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Environment minister takes first official trip to Formentera

VISITA VICENC VIDALEarlier today, Consell Insular de Formentera president Jaume Ferrer received an official visit from the regional minister of environment, agriculture and fishing of the Govern Balear, Vicenç Vidal. At 12 noon the gentlemen gathered for a meeting in the Council's plenary hall, where they were joined by Formentera's second vice-president and local councillor of the presidential cabinet, tax office and rural environment, Bartomeu Escandell, local environmental councillor Daisee Aguilera and —director general of the Govern's offices of green education, environmental controls and waste management— Sebastià Sansó.

Regulating moorage along Formentera coast
As Ferrer pointed out, high up on the list of agenda items was the project to regulate moorage along the Formentera coastline. The CiF president said he was hopeful the project —long an issue of particular importance for the Council— would finally move forward under the new regional administration in Palma. Meeting attendants also took advantage of the occasion to discuss the zoning —both maritime and land-based— of the Estany des Peix. Said Councillor Vidal: “One of the challenges our regional ministry faces is drafting a plan of action for the LICs (Llocs d'Interès Comunitari, or regional special interest zones – TN) that surround Formentera”. Vidal pledged that the moorage troubles along the Formentera coast as well as the effort to ensure conservation of posidonia seagrass would both be “priorities” for his office.

Reviving farming at Can Marroig
Another issue on the table, revealed Ferrer, was the Govern's cession of the farmable portion of Can Marroig for cultivation by Formentera's local cooperative of farmers, la Cooperativa del Camp. Minister Vidal proved receptive to the petitions of the Formentera administration, saying: “We hope the land can be farmed once again and that this will assist in the task of producing quality food products”. Vidal was also sympathetic to the Council's request to use a conference room —property of the Palma administration— on certain occasions.

Improvements to the water treatment plant and effluent drainage pipe
President Ferrer called to mind complications this summer at the Formentera water treatment plant and drainage pipe. To avoid recurrence of the same issue, Ferrer asked the Govern to oversee “a remodel of the plant and extension of the length of the sewage pipe”. The regional minister indicated he would study the issue.

Irrigation pond
According to Ferrer, after five years of waiting and an eight-million-euro budget, “it is time the irrigation reservoir become a reality”, a sentiment which was echoed in recent days by the Cooperativa del Camp. The Govern's environmental minister indicated that by year-end the Tragsa company was expected to publish the results of a 3,000-euro project to “inspect the facilities and determine how much it would cost to get them in working order”.

Coordination between the two administrations
The Council and Govern Balear also articulated a need to improve coordination on certain issues. The two administrations pledged they would strive to ensure smoother communication between guards at the Ses Salines natural reserve and the Council's own fishing inspectors and between Ibanat personnel and the Formentera brigade of firefighters.

Deconstrucció, the new selection of work from Teresa Matilla

teresa matillaIn her most recent effort, Teresa Matilla lays out a selection of 15 watercolour paintings and 5 books of sculpture to create an ambiance that is all her own. The result is titled Deconstrucció. To get there, the artist drew on inspiration from the sea that encircles Formentera, a site of meditative solace for Matilla after the loss of her life partner, photographer Reinald Wünche, and after her own experience battling —and vanquishing— cancer.

Matilla explains the process of entering into her paintings and how it enabled her to cut them up and create figures with an added sense of volume. The present culling is marked once again by the artist's affinity for blue and white tones, essential throughout the length of her career. The selection is open to the public now through 26 September at the municipal exhibition hall —la Sala d'Exposicions— of the Old Town Hall (l'Ajuntament Vell), Monday to Saturday, 11 am – 13:30 pm and 7 – 9 pm.

Formentera asks Spectrum to halt petroleum exploration

Today, officials in the presidential cabinet office of the Formentera Council sent off a letter addressed to Spain-based representatives of Spectrum, a corporation behind a project calling for acoustic surveys of an area that stretches from northern Catalonia to the Balearic Islands. In the letter, administration president Jaume Ferrer declares that, “in view of the clear and emphatic rejection of such projects by all branches of local Balearic society” and “considering the environmental impact [of said projects]”, Formentera calls for Spectrum to “halt plans for 2D seismic activity in the open areas of the north Mediterranean and Balearic Seas”.

Rejection of Cairn Energy plan
In the missive, Ferrer explains the active role  the CiF played in the movement to stop Cairn Energy's plans for acoustic surveys in the Gulf of Valencia. “During that time,” the letter reads, “one-hundred twenty-eight thousand objections to the project were collected from the area residents, local administrations, instiutions and associations that make up the social fabric of the Balearics” and continues by presaging: “We believe Spectrum's project would come up against the same opposition”.

Corporate accountability
In view of clear opposition at the grassroots, corporate and local government levels to petroleum exploration plans, and in view of the harm such activity stands to cause to both the local environment, with its delicate marine wildlife, and economy, which relies heavily on tourism and fishing, the Formentera Council hereby casts a vote of confidence in the Spectrum company's ability to act responsably and cease its pursuance of any plans for petroleum exploration.

Looking to keep learning this autumn? Workshops and courses propose quality instruction and serious fun

cursos tardor-hivernToday, the Formentera Council's offices of culture, patrimony and trade have announced their autumn and winter catalogue of courses in continuing education, a selection that comprises an array of workshops and classes for both adults and children. Alejandra Ferrer, the CiF councillor of tourism and trade, enumerated the different courses —from traditional pottery to embroidery, punto canario and crochet— which are put on by her office. She revealed the objective of the courses is to “share knowledge about the craft work that has a long, important history on our island and to keep these traditions alive”. For her part, education and culture councillor Susana Labrador pointed out: “We have tried to remain true to the idea of coordinating —especially for adults— a diverse selection of classes. Our task is to meet the local population's demands for continued learning throughout the winter months”.

Language courses and classes in art and creation
As in years past, the Council's cultural arm (l'àrea de Cultura) has put its resources into supporting language education in Catalan, Italian and English. There is also —as Councillor Labrador noted— a yoga course, a workshop on radio production and a host of different arts and crafts workshops (think painting and wood-carving) to be found in the cultural section of the course calendar. A workshop on design and dressmaking is new on the autumn-winter catalogue, and as designer —and instructor— Eva Cardona indicated, “the classes will give students an idea of the most commonly found tools in the profession and serve to recycle clothing”.

Traditional craft workshops
Something old and something new, the office of patrimony is once again behind a workshop to take students through the creation of canvas espardenyes, and —as office staff member Jaume Escandell pointed out— the office has also organised a brand-new class on traditional fishing tackle.

Espai Frumentària
Among the selection of courses and workshops put on by Espai Frumentària, one is new this year — music and motion for four- and five-year-olds. As Vicent Ferrer —one of the group's members— explained, Espai will also return with courses in creative writing and theatre.

Pre-enrolment
Pre-enrolment begins today, staff worker Verònica Arenas explained, and although some courses (music and movement and Catalan) begin in October, the majority start in November and an even smaller portion —the English and Italian classes— don't get under way till January. Arenas closed the day's press conference with all the remaining essentials: “For more info, anyone interested can visit the office of culture and patrimony, while pre-enrolment takes place in the Formentera Citizen Information Office (OAC) from nine am to two pm”.

Formentera takes its act to Holland

promocio holandaThe Formentera Council and the Patronat de Turisme, the island's advisory board on issues of tourism, has taken promotion of the smaller of the Pitiüsa islands to the Netherlands. Today through next Saturday, the tourist-baiting charms of Formentera will be on display at the 23rd annual “50 Plus” trade show in Utrecht, Holland. Carlos Bernús, head of the Patronat, explained the changes from Formentera's promotional stand at the fair: “Given the growing number of Dutch who visit Formentera, now more than ever the Holland market is becoming one for us to watch”.

According to Bernús, the Netherlands is just the kind of market that Formentera is looking to attract, and our promotional record there proves it. Formentera's presence at 50 Plus —this year will be the island's second— is backed by an average of four promotional events carried out per year in that country. “What's more,” Bernús pointed out, “since last year we've contracted an Amsterdam-based media firm. It works in basically the same way a press office would, the goal being to turn more Dutch people on to Formentera”. In May and accompanied by that same media representation, Formentera reps participated in a trip where attendees included magazines like Marie Claire and other top-shelf specialty magazines with juggernaut spending power. The goal of such promotional measures —in Bernús' words, “low-cost but high-return”— is “to bolster the arrival of quality tourism at both the start and end of the summer season”.

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