The Formentera Council extends its congratulations to architect Elías Torres, who received Spain's national architecture award, Premio Nacional de Arquitectura, for 2016. The Ministry of Public Works and Transport's accolade went to the Martínez Lapeña-Torres firm, which Torres shares with Tarragona native José Antonio Martínez Lapeña. The award is a celebration of the professional careers of the two men, who engineered local monuments like Jardí de ses Eres and Centre Gabrielet.

At 11.30am today, the Formentera Council hall of ceremonies was the site of the administration's observance of Día de la Constitución. President Jaume Ferrer read an address to the crowd after which three students from the traditional music workshop at Formentera's school of music and dance —Cristian Tur, Joel Roig and Eric Roig— offered performances. In a show of thanks, President Ferrer presented each of the musicians with a gift.

In a one-off plenary session convened today, members of the Formentera Council voted unanimously to petition the Balearic legislature to ask the Congress of Deputies to explicitly change article 69.3 of Spain's Constitution in order to allow Formentera to choose its own senator, separate from Eivissa's. Local lawmakers are able to pursue the effort thanks to the so-called “council law” and the Balearic Islands' Statute of Autonomy, which empowers island councils to petition Congress via mediation provided by the regional parliament.

The proposed redrafting of article 69.3 of the Spanish Constitution, which also includes substituting the “and” between “Eivissa and Formentera” for a comma, reads as follows: “In the island territories, every island with cabildo or council shall represent its own constituency requiring its own elected senator or senators. For the larger islands (Gran Canaria, Mallorca and Tenerife) these shall number three, and on Eivissa, Formentera, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote, Menorca and La Palma, one”.

The changes also entail the following: removal of the word insular from the designation of the councils (article 141.4 of the Constitution does not in fact prescribe its use), leaving the public administrations to be known simply as “councils;” alphabetised ordering of the islands in both the Balearics and the Canary Islands; and, in keeping with the Canary Islands' Statute of Autonomy, correct use of determining articles in the case of La Gomera and El Hierro.

Long-standing plea
Arguing the current request is in fact not new, president's office secretary Bartomeu Escandell pointed out that “Formentera is the only island in the country that shares a senator with another island”. The petition was first made in 2004, he said, when the plenary assembly of Formentera's local government (formerly an “ajuntament”) unanimously passed a similar motion on August 20, 2004. The call has been renewed on multiple occasions, including at a spokespersons' committee earlier this year, when members crossed party lines to back the current measure.

Escandell said the current political climate is ideal for the change to be made, noting that the two leading national parties, the Popular Party and the PSOE, agree that a constitutional rewrite is necessary. The secretary called it “a one of a kind opportunity for this broad-based and legitimate local plea”.

As the island's hospital and local administration turn ten, the Formentera Council wishes to extend a special Christmas message to the people of the island: “There's no such thing as 'too small' when your aim is true,” along with the celebratory exclamation common to islanders, Molts anys i bons!

In 2017 Formentera became the site of extra special ten-year anniversary celebrations, both for the island's hospital and the Council. The Hospital de Formentera celebrated its first decade in February with an array of fun activities.

Ten years of the Formentera Council
Meanwhile, the Council has seen to its own celebrations. Since March 1 the administration's logo, which adorns official stationary and Formentera Council websites, has included the appendage “10 years” and special programming has marked the most standout moments since the Council's creation.

On March 1, a date known locally as the Day of the Balearics, the administration heralded ten years since the Balearic Islands' Autonomy Statute appeared in the Official Gazette of Spain. The freshly inked document established that the island council which had hitherto governed Formentera and Eivissa would be split into two separate entities. The previous arrangement was underpinned by the 1983 version of the same regional statute.

Another milestone occurred on July 10, 2007, forty-five days after voters took to the polls May 27 to vote for the creation of the Formentera Council. One decade later to the day, the Formentera Council commemorated the event in the conference hall of the Formentera Day Centre with some of the main players involved in the change, including former mayor Isidor Torres, former deputy Pep Mayans and current Council president Jaume Ferrer. Also on hand were some of the leading figures behind the legal operations, like the pre-2007 administration's secretary, Marta Enciso, and her current counterpart Ángel Navarro.

Though the creation of Formentera's own hospital and council was a prospect impossible for some to imagine, time was on our side. Join us in celebrating this day, a landmark in terms of services and self-determination for all of Formentera. Molts anys i bons and happy holidays!