Friday, 06 May 2022 08:33
The Formentera Office of Heritage is pleased to announce aid for work on cultural heritage sites and work to rehabilitate dry stone walls and bury overhead utility cables on the island. This year €250,000 has been set aside and the deadline to apply for the aid is 29 July. The terms of the offer have been posted to the BOIB and can also be found at www.conselldeformentera.cat.
Raquel Guasch, Councillor of Heritage, framed the 2022 call for applications as "the continuation and consolidation of a now three-year initiative and a clear statement to islanders about the importance of stewarding our heritage". She cast the money as "a chance to cement our heritage as a hallmark of our identity".
Of 25 grants and €192,278.40 in funding that was awarded last year, 17 went to wall rehabilitations (€125,911); 6 went to on-site interventions (€50,267.40) and 2 went to undergrounding power lines (€16,100).
This year funding for dry stone walls has been increased from 45% to 50%. The €250,000 budget will be split as follows: 35% for work on cultural heritage sites, 50% to rehabilitate dry stone walls and 15% to bury electrical and telephone lines.
Surplus aid may be applied in excess of those percentage allocations, with preference for dry stone wall rehabilitations, cultural heritage site work and utility line burials, in descending order of priority.
Submissions to the 2022 call can involve restoring, conserving, consolidating and rehabilitating assets of cultural heritage like cultural interest sites (BIC) and catalogued sites (BC), as well as assets included in Formentera's Cultural Heritage Catalogue and Inventory, provided that associated work improves and enhances the site in question.
Eligible dry stone wall projects will involve repairs performed using traditional materials and techniques, or swapping out concrete block walls or other unsuitable materials for traditionally fitted dry stone walls.
Finally, utility line burials eligible for subsidies will involve either power lines (medium voltage, transformer stations, low voltage distribution networks and individual connections) or telephone lines.
Applications for these grants can be sent to the Citizen's Information Office [Oficina d'Atenció a la Ciutadania, Carrer Ramon Llull, 6] or to the Virtual Citizen's Information Office (OVAC), which can be accessed from the Consell de Formentera website.
6 May 2022
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera