Malaga high school reports damage that threaten 'stability and security'

The list of structural issues at the IES Martiricos high school (Nuestra Señora de la Victoria) in Malaga is extensive: cracks in partition walls, concrete weathering, a vertical crack between walls and a longitudinal break in the eaves with unstable elements.

The municipal urban planning department has drawn up a report that contains a total of 13 points of damage at the school that threaten the "stability and safety" of the building. The city council department believes that there are sufficient reasons to consider "unfavourable" the last technical inspection from September 2020.

More than five years have passed and the situation, according to the parents' association (Ampa) of IES Martiricos students, has worsened. A visit is enough to see that the building is in a bad state. Such observations do not require a technical assessment and the poor state of the school, built in 1961, is obvious.

There is a consistent smell of damp in the corridors and classrooms. There is a wall with a crack through which the palm of a hand can fit. The flooring is in a bad state and there are classrooms where students need to wear jackets.

"If the building doesn't fall down, it is because it is supported by many columns and because it doesn't have several floors," head of the Ampa association Lourdes Alba told SUR. All her children have studied or are studying at the school. "Parents are worried," she said.

According to her, there is dampness in the building because "the water seeps upwards and soaks the tiles". Mould is noticeable on the walls of the large assembly hall. The stained glass has holes in it and there are several cracks in the ceiling that have been patched with filler.

Alba believes that renovating the centre would cost two million euros, way over the 40,000 euros that schools receive to spend on improvements every year. A finalised budget was drawn up years ago for less than 1.5 million, but inflation and the rising cost of materials have driven up the cost of the project.

The urban planning department's report says that the building is deteriorating due to the lack of anchoring of structural elements, the thrust of the structure itself, the detachment of cladding, water leaks and a lack of watertightness.

The poor state of IES Martiricos is nothing new to the regional government. Back in September 2021, the manager of the urban planning department at the time signed a formal notice, warning of the potential liability that could be incurred "in the event of failure to maintain the buildings in conditions of safety, hygiene and public appearance".

IES Martiricos is not the only school with problems. The IES Mare Nostrum school in the Carretera de Cádiz district had to temporarily move 247 pupils to Conservatorio Martín Tenllado in February. The students are now back in their original classrooms, following a renovation to stabilise the building.

The regional ministry of education told SUR that is has started processing the comprehensive refurbishment of IES Martiricos. The regional government is studying whether it could invest European funds in the work.

In the meantime, the regional ministry has earmarked 272,735 euros to replace the lift, repair the roof and carry out a structural and geotechnical study of the building.

Since last year, the regional government has invested nearly 34,000 euros to improve the climatic conditions in the building.