Malaga town parents barricade themselves inside town hall to demand relocation of students during renovation works

The protest comes almost two weeks after the school year officially began and following a fresh disagreement over the proposed alternative to move the children out of the school while building work continues.

The parents gathered at the town hall with chairs and protest placards with messages such as "Education cannot wait. Our children come first" or "We're the ones paying for your delays".

The families themselves announced the decision to protest on Monday. They are proposing temporarily relocating all pupils to the building that formerly housed a nursing home.

According to the parents' representative, Roberto Benítez, the premises need only minor internal alterations, including the removal of four partition walls and the installation of a few new partitions, to adapt to education needs.

Work was due to begin on Monday, following several days of discussions, but it stopped shortly afterwards.

"Once again, we are facing the uncertainty of not knowing when our children would be able to return to school and catch up on their studies," Benítez said on Tuesday morning.

The parents hold both the town hall and the regional education department responsible for the fact that the alternative solution has not gone ahead. According to them, if work were to resume immediately, the building could be ready to welcome pupils within a few days.

Another point of contention centres on the conditions at the Nuestra Señora del Rosario primary school. According to Benítez, they have a report from the municipal architect advising against the use of the building due to structural problems.

He also said that the fire service had recently visited the premises and highlighted deficiencies.

The position of the regional department of education is different. At the start of the school year, the regional government pointed out that the project management team had issued a report approving the building's use as a school following the implementation of various safety measures.

The root of the problem lies in the work carried out at the school to remove architectural barriers, which has a budget of 199,574 euros and includes, among other measures, a lift and a new access ramp.

Since the first day of term, parents have considered the measures insufficient and have refused to allow the entire student body to cope with the building works, demanding a temporary location for all pupils.

On Tuesday, the regional representative for education said that they would provide a response should they carry out a further assessment of the situation.

Meanwhile, the parents remain determined to stay at the town hall for 48 hours while they wait for work on the alternative building to resume and for arrangements to be finalised for the start of the academic year, which, almost two weeks on, is still far from normal.

Read comprehensive regional education and school news