The Office of Education of the Formentera Council will set aside €45,000 for textbook grants this school year. CiF education councillor Susana Labrador announced the money would be used as “aid to underwrite new acquisitions for primary and secondary schools’ textbook reserves” as well as “individual grants for registered Formentera residents who are taking part in the 2015-16 early-childhood education course”. According to Labrador, “45 of these same grants were awarded last year”.

Deadline April 25

Detailed information, including the documentation that applicants must provide to the Council’s Citizen’s Information Office (OAC), is available at: http://www.consellinsulardeformentera.cat/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=351&Itemid=437&lang=ca. The deadline for application submissions is April 25. For more information, please contact the Office of Culture, Education and Patrimony of the Formentera Council.

The Formentera Council office of education and culture has announced the activities programme for this year’s Sant Jordi holiday. With events running from April 6 to May 6, Susana Labrador, councillor of the department, described the Diada de Sant Jordi as a favourite “not just for students, but for the entire island as well”. Kicking things off is a sampling of shorts from the 17th Short Film Festival of Soria, put together by the group Espai_F with Formentera Film Festival providing additional help. Screenings will take place Wednesday April 6 through Friday May 6 at 8.30 pm in the Casa del Poble and be presided over by festival director Javier Muñiz.

Friday April 8 at 5.30 pm in the Marià Villangómez library, Lídia Clua will lead a storytelling session for the island’s youngest. With a title that cleverly flips the Prince Charming idea on its head, Princeses Blaves i prínceps encantadors is the story of brave, dragon-slaying princesses and faint of heart princes. Then, on Thursday April 14, the little ones of the island are encouraged to take part in a Sant Jordi button-making workshop at the Sant Ferran library.

Saturday April 9, the T-Shock acting company will put on their production of the Balearic author Blai Bonet-penned show, Parasceve. With stage direction by Jeroni Obrador, the group pays tribute to a truly great poet. The production lasts 50 minutes and starts at 9.00 pm in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema).

Friday, April 15, Formentera residents will be treated to a presentation of what has been dubbed “the cultural observatory for the Balearic Islands”. Formentera l’Arxipèlag was born of a desire to create a space for content production while also lending support to community movements and actors on the regional stage. Programme director Andreu Carles López Seguí will be on hand to explain all the details behind the Formentera l’Arxipèlag project. The presentation will begin at 8.30 pm in the Casa del Poble in la Mola.

On Saturday and Sunday, April 16 and 17, the kids will once again have their turn when the circus group Circ Bové pulls into town. With stops planned in Sant Francesc, Sant Ferran and la Mola, Es Cirquet is a bite-size spectacle full of magic, juggling and experimentation.

Monday, April 18, the municipal gallery of the old town hall will host Ramon Pérez Carrió’s pictoral exhibition La Baralla de les Meravelles (“The Marvellous Playing Cards”). Comprising 42 separate pieces, the show represents a round of the game naipes and is based on Ramon Llull’s literary work Llibre dels Meravelles. The exhibition starts at 8.00 pm and will be attended by the artist.

The action keeps coming on Thursday, April 21, with the premiere of Espai_F’s latest stage production, Perdius (“Partidges”). Employing a number of the different “languages” common to the stage, Perdius offers a microperspective of war and savageness as “local products”. The small-scale production will be performed Thursday April 21, Saturday 23 and Tuesday 26 in the Sala de Cultura (Cinema).

Friday April 22, Eivissa-native Ben Clark returns to Formentera to present his book Los últimos perros de Shackleton. Though originally released in Mexico in 2013, the book had remained unpublished in Spain until now. The author describes his current collection of poetry (which preceded his award-winning La fera) as a 70-page love story written from a multitude of different perspectives. The book presentation will take place at 8.00 pm in the Marià Villangómez library.

Book stands

The morning of Sant Jordi day, April 23, stands will be set up at plaça de la Constitució and stocked with free books donated from the library and other cultural associations on the island. Likewise, old books that are brought in will also be accepted as trades.

At 12 noon in the Marià Villangómez library, awards will be handed out to winners of the 17th Antoni Tur “Gabrielet” children's bookmark and Robert Lewis Baldown children's literature competitions. The event is a way to ensure the lasting, vibrant memory of two important local figures; one who left Formentera with a grand artistic legacy and the other to whom we owe thanks for his contribution to the island's international library. “The competitions were created to foment literary creativity and promote reading among young people,” the councillor said. Every year organisers set a different theme to inspire submissions, often letting current events guide their choices. This year's theme is «Music and me» («La música i jo»).

Fans of singer-songwriters can look forward to the event on Saturday, April 30. Hosted by the Talent Ib talent circuit and the Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics, Leonmanso's approach to the craft is a unique one: he deftly skips back and forth between unmistakeably American sounds and the familiar stylings of traditional singer-songwriters, the result being a blend of folk-pop that smacks undeniably of...Menorca. In his songs, he narrates the commonalities of day-to-day living, snapshots of memories and emotions that evoke the experiences of Llure Marqués. He is scheduled to take the stage at 8.30 pm in the Casa del Poble (la Mola).

Friday, May 6, València's own Feliu Ventura will close out the Sant Jordi 2016 events calendar. A guitarist and singer-songwriter, Ventura has recently released a novel for younger audiences. Com un record d'infantesa (“Like a childhood memory”) has illustrations by Daniel Olmo and a story built around the figure of Ovidi Montllor.

All the events of Sant Jordi 2016 have been organised by the CiF office of culture with help from Formentera libraries. The Council wishes to highlight the special involvement of the island's early-childhood and primary schools, as well as help from the group of friends of Formentera's international library, Obra Cultural Balear de Formentera, Espai_F, Ràdio Illa and the Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics.    

Yesterday evening, Formentera’s association of local community leaders, el Consell d’Entitats (‘Council of Entities’), convened to unveil the group’s statement and action plan regarding the Balearic port authority’s proposed relocation of Formentera’s landing at the port of Eivissa. Of the groups with a vote, 29 voted in favour of the Consell’s proposed statement. There were neither abstentions nor “no” votes. The text, titled “From indignation to hope” (“De la indignació a l’esperança”), lays out the Consell’s case for dialogue with Autoritat Portuària de Balears, the Eivissa town hall (Ajuntament de Vila) and the Eivissa nautical club. The group says it hopes to clinch an agreement that establishes “a single landing site with all necessary services for Formentera boats”. The text also received the support of those in attendance without voting rights.

The president of the Consell and CiF councillor of community involvement, Sònia Cardona, celebrated the group’s first ever vote and congratulated the working group that drafted the text on a job well done. Further, she hailed the commitment of parliamentary representative Sílvia Tur, who pledged to take the issue to the Balearic parliament, as well as that of CiF president Jaume Ferrer, for promising to call a one-off plenary meeting to vote on the text.

Earlier today, the CiF office of the presidential cabinet signed an agreement with the Endesa company to facilitate utility payments for low-income individuals at risk of power cuts. The agreement was signed by CiF president Jaume Ferrer and Endesa’s director general in the Balearics, Ernesto Bonnín.

Under the terms of the agreement, Endesa will facilitate payment in cases where Formentera residents run the risk of losing electricity service. According to social welfare councillor Vanessa Parellada, the new process will involve the Formentera Council contacting Endesa to let them know if a financially-struggling customer is registered with CiF social services and if that customer has recently received a favourable report from the department.

As per agreement terms, Endesa and the CiF will base repayment requirements for the unpaid bills on assessments concerning the struggling individual that have been overseen by the Council.

The Council, said Parellada, will intercede in those cases that non-payment of a utility bill threatens to translate into a service interruption for resource-strapped families. “We will assess households on a case-by-case basis to determine how to proceed, whether that means reducing or forgiving the sum owed. In the absence of other options the administration will consider paying the bill itself,” she said.

The new deal comes under a framework agreement signed 11 July last between the utilities provider and the FELIB, the organisation that represents municipalities in their dealings with Endesa.

The Endesa-FELIB framework agreement is part of Directive 2009/72/CE (13 July 2009), which establishes common rules for the internal market in electricity. The directive requires Member States of the European Community to adopt measures to guarantee electricity service to financially-struggling individuals.