The Office of Social Welfare of the Consell de Formentera, together with the Intercultural Festival Association, is pleased to present the 18th Intercultural Festival of Formentera to be held Sunday 2 April, from 12.30pm, in Plaça d'Europa in Es Pujols.

In the words of Rafael Ramírez, social welfare councillor, "the Intercultural Festival is part of the Formentera Intercultural project, which was designed as a space for reflection and integration around migration, and which we have brought back after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic". Councillor Ramírez called the Intercultural Festival "the best example of our island's interculturalism".

Argentina, Morocco, Italy, Indonesia, Ecuador, Andalusia, Bolivia, Galicia, Formentera, Catalonia, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Germany, Castilla y León, Dominican Republic, Valencia, Romania, Cuba, California (USA) and Brazil will participate in this year's festival, giving islanders the chance to travel round the world.

From 12.30pm until 6.30pm, children and young people can enjoy a variety of activities and workshops including bouncy castles, traditional and world games, a hamabeads workshop, the wishing tree, bookmark- and world flag badge-making and, to finish, a holi party.

From 2.00pm to 3.30pm, attendees will be able to taste the typical cuisine of each of the participating countries and regions: from Venezuelan arepas and Formentera's famous frita de matances to Romanian sarmale (exquisite meat-stuffed cabbage rolls), Italian lasagne and much more. It will be a true spectacle of smells and flavours.

From 2.45pm, local groups will liven things up with a batucada drum performance, Cuban salsa music, a bagpipe performance and other music and dance. Afterwards, Timba Tumbet will have the crowd dancing with a repertoire encompassing the cha-cha, cumbia, Cuban son, boleros and bugalú. To crown the musical programme, singer Lia Kali will perform original R&B, soul, rap and trap songs from her first album.

Reducing waste
In a first for the festival, to cut down on waste, QR codes posted around the venue will mean festival-goers can see the full programme on their phone. Participants in the tasting portion of the Intercultural Festival must purchase "cheques" (€5 for adults and €3 for children) which entitle the holder to biodegradable cutlery. Even still, islanders are encouraged to bring plates and cutlery from home. Water fountains will be available on the premises.

28 March 2023
Office of Communication
Consell de Formentera

Anti-racist outreach expert Moha Gerehou will give an open talk on racism Thursday 30 March at 8.00pm at La Mola's Casa del Poble. The event is included in the Formentera Intercultural activities programme. On Friday, Gerehou will give another talk to local students of years five and six at 11.00am in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema).

28 March 2023
Office of Communication
Consell de Formentera

Today in the Balearic parliament, Ana Juan, president of the Consell de Formentera, and Bartomeu Escandell, finance and tax office councillor, attended the reading of a manifesto urging the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish legislative branch, to fast-track steps to ensure a senator for Formentera. As President Juan put it, "this manifesto is a reaffirmation of the request made by Formentera and the Balearic parliament to redress a dysfunction in the Spanish Constitution so that the voice of Formentera is directly represented in the Senate". Juan lamented VOX representatives' blocking of an official proclamation which would have been read in the final parliamentary plenary session of the legislative term.

28 March 2023
Office of Communication
Consell de Formentera

The Office of Social Welfare of the Consell de Formentera, in collaboration with Bellaterra publishing, has put out a book aimed at preventing child sexual abuse. La bici de la Lola, created by Alba Barbé and Laia Pibernat with illustrations by Judit Piella, will be presented this Friday in the Consell de Formentera auditorium (sala de plens) at 7.00pm.

According to Rafael Ramírez, social welfare councillor, "children's books have proven to be an excellent tool to educate kids about sexual abuse, and the Consell de Formentera took the project forward with this goal in mind".

Additionally, the authors will lead an activity in Formentera classrooms to prevent child sexual abuse: a training session for primary years four, five and six on 12 and 13 June.

Stories, a very simple strategy and appropriate to children's level of psychological development, enable teaching about what sexual abuse is, how it manifests and how to catch it in time. It is therefore important for parents and educators to be alert to tell-tale signs of sexual abuse. But, to prevent them, they must also learn how to detect these types of situations.

According to the World Health Organization, one in five children are victims of sexual violence. In Spain, 20% to 25% of girls and 10% to 15% of boys are sexually abused (Maria Lameiras, 2008).

28 March 2023
Office of Communication
Consell de Formentera