This morning, Thursday September 22, as part of the island's tourist-appreciation day, Dia del Turista, the Formentera Council made a special salute to Federico and Gisela Schmidt, celebrating 50 years of Formentera visits. The couple took their first trip to the island in 1966. For many years the two spent their time on Formentera in a house in es Ca Marí, which they later sold. Since that time, they have spent their visits to the island lodging at their daughter's house in Venda des Pi des Català. Despite a recent spill at home, Federico made it out to the island to celebrate his 93rd birthday. “Every fibre of me loves Formentera. All I wanted was to be here today”, he said. Molts anys i bons!

This morning in Sant Francesc's plaça de la Constitució, the Formentera Council (CiF) staged an exhibition of zero-emission vehicles. Local firms Cooltra, Es Brolls, Novelec and Proauto displayed their selection of e-vehicles and recharge units and the Council exhibited part of its electric fleet as well.

The event was held to commemorate European Mobility Week, and, explained CiF transport councillor Rafael González, “so locals and tourists can get a first-hand look at these kinds of cars and the advantages of using them”. González seized the opportunity to announce a change for the coming summer: free parking for electric vehicles at the Plaça Europa underground car park. With the change, all metered and pay parking on the island will be free for e-vehicles.

Bike ride across the island's nature trails
Commemorative activities for European Mobility Week will continue tomorrow, Thursday September 22, with a bike ride to spread the word about the island's network of nature trails, the so-called rutes verdes. Participants in the ride will gather at 9.30am in plaça de la Constitució, and bikes will be available at no charge for anyone keen to join in. The loop will run to Cala Saona and back, picking up three of the 32 trails on the island.

Tourist-appreciation day
Immediately after the bike ride, Formentera will celebrate its tourists by offering them a sampling of local products. The event is scheduled for 11.00am, when participants in the morning bike ride are expected to roll back into town. The assortment of snacks will be open to the general public.

The Formentera Council has announced its autumn-winter catalogue of courses and workshops for adults. The aim is to offer a wide range of options to meet the local demand for educational and leisure courses.

Language courses
This year's catalogue of language courses includes Catalan, Italian and English. The free-of-charge Catalan classes will be given by the Council's language advisory service, Servei d'Assessorament Lingüístic. Morning, afternoon and evening sessions will be offered at the A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2 levels. Enrolment will be open from September 26 to October 13 and lessons will get under way October 17 and 18. The end of the course will depend on the scheduling of this year's round of official exams, projected to take place January 2017.

Language instruction is also available for those keen to study foreign tongues. Take, for example, the English courses conducted by Nancy McConachie. Her afternoon classes will start in January and will be offered at the basic and advanced levels. Italian classes, by Rodolfo Taccheo, will also be given. The two courses —in beginners' and advanced-level Italian— will start in January on a morning timetable.

Art and Creation
Like every year, there will also be workshops with a decidedly more artistic slant. Creación y Pintura (Creation and Painting) will be taught by Teresa Matilla and a woodworking course will be given by Aaron Keydar. Remedios Castillo and Silvia Jobani will teach a course on pottery. Those three courses will begin in November and finish in March.

Given the positive response received last year, Toni Ruiz will once again lead a radio production workshop. This theory- and practise-based course from the head of Ràdio Illa will begin in February. As for classes in IT, this year will see the start of a beginner's Photoshop course aimed at addressing some of the most basic tools of this essential image-editing software. Sergio Torres will give the course, which is due to run from February to March.

Also new this year is a beginner's digital photography course from Josep Maria Moreu and Pep Martínez. This intensive theory- and practice-based course will provide participants with a variety of photo techniques.

Health
The Council will also run a yoga course with instruction by Susanne Laier. Classes start in November at the municipal cinema.

Theatre
Now for the performing arts. Espai F_, a cultural association dedicated to stage productions, and Fortmenterart, a dance and musical theatre group, have put together various courses and workshop for 2016-2017.

Espai F_ is, together with IES Marc Ferrer, coordinating an introductory theatre course for youth aged 12 to 16. Classes will be given by Mireia Sobrevela and Miquel Costa.

The group is also behind two theatre courses for adults: a theatre laboratory for on-stage training and a course on the psychological work of constructing a contemporary dramatic character. Both courses will be given by Miquel Costa and Mireia Sobrevela.

Another course —Inside-Out— is framed around movement. It is geared towards individuals who seek to explore movement within a new body and will be led by Valeria Del Vecchio.

With Belén Cabrero at the helm, dance and theatre group Fortmenterart will give introductory and advanced jazz dance classes to adults over 18. Another course, this time with instruction by Siri, will focus on stage acting. Both courses will meet in the municipal cinema.

Pre-enrolment
Pre-enrolment will take place from September 21. Individuals interested in participating in courses that begin in November (like pottery, painting or woodworking) have until October 21 to register. Students that wish to take part in January language courses have until December 16 to sign up. For photography, Photoshop and radio production, registration is open until January 16.

Additional training opportunities fill out the autumn-winter course catalogue. One will deal with teaching basic restaurant and bar service, another is tailored for youth workers and a third course aims to teach participants about social and cultural integration. Anyone interested in participating should contact the Office of Social Welfare.

Traditional arts and dance
Finally, the Sant Ferran retirees' club will offer workshops on traditional pursuits like sewing, reseating chairs, basket weaving, wool working, cooking, and ballroom and salsa dancing. Those workshops will also be held in November. For more information, contact the retirees' club.

Today, Monday September 19 at 12 noon on plaça de la Constitució in Sant Francesc, a minute of silence was observed in condemnation of the murder of Ada Benítez last Saturday on Eivissa.