The infrastructure department of the Consell de Formentera reports that the second phase of upgrades on Avinguda Joan Castelló i Guasch in Sant Ferran will begin this Friday 1 November. Pointing out that work last winter stretched from the roundabout to the point where the avinguda (avenue) intersects with Carrer Guillem de Montgrí, department chief Josep Marí said phase two would pick up where phase one left off and extend all the way to the schools.

The €955,615 remodel is scheduled to run from 1 November to 31 March, with completion expected before the start of the 2020 summer season. The first phase cost €1.4 million.

Essentially an extension of last winter’s efforts, the current work will see crews performing a host of upgrades from repaved road surfaces to buried utility lines (sanitation, drinking water, communications, electricity and street lighting lines). Pedestrian-only zones will expand too, while architectural obstacles will disappear and a dedicated cycling lane created in phase one will remain in place. Other planned additions include recharge points for electric vehicles.

30 October 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera

Formentera’s Departments of Human Resources and Management report that local government staff and career civil servants sat down with the heads of the respective departments, Paula Ferrer and Rafa Ramírez, plus the island’s councillor of the interior, Josep Marí, and General Workers' Union (UGT) and Workers' Commissions (CC.OO) union representatives, for the first gathering at the Special General Negotiating Table (Mesa extraordinària General Negociadora).

The inaugural meeting served to work towards a roadmap for the Governing Team’s efforts this legislative term. Attendees came away with orders to update the review panel so that a list of job posts known as the “staff establishment plan” (relació de llocs de treball) could be completed. They also agreed to phase in the system dubbed “horizontal professional careers” that won cross-party support last legislative term. The setup rests on three fundamental pillars: seniority, professional development and job performance. Attendees also agreed to update their collective agreement during the current legislative term.

Lastly, the gathering also brought approval for improvements to the professional development programme available to government employees, and the Consell de Formentera pledged to develop an offering of courses.

Management chief Rafa Ramírez said much had come of the introductory talk, pointing to agreements around the Governing Team’s human resources strategy moving forward. Councillor Ramírez highlighted the importance of concluding work on the establishment plan, enacting the system of horizontal professional careers, coming up with a new collective agreement and developing suitable staff training—in Ramírez’s words, “all part of improving the way we engage with islanders”.

17 October 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera

Formentera’s Department of Infrastructure reports that, with construction recently completed, Ràdio Illa began broadcasting this week from the municipal radio station’s new studios. Both the old and new facilities are housed in Es Molí Social Centre, which shares a building with the Casal de Joves.

Work was valued at €44,054 and involved equipping the 50-square-metre space—located on the western side of the building’s first floor (the old studio is on the eastern side)—for professional broadcasting. Furniture was installed at a cost of €9,183, and the station received €17,495 in new radio equipment.

33 years on the airwaves
This 3 December, running parallel to Sant Francesc’s yearly festivities and Ràdio Illa’s 33rd year on the air, the municipal radio station will open its doors so islanders can see the new station. Ràdio Illa—plus technician Enrique García, Joan Garau and Carmelo Convalia, the station’s founding members—first took to the airwaves on 3 December 1986 with broadcasting equipment set up on the first storey of the old town council. A team of professionals has kept listeners abreast of local news since 2006, briefly stopping this week so the studio change could take place.

Ràdio Illa is Formentera’s public radio station. The station is owned by the Consell de Formentera and operated by the Cultural Audiovisual Association of Formentera (ACAF). A host of collaborators and contributors keep Ràdio Illa going, including coordinator Josep “Pepo” Rubio, technical chief León Convalia, producer and presenter Bernat Masferrer and writer David Setbetes.

17 October 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera

The Departments of Interior and Island Services of the Consell de Formentera report that emergency safety measures have been activated in the run-up to the expected landfall of a rain- and windstorm that Spain's Directorate General for Emergencies has ranked level one on its severity index.

The Consell fire brigade is now on “pre-alert”, with four officers and reinforcements standing by. Local law enforcement have called in extra shifts in the coming days based on the weather forecast.

Clearing sewage lines
The highway brigade has been overseeing efforts to clear storm-water drains, sewage pipes and roadside ditches. Should they become necessary, water pumps are also on hand.

Aemet said the island could see hourly precipitation of 50 litres per square metre—up to one hundred in the space of 12 hours— and pointed to gusts of 80km/hour and waves up to 3 metres high. Formentera is expected to be on orange alert until Wednesday at midnight.

Outdoor cultural programming for the day, like Cinema a la fresca, is on standby pending developments.

10 September 2019
Department of Communication
Consell de Formentera