Protests and Projects for Torrevieja Schools

Two Torrevieja schools were in the news this week for different but yet similar reasons. On the positive side, the city’s oldest public school, Immaculate Conception, has received approval for a grant of 3,786,974 euros to totally improve the facilitates of the school while on the negative side, Virgen del Carmen parents held a protest outside the school’s gates to highlight structural problems with the school’s construction.

In a Town Hall session, Torrevieja’s Mayor Mateo Hernandez emphasized the importance of the work to Immaculate Conception  which will result in the school being almost entirely rebuilt. The blueprints contemplate the construction of new classrooms (6 pre-primary and 12 primary) and a new dining room for 200 people plus construction of a gymnasium, none of which the school has today.

Ironically, the only other school not to offer dinning facilities until this school year, was one of Torrevieja’s smallest schools; Virgen del Carmen. The school relocated to Calle Tabarca in 1995 but now, 15-years later, cracks have appeared in the school’s brickwork. On May 6, a general meeting was called for Parents to discuss the problems with the school and the underlying safety issues, the result was that almost one-hundred-and-fifty parents staged a demonstration on Thursday, May 13, to ask for solutions to the problems of the cracks and most recently, detached bricks.

During the peaceful demonstration, in the presence of security forces, local police and Civil Guard, some parents wore construction helmets to show their concern. The problems apparently stem from the original building design, which was built around two major stanchions when there should have been four or five! Although the Department’s technicians have inspected the damage and assure parents that this is only a problem with structure expansion, the parents are worried that these cracks pose a risk to their children. The treasurer of AMPA CP Virgen del Carmen, Ana Maria Jara, said it is a problem is long overdue. “Seven years ago, this started out with small cracks but over time these have become increasingly larger to the point that you can put your hand in and we have already experienced an episode of small of bricks becoming detached. "

The director of this school, Lola Sanchez, stressed that the concern of parents is logical. The headmistress met recently with delegates from Torrevieja’s town hall to highlight this problem. “We have been assured that they will examine this issue,” says Lola Sanchez, “and we have called a meeting for next week to consider possible solutions. Technicians have monitored the centre and educational administration has informed us that Students can continue going to class normally.”

The delegate for education, Jose Manuel Pizana, said that “they are studying the problem and by the end of the month representatives for the parents and the school management will be informed of possible measures and action to be taken to resolve the issue.”

Keith Nicol