Una història començada

Informative Audiovisual Project

Formentera, 20 August 2026

Formentera is embracing new technologies to bring its past closer to today’s generations. The Consell Insular de Formentera is working on the scripts and production of ‘Una història començada’, an audiovisual project that will recreate different periods and historical events on the island using artificial intelligence tools.

The initiative will take the form of a series of cinematic short films directed by Formentera-born filmmaker Alfredo Montero and released over four seasons. Through its various episodes, the project will trace Formentera’s evolution from the period before the first human settlements through to the present day, while also focusing on some of the events that have shaped the island’s history and society.

The project combines historical research and documentation with new AI-based image and video generation techniques.

These tools will make it possible to bring to the screen events and periods for which no audiovisual records exist, creating reconstructions that will help viewers connect with Formentera’s heritage and collective memory in a more visual way.
The Consell plans to premiere the first of the four seasons this coming November. The production will be aimed both at the general public and at young people and students on the island, who will be able to discover different chapters of local history through a more accessible audiovisual format.

Four seasons

‘Una història començada’ will unfold over four seasons, each featuring between six and seven episodes. Each episode will recreate a specific moment, event or period in Formentera’s history.
The series will span a broad historical timeline, allowing viewers to discover how the island has evolved since its earliest periods. Prehistoric Formentera, the Islamic period, the Catalan era and the subsequent resettlement of the island will all feature in a production that will also cover events much closer to the present day.
In this way, the series will create an audiovisual narrative of Formentera’s transformation and the different societies that have occupied or inhabited its territory over the centuries.

First season

The first season will begin even before the arrival of the first humans on Formentera. One episode will show what the island was like before human presence, before moving on to the arrival of its first settlers.
The following episodes will recreate the Roman period and the centuries of Muslim presence. The series will also focus on the resettlement of the island in the late 17th century, a particularly significant period for understanding Formentera’s subsequent demographic and social development.
The story will then move into the 20th century to explore one of the most tragic episodes in the island’s recent history: the establishment of the penal colony in 1940. The first season will conclude with a look at contemporary Formentera.

From Ca na Costa to the shipwreck of the Adolf

The project will not focus solely on the major periods in Formentera’s history. Its different seasons will also revisit specific events that form part of the collective memory of the island and its inhabitants.
Among the episodes to be brought to the screen is the period when the Ca na Costa megalithic tomb was built, one of the most important archaeological sites for understanding human presence in prehistoric Formentera.
Another event recreated in the production will be the shipwreck of the Swedish vessel Adolf, which occurred in 1882 at es Trucadors. The series will also explore the wave of migration that saw many Formentera residents move to the Americas during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Bringing the past to life with AI

The use of artificial intelligence is one of the key features that sets ‘Una història començada’ apart. Image and video generation tools offer new possibilities for depicting settings, characters and situations from historical periods for which no moving images exist.
The Consell, however, sees technology as a tool serving the project rather than as its main focus. At the heart of the initiative will be Formentera’s own history and the experiences of the generations that came before its present-day population.
One of the initiative’s main aims is to bring Formentera’s heritage and collective memory closer to younger generations. The project seeks to offer a different, engaging and highly visual way of discovering the key events in the island’s history.

On a personal note, I hope the episodes of this audiovisual production will be made available to the general public on video platforms such as YouTube, giving the widest possible exposure to a Formentera that was once so different from the island we know today.