Island Youth Council Becomes a Benchmark
More than half a thousand young people are already part of a centre that promotes training, creativity and youth meeting on the island.
The Island Youth Centre (CIJ) celebrates its second anniversary and has solidified its role as a reference point for youth participation, training, cultural creation and the development of projects driven by and for the youth of Fuerteventura.
Since its inauguration, the CIJ has experienced steady growth, now exceeding half a thousand registered young people. As its services have become better known, the use of its facilities has diversified, turning its rooms into dynamic spaces that host workshops, youth‑group meetings, training processes, cultural activities and associative gatherings.
For the president of the Fuerteventura Island Council, Lola García, it is essential to keep generating spaces that allow the construction of inclusive, innovative youth policies adapted to the reality of Fuerteventura’s young people, which occupies a large part of the council’s agenda.
The council’s Minister of Education and Youth, Adargoma Hernández, highlights that:
“Two years after its opening, the Island Youth Centre proves it was a real need for the island’s youth. Today it is a living space, constantly evolving, where young people create, share ideas, develop projects and find opportunities to train and actively participate in the social and cultural life of Fuerteventura.”
The CIJ was created as a space dedicated to training, meeting, debate and youth leisure, equipped with a training classroom, a games and videoconferencing room, and a large auditorium ready to host multidisciplinary activities. It also includes a recording studio, one of its most demanded spaces. Its design and identity were developed with the direct involvement of students from the Fuerteventura School of Art and young participants in the council’s scholarship programmes, giving each room its own personality.
During these two years, the centre has hosted numerous island‑wide projects aimed at youth, including established initiatives such as Goat Talent, Univerano, MaxoArte, and the Infernal Youth Centre, among others, as well as a broad programme of workshops, training meetings, creative activities and youth‑group gatherings.
In this time, the Island Youth Centre has become a genuine hub for youth encounter, creation and training, fostering active participation and personal development for hundreds of island youths.
Hernández adds:
“The goal remains for the CIJ to keep growing as a motor of opportunities for Fuerteventura’s youth and for its programme to reach all municipalities, strengthening the network of youth spaces across the island.”
Located within the offices of the Fuerteventura Island Council on Doctor Fleming Street No. 1 in Puerto del Rosario, the Island Youth Centre is part of the Island Youth Plan and continues to expand its activities with new proposals tailored to the concerns and needs of new generations.