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Formentera celebrates local law enforcement

foto 2021 condecoracionsCToday, 3 October, the Consell de Formentera honoured local agents of law and order. This year’s celebration was marked by special shows of appreciation for Officer Carlos Malberti Moragón, whose exemplary record spans more than fifteen years of public service on the force, and for Officers Marc Aragay Torres, Marc Roig Ferrer, José Antonio Perera Escandell and Javier Torrens Trias, for their work to stop criminal trafficking of migrants.

In remarks, Consell de Formentera President Alejandra Ferrer extended kudos for the winners to the entire local force, whom she thanked for the extra effort required this year given the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions officers were called on to enforce. Ferrer spoke about the need for more manpower to enforce environmental regulations and additional agents from the Balearic Directorate General of Emergencies, Labour and Health, reasoning, “Local police can’t be in charge of everything.”

Councillor of Interior Josep Marí, too, praised the entire local police force for their tireless work this summer. “We know we have to work to add more officers to the local force. Today we are taking steps to deliver more training courses, make the hiring process faster and more agile and make sure officers can stay where they received training”.

Officer Carlos Malberti Morogán was honoured for more than fifteen years of outstanding service and a record free of disciplinary action.

Officers Marc Aragay Torres, Marc Roig Ferrer and José Antonio Perera Escandell received the green badge of merit for outstanding efforts on 24 July. The men’s actions helped lead to the arrest of a ship captain who has been charged with illegal trafficking of migrants. It is the second time the individual has been accused of the crime, and aggravating circumstances include putting passengers in danger and for trafficking minors, some very young.

Officers Marc Roig Ferrer and Javier Torrens Trias were honoured for outstanding efforts on 19 September, when they successfully directed actions that led to the arrest of two boat captains for the alleged criminal trafficking of migrants, with the aggravating circumstance of putting passengers, some of them minors and women, in danger. It was Roig’s second such distinction that day.

The ceremony was held at Hotel Formentera Playa and attended by local central government envoy Enrique Sánchez Navarrete, members of the National Police and Civil Guard, as well as Vice-President Ana Juan, cabinet and opposition councillors, and family and friends of the local officers.


3 October 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Formentera furthers promotion of renewable energy with property tax deductions and moves closer to new public transport contract

foto 2021 ple ixAThe Consell de Formentera held its regular plenary session for the month of September today, where councillors unanimously backed a proposal to appoint Andreu Ferrer Juan as justice of the peace. The proposal describes the Formentera resident and retired civil servant as a “great connoisseur of the realities of local governance”.

President Alejandra Ferrer thanked all those who presented candidatures for the position and praised the work of Joan Yern, the previous justice of the peace, as well as his alternate, also named Joan Yern, who remains in active duty. The agreement will be communicated to the chief judge of Eivissa for submission before the high court of the Balearic Islands, which will formalise the appointment.

Property tax deductions for renewable energies

Another measure to win full consensus among assembly members was a proposed modification of the ordinance regulating property taxes. Still in the initial phase of approval, the measure would create tax breaks of up to 50% on properties with solar systems for thermal and electrical energy.

Councillor of Economy and Finance Bartomeu Escandell said 40% rebates would apply to existing and future installations that produce four kilowatts or more of power and which are accredited by a certificate from the installer, with maximum associated deductions of €600 over four years. If installations also inject energy surpluses back into the grid, the rebate will be 50% with a maximum deduction of €700 over the same period. The measure will take effect in 2022.

First steps to give landmark status to Molí d'en Botigues

With votes in favour from the cabinet and despite abstention from the opposition, the day's session also secured backing to begin designating Molí d'en Botigues windmill in La Mola a Cultural Landmark (Bé d'Interés Cultural, BIC). Councillor of Heritage Raquel Guasch remarked that “one of this legislature's priorities is to strengthen protection and preservation of our heritage sites and advocate for recognition of that heritage; this is a path which started with the listing of Molí Vell de la Mola, and which continues today as we begin work to list Molí d'en Botigues. An important element of Formentera's ethnological heritage, Molí d'en Botigues is one of seven flour windmills that once existed on the island, and one that retains part of the mechanics which made it possible to grind grain into flour.

Lute sailing, intangible heritage

Unanimous backing also materialised behind a measure to designate the traditional technique of lute-sailing on Formentera as an Intangible Asset of Cultural Interest. Councillor Guasch underscored Formentera's support for “an extremely sensible” proposal of the Balearic Islands Advisory Council on Heritage (CAPIB). Guasch explained that following the proposal, which was directed at all four islands, “a study was commissioned on the lateen sail in Formentera which served as the basis for a related report and which was incorporated into the listing proposal”.

Honouring local police

Members of every political party with representation in government came together to support proposed distinctions for officers on Formentera's local police force. Carlos Malberti Morogán will receive a medal for fifteen-plus years of service in local law enforcement. Councillor of Interior Josep Marí described the honouree's career as “upright and just”.

Additionally, Officers Marco Aragay Torres, Marc Roig Ferrer, José Antonio Perera Escandell and Javier Torrens Trias will receive the Cross of Police Merit and Green Badge for outstanding efforts in the arrest of boat captains accused of illegal trafficking of migrants.

On behalf of the local cabinet, President Ferrer congratulated honourees and the entire Formentera Local Police Department for their work throughout two years of pandemic. Awards will be delivered at a 12-noon ceremony this Sunday at Hotel Formentera Playa.

New street honouring local teacher Maria Mayans Ferrer

With “yes” votes from the Gent per Formentera-PSOE cabinet and Sa Unió representatives opting to abstain, the plenary session secured the go-ahead for a proposed correction of errors in street names, numbering and signage, as well as for names for new roads and public spaces. Island services councillor Bartomeu Escandell highlighted one proposed name —Carrer de la Mestra Maria Mayans Ferrer— for the new arterial serving the freshly opened school in Sant Ferran. Census data confirm Mayans worked as a teacher on the island in 1871, and Artur Pérez-Cabrero refers to her in La Guía del turista (1909) as a teacher at the girls' school in Sant Francesc.

Ordinance on foster families

Assembly members united once again behind initial approval of the regulatory ordinance governing financial support for foster families. Councillor of Social Welfare Rafael Ramírez highlighted broad support for the proposal and remarked that the ordinance “is one of the policies we are developing to improve the conditions and quality of care that minors receive”. Construction of a centre for at-risk youth will push the island closer to that goal, asserted Ramírez, and will mean a “decisive leap forward in terms of quality in local services”.

Sant Ferran Cultural Space

The cabinet once again overcame opposition abstention to endorse initial approval of regulations governing use of the Sant Ferran Cultural Space. With teachers and students set up in the new Sant Ferran school, Councillor of Education and Culture Susana Labrador said the goal was to “ensure the old school becomes a space for cultural, educational and associative activities”; use regulations are the first step toward regulating how this is done.

“Our objective is to create an indoor-outdoor living cultural space in Sant Ferran”, said Councillor Labrador. “We want both the Consell and hometown associations to use it and, in so doing, help turn the town into the cultural touchstone it was years ago.” The proposed uses and regulations, which have been communicated to local cultural associations and will now be subjected to a 30-day period of public consultation, stipulate priority for activities that are cultural, educational, civic or social in nature, as well as those that relate to leisure. The idea, said Labrador, is to encourage citizen participation in matters that impact the community and to promote values like peaceful community coexistence. Other work in parallel will focus on definitive plans for a community-oriented centre for culture and the arts in Sant Ferran, indicated the councillor.

Public transport

Backing also came for two proposals relating to mobility: the first succeeded when the GxF-PSOE cabinet overcame the opposition's abstention; the second passed with support from all parties. Councillor of Mobility Rafael González sought definitive approval for a proposed system of passenger transport on local roads, which will also underpin the contract awarded for regular public passenger transport services.

Once the above measure passed, assembly members adopted a proposal to initiate bidding for the contract for public passenger transport service by road, a preliminary step to put the contract out to tender.

“We hope the new contract delivers a boost to public transport and improves the offer, not to mention provides sustainable transport alternatives which are complementary to formentera.eco”, said the councillor. González also pointed out that the ten-year, €18-million contract would mean improvements such four more bus routes (up from five), more sustainable transport vehicles, increased frequency of passage, services coordinated with the arrival and departure of ferries, newly incorporated tech (payment by card or mobile phone) and more.

González also defended a measure adopted by the assembly to fit radar-controlled speed traps on public roads. The vote found councillors urging the Directorate General of Traffic to install fixed and mobile radar devices to improve road safety, as stated in Formentera's Sustainable Mobility Plan.

Other proposals

Cabinet and opposition councillors struck a compromise urging the Balearic government to enforce a pledge to prepare preliminary studies and documentation so that the Plan for Use and Management of Ses Salines Natural Reserve can be revised and updated to suit current management and conservation needs.

In addition, backing also coalesced for calls from the opposition to urge the Consell, harbour master's authority, Civil Guard, coastal authority “and all other responsible administrations to ensure uninterrupted summer controls of charter boats that stop at the local shoreline”. Councillors underscored the importance of checking arriving ships' compliance with requirements and administrative and safety-related authorisations.

Report from Councillor Labrador

Deputy Vice-President and Councillor of Culture and Education Susana Labrador stood before members of the plenary today to report on work carried out in her departments. “2021 may have been marked by COVID-19 and punctuated by moments of great difficulty”, she confided, “but much of our work has centred on getting things back to normal in culture and education, obviously while still taking into account measures to stop viral spread”.

In remarks, the councillor highlighted the opening of the new Sant Ferran school and nursery, which she described as “one of the island's priority educational projects”. She traced the initiative to “demands from within the educational community and from islanders at large”, and asserted, “We all would have liked to have had these schools sooner. But now, thanks to the collaboration and concord between our island's and region's governments, they're a reality”.

Labrador also drew attention to the start of the local plan for culture: “The Formentera Offices of Culture and Heritage intend to take the temperature of local culture and define strategic lines and future proposals to make our island's cultural enrichment a participatory process”. She circled back to the Sant Ferran Cultural Space as well, which she had spoken of earlier as part of debate around initial approval of the facility's use regulations.

She closed with a review of her departments' efforts over the last 12 months and, highlighting the difficult year marked by the pandemic, praised the work and understanding of municipal employees, stakeholders on the cultural scene and in the educational community, and parents.

Unanimity around proclamations

European Day of Languages

Councillors endorsed a proclamation which was tabled by Councillor of Language Policy Raquel Guasch on the occasion of European Day of Languages, 26 September. In it, local government pledges to promote and preserve the Catalan language, a linguistic heritage that Formentera wishes to share with the rest of Europe's citizens, and promises respect for linguistic diversity.

International Celebrate Bisexuality Day 2021

The day's gathering concluded with a proclamation marking International Celebrate Bisexuality Day 2021, celebrated on 23 September. The measure was tabled by Councillor of Equality and LGTBI Affairs Vanessa Parellada, who asserted that bisexual people and people of varying plurisexualities make political stands within the LGTBI community and within society at large. “So”, the proclamation reads, “to defend bisexuality is to defend, speak to and promote the broad diversity of human relations”.


1 October 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Alejandra Ferrer asks Govern to help Formentera restructure port and regulate anchorage along coastline

foto 2021 reunio presidentesConsell de Formentera President Alejandra Ferrer and Balearic First Minister Francina Armengol met today to discuss 14 projects adopted in 2015 which are currently being pursued by the island’s legislative body. Also on hand at the gathering were Vice-President Ana Juan and Councillor of Mobility and Territory Rafael González.

Ferrer’s assessment of the situation was positive, saying that “of 14 projects, seven —including an irrigation pond, new schools in Sant Ferran, a third cable at Es Ca Marí power station, a Comprehensive Care Centre for the Elderly (construction on the building is complete and work on the service road, street furniture and use regulations afoot), transfer of authority on tourism promotion and the formentera.eco project— are already underway”.

But the island’s top official added that other projects of paramount importance were still pending. She highlighted “the need for environmental protections at sea” and “concerns about the growing scale of the nautical sector” as central themes at the meeting.

On environmental stewardship, President Ferrer said Save Posidonia Project and associated projects that have received funding had served to provide Formentera with valuable insight on posidonia and the undersea environment. “This information won’t just help us moving foward as we work to safeguard our natural surroundings; it could also be of use to the rest of the islands”, she offered.

Port restructuring

Other pressing needs which President Ferrer raised with First Minister Armengol:

- To restructure the port and set a fixed number of ferry trips. (High-season totals can range from 140 to 160 passages per day with boats reporting average occupancy of less than 20%, an unsustainable situation on a line which traverses a natural reserve.)

- Public-use docks.

- Ad space in the port.

- A dry marina.

Ferrer held that "initiatives with roots off the island must adapt to our port infrastructure — not the other way around”. In that regard, she underscored the importance of “figuring out where the port is at in terms of the incoming people and vehicles —some on day trips, some from coastal vessels carrying large numbers of vehicles— that it can accommodate”.

And the island’s representatives once again pushed for a decree concerning maritime transport — of particular importance because, in Ferrer’s words, “it will ensure that ferry schedules between Eivissa and Formentera are designed to fit the needs and rights of the people of Formentera”.

Regulating anchorages

As for environmental protections at sea, and taking into account growing numbers of ships in the area, President Ferrer insisted on the need for “regulated anchorage adapted to the carrying capacity of our coast”.

President Ferrer said she hoped the measures would help preserve not only Formentera’s tourist attractions, but also more traditional aspects of the island, helping ensure that Formentera could be a source of enjoyment for residents as well. Lastly, Ferrer asked Armengol to see to it that the regional government  acted as “organiser and coordinator” for various agencies like Balearic Port Authorty, the Martime Authority, the coastal authority, the regional departments of environment and mobility and the ministerial powers that be, “so that all these pending projects, on which Formentera’s sustainable future depends, can take flight”.

Both President Ferrer and First Minister Armengol took the opportunity of the meeting to highlight work and coordination between the two administrations since the start of the legislative term.

30 September 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Meeting with Colombian consul

foto 2021 consul colombiaConsell de Formentera President Alejandra Ferrer and Vice-President Ana Juan met yesterday with the Colombian consul in the Balearic Islands, Rafael Guillermo Arismendy Jiménez. The consul came to introduce himself, seizing the occasion of a locally scheduled visit by the Colombian Mobile Consulate.

The Mobile Consulate will make regular visits to Formentera so that islanders of Colombian descent can perform formalities like passport requests, birth registration and more.

President Ferrer offered collaboration in everything Colombian citizens may need on Formentera. In fact, Formentera’s government is providing space for the Mobile Consulate, which set up yesterday in the conference room of the Formentera Day Centre.

In the Balearic Islands there are 25,000 people of Colombian descent, 13% of whom live on Formentera.


23 September 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Crews set out to locate 58 Civil War victims in Sant Francesc’s ‘cementeri nou’

foto 2021 pla de fossesConsell de Formentera President Alejandra Ferrer was joined earlier today by the Balearic Deputy First Minister and Minister of Energy Transition, Productive Sectors and Democratic Memory, Juan Pedro Yllanes, in detailing the Action Plan for Civil War Graves 2021-2022. The plan has been spearheaded by the Balearic government, with one of the most important actions on the docket to be performed on Formentera. In terms of the number of victims potentially involved –58 lives were lost at the Formentera prison between 1941 and 1942, according to data from a historical study by Antoni Ferrer Abárzuza –operations in the “cementeri nou” (new cemetery) of Sant Francesc are among the plan’s most substantial.

President Ferrer called the work “crucial” and asserted it could “help dignify the memory of Civil War victims”. She also wished the best of luck to the professionals tasked with leading the excavations, remarking that the endeavour would likely be “very tough, not least emotionally”, but insisting such work would make it possible for relatives “to find peace and bid family members a proper farewell”.

Also on hand for the press conference were the island’s Councillor of Heritage, Raquel Guasch; the Balearic Secretary of Productive Sectors and Democratic Memory, Jesús Jurado; Almudena García Rubio of Aranzadi Science Society, the group which has been contracted to perform excavation, exhumation and identification duties as part of the current plan; the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Eivissa-Formentera Forum for Memory, Luis Ruiz and Artur Parrón, respectively; and historian Antoni Ferrer Abárzuza.

In remarks, Deputy First Minister Yllanes insisted that “hanging in the balance is the prospect of guaranteeing human rights, the foundation of democracy”. “We are talking about ending a more than eight-decade wait for relatives who have yet to find the remains of their missing loved ones. This third Action Plan for Civil War Graves puts us at the forefront of democratic memory in Spain. In the Balearics we’ll open seven sites, one here in Sant Francesc, where we’ll study the feasibility of six more and, for the first time, we’ll dedicate resources to restoring objects found in the graves, an unprecedented action on the national territory. However there’s still a long way to go, more graves to exhume and more bodies to identify and return to their relatives. We must continue to guarantee the right to truth, to memory, to reparation and to the recognition of victims”.

“Today on Formentera we present the third plan for exhumations”, began Secretary Jurado, who continued by pointing out that one of the plan’s most notable features would entail combing the Sant Francesc cemetery in a bid to locate the final resting place of individuals who died at the internment camp in La Savina. In Jurado’s words, “the main objective is, of course, the pinpointing, identification and return of remains to the families. Democratic memory is based on human rights, like the right of victims’ families to truth, justice and reparation, a right that has been denied them for many decades”.

Representing Aranzadi Science Society, Ms García said that related actions to date had included analysis of Mr Ferrer’s feasibility study at the new cemetery of Sant Francesc as well as a field visit. “In his report, Mr Ferrer identifies three areas in which different witnesses have indicated that burials took place, some of whose localisation appears more viable than others. We’ve proposed working on all of these sites in hierarchical order: starting with the most reliable based on the oral testimonies that have been collected”, she said. The Aranzadi Science Society chief additionally offered that the Sant Francesc team would include participants from digs that were held in Sant Ferran in 2017 as well as from digs during various operations in the Old Cemetery of Eivissa, in Ses Figueretes.

The historical study

Actions at new cemetery of Sant Francesc were included in the third graves plan as a result of the Mr Ferrer’s historical study, which establishes in 58 the definitive number of mortal victims at the island’s internment camp between 1941 and 1942 and defines three places in the cemetery where viable efforts can be made to locate remains.

Prepared on the basis of past research and the contributions of distinct witnesses, the report details the inhumane conditions –overcrowding, unsanitary facilities and food shortages leading to starvation and hunger– that prisoners on the island endured.

To determine the exact number of fatalities in Formentera prison, Antoni Ferrer adds new documentary sources. Until now he had analysed the books of Formentera's Civil Registry and the book of deaths of the parish of Sant Francesc Xavier, and Ferrer adds two more sources, hitherto unexplored: the records of the Administration of Justice of the Archive of the Consell de Formentera and the municipal census of inhabitants. The results coincide and corroborate the figure of 58 fatalities.

On the place of burial of the victims, the study explains that the new cemetery of Sant Francesc was opened in 1940, a few months before the first documented death in prison in Formentera, dated April 1941. No direct witnesses to those burials were found, but there are two secondary witnesses who coincide in indicating as possible locations two of the four quadrants of the new cemetery, located on the west side and which were already finished in 1938. The historian concludes, from the documentation consulted, that the burials were carried out according to the Catholic Christian rite. What we cannot know is whether the graves were identified at the time.

The study includes, as a novelty, not only information on the mortal victims but also on all the people who were imprisoned in the prison of Formentera -about 1,500 names- based on the transcription of lists of the registers and their processing.

Third graves plan

The third graves plan of the Balearic government will involve excavation, exhumation and identification of bodies in seven burial sites in the region. The work will be carried out by the Aranzadi Science Society, following the timetable approved by the Technical Commission on Missing Persons and Graves of the Balearic Islands, which is scheduled to begin in October with the second phase of the Son Coletes excavation in Manacor, followed by work in the new cemetery of Sant Francesc.


22 September 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

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