The Office of Tourism of the Formentera Council reports that today, Monday, definitive approval has come for the text that will give authority in tourism promotions to the individual island councils of Formentera, Menorca and Mallorca. The overhaul will simultaneously mean a better funding deal for Eivissa, which has overseen its own marketing since 2015.

Formentera to get 11.07% of available funds
Held against the Partido Popular's proposed 2015 funding package, the current deal means more money for the services and functions marked for transfer. It also means Formentera will receive, in addition to 11.07% of the total package, important authority on statistics, market studies and production creation.

Formentera's tourism and land chief, Alejandra Ferrer, expressed her satisfaction with the terms of the agreement, which assumes the changes will take effect April 1. Taking into account a series of commitments that, due to the official

That the changes officially took effect in early 2018 means numerous commitments between the Agència de Turisme Balear and the Formentera Council remain pending still. The upshot is that 2018 will be all but typical.

The head of tourism described it as “a good deal”for two key reasons: not only will Formentera's funding allocation grow by roughly one million euros, above all, she said, “it provides for new personnel and the transfer of functions and services that are crucial to the task of tourism promotions”.

Once approval for the agreement is secured in joint committee, definitive go-ahead will still require the deal's passage in plenary assemblies of the island councils, another joint-committee gathering and, finally, the rubber stamp of a governing board called the Consell de Govern.

The power transfer will mean Formentera's promotional strategies are increasingly personalised and better reflect local interests and the island's particular characteristics. It will free up space for important projects (construction of a visitors' observatory, for example) to receive attention.

The mobility department of the Formentera Council reports that Jaume Ferrer, president of the administration, was joined by Marc Pons, the regional minister of land, energy and mobility, in signing a deal on high-tech upgrades for the island's public buses.

Under the agreement, CTM, a Mallorca-based transport consortium that rigs municipal buses in the Balearics with on-board technical equipment, promises to lend the Council material and oversee upkeep.

The current plan calls for purchase of 12 ticket-vending machines and 36 validation devices, as well as LED info panels, security cameras and communication kits.

The Council and CTM's joint acquisition of the new material means efforts under way in the Balearics to integrate bus fares and rider-info services will become even easier. Buses in the region, moreover, will all be equipped with the same hardware and software.

The measure, in the words of mobility councillor Rafael González, “is about improving the public transport service”. González said the change was occurring alongside preparations for a new transport contract in early 2019 which is purported to mean further improvements to bus service in the region.