The Formentera Council is moving shaded areas in the car park adjacent to Pirata beach bar, located on the island's eastern coast. For the last month, crews have been preparing the site to reinstall pergolas, or shade-providing structures, across the lot. The work, which the Council says should be complete before next month, consisted in removing the previous structures, levelling the earth and installing the new pergolas.

The undertaking cost the Council €50,000. As Office of Environment head Daisee Aguilera pointed out, the lower-than-standard figure reflected a reduction applied by the coastal authority to the administration's lease of the land. Until 2016 the Council paid an annual sum of €45,000 to occupy the land where the parking area sits. In 2016, they paid €4,200. According to Aguilera, the discount stemmed from the Council's pledge to invest €50,000 into moving the pergolas.

Though that amount won't cover the cost of repositioning all of the shade spots in Ses Salines, Aguilera described the effort as ongoing and said she hoped a similar agreement could be reached this year as well.

The Formentera Council's Office of Infrastructure has done road surface improvements in the ses Illetes portion of ses Salines park, Can Marroig and estany Pudent. Department head Rafael González said the prep work ahead of the 2017 summer season would continue through mid-March and had already covered 10.1 kilometres of arterials.

Updates have included the road adjacent to estany Pudent and the three offshoots linking it with the main highway plus the following arterials: Mayans des Pujols, can Mossènyer, Rocabella, ses Canyes, ses Illetes, Llevant and Can Marroig.

As part of the effort, which consisted in levelling roads and compacting the earth below, González's department worked with the Office of Environment to avoid disturbing birds nesting in the area.

Next steps
Crews will now set out fixing up the roads that crisscross Punta Prima, with plans next week to move on to Migjorn. A subcontractor, currently stationed at along paths that cut through Es Cap de Barbaria, has also been brought in to provide assistance.

According to estimates the work will be finished by Easter. As Councillor González pointed out, “by and large, improvements are being made on dirt roads that are also included in the island's network of nature trails for cyclists and walkers”.

The Formentera Council's Office of Culture has announced it will begin accepting photo submissions to the Beni Trutmann contest. Prints will be accepted through April 7. At fifteen, the competition is the longest-running of its kind on the island. Culture councillor Susana Labrador held up the event for the fervor it sparks among photography adepts of all stripes—whether their snapshots of choice are politically-steeped, landscapes or of deeply-rooted traditions.

From its outset focused on Formentera's natural surroundings—landscapes, flora and fauna, humans in nature—as a way to promote a commitment to the environment, the competition, according to Labrador, “was initially conceived as an homage to Beni Trutmann himself, who was absolutely instrumental for Formentera”. The photographer left the island with an archive of more than thirty thousand prints reflecting a deep love of Formentera's natural beauty.

Smartphone snapshots
In an effort to turn younger audiences on to the groundbreaking figure, organisers last year created a new category: smartphone snapshots. Boosted by the warm reception it received, the category returns this year. It is geared towards 12- to 18-year-olds, who are asked to email their submissions (a maximum of three) to concursfoto@conselldeformentera.cat. The initiative receives support from Polaroid, who will provide photo equipment prizes.

Colour and Black & White categories
Contenders in the Colour and Black & White categories can submit as many as three photo prints (analogue or digital), square, classic or panorama shots. They must choose whether to compete for the first, second or third prize in each category and will be eligible for €500, €300 or €200 prizes respectively.

Jury
The jury will be composed of someone from the Balearic group for ornithology and the defence of nature, a representative of Obra Cultural Balear de Formentera, three noted visual arts professionals plus a president and secretary.

Winning photos will become part of the local image and sound archive and property of the Formentera Island Council. They can additionally be used by the administration for graphic undertakings like posters, signs or for use on the Internet.

Long history
Fifteen years on, the Beni Trutmann competition has left the Council with a very valuable store of roughly 1,200 photos. Pointing to the more than 300 participants in the last five years alone, Labrador called the contest “a way for fans of the island to render Formentera as they see fit”. And with photographers hailing from Madrid, Barcelona, València, Lugo, Zaragoza and the countries of Europe, the the growth of the contest is evident.

Photo display and prizes
The contest culminates with a show of approximately fifty photos in the Council's exhibition space (Sala d'Exposicions) starting Monday April 24. It will also be the occasion to distribute prizes to the contest's winners. The display will remain open through May 6. For more information and details on participation, visit the Formentera Council website or the following link: http://www.caib.es/eboibfront/ca/2017/10626/591827/aprovacio-de-les-bases-i-convocatoria-del-concurs-

The Formentera Council's Office of Social Welfare has reported on plans to issue an official statement at the administration's plenary session defending the rights and freedoms of women in the 21st century. Councillor and department head Vanessa Parellada took the opportunity of International Women's Day celebrations today to urge continued work “to move equality forward”.

In so doing, the Formentera Council will lend support to a manifesto drafted by IB Dona. The text reaffirms March 8 as a “day of historic importance in the struggle for real equality between women and men”. While the text casts women's rights and liberties as fruit of the toil of previous generations, it also calls for sustained action to ensure the collective patrimony is maintained.

Activities on March 8
The Formentera chapter of Espai Dones has organised a series of activities to herald International Women's Day. At 12 noon an information stand will be mounted and staffed at plaça de la Constitució. Another activity will take place at 5.30pm, when students of Formentera's school of music and dance join teacher Julia Delgado in staging a flash mob. Immediately after, members of the Eivissa-Formentera musical conservatory will perform for the public with the help of centre coordinator Margalida Villalonga. At roughly 6.00pm in the square, surrogates of Espai Dones will read the group's International Women's Day manifesto.