Sant Josep de sa Talaia was in attendance once again this year at Fitur, showcasing all the attractions of this municipality and the latest additions to its catalogue of activities for visitors. At this year’s event, discovery and enjoyment of the natural environment and culture were the two main pillars that underlie the activities showcased at the international trade fair.

eXplora Sant Josep

On Wednesday 19 January, on the first day of Fitur, San Josep revealed its “eXplora Sant Josep” programme, an ambitious project designed to show visitors the wealth of natural beauty in the municipality. A series of snorkelling routes were presented, designed to help divers discover the beauty of Sant Josep’s coastal waters. The routes come with a map, graphics and all the information that visitors will need to make it a really rewarding experience. The snorkelling routes can be found on the Sant Josep website, and they include itineraries highlighting the charms of places such as Cala Bassa, Es Bol Nou, Cala Codolar, Cala Llentrisca, Cala Tarida, Cala Vedella, Platges de Comte, Port des Torrent, Punta d’en Xinxó and Sa Sal Rossa.

Video presentation Snorkel Routes:

Back on land, Sant Josep presented several new trails around the Ses Salines Natural Park. These routes include special points of interest which are indicated with information panels that include QR codes for access to all the details of the place in question, with videos, virtual visits and photographs of the location, along with its fauna and flora.

Video presentation Routes through the Ses Salines Natural Park:

Thursday, 20 January, was the turn of the new venue that Sant Josep has recently inaugurated, namely, the Caló de s’Oli Concert Hall. This newly refurbished infrastructure, aimed at the MICE or meetings industry sector, was presented to showcase its enormous potential as a venue for events and congresses of all kinds with capacity for an audience of 200 to 300 people in an open and characteristic location, facing the sea. This enterprise is designed to complement and generate synergies with the current tourist accommodation in the bay.

Later, the AENOR certification was awarded to the tourist office in Sant Josep, which can now boast accreditation with the UNE EN ISO 9001:2015 Quality Certificate.

On Friday 21, music was star of the show with the presentation of a new website, “Sant Josep és Música” This ambitious project was designed to provide information and updates on the island’s music scene, listing all the activities held in both public and private venues in the San Josep municipal district. The website will also publish biographies of all the groups and artists listed in the programme of concerts and events as well as details of concert halls, private premises and other live music venues.

The ‘Sant Josep és Música´ website will cover a huge variety of content: information on service providers in the music business, interviews and articles on groups and artists with details of festivals and albums by local bands, photographs and videos of events etc. The website will also be widely publicised on social networks so as to reach all the different sections of the public. The initiative is designed to be so much more than just a website and aims to become a virtual encyclopaedia of live music to be developed alongside Sant Josep’s concert agenda. In the afternoon, following the presentation at IFEMA, an event was held at Club Malasaña where guests were able to learn more about the project in a lively ambience with music as a backdrop.

The busy calendar of events in Sant Josep culminated on Saturday 22. The general public were able to learn about traditional ceramics in a series of workshops organised by the town hall and given by the artist and potter María José Bufí (‘Frigolades’). In two sessions, held in the morning and afternoon from 12 am to 2.30 pm and from 3.30 to 6 pm, the participants were able to discover at first hand the techniques used in creating a number of ceramic pieces. This proved to be an extremely popular event, and one which highlighted the value of traditional ceramic art.

Cover photo of Diario de Ibiza