\ Francina Armengol highlights the uniqueness of the project, which will take into account the needs of the business sector thanks to the creation of an advisory council with economic and social agents from the island.

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The Escola d’Hoteleria opens in Ibiza with a specialised training offer

\ The president announces grants to promote inter-island mobility, designed especially for potential students from Formentera.

The president of the government, Francina Armengol, today inaugurated the new facilities of the Escola d’Hoteleria de les Illes Balears (EHIB) in Ibiza, which will begin operating this year and which, when fully operational, will provide training for more than 400 students each year, specialising in hotel and restaurant management. The president attended the inauguration ceremony accompanied by the councillors for Economic Model, Tourism and Employment, Iago Negueruela, for Education and Vocational Training, Martí March, and for Mobility and Housing, Josep Marí. Also in attendance were the president of the Consell Insular de Ibiza, Vicent Marí; the rector of the Universitat de les Illes Balears, Jaume Carot, and the mayor of Sant Antoni de Portamany, Marcos Serra, among other authorities.

During the inauguration ceremony, the president recalled that the project to open the Escola d’Hoteleria de les Illes Balears in Ibiza is the result of an ongoing dialogue with the island’s economic and social agents, which has enabled a global training offer to materialise, given that the centre will offer regulated vocational training, vocational training for employment and lifelong learning, as well as “à la carte” training, by the needs of the productive sectors. This September, the centre will begin to offer its training courses and higher vocational training.

Francina Armengol stated that “in the Balearic Islands we are pioneers in having a good tourism and hospitality industry, but we have to be excellent” and “this centre is the qualitative leap we need”, collaborating with the productive fabric of this island “to make it possible to have very well-trained workers, people who are encouraged to study and who can earn good salaries and more competitive companies”.

For his part, Minister Negueruela stressed the need “to attract talent and retain the talent that exists on the island” and said that with the new EHIB, “which offers all types of training”, this objective is achieved: “This project was born as a collaboration between two public administrations and now is the time to open it up to collaboration with the sector to obtain training that provides better employability and higher quality”.

The president also stressed that the Escola project does not end with training, but that the centre aims to be a driving force for the Ibizan economy and to promote traditional Ibizan cuisine, local produce, zero-kilometre gastronomy and Mediterranean cuisine, among others.

For this reason, an advisory board will be set up linked to the EHIB in Ibiza, made up of all the members of the Board of Directors of the School in the Balearic Islands, as well as representatives of the most representative trade unions and employers’ associations in Ibiza.

During the opening ceremony, a round table discussion was held on the present and future of training in the hotel and catering sector in Ibiza, coordinated by the chef and communicator Miquel Calent, as a former student of the EHIB, with the participation of Marga Orell (former student and former teacher at the EHIB), Íñigo Rodríguez (chef at the Hotel Pachá restaurant), José Miguel Bonet (chef at the Es Vental restaurant) and Nuria Riera (manager of the Can Alfredo restaurant).

Mobility grants

The president also announced that the Escola d’Hoteleria will open a call for grants to facilitate the mobility of students from other islands who wish to study at the school. This measure, similar to the scholarships offered in formal vocational training, aims to facilitate, in particular, the presence of students from Formentera, so that they can also benefit from this new training offer.

A project born of consensus in 2015

The origin of the EHIB in Ibiza began in 2015, when the Government of the Balearic Islands, through the Ministry of Labour and the EHIB, informed the Consell Insular de Ibiza of its commitment to quality training on the island. The project, which has been discussed and agreed upon with the economic and social agents, took shape in the form of a building in Pavilion 402 of Sa Coma, in Sant Antoni, with the construction of 4,000 square metres of floor space and another 460 square metres of outdoor space, which will enable different training projects to be developed.

As a result of an agreement signed between the Govern and the Consell, the regional government has contributed almost two-thirds of the almost eight million euros that the project has cost, and the Consell, the rest of the budget.

Among other spaces, there are five theory classrooms, two computer classrooms, a study room, a culinary demonstration classroom, a bar classroom, a bar workshop, a restaurant workshop, a tasting room, different offices for teachers and administrative staff, lockers, changing rooms and a three-court kitchen of 840 square metres for 26 people, plus the bakery and bakery staff. It also has chambers for meat, fish and cold dishes, a commissary and technical spaces and warehouses.