The musicians of Catalan band Manel return to Formentera 4 September for a 9.30pm performance in the courtyard of the Sant Ferran Primary School. Tickets are free and must be booked in advance on www.entradesformentera.cat. Seating is limited, with capacity at the venue for 250. Part of Treu la Llengua, a regional concert series promoting music in Catalan, the performance is jointly organised by the Balearic Directorate General of Language Policy, Office of Language Policy of the Consell de Formentera and Obra Cultural de Formentera. Manel will present island audiences with the group’s fifth album, Per la bona gent (2019).

23 August 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

Artist Simona Colzi returns to Centre Antoni Tur ‘Gabrielet’ tomorrow with “Essència botànica: de les plantes a la seda” (‘Botanical essence: from plants to silk’), a display of the artist’s latest creations of textile art. Colzi’s Formentera story began at the La Mola market, and earlier this year she participated in the hometown talent-driven runway show, Passarel·la Formentera. Her pieces are handcrafted and dyed with herbs which Colzi herself collects from the Formentera countryside.

The exhibition opens tomorrow at 6.00pm, opening 10.00am to 2.00pm and 7.00pm to 10.00pm until 31 August.

20 August 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

The Consell de Formentera has announced a second, €482,896 funding package to help blunt the toll of Covid-19-related restrictions on local freelancers and small businesses. The call for applications posted today to the Balearic Official Gazette (BOIB) will bring total aid to €630,000 — a sum which local and regional authorities pledged to supply in equal parts.

To date 43 self-employed residents of Formentera and small businesses have benefited from the first round of assistance. That funding was announced in March and meant €130,000 in support, with the last applications for that aid still under review.

Consell de Formentera Vice-President Ana Juan remarked that the buy-in of hometown business owners and freelancers had been “key” and highlighted changes in terms aiming to make sure the money reaches “a maximum number of islanders”. For example, a broader array of professional activity will now be considered eligible for assistance: a fixed amount of relief will go to companies using the “objective estimation scheme” to report earnings as well as those created during the state of alert; no maximum current account balance applies in such cases, and declared profits may total €50,000, twice the previous €25,000 threshold. “We’re continuing to help an essential productive sector and our island’s biggest economic driver”, said the Vice-President.

Disbursements ranging from €1,500 to €7,000
Aid varies based on the nature of professional activity, period of time a business has been registered with regional revenue services, number of locations and how they pay taxes. Market vendors may receive €1,500 and owners of businesses with two locations can get as much as €7,000.

Terms
To be eligible, applicants must have their base of operations and pay taxes on Formentera and must have no outstanding debts with local government, or they must request deferral of payment for outstanding debts and that action must have received approval. Businesses’ average yearly workforce must not exceed ten employees; annual turnover mustn’t top €600,000, and profits must have remained below €50,000 in 2020, or turnover between 1 January 2020 and 31 May 2021 must have fallen at least 35% compared to 2019. In addition, loans issued by Spain’s Official Credit Institute (ICO) to support employment and mitigate economic fallout from the public health crisis will not be taken into account in calculating maximums.

20 working days to apply for aid online
To facilitate access and answer questions related to the assistance, the Consell de Formentera has put in place an information hotline at 971 32 10 87. Interested parties have until 16 September, or twenty working days from the day after publication in the BOIB, to apply for aid through the Virtual Citizen Information Office (OVAC). Complete details and terms can also be viewed on the Consell de Formentera website.

19 August 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

The Consell de Formentera reports that nine citations were issued yesterday as part of a special effort to curb passenger travel in Ses Salines Natural Reserve of Eivissa-Formentera which saw the local fisheries inspection service and Spanish coastal and maritime authorities conduct inspections of ten vessels.

Punitive measures will be sought in nine cases of unauthorised pickup and transport of people. Agents also checked of permits, documentation and skippers’ qualifications.

Environment and inspection services chief Antonio J. Sanz said more action would follow in the days ahead, and described the patrols as “key to tackling unlawful, environmentally destructive activity in the reserve”.

Consell de Formentera President Alejandra Ferrer praised the efforts of law enforcement and government agencies, whose strategy was the fruit of a one-off coordinating session on Wednesday 4 August which officials hoped would improve order in reserve waters and more broadly across the island.

As President Ferrer explained, “for the second weekend in a row, a special police presence spanning Formentera Local Police, Civil Guard, Balearic Emergency Response Service and the Formentera Departments of Inspections, Environment and Mobility will be on the lookout for crowds, street vending, parties in natural spaces and at homes and other violations of Covid restrictions which risk jeopardising the wellbeing of islanders and visitors”, said Alejandra Ferrer.

13 August 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera