The administration's president and head of sports were joined today by a top member of the Balearic government in unveiling details about Formentera's latest fixture for runners. CiF officials Jaume Ferrer and Jordi Vidal together with Biel Barceló talked about the upcoming Mitja Marató (“half marathon”) now in its ninth year. Also in tow were Núria de la Torre and Josep Verdera, spokespeople of the event's two biggest sponsors (Trasmapi and CaixaBank, respectively) as well as Manuel Hernández, director of the firm overseeing coordination of the run.

A total of 2,800 runners will take part in this Saturday's race; 1,900 are registered for the half marathon and another 900 are scheduled to run the 8 kilometre (K) circuit. This year marked the first that organisers abandoned first-come, first-served signups in favour of a random drawing in which 7,000 entered. Organisers put the run's overall draw, counting families and friends of competitors, at 7,000.

Remembering the 101 runners who turned up for the inaugural run nine years ago, the Council president hailed the event's success over the years and thanked the sponsors, large and small, and volunteers too, for making it all possible. One of this year's pre-eminent backers was the Agència de Turisme Balear. Mr Barceló himself spoke about the ATB's commitment to the annual run, an event he credited with “filling out numbers in the mid and low season”.

Timetable and traffic interruptions
The 21K race will start at 5.30pm at the lighthouse in la Mola. Runners in the 8K equivalent will set off at the same time from kilometre marker 6.2 on the Sant Ferran highway.

The stretch of road connecting la Mola's town with the lighthouse will be closed to vehicle traffic from 3.00pm. Access from es Caló to la Mola will be cut from 4.30pm and two stretches of highway—from Sant Ferran to es Caló and from la Savina to es Pujols/Sant Ferran—will be closed starting at 5.00pm. Normal traffic will resume following the passage of participants bringing up the rear; they are projected to arrive at the finish line between 7.30 and 8.00pm.

Carlos Bernús, chair of Formentera's tourism advisory board, is currently in China for Shanghai's World Bridge Tourism Project, where participants are busily laying the groundwork for 2018 as the year of Chinese tourism in Europe. One hundred fifty European firms were invited to the series of day-long gatherings aimed at bridging the cultural divide through actions within the European Union and the People's Republic. One of the twelve Spanish entities tapped to participate in initiative was Formentera's Patronat de Turisme.

Over the course of the travel industry trade show, Bernús will sit in on some 15 meetings with tour operators and travel agencies in an effort to market Formentera's qualities as a destination spot. He pointed out that a February spike in flights between Spain and China coincides with the moment Chinese holidaymakers break for new year festivities—“a prime time to encourage travel to our island,” Bernús said.

Next year Formentera will once again attend China's forum for Spanish tourism, or FOTEC, scheduled for June 2018 in Shanghai. “The goal is not to completely overhaul our list of target markets,” clarified the head of tourism promotion, “but we want to position Formentera as an option for people travelling Europe during the off-season”. Getting there will require cooperation from the island's dining establishments and hotels, who, with minimal tweaks, can adapt to the needs of Chinese travellers.