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Consell modifies services and activities amid rollout of Enhanced Tier 4

The Consell de Formentera reports that due to the evolving public health situation and amid the island’s adoption of “Enhanced Tier 4” protocol starting Saturday 30 January, the Sala de Cultura (Cinema) will close for at least two weeks. Sessions at the cinema will be postponed from tomorrow. The La Mola lighthouse will shut its doors as well for the duration of the new public health alert.

Marià Villangómez library will remain open to the public with appropriate capacity restrictions in place.

Ajuntament Vell exhibition space will open Monday 1 February as scheduled for “Autoretratos”, a selection of work from artist Christoph Steinmeyer. Due to new rules, capacity will be limited to five and visitors must comply with public health protocol.

Consell-backed activities such as the pottery, woodworking and painting workshops have been placed on hold as well.

28 January 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

Consell improves climate control and ventilation at pool with dehumidifier

foto 2021 obres piscina 1The Formentera Sport Department reports that upgrades currently under way and scheduled to continue in the weeks ahead at the municipal pool are aimed at optimising the fitness centre’s on-site climate control system. Crews will replace a dehumidifier installed when the pool was first fitted with a cover and which is today past its useful lifespan, as well as perform other improvements like fixing leaks and upgrade waterproofing over the covered portion of changing rooms and the boiler room.

Sports department chair Paula Ferrer said the previous dehumidifier’s operation at 50% capacity and associated condensation and temperature issues like stark differences in indoor air and water temperatures made its replacement essential. “We promised users of the sport centre that upgrades were on the way and now we’re taking the opportunity of reduced activity amid Covid-19 to make the switch”, explained Ferrer. Administrative formalities started last year were interrupted when emergency orders were declared. Today, with formalities complete, crews can begin installation of the €102,850 machine.

The decision was made to simultaneously repair the roof over the swimming pool’s changing areas and mechanical room, an operation which will cost €26,880 and consist in removing the current cover and replacing it with new equipment to better waterproof and isolate that portion of the facility. This week workers started taking apart and demolishing the faulty cover.

“A guaranteed-safe covered pool”

Apologising for the inconvenience the short-term closure would cause and insisting the pool would reopen as soon as operations were complete, Ferrer said that “all islanders, from the youngest of the young to the eldest of the elderly, will be able to enjoy a guaranteed-safe covered pool in the height of comfort”. Work is expected to be complete in three weeks.

Additional upkeep will include installing new LED lighting and water filters and performing maintenance work on the pool’s heating system.

28 January 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

Crews remove nearly 3,000 processionary nests by hand in one week

foto 2021 processionaria 1The Formentera Environment Department reports that approximately 3,000 pine processionary nests have been removed from local pine trees in the last seven days. The Consell de Formentera has brought in two outside contractors at a cost of €8,872 to oversee the effort, which started near the hospital and cemetery before continuing to Camí des Brolls, the Sant Ferran petrol station, Camí Vell de la Mola, Migjorn and Es Ca Marí. The 20-day operation will ultimately cover a large part of affected pine trees on the island.

Over five thousand cartridges scheduled to arrive in the days ahead will be used by local hunters who have agreed to collaborate in the effort to destroy nests in tall branches.

Islanders and healthy forests department collaborate
Environment chief Antonio J Sanz encouraged landowners and islanders at large to do their part to safeguard Formentera’s forests, and said the FED had information and other material  for those needing assistance.

“Tackling the pest’s spread on Formentera must continue to be a priority for the Balearic healthy forests department”, said Sanz. “We’re  seeing the caterpillar in more and more places, and aren’t out of the woods yet, not by a long shot.”

The Balearic Islands Institute of Nature, or Ibanat, is also working simultaneously to eliminate nests from the area of the island known as Sa Tanca d’Allà dins.

For more information visit the FED (Àrea de Medi Ambient) at carrer Mallorca, 15 (baixos) in Sant Ferran de ses Roques; call 971 32 12 10 ext.1 or send an email to mediambient@conselldeformentera.cat. Islanders can likewise contact the healthy forests division of the Balearic government on their website, or by phone (971 17 66 66) or email.

27 January 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

Formentera to bolster Tier 4 protocol from Saturday 30 January

foto 2021 nivell 4 reforcatThe chair and deputy chair of the Consell de Formentera, Alejandra Ferrer and Ana Juan, respectively, held an virtual meeting today with Balearic first minister Francina Armengol and health and consumption minister Patrícia Gómez to monitor and assess the Covid-19 situation on the island. After the gathering Ferrer announced that in light of spiking local infections and in a bid to swiftly bring cases under control, Formentera would enter a stricter form of tier 4 public health alert on Saturday 30 January.

Among the biggest changes in restrictions in force for the next two weeks: gatherings are limited to people from the same household; restaurants must close (takeaway service can continue till 10.00pm and delivery till midnight); gyms must close; continued enforcement of “perimetric sealing-off”; small shops must reduce capacity to 30% and close at 8.00pm, except for essential services.

Info-sharing meeting
Before meeting with Armengol, Ferrer and Juan sat down face to face with the regional director of public health, Maria Antònia Font, to review the specifics of Formentera’s public health situation:

Of 162 infected islanders, four are currently at Can Misses while the rest are at home and receiving at-home care. Ninety-six of the cases can be traced to active local clusters that have been registered, meaning that, since individuals’ close contacts can be easily traced, the situation is under a degree of control and the rate of infection relatively stable.

Though top regional health department officials speak of stability, the local premiere said the island’s passage to “reinforced” Tier 4 protocol aimed for cautiousness in light of serious issues such as Covid variants already present on Eivissa, occupancy of hospital beds there and the rising number of cases.

Ferrer added that the island’s government was once again looking at the option of massive local testing, saying Balearic officials have made assurances that if infections didn’t drop in the next seven to ten days, wholesale screenings would be used to “pinpoint positives and introduce appropriate lockdown measures”.

At a meeting last week, party representatives and Formentera’s league of small- and medium-sized businesses supported the move to more restrictive “Enhanced Tier 4” measures to contain the local Covid spread.

Other issues
President Ferrer additionally spoke to Balearic officials about pressing Madrid and Europe to hasten vaccine production and distribution to ensure the local population’s immunity by summer. She also insisted improved contact tracing would be key to isolating close contacts and curbing transmission, and said primary care services needed urgent help in order to provide proper care.

To conclude, Ferrer once again exhorted islanders to be responsible by respecting restrictions and forgoing gatherings: “From Saturday we’ll be limited to meeting with members of our household, but some people will still go to work and children will go to school, so we need to remember to respect distancing rules and wear masks.” She encouraged people feeling cooped up to “enjoy the island, go outside, go for walks with family”. “But at the smallest sign of symptoms, contact infocovid”, she continued, “because if you have caught the virus, stopping its spread and getting professional help are crucial.”

27 January 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

Upgrades on two Es Pujols roads

foto 2021 obres es pujols 1The Formentera Infrastructure Department reports improvements are under way on Avinguda Miramar and Carrer Punta Prima in Es Pujols to expand pedestrian space, remove architectural barriers and introduce beautification with new street furniture and lighting.

Department chief Josep Marí said the project marked a continuation of previous betterment works in the town’s centre, and sought to implement aesthetic improvements, increase pedestrian accessibility and benefit area restaurants and shops and tourism generally. Like similar efforts in other Formentera towns, the operation is designed to make Es Pujols more people-friendly and redirect traffic toward the nearby ring road.

Overseen by UTE Xix Avenida Miramar, the €1.09m work began in December and is on track for completion in May.

26 January 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

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