Council fixes new morgue site: opposite municipal cemetery

The Council of Formentera's office of social welfare has announced its decision to construct the future municipal morgue on a plot of land that is just across the street from the municipal cemetery. The chosen site – a 10,000-sq-m lot originally acquired by the Council to accommodate the day centre residence – has its entry on the other side of the same access road, between the cemetery and the local day centre.

In the wake of the announcement the project will begin moving forward immediately, the first step of which requires drafting and public tendering of building plans. These measures have been anticipated since last year, when the 2015 council budget was formulated to include a line item for capital investments in the amount of €50,000.

Following the most recent discussions on the state of affairs on the island – a series of talks that took place over six days in June 2014 – participants at the attending council plenary voted unanimously to endorse construction of a municipal morgue.

Initial plans called for placing the morgue on the same lot as the cemetery itself, an old structure whose cultural and architectural value accord it certain official protections. Council planners then proposed searching for a site adjacent to the cemetery and various conversations were held to this effect with neighbouring landowners. After much review the Council opted for the current site, a swath of public land just metres from the cemetery.