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The president of the Consell Insular (Island
Council), Pilar Costa joined by other counsellors such as
Fanny Tur, Santiago Ferrer and Joan Buades held an extraordinary
plenary session on Saturday 14th of July at the unusual time
of nine o'clock in the morning to declare the suspension of
all building licences for the construction of buildings destined
for residential and tourist use in a bid to stop commercial
and housing developments on the island.
The temporary suspension will not affect
the construction of council houses, the "Planes Especiales
de Proteccion" (Special Plans of Protection), the reformation
of Dalt Vila and Sa Penya or construction work at Ibiza Marina.
The new proposal will affect all licences
applied for less than two months ago and that have not yet
received information on their application. Up to the present
date, the new measures have affected 13 licence applications
for 400 new homes.
The Government has assured that the measures
taken will last for a maximum of one year, until the town
hall of Ibiza changes the "Plan General de Ordenacion
Urbana" (General Plan of Urban Development).
The new system that the Government wants
to implant will mean that every licence application will be
analysed and all factors will be taken into account. Some
members of the Government believe that the new system is unfair
because each future construction project will be forced to
wait their turn to receive building permits.
The councillor of urban development, Joan
Bonet believes that the new measures are necessary if the
commercial and housing building developments of Ibiza are
to be controlled in the future.
Demolition of a 10 year old disco
Trancedance, an illegal discotheque constructed
ten years ago in the Nature Reserve of ses Salines, will be
knocked down as soon as possible.
The first demolition project to be leaded
by the Consell Insular (Island Council) has advanced substantially
since the owners of Trancedance were located.
The projects future now depends on the "Tribunal
Superior de Justicia" (Supreme Court of Justice) and
the town hall of San Jose.
The demolition proceedings will take a total
of 40 days to complete; 15 days dedicated to preparation,
10 to dismantle the structure, another 10 to eliminate the
surrounding walls and the rest to clean the area. The total
cost of the project will come to 6.266.529 pesetas and the
Consell will then present the bill to the proprietors of Trancedance.
The principal objective of the initiative
is to restore the whole area back to its original splendour
of ten years ago.
The Island Council reinforces the fire
service
The environmental councillor, Fanny Tur
has signed an agreement with the Balearic Government to reinforce
the fire service with six new firemen who will be incorporated
into the "Parque Insular de Bomberos" (Ibizas fire
station) during the summer months of July, August and September.
The new initiative is part of an awareness
campaign against fires that was presented to the public on
Friday 13th of July.
Fanny Tur took advantage of the presentation
to remind people that in the last two years, the fire brigade
staff has increased by 50%, moving from 20 firemen to 30;
in a desperate bid to decrease the number of fires that are
suffered during the summer months.
The environmental group will be giving out
a series of leaflets, mostly designed to attract young peoples
attention, that illustrate in a pedagogic way the consequences
of a forest fire.
The Tourist and Fiestas Commission have
granted six million pesetas to local neighbourhood associations
Six different neighbourhood associations
and one cultural commission have been awarded 6.050.000 pesetas
by the Tourist and Fiestas Commission to assure the best possible
organization of the local fiestas in each village.
The largest financial help was awarded to
Figueretes and 250.000 pesetas also went to the "Casa
Cultural Andaluza" (Andalucian Cultural House).
The VAP commences to operate in Ibiza
Town
The main Ibicencan avenues have been converted
into "vias de atencion preferente" (VAP) which means
that the selected roads will be given preferencial attention
by all authorities.
From Friday 13th July, the "Policia
Local" (Local Police) will be dedicating extra time to
these important zones making sure that anyone who decides
to double-park or disobey any traffic signs on the avenues
of Isidoro Macabich, Espanya, Ignacio Wallis, Santa Eulalia,
Bartomeu Rossello or Bartomeu Ramon i Tur; will be faced with
fines of up to 50.000 pesetas or the prospect of losing their
driving licence for up to a period of three months.
During the previous weeks the avenues have
been fitted with both vertical signs and paintings on the
road.
The Lord Mayor of Ibiza Town, Xico Tarres
believes that the new system will be very beneficial for everyone
because it will drastically improve traffic conditions in
Ibiza Town.
Archaeological remains found at the sea
wall in the port of Ibiza
The dredging operation that was taking place
in the port of Ibiza has finally been completed. There is
now a hole 189.000 cubic metres in size in which a layer of
breakwater, followed by the base, will be inserted to form
the future sea wall of Marina Botafoc.
During the project, the "Autoridad
Portuaria" (Port Authorities) made an important discovery:
ceramic remains and a jug that date back to the fourth century
B.C.
All the remains are being analysed and catalogued
by experts before being sent to the Consell Insular (Island
Council) who will make sure that the items recovered are preserved
in one of the Ibicencan museums.
San Antonio's oldest clock, restored
to perfection
The old clock situated on the outside of
the town hall in San Antonio is up and running again after
years at a standstill.
The local clock has been fitted with a new
mechanism after a British clock company failed to repair the
old one after three decades of being out of order.
The historic peace still conserves the same
external aspect despite its recent makeover. The company "Relojeros
Castillo", based in Toledo, were in charge of the delicate
operation that took place on Saturday 14th July.
The installation of the new mechanism was
completed with the help of the Lord Mayor of San Antonio,
Antoni Marí Tur, who joined the fun, by going up in
a specialized crane to witness the operation from a closer
angle.
The work cost 444.280 pesetas to complete
but, in the words of the Lord Mayor, "completely necessary
for the local residents of San Antonio".
The 'Summer Sales' commence in Ibiza
All the local Ibicencan businesses that
wish to take part in the two-month period of summer sales
can start now.
Most shops put out their sales signs on
Monday 16th July along with an indication of what special
offers they were offering the public.
Not suprisingly a lot of businesses decided
not to start their period of promotions and discounts on the
16th, instead they will wait to a later date in the season.
The Balearic Comercial Law declares that
the minimum sale period is one week and the maximum two months,
so that all shops are given a chance to make a financial profit.
Louise Wright
louisewright@ibizahistoryculture.com
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