This November, the Formentera Office of Heritage presents its second course on the history of Formentera. A ten-part initiative, Història de Formentera consists of eight lectures, a guided tour and a documentary film screening.

In the words of Raquel Guasch, councillor of heritage, "after the success of last year's course, our aim this year is to consolidate the initiative and harness the knowledge of participating researchers and historians to offer a rigorous educational account of our history to the people of Formentera".

Sessions will be held from 7.00pm to 8.00pm in the Consell de Formentera auditorium (Sala de Plens), located next to the island's adult care centre (Centre de Dia). The course is free and registration is not required. Subjects:

Thursday 3 November: El cop d'Estat, la Guerra Civil i la recuperació de la Memòria (Coup d'état, Civil War and reclaiming historical memory). Artur Parrón Guasch

Tuesday 8 November: La repressió contra els homes i dones de Formentera (Repression of the people of Formentera). Manuel Suárez Salvá

Thursday 10 November: Els camps de presoners a les Balears (Prison camps in the Balearic Islands). Maria Eugènia Jaume Esteva

Tuesday 15 November: La Colònia penitenciària de Formentera (The Formentera penal colony). Antoni Ferrer Abárzuza

Thursday 17 November: Vida i mort a la Colònia penitenciària de Formentera: L'exhumació al cementiri de Sant Francesc (Living and dying at the Formentera penal colony: Exhumation in the Sant Francesc cemetery). Almudena García-Rubio

Tuesday 22 November: La arqueología como herramienta para el estudio de los espacios de represión de la Guerra Civil y la posguerra: el caso del campo de concentración de Albatera (Archaeology as a tool to study spaces of repression during the Civil War and postwar period: the Albatera concentration camp) [1937-1939]. Felipe Mejías López

Thursday 24 November: La larga espera. La situación familiar y propia de los presos extremeños en Formentera (The long wait. The family and personal situation of Extremaduran prisoners on Formentera). Candela Chaves Rodríguez

Saturday 26 November [Walking tour | 10.00am to 1.30pm]: Memòria: Colònia penitenciària, església de Sant Francesc, cementeri Nou (Historical memory: Penal colony, Sant Francesc church, Cementeri Nou). Paula Juan Tur

Tuesday 29 November: L'observació aèria de l'illa de Formentera durant la segona guerra mundial (Aerial observation of Formentera during World War II). Celso García García

Thursday 1 December: Documentary: Nosaltres els vençuts (2004, 70 min). Antoni Maria Thomàs Andreu

The course is validated by the Formentera Teachers' Resource Centre (Centre de Profesorat) and attending teachers are eligible for elective credits.

26 October 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

This week the Language Advisory Service of the Consell de Formentera and administrative teams at CEIP Mestre Lluís Andreu and CEIP Sant Ferran de ses Roques have launched conversation workshops for their pupils and parents.

Part of a project dubbed 'Català en família', the idea, according to Raquel Guasch, councillor of heritage and language policy, "is to facilitate Catalan-language learning for kids who need extra help and, at the same time, make it easy for families with participating children to attend classes too, since workshops are at the same time and on the same days".

Afternoon Catalan workshops for pupils began last year; this year for the first time, interested mums and dads can also attend Catalan clinics for adults.

Thus, three groups for children and three groups for families will be offered until February 2023, when a new round of classes will be announced. The courses are free of charge.

18 October 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

On 17 October, Doctors Pau Sureda and Edgar Camarós, accompanied by Raquel Guasch, Formentera's councillor of heritage, will present findings from phase nine of Arqueobarbaria, an archaeological project that is being carried out at the Cap de Barbaria II dig site. (This phase found crews performing a combination of excavation and restoration work.) With restoration of the settlement –the principal milestone– now complete, the next step is creation of a related museum. At present field work is complete and the researchers will proceed to laboratory and analytical work. The presentation will be held at 7.00pm in the Consell de Formentera hall of ceremonies (Sala d'Actes).

11 October 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

The Consell de Formentera archive has acquired documents from 1743 and 1804 related to the Martí family's alleged claims to Formentera. Raquel Guasch, councillor of heritage, cast the newly incorporated documents as "proof that the Consell de Formentera achive is actively engaged in conservation and in growing its documentary collection".

The Martís' claim to the island has roots in a 1453 bequeathal by Alfonso the Magnanimous, King of Aragon, of the then undivided fourth part of Formentera, an uninhabited island at that time, to Ibizan Joan Martí. King Alfonso imposed certain conditions, like construction a new fortress and a ban on trading of salt harvested on the island. Joan Martí was royal prosecutor on Eivissa, but the University of Eivissa and Formentera strongly protested the bequeathal and the king revoked it the following year. Years later, Francisco Martí, likely Francisco Martí Torres, son of Sebastià, doctor in laws (1695-1781), sought to prove his lineage with the 15th-century Joan Martí with a view to recovering his ancestor's claim to Formentera.

Documents make reference to the construction of a tower on S'Espalmador predating the structure which currently stands at the site. Interviews with Eivissa residents were also included in an effort to demonstrate the tower was indeed built and that a house in Dalt Vila conserved the Martí family's coat of arms.

The Consell de Formentera archive holds documentation tied to official functions and powers, especially when these were restricted to those of an ajuntament. Among the oldest documents on file are from the civil registry and justice of the peace. The Consell de Formentera archive is divided into two sections: Historical (until 1980) and the Administrative (1980 onwards).

Consultation hours are 8.30am to 2.00pm, Monday to Friday. Visits can be scheduled by sending an e-mail to arxiu@conselldeformentera.cat and indicating which documents an individual wishes to consult.

7 September 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera