Families and educators from Escola Escorça gathered in front of L'Hospitalet City Hall to demand a new space for the center, which currently operates in a ground-floor space in Santa Eulàlia. The educational community maintains that the current facility is insufficient to serve the student body.
The protest once again brought to the forefront a deadlock that has persisted for years. While the center denounces deficiencies in access, space, and climate control, the solution depends on an agreement between the City Council and the Department of Education that has yet to materialize.
The school faces space problems and uses the dining hall for three functions
Sandra Berdún González, an educator at Escola Escorça, explained that the demand is not new and linked the protest to the building's conditions. The school, she indicated, has been in a space with deficiencies for many years.
"We are demanding a new space for our school because we have been in a space with many deficiencies for many years" - Sandra Berdún González, educator at Escola Escorça
Among the problems described by the center are difficulties accessing classrooms and hallways, lack of climate control in some classrooms, and bathrooms with insufficient space for changing children.
Furthermore, the dining hall serves purposes far beyond its initial function. Berdún detailed that 33 students eat there, and speech therapy is also conducted there, in addition to being used as the infirmary space.
"33 students eat there, but it is also where speech therapy is done and the space for the nurse" - Sandra Berdún González, educator at Escola Escorça
The administration attributes the deadlock to the City Council and Education Department
Mireia Flores, director of Escola Escorça, pointed out that the demand for a new location is historic and that the situation remains stagnant. She framed the lack of progress as a need for understanding between the two administrations involved.
"The City Council is the one that has to give it to us, but the Department of Education is the one that has to finance it; the two have to agree" - Mireia Flores, director of Escola Escorça
The gathering brought together families and professionals in front of the L'Hospitalet council to demand a dignified space for the students. Francis González, a family member of the center, argued that the demand seeks to improve the children's living conditions and guarantee their rights.
During the protest, the mayor David Quirós and the spokespersons for Esquerra Republicana, Esquerra Unida i Alternativa, Partit Popular and L'Hospitalet En Comú Podem listened to the demands of the educational community.