The Formentera Council’s office of social welfare has joined forces with the local group Associació de la Festa Intercultural to put on the fourteenth annual Intercultural Day. This morning, social welfare councillor Vanessa Parellada unveiled details in a press conference attended by head organiser Ángeles Martínez Canales and Associació president Manuel Londeiro.

In the words of Councillor Parellada, Sunday April 3rd, Intercultural Day will be the occasion for organizers to “deck out the Sant Ferran schools and celebrate the cultural variety of the countries and autonomous communities represented on Formentera”. Trumpeting Formentera’s claim as the most culturally diverse island in Spain – some 30 per cent of local residents were born abroad – Parellada stressed: “This isn’t just one day; this kind of diversity is an everyday reality on Formentera”.

Gastronomy and popular dance

The president of the organising group, who hailed Formentera as “both culturally diverse and very cosmopolitan”, says the idea behind the day is “to celebrate the cultural diversity we’ve got on the island”. Londeiro says the best way to do that is by “getting a taste of local gastronomy”. Martínez Canales announced the start of the party is slated for one midday, when things will get under way with fun children’s workshops. Kids will have the chance to make bookmarks with their name in Arabic and fancy-dress masks, get painted with henna, decorate mandalas and play games like Twister and musical chairs. There will also be bouncy inflatable castles.

Entry costs €4 and children under 12 get in free. Food samples will start at 2 p.m. and the day’s first folk and music performers are scheduled to take the stage a bit earlier. Participating countries and autonomous communities include Romania, Morocco, Colombia, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Castilla La Mancha, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Equator, Bolivia, Germany, Galicia, Andalusia, Formentera and Valencia. In addition to contracting Martínez Canales part-time for three months to oversee organising duties, the Formentera Council helps pay for the day’s gastronomic samples by contributing €400 per country/community.

Run-off parking

Councillor Parellada reported that parking will be available on the future remodel site of the Sant Ferran schools and along the town’s connector road. Apologising for any inconvenience, the councillor explained that from tomorrow to Sunday the children’s play area at the school will be closed to allow for set-up. She also made the following request: “Please, come with plates and cutlery. We’ll provide biodegradable options for everything else”. Finally, she encouraged the entire island to come out in force on Sunday, ready to have fun.

Earlier today councillor of patrimony Susana Labrador, together with staff specialist Jaume Escandell, paid a visit to the archaeological dig site called Es Cap de Barbaria II. Since 29 February and until 18 18 March, a group of 17 specialists have been overseeing “the consolidation and restoration of structures within areas one and three of the Cap de Barbaria II site”. The areas, as Labrador pointed out, were the only two still unrestored by archaeologists over the last two years. The current phase of activity is  the fifth and last part of a project entitled “Prehistoric Formentera communities. Archaeology, patrimony and society” (“Les comunitats prehistòriques de Formentera. Arqueologia, patrimoni i societat”). The project began in 2012 and is codirected by Pau Sureda (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Edgard Camarós (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social), María Ana Cueto and Luís Teira (Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria – Universidad de Cantabria).

Restoration and consolidation work is being carried out by a crew that includes Margalida Munar, Bernat Burganya and Antoni Puig. It is also supported by the Formentera Council offices of culture and patrimony. According to Councillor Labrador: “The cleaning, maintenance and conservation of dig sites is included in the local directive on the management of cultural heritage sites”.

The restoration crew works under a team of scientists involved in the research project. From the beginning, organisers had anticipated the current activity for the project's final phase. Plans for the project received favourable review by the Council's Comissió Específica d'Arqueologia and were authorised by a government commission accord.

Specifically, the work include putting rocks back in their original place, binding together the structure's uppermost rows of stones, consolidating certain parts of the foundation, filling the interior of walls with rubble and pebbles for added reinforcement, consolidating the inner areas of the site with lime mortar and levelling the site's inner floor. The total cost is €4,418.40.

Restoration and consolidation work has been taking place at the entire north-west portion of the site since 2014. According to Camaròs, the activity has helped researchers determine the nature of life on Formentera when the site was used in prehistoric times, some 3,200 years ago. There were shared living spaces and areas used by entire families for sleeping, said Sureda, who calculates that between 20 and 30 individuals lived at the site. He added that the inhabitants appear to have enjoyed equal social conditions and said class differences between members of the group were unlikely. To conclude the project, the researches will now draft a report compiling the data they have collected.

Conference and exhibition

Tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the municipal gallery (sala d'Exposicions) of the old town hall, Sureda will impart a conference entitled “Prehistoric metallurgy on Formentera. Technology, interaction and society” (“La metal·lúrgia prehistòrica a Formentera. Tecnologia, interacció i societat”). The opening of the exhibition “Formentera in metallurgic networks during the late Bronze Age” (“Formentera en les xarxes metal·lúrgiques del bronze final”) will take place afterwards. The archaeologists involved in the project have also proposed a site visit to explain to Formentera residents how these prehistoric inhabitants lived.

Four chosen from among 8,500 participating pupils from different municipalities in Spain and Portugal where Aqualia provides service

Councillor of culture delivers awards

Maria Ferrer of Mestre Andreu primary school and Àlex Castelló, Carlos Wenham and Valentina Ferrer of Sant Ferran de Ses Roques, have been picked as finalists in the individual category of the Aqualia company’s Concurs Internacional de Dibuix Infantil. As a prize, CiF head of culture Susana Labrador presented each of the finalists a copy of the game El meu primer hort (‘my first vegetable garden’). The head of Aqualia’s municipal water service, Maria Del Mar Yern, was also present as prizes were handed out.

Councillor Labrador congratulated the pupils on their hard work and underscored the importance of “raising awareness among young people about using our resources wisely and not wasting”.

Mar Yern, for her part, applauded the participants’ creativity, saying she was “taken aback by the finalists’ ability to show us what their ideal worlds look like. They’ve given these places life, delivering water to people, animals and plants – just like Aqualia does every day”.

The competition, a nod to World Water Day, has the slogan “Omple el teu món de vida” (‘Fill your world with life’). Organisers say their goal is to “promote sustainability at the most local level”. Crucial to doing that, they say, “is a responsible use of natural resources like water”.

This year some 8,500 third and fourth year pupils from different Spanish and Portuguese municipalities in Aqualia's service area took park in the competition. The contest also served to promote new technologies and sustainable development, because children were encouraged to avoid using paper. The competition was organised on the microsite www.ompleelteumondevida.cat (www.llenatumundodevida.es), where participants could find hordes of illustrations to help them recreate their idea of a perfect world and then name it.

Now in its thirteenth year, the Concurs Internacional is an initiative to educate youth about the water cycle. Organisers hope to help young people see that, with a few simple steps, everyone can contribute to a more efficient use of this precious natural resource.

For more information
Departamento de Comunicación
comunicacion@aqualia.es
www.ompleelteumondevida.cat
www.llenatumundodevida.es
@ConcursoDMA and @FCCAqualia

The Formentera Council's office of culture unveiled today the programme for the 14th year of the Beni Trutmann photography competition. Councillor of culture Susana Labrador spoke about the competition's impressive run and growing base of eager participants, “who contribute photos on everything from political issues to landscapes and traditions”.

The competition had its start soliciting photos that celebrated Formentera nature in all its forms—from flora and fauna, to landscapes and human interaction with nature. The idea was to foment a commitment to nature and active concern for the environment. The initiative itself emerged as a way to render homage to Beni Trutmann, a photographer whose importance for the island remains patent today. Councillor Labrador described the photographer's legacy to the island — “an archive of more than thirty thousand photos that demonstrates Trutmann's love for the natural beauty of Formentera”.

New category

Today Labrador announced a change in the 2016 run of the competition: “the smartphone shot category”. According to the councillor, the module was devised for youth aged 12 to 18, who are invited to send a maximum of three phone shots to concursfoto@conselldeformentera.cat. Labrador pointed out that the Polaroid company has contributed by donating photo supplies to be included among this year's prizes.

In the Black & White and Colour categories, participants have the possibility of submitting three photos in either digital or analogue. The formats permitted are square, digital, classic and panorama and participants will be considered for first, second and third place for their chosen category, with cash prizes set at 500, 300 and 200 euros respectively. The submission deadline for all the categories is 8 April.

The competition jury will be composed of a representative of the Balearic ornithological association and Defensa de la Naturalesa de Formentera, a representative of Obra Cultural Balear de Formentera, three individuals of recognised experience in visual arts, a president and a secretary.

Winning shots will be entered in the island's image and sound archive (l'Arxiu d'Imatge i So) and remain as property of the Formentera Council, who can use them —without drawing a profit— in any graphical project it deems appropriate: posters, signs, on the internet, etc.

With the annual contest, the Council hopes not only to keep Trutmann's memory alive, but also to create a way for budding photographers to get a taste of the work and example left behind by one of Formentera's most celebrated greats.

Breaking boundaries

Pointing to rocketing participation in recent years, Labrador noted the “the Beni Trutmann photo competition has consolidated its importance on our island”. In almost 15 years, the yearly event has racked up a considerable photo archive for the local administration. A count from just the last five years stands at approximately 1,000 photos and more than 300 participants.

The competition's growth has been laid bare by an eclectic participant base which, far from limited to Spanish cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Lugo and Zaragoza, extends into the rest of Europe.

The competition will culminate Monday 25 April in an exhibition of 50 prints in the municipal gallery (la Sala d'Exposicions) of the old town hall. The opening night of the exhibition will serve to name this year's winners, and the display will remain open to the public through 7 May. Details of the competition were published in the 5 March 2016 issue of the Balearic Islands gazette (BOIB) and can be viewed on the Formentera Council website, www.consellinsulardeformentera.cat.