Consell de Formentera president Alejandra Ferrer and the chief of the Balearic office of the first minister, civil service and equality, Mercedes Garrido, signed an agreement today to make Eivissa, for the first time ever, the site of the Balearic School of Public Administration (Escola Balear d'Administració Pública, EBAP) training course for local police cadets. The course will be open to cadets from Formentera. Also at the signing were Formentera's councillor of interior, Josep Marí, along with regional civil service office director Carmen Palomino and managing director of the EBAP María del Carmen Iglesias.

"Hopefully this will mean a larger pool of candidates who are qualified to work on the island", said President Ferrer, "and help us cover staffing gaps that go back years." Ferrer called for a change and increased flexibility in the system guiding how candidates enter law enforcement "so that the island can keep the local force appropriately staffed and keep officers where they trained, unlike in the past".

Garrido said it was the first time the training would be held off Mallorca, and highlighted Formentera cadets as "a key part of the equation": "Training on Eivissa was a request we heard a lot", confided the regional minister, "and the driving goal is to make sure the public administration is more accessible on every one of the islands, and to create training opportunities for candidates on Eivissa and Formentera."

Applicants to Formentera Local Police must complete a training course to learn to meet the demands of work on the force. Recruits undergo a process of selection and a period of practicum.

The agreement ensures scheduling of a one-off "decentralised" offering of the 42nd basic training course for aspiring cadets from Eivissa and Formentera.

Class size will be determined based on appointed cadets completing practicum as part of the selection process overseen by the Consell de Formentera.

The EBAP will set dates for the course once competitive exams for municipal selective processes have ended, and according to organisational scheduling imperatives. In any event, yearly "satellite" sessions of the training are envisioned in the years ahead.

The EBAP will purchase material necessary for the remote sessions, provide administrative support and pay to train instructors, plus cover travel and lodging costs for personnel who can't be appointed with habitual residence on Eivissa, as well as expenses in the event participants must travel to Mallorca for shooting practices.

14 October 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera