has already received approval in committee”.

Ferrer hopes the act will be operational before the close of this legislative term, and applauded the administration of Francina Armengol for honouring a three-year-old commitment —to put in place a system regulating entry and egress— which he described as “indispensable for Formentera”.