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