News

Sa Senieta to house headquarters of Formentera museum

Monday, 29 January 2018 15:59

Foto sa senieta 2 Today at 1.15pm in the Formentera Council's Sala d'Actes, President Jaume Ferrer sat down with regional culture minister Fanny Tur and local culture and patrimony secretary Susana Labrador to answer questions from members of the press. The appearance followed a meeting of the board of Formentera's museum and cultural centre foundation.

The meeting resulted in an agreement to create a local network of museums composed of three discrete sites:

Sa Senieta: the Formentera museum's main exhibition space, to house the permanent collection and general services for the public.

Can Ramon: public space dedicated to exhibiting the Formentera museum's ethnographic collection.

Fossar Vell's adjacent lot: archive and specialised library, conference hall, exhibition space, materials drop-off and reservation desk and research lab.

The infrastructure is being imagined as a network of high-quality museums for islanders and tourists that will meet the requirements set out by the Balearic Islands' museums act.

Sa Senieta
On December 19 the Formentera Council's purchase of Sa Senieta for €2.5 million became official. Of the total cost, one million euros came from the so-called Sustainable Tourism Tax, another €0.5 million from the Balearic ministry of culture, and the remainder from the Formentera Council.

Secretary Tur, for her part, affirmed an additional €0.5 million would be set aside to adapt Sa Senieta for use as the future headquarters of the museum of Formentera.

It is significant that Sa Senieta is the only building on the island included in Formentera's catalogue of “historic heritage” interest sites as per a piece of regional legislation known as 12/1998, from December 21. Added to the catalogue in 2002, it possesses a AT-C-150 rating and “B-level” protection in Formentera's listing of cultural heritage sites.

Can Ramon
The Can Ramon property, which consists of a home and well, was purchased by the Formentera Council with the goal of restoring it and using it, in the words of Tur, “to house a variety of both publicly- and privately-held ethnographic museum collections”.

Can Ramon figures on the island's cultural heritage catalogue with “C-level” protection. Built according to traditional techniques, the house is particularly large and includes a dedicated area for agricultural and livestock farming reminiscent of an industrial-scale farm. The catalogue indicates additional uses like wine making. The home's adjacent well, or aljub, is another element of traditional architecture with A-level protection.

Pledging the Govern would “take responsibility for the Formentera museum project”, Tur said she hoped the advances made this legislative session would make any back-pedalling impossible. President Ferrer thanked Tur for her role in making the museum a reality, saying, “I'm thrilled to be able to provide details on the project today, and to be announcing our hope that that swift completion is on the horizon”.

Carrer Guillem de Montgrí closed during construction

Friday, 26 January 2018 17:47

Obres guillem de montgri 2 The Formentera Council's infrastructure and mobility offices report that a central Sant Ferran thoroughfare will be closed to vehicle traffic during upgrades in the centre of town. From Monday, January 29, motorists will be temporarily unable to circulate or park along carrer Guillem de Montgrí, a road linking the main road (also known as avinguda Joan Castelló Guasch) with the es Pujols roundabout.

The following steps are being taken to minimise inconveniences caused by the closure:

Access to the Sant Ferran school; no changes. Even with carrer Guillem de Montgrí closed, drivers can use carrers Sant Jaume and Tarragona to reach the school.

Access to carrer Major; drivers can access carrer Major from the north by way of the es Pujols roundabout.

Access to pedestrian-only streets; carrers Mallorca, Menorca and Havana can all be accessed by way of carrer Alacant, which will accommodate traffic both ways during construction.

Motorists must use the roundabout to reach southern parts of Sant Ferran and es Pujols.

To minimise the inconveniences to residents and businesses, an overflow car park was opened in early December to accommodate 70 vehicles. It can be accessed from the roundabout.

Work is expected to be completed by April 30. The initial phase of the project began Wednesday, January 10. An expanded stage will begin Monday, January 29, and additional upgrades will take place along carrer València.

Fresh crop of courses for farm hands in training

Friday, 26 January 2018 13:05

Taller dagricultura per a infants The Formentera Council's Office of Agriculture reports that this Tuesday, February 1, registration will open for a series of workshops pitched as “agriculture for kids”. Enrolment will stay open to the start of classes or until no space remains. Even still, the office will put together a wait list for any children not enrolled by the deadline.

The workshops will begin Saturday, February 17 and continue in June when schools break for summer holidays.

Tuned for youngsters and intended as a vector for environmental education and personal and social development, the activity is also being seen as a tool to promote young peoples' connection to rural and traditional settings as well as respect and defence of nature.

Two separate groups will meet for two hours each on Saturday mornings. Kids four to six will meet from 10.00am to 12 noon while seven- to eleven-year-olds will have class from 12 noon until 2.00pm.

The workshops, envisioned for groups of no more than 15, will be led by two instructors at the Hort dels nens (“children's garden”) near Sant Francesc's sa Tanca Vella landmark. Shoes and clothing worn should be both comfortable and appropriate, and children are urged to bring a bottle of water.

Environment councillor Bartomeu Escandell said the decision to bring the workshops back was due to their success in previous years. The idea, he explained, is to “see that our young ones are not only familiar with, but also can take pleasure in, the field work that constitutes such a deeply-entrenched aspect of island life”. He described his department's mission “to reactivate the local countryside” as “a task that is guaranteed to continue in future generations if we start young”.

Formentera calls on Madrid to pick up tab for public servants' extra pay

Friday, 26 January 2018 17:24

Ple gener redux Members of the Formentera Council plenary assembly gathered today, a Friday, for the administration's first plenary session of 2018. At the centre of debate was a proposed bonus to level the playing field for public servants living in the islands.

The first such initiative, proposed by the People's Party (PP), called on the Council to create a dedicated fund for the bonuses using its own resources. The measure failed after it was rejected by majority party Gent per Formentera (GxF). The PSOE brought their own version of a similar proposal, which was scrapped as well.

Vanessa Parellada, secretary of social welfare, youth services and human resources affirmed both proposals were voted down because they would have put the Council on the hook for the financing the extra pay. “The isolation of Formentera from mainland Spain” [commonly referred to as the island's “triple insularity”] “affects the entire island”. “Any measure which improves the lot of one segment of the population by worsening another's” —referring to those who would pay for the fund— “would be illogical”. She said it would be like “forcing Formentera to foot the bill for the downsides of working on Formentera”.

GxF presented a measure supporting the so-called “insular bonus” on the condition the central government in Madrid supplied the funds to make it a reality. Parellada drew a parallel with residents' discounts on ferry tickets, reduced rubbish transport costs and all the other compensation that exists to remedy Formentera's insularity. “Victims of this insularity mustn't be obliged to also foot the bill”, she argued. The measure passed thanks to backing from GxF, though members of the other parties, PP, PSOE and Compromís, abstained.

Other measures
One measure that got cross-party support was a GxF proposal to join a pact with a Mallorca-based transport consortium for an integrated system of tariffs. Likewise, the assembly was united in giving the go-ahead to an expansion of low-voltage power lines serving Recó de la Llenya, sa Miranda and Can Simonet. “Yes” votes from GxF party members guaranteed the success of a move to block the findings of an impact study, piloted by a group called Plaça de Sant Ferran, of a plot in Sant Ferran. Thanks to backing from GxF and PP, and despite abstaining votes from PSOE and Compromís, definitive approval came for a detailed study of work on avinguda Joan Castelló Guasch. A proposal to standardise and regulate business hours and live entertainment was backed by GxF and Compromís members of the plenary, while other party representatives abstained. The fate of a PP proposal concerning standardising tourist holiday rentals at multi-family homes in urban areas was sealed by “no” votes from GxF and PSOE party members. Meanwhile unanimous backing was secured by a measure from socialists in the assembly to create signage at all pedestrian crossings in school zones across Sant Francesc.

Progress report
Councillor Susana Labrador, who took the floor to give a report on action in her departments, started by reminding plenary members that her function is to “promote and lead projects related to culture, heritage and education on the island within the standards of the administration's team of senior councillors”.

Labrador gave an overview of her offices' work in 2017. She focused on four efforts in particular:

Disinterment at the Sant Ferran cemetery last November, aimed at locating the remains of five individuals gunned down by pro-Franco forces during the Spanish Civil War. The victims were murdered on March 1, 1937 behind the cemetery walls.

The efforts were headed up by Fòrum per la Memòria d'Eivissa i Formentera and paid for by the Govern and Formentera Council.

Start of la Mola lighthouse remodel, an effort linked to a museographic project in the same space. Crews will equip the monument with an interpretive centre about local lighthouses, a museographic collection focussed on the island's maritime heritage and a multipurpose room for cultural events.

Building permit for Sant Ferran's primary and nursery schools. Thanks to painstaking efforts of the local departments of patrimony and land, the administration's flagship project appears closer than ever. Additional progress is due to the hard work of the Council's legal experts and Ibisec advisors, which made next month's tweaking of municipal regulations possible.

Lastly, the recently-opened reading space in Sant Ferran. Part of an effort to revitalise culture and leisure activities in town, the library outlet has three separate spaces: a section for adults, a kids' area and a computer lab with Internet access.

Formentera gives new students leg up with language support

Thursday, 25 January 2018 17:30

Presentacio del projecte dacolliment linguistic Details were released this morning about a “language assistance project” to ease new students' transition into a new linguistic environment. The presentation was led by social welfare secretary Vanessa Parellada and Maria Isabel Jiménez, a teacher.

Faced with comparatively poorer grades and higher rates of school failure among immigrant youth, a factor which poses an obstacle to the students' normal development in professional and social contexts, the administration's immigration offices hatched a plan. It included a “language assistance” workshop tuned to serving the needs specifically felt by such newcomers.

The interest in assistance
Unlike in years past, this year's programme, which begins February 5 and concludes when students break for summer, won't be aimed at specific year levels. Rather, it will be available to each and every recently-arrived pupil enrolled in primary and secondary education.

Programme coordinator Maria Isabel Jiménez called it “a resource to help pupils improve their reading, writing and oral comprehension of Catalan” while framing the goal as “to give newcomers the tools to do what's being asked of them in their classes”.

The challenge of the initiative will be to boost not only academic performance, but also social integration. According to Councillor Parellada, “better integration at the school level means improved integration overall for students' families”.

Classes will be tuned to meet the educational abilities of each pupil, and instructors will additionally focus on promoting work in groups, levelling the playing field for participating students and fomenting a positive reception of Catalan, the so-called “vehicular language” of schools in the Balearics.

Enrolment
Starting this Thursday, January 25, signups will be held Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 2.00pm at the head offices of Formentera social services: Vénda des Brolls, 53. Enrolment closes Thursday, February 1.

For more information, telephone 971 32 12 71 or contact rescolar@conselldeformentera.cat. The location of classes will be decided based on the number and needs of pupils who register.