About 500 people yesterday afternoon in the Plaza de la Constitució in Sant Francesc, Formentera, to protest against the new tender of the beach kiosks (chiringuitos). In front of the island’s government headquarters, the current licensees, organizers of the protest, along with local residents who wanted to show their support, as well as some political representatives, observed a minute’s silence for the “death of the traditional model” after the provisional evaluation of the bids submitted by the contracting committee. None of the projects presented by the previous chiringuito managers achieved the best score, which means that they will not be awarded the concession.
Chiringuito managers “it’s the final nail in the coffin”
Banners were unfurled in the square calling to “save Formentera’s soul” and defining the island as a “sold-out paradise”. The association of kiosk owners considers that this tender has been “the final nail in the coffin” of the traditional tourism model, since “economic offers have taken priority over projects and the traditional way of running the chiringuitos”.
The protest was joined by some political representatives of GxF, the PSOE’s governing partner in the Consell Insular, such as the second vice-president and councillor for Culture and Education Susana Labrador, the councillor for Youth, Citizen Participation and New Technologies Vanessa Parellada and the councillor for Mobility and Territory Rafael González. In a statement sent yesterday, GxF informed that it joined the protest because it understood the indignation of the population. However, in the face of criticism for going against their own government, this morning they had to clarify that their presence in the square was to “apologize and show their faces” for not having found a better solution within the current legal framework.
Also in attendance were representatives of other opposition political parties such as Lorenzo Cordoba and several councilors of Sa Unió and José Manuel Alcaraz of the PP of Formentera.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.