News

Lifelong learning for seniors returns to Formentera with a seven-lecture series until May

Tuesday, 25 January 2022 10:34

The Formentera Office of Seniors is pleased to report that from 4 February the Open University for Seniors (Universitat Oberta per a Majors, UOM) returns to Formentera with a seven-part lecture series scheduled to run until 13 May. Ana Juan, President of the Consell and Councillor of the Elderly, encouraged islanders 50 and up to come out for the lectures, hosted in various local venues and in accordance with health and safety measures. "The talks will see prominent speakers taking on a wide variety of topics ranging from episodes in local history to everyday subjects of interest", explained Juan.

President Juan will attend the first instalment along with UOM Director Antoni Gamundí.

The talks will take place at 5.00pm and take place at the Sant Francesc retirees and pensioners club, Sant Ferran social centre for the elderly and La Mola's Casa del Poble. Lectures will start at 5.00pm.

Programme:

4 February (Club de Jubilats, Sant Francesc)
'Sleep Well, Live Well', by Dr Mourad Akaârir, professor of physiology at the Universitat de les Illes Balears

18 February (Centre Social de Majors, Sant Ferran)
'The Formentera Penitentiary (1940-42). An Overview and Assorted Contributions', by Dr Antoni Ferrer Abárzuza, Historian and Researcher

4 March (Casa del Poble, La Mola)
'La Mola: Notes From Modern and Contemporary Times', by Felip Cirer, Professor of Catalan Language and Literature

18 March (Sant Francesc)
'Sustainable Development Goals: 17 Tools to Change the World', by Fina Darder, Coordinator of the Fons Pitiús de Cooperació

1 April (Sant Ferran)
'Principal Pests Affecting Formentera's Crops', by Antònia Blanes, Agri-Food Production Technician of the Cooperativa del Camp de Formentera

29 April (Sant Francesc)
'Historical Notes on Bread, Wine and Meat on Formentera', by Dr Santiago Colomar, Professor at IES Marc Ferrer

13 May (Sant Ferran)
'Surnames of Formentera. History and Linguistic Curiosities', by Joan Albert Ribas, Philologist

25 January 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

31 Jan. marks start of special enrolment at new Sant Ferran "escoleta"

Tuesday, 25 January 2022 09:31

foto 2022 escoleta The Formentera Office of Education is pleased to report that from Monday 31 January to Friday 4 February, the administration of the Sant Ferran nursery, or escoleta, will oversee a special period of enrolment for children born in 2021.

The escoleta will accommodate seven more children, said Susana Labrador, Councillor of Education, who expressed satisfaction at being able "to offer more places to Formentera children and families who need it".

Registration: 31 January to 4 February, both inclusive

Enrolment can be completed online on the Virtual Citizen Information Office (OVAC) or by phoning the Sa Miranda escoleta at 971 32 34 15 between 9.30am and 2.30pm, Monday to Friday, to schedule an in-person appointment. On account of the public health situation, appointments are required. No inquiries or applications will be accepted after the established date.

Once applications are submitted, the admissions process will proceed as follows: The provisional list will be made public on 9 February, after which a period of claims will follow from 9 to 11 February. The definitive list of acceptees will be published on 16 February and enrolment will take place between 17 at 21 February. Children will be able to start attending in March.

The Sant Ferran escoleta opened its doors in September. Today it serves 27 one- to three-year-olds and employs 5 workers. Sa Miranda escoleta currently serves 82 children under three, 7 of whom are babies. Councillor Labrador voiced her hopes that the new period of enrolment would bring the centre's waiting list for babies to zero, as typically occurs with other age groups. She also pointed out that the Sant Ferran escoleta was designed to expand to adapt to growing enrolment.

24 January 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Applications now accepted for 24 seasonal cab permits for 2022/2023 seasons

Friday, 21 January 2022 13:46

The Formentera Office of Mobility is pleased to report that from 21 to 31 January, both inclusive, applications will be accepted for seasonal chauffeur permits on Formentera for 2022 and 2023. All told, 24 seasonal taxi positions will be made available, with half the drivers working from the start of June to mid-September and the other half driving from mid-June through the end of September.

This initiative is included in Formentera's 2022-2023 Action Plan for Public Transport in Passenger Vehicles, which was approved with the consensus of the taxi drivers' association. Forty-nine drivers will provide service in summer 2022 and summer 2023: 25 with regular permits and 24 with seasonal ones. Rafael González, Councillor of Mobility, pointed out that the move would put 29% more cabs on the road than in summer 2021, when there were 38 cabs (25 ordinary permits and 13 seasonal).

"The plan improves the supply of Formentera's public taxi service, taking into account jumps in demand that have occurred in recent summers", explained the councillor. Demand for taxis increased 8% between 2021 and 2019.
This plan works toward the objectives outlined by the Sustainable Mobility Plan of the Consell de Formentera and formentera.eco, which in addition to regulating vehicles brought and driven on the island, establishes the need for improvements in local public transport.

Applications

This offer is open to holders of permanent permits; salaried transport sector employees and former holders of temporary permits. Among the permits that have been set aside, 19 are for holders of ordinary chauffeur permits on Formentera and five are for salaried workers and former permit-holders. Permits can only be used by the person named on the document.

Terms governing the application process were published yesterday in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB) and on the Consell de Formentera website. Permits will be awarded in a process of open competition. The terms and conditions are available here.

21 January 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

CES presents 2020 report on economy, jobs and society in Balearics

Monday, 24 January 2022 13:18

foto 2021 CES Today Ana Juan, President of the Consell de Formentera, and Bartomeu Escandell, Councillor of Economy and Finance, met at the head offices of local government for a presentation from Rafel Ballester Salvà, Chair of the Economic and Social Council (Consell Econòmic i Social, CES); Josep Valero, CES Secretary, and Ana Garau. Ballester, Valero and Garau's report focused on the economy, employment and society in the Balearic Islands in 2020. After the meeting, representatives of media outlets sat for a presentation as well.

President Juan began by calling the CES's work "essential" and said the independent body of participation and analysis "serves to offer an accurate picture of the current situation in the Balearics and helps us to rethink our future". The 2020 report emphasises "the highly seasonal nature of our economy and the significant summertime strain on Formentera" – strain which, she insisted, "is more acute than on any of the other islands". She offered, "These aspects should make us reflect on the path we have travelled and the future we want for the island".

The CES representatives described a report marked by the impact of COVID-19 on the region. As for data that speak to the economic outlook, the Balearic archipelago has been the most affected of all the regions of Spain. Gross value added (GVA) shrank 20.7%, tourism shrank 81% and spending on tourism fell 83.9%. Dependence on international tourism drove the Pine Islands' GVA down 24.6% – the most marked adjustment in the archipelago.

Compounding things further, at €11,275.50, Formentera's gross disposable income per capita was the lowest in the region: 28% below the Spanish average and 30% below the Balearic average.

On Eivissa and Formentera the service sector accounts for 71.1% of the total GVA – a higher proportion than elsewhere in the region (83% of Formentera companies registered with social security operate in the service sector).

The 80.3% drop in tourism on Eivissa and Formentera was very similar to that of the Balearic Islands as a whole. Differentiating by place of origin, in the Pine Islands, foreign tourism fell 87.8% and national tourism 50.1%.

Meanwhile, construction, which fell in 2020 in the Balearic Islands as a whole, increased on Eivissa and Formentera: by 0.8% in terms of construction permits and by 4.8% in terms of housing permits.

On the job market, social security registrations sagged 15.3% on Formentera – twice as much as across the archipelago. At 123.3%, Formentera's seasonality index rating outstrips all of its regional neighbours'.

From a demographical perspective, 28.69% of Formentera's population is foreign-born and 64.53% were born outside the Balearics Islands.

24 January 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Formentera rebrà 2 milions d'euros per finançar quatre projectes del Pla territorial de sostenibilitat turística

Friday, 21 January 2022 11:14

El Consell de Formentera, a través de l'àrea d'Economia i Hisenda, informa que Formentera rebrà 2 milions d'euros del Pla de recuperació, transformació i resiliència del govern central per l'estratègia de sostenibilitat turística en destinacions que s'invertiran durant aquest 2022 en quatre projectes. "Aquest pla persegueix millorar la sostenibilitat de la destinació Formentera amb l'impuls de projectes diferents però interconnectats entre si", segons ha explicat el conseller d'Economia i Hisenda, Bartomeu Escandell.

"Els projectes previstos emanen dels objectius perseguits en els quatre eixos que planteja l'Estratègia de sostenibilitat turística en destinacions", segons ha detallat el conseller. En l'àmbit de la transició verda i sostenible, tipificat en l'eix 1, es preveu una inversió a millorar i aplicar solucions telemàtiques intel·ligents a la regulació d'accés al Parc Natural de ses Salines i les seues reconegudes platges, fent més sostenible i racional l'ús d'aquest espai natural singular i altament protegit. Per aquest projecte s'ha aprovat una dotació de 250.000 €.

Pel que fa a l'eix 2, de millora de l'eficiència energètica, s'ha aconseguit una dotació d'1.150.000 € per la instal·lació de pèrgoles fotovoltaiques en aparcaments públics i la col·locació de punts de recàrrega per a vehicles elèctrics en aquests aparcaments. "Amb aquest projecte seguim el camí cap a la mobilitat sostenible en què des de fa anys es treballa des del Consell i que vol impulsar la substitució del vehicle convencional per l'elèctric, entre d'altres", ha matisat el conseller Bartomeu Escandell.

Amb referència a l'eix 3, de transició digital, es preveuen actuacions en matèria de tractament de dades massives per a la recerca turística i per obtenir dades per valorar l'evolució de les mesures encaminades a aconseguir la sostenibilitat de l'illa, així com per estudiar noves mesures a aplicar. Per aquest projecte, que impulsarà la feina que es fa actualment des de l'Observatori de Dades, s'ha reservat una partida de 250.000 €.

Per últim i pel que respecta a l'eix 4, relacionat amb l'increment del control telemàtic de l'accés limitat de vehicles a l'illa, s'han reservat 350.000 € que es faran servir per a la millor gestió del projecte formentera.eco de regulació d'entrada, circulació i estacionament de vehicles a l'illa de Formentera.

21 de gener de 2021
Àrea de Comunicació
Consell de Formentera