The town hall of Ibiza suspends all building permits in an effort
to control excessive commercial and housing developments
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. |