News

This weekend on Formentera, it's time to get physical

Wednesday, 22 March 2017 21:46

Foto ciclisme This Saturday the island welcomes the Formentera All Round Trail and, as CiF sports councillor Jordi Vidal pointed out, the event is expected to draw more than four hundred to the island. At 8.00am runners will set out from la Savina on a 72.5K circuit snaking along the Formentera coastline. Starting out at es Arenals beach, a 41K half run takes place at 11.30am and the 21K Tros de Fart at 1.00pm

Participants in the day's second run, a half circuit cutting out from els Arenals beach, will set off at 11.30am. The shortest trail—Tros de FART—is 21K and will have runners hitting the pavement at 1.00pm. The three circuits share a finish line in la Savina's port and respective time limits of 13, 9 and 4 hours have been established. Another feature of the event, co-sponsored by Elitechip and Formentera Island Council, are the five refreshment points that runners will find along the trails.

Athletes can sign up through Thursday at 10.00pm at www.elitechip.net and pick up their numbers between 5.00 and 9.00pm at the event tent in la Savina. Numbers can also be picked up Saturday morning for runners on the two shorter circuits, and shuttles will take people to els Arenals (Half Round) and es Caló (Tros de FART).

Councillor Vidal described the competition as “the starting shot for a pre-season period full of popular sports meets” and shared his hope runners would be blessed with good weather. Wishing participants a pleasant run, he encouraged them to be respectful of their natural surroundings and uphold the environmental protections in place.

Vidal, who thanked agencies like the Balearic Islands' port and coastal authorities and the regional department of environment for helping ensure the event's continued growth over the years, also commended Formentera local police, civil guard agents, members of the civil protection service and volunteers for assuring safe conditions.

Cycling and other events
Also this weekend is the fourth Trofeu Illa road race, a gathering of more than seventy cyclists, taking to the road this Sunday at 10.00am in la Mola before descending the hill and embarking on a quintuple loop around Estany Pudent. In the process they will pass Sant Ferran, es Pujols, la Savina and Sant Francesc before finally heading back up the hill for a 12 noon arrival in la Mola.

Trofeu Illa is organised jointly by Grup Esportiu Espalmador and the Council. Road traffic will be cut during the event and in the interest of everyone's safety, the councillor encouraged residents to heed indications of traffic officers, civil protection services and volunteers throughout the event.

Motorcycle buffs have also got something to look forward to too, this Sunday from 10.00am to 2.00pm, when the Balearic championship of motorcycle trials arrives in Cala Saona. The event, hosted by Motoclub Illa de Formentera and the Balearic federation of motorcycling, will see roughly sixty athletes from all four Balearic Islands taking part in eight categories.

On April 2, Festa Intercultural turns 15

Wednesday, 22 March 2017 14:40

rsz foto presentacio festa intercultural The Formentera Council's Office of Social Welfare unveiled plans for the 15th Festa Intercultural. At the presentation were social welfare councillor Vanessa Parellada, festival organiser Maribel Jiménez and, chair of the island's Associació Intercultural, Serena Amaduzzi.

Sunday, April 2, Sant Francesc's Mestre Lluís Andreu primary school will play host to a gala showcasing the diverse countries and Spanish regions represented on Formentera. “The event,” said Councillor Parellada, “is about experiencing—living and loving—the other cultures that enrich our island.”

Children's games
The cost of admission, four euros, is waived for children under 12. Doors open at 12.30pm and from 1.00pm kids activities include a mask-making workshop, Twister, can toss, a recycling workshop, a lesson writing their name in Arabic or the chance to decorate a bookmark. The children's corner of the festival will also feature bouncy castles and other activities until 5.30pm.

Musical theatre
New this year is the festival's musical theatre segment at 1.00pm. The Formentera band, with students from the school of music, and s'Esglai theatre troupe, have partnered to present “el Viatge Músic,” a production Jiménez called “a very special combination of music, theatre and dance”.

Fine dining
From 2.00 to 3.30pm, locals will have their chance to taste all the fine-dining flavour of Formentera's immigrant communities. Moroccan couscous, Ecuadorian meat sauté, Indonesian nasi goreng are just some of the dishes food fest attendees will be able to sample. “A show for the senses,” promised Jiménez.

In the words of Festa Intercultural's organiser, the day's roster of culinary ombudsmen—Cuba, Chile, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Colombia, Indonesia, Brazil, Italy, Equator, Morocco, Germany, Paraguay, Andalucía, Galicia, València, Catalunya and Formentera—“will give us a backdoor into the kitchens of a good part of the world”.

Performances
The day's entertainment will entail music and other performances from communities there taking part. Festivalgoers will hear the sounds of the traditional Galician gaita, see dancers do hometown dance steps (ball pagès) and bump to the beat of everything from Cuban salsa to Brazilian music and Dominican bachata. Supercumbia y la Liga de la Alegría headline the day's musical programme. Communiqués were issued to all the day's participating associations and who pledged to shun songs with lyrics disparaging to women and other disadvantaged groups.

Commitment to the environment
Organisers of this year's culture fest wanted to spotlight environmental awareness. Amaduzzi reminded everyone to bring reusable plates and glasses from home and announced that recycling bins, as well as ashtrays, would be set up around the event to keep litter and cigarette butts from turning up on the school's playground.

Councillor Parellada gave special thanks to the one hundred volunteers making this year's Festa Intercultural possible.

Artistic exchange in Balears gets helping hand with Illes d'Art

Tuesday, 21 March 2017 13:26

illesdArt3 The Formentera Council's Office of Culture has announced plans to host a concert next Friday at 8.00pm in the municipal gallery. JANSKY, a Majorcan duo of self-proclaimed “electrovers” formed by poet Laia Malo and musician Jaume Reus, will share with Formentera audiences their blend of poetry and electronic music.

The concert is the preamble to a group art show titled Illes d'Art, an opportunity for seven artists from the region to exhibit their work. That exhibition, held in the same venue, the Council's sala d'Exposicions, opens Monday March 27 at 8.00pm and will carry on welcoming visitors through April 8. Culture councillor Susana Labrador hailed the initiative as a moment of artistic exchange in the Balearics.

Illes d'Art
The Illes d'Art project comes to Formentera from Minorcan cultural association esFar. In the spirit of promoting artistic creation, the group has selected six projects for display across the four Balearic Islands. After stops on Menorca and Mallorca, the show, now in its second incarnation, arrives on Formentera.

This time around, Illes d'Art comprises a range of artistic disciplines—photos from Majorcan artist Beatriz Polo, sculptures from Mallorca-native Toni Andreu Ferriol, paintings by Eivissa's Pablo pelluz and assorted work from the Minorcan artists Gianna Carrano (photos), Elena Ferrando (collage) and Laura Marte and Julieta Oriola (Salditos Menorca, comics).

Explained the organisers: “Starting with the vision of the artists as delegates of their respective islands, each creator set out to encapsulate his or her ideas in their work, with results that run the gamut from social critique to intimate, personal creations.”

The artists' Formentera visit will also serve as a vector for unity and knowledge sharing between the islands of the Balearics. It will also be an opportunity for the visiting artists to see the how culture and art are framed on Formentera.

Formentera waterworks rolls out smart metres in Sant Ferran

Tuesday, 21 March 2017 21:52

Presentacio aqualia Earlier today environment councillor Daisee Aguilera took part in a Sant Ferran presentation of a pilot programme to track water use remotely. With Eduardo del Castillo, head of the Balearic arm of Aqualia, and Luis López, the company's regional production chief, the demo got under way at 11.30am in the plenary hall of the Formentera Council's central office.

The smart tracking system of real-time, daily controls eliminates the need for manual checks of the metres, thus allowing remote, automatic readings to be sent directly, every eight seconds, to a central processing unit at Aqualia. Data on consumption travels back to the unit for processing and cost calcuation by a management programme.

A plus for users
The new system carries many consumer advantages, first the elimination of house calls and, by extension, the need to estimate readings. Detection of internal leaks can provide early indicators to possible equipment failures and help avoid ballooning bills. By highlighting irregular metre activity and delivering hourly breakdowns on water use, the previously unavailable technology enables technicians to pin down leaks owing to breakage or fraud.

Mr del Castillo said the enhanced efficiency of real-time tracking would translate into increased sustainability and greener consumption habits, not to mention a safer, more secure management of the water supply—“particularly important here on Formentera,” he added.

Mr López cited 393,600 remote readings of 205 metres in the first three months since the programme was launched. In 2016, the total number of manual readings in all of Formentera was 11,200.

As for the system's ability to detect leaks, López pointed to five cases already spotted in Sant Ferran this year. The average loss of each, said the Aqualia spokesman, was 17 litres (l) per hour, “the equivalent of 12,240l per month and 146,880l annually”. The town's remote tracking system, which produces readings of various manufacturer models and allows for operation across a local interface, also cuts out the need to periodically renew third-party licence agreements.

Aguilera, for her part, assured there would be no direct impact on water rates and pledged that fuller data on the supply grid would make for better return on Formentera's investment.

In the councillor's words, “this innovative system hands municipal waterworks detailed, objective input on water use in the area that will be instrumental to defining future infrastructure investment. Privy to irregularities like spikes in use or malfunctioning equipment, consumers will have the tools to avoid wasting water”.

Using the Smart Aqua app, Sant Ferran residents will soon be able to see their water use broken down by the hour, even tracking consumption remotely.

In Iceland, Formentera goes after off-season visitors

Monday, 20 March 2017 23:00

foto 3 islandia Formentera Council president Jaume Ferrer, tourism councillor Alejandra Ferrer and tourism advisory board chair Carlos Bernús will lead two presentations before Iceland audiences in an effort to sell travellers on Formentera. The demos will be staged in Reykjavik, at the conference hall of Foss hotel.

The first, for tourism trades and management of airlines like WOW and Icelandair, took place at 1.00pm. The representatives will then give a second demonstration at 4.00pm before members of the Icelandic press. President Ferrer called the move a response to Icelanders' recent interest in Formentera and the possibility of new direct flights to Eivissa from that country.

The prospect of developing the Icelandic market is particularly interesting, in Alejandra Ferrer's words, “because Iceland's travellers take holiday trips ahead of and after the high season. In winter the days are shorter here, and locals look for destinations with more hours of daylight, like Formentera”.

Presentations
Formentera representatives will focus on Formentera as an off-season destination spot, emphasising the island's cultural and sports programmes. Their talks will include promotional videos and the opportunity to take a virtual cycling tour of the island, based on a video with 360º footage. Another draw will be hotel Es Marès chef Juan Ramón Cobo's showcooking demo of typical island favourites like “amanida pagesa”. Visitors will also get the chance to try products like thyme, cheese, fig bread and red wine and check out some of Formentera's locally-produced fashions. The presentations had additional support from Turespaña.