Families in La Cañada del Fenollar Protest Yet Another Delay in School Construction

The educational community of CEIP La Cañada del Fenollar once again protested on Monday due to the dire situation faced by this school in Alicante. Nearly 20 years have passed since temporary classrooms were introduced, and six years since promised construction works were supposed to ensure greater safety for the facility. This urgency is due to the school's location in a flood-prone area, a concern heightened by the recent tragic storm that hit Valencia.

From the school's parents' association, its president, Marina Benimeli, denounces the "intolerable" delays in executing these works, which, after the latest price update valued at 1.5 million euros, now total 5.8 million. The responsibility for tendering the works lies with the Alicante City Council's education department, but according to Benimeli, they are "washing their hands" of the matter, as the Directorate General of Educational Infrastructures must first approve the latest budget increase.

Following this approval, another year will be needed for administrative procedures, and two more for construction; thus, at least three years are required for students to leave behind the substandard conditions of temporary classrooms.

The president of the parents' association explains that families were promised progress in the tendering process during the last quarter of the previous year. The Valencia tragedy disrupted this timeline, and the next deadline was set for the first quarter of this year. This latest failure has reignited the families' anger, leading them to gather at the school gates on Monday, armed with banners and a megaphone, to directly urge the education department to end its "silence, evasions, and broken promises."

"We cannot allow our children's safety to be compromised by inaction and negligence," the families declared, once again raising their demands to the Ombudsman and even sending a letter to the Queen of Spain, Letizia Ortiz, appealing to her sensitivity, demonstrated alongside King Felipe VI during their repeated visits to the storm's ground zero.

Meanwhile, the families have once again requested a meeting with the Director General of Infrastructures, José María Larena Berrocal, to urge him to unblock the latest budget increase necessary to advance the project.