The Alhaurín el Grande City Council has begun the demolition of two modules at the CEIP Emilia Olivares, an action prompted by the appearance and evolution of significant cracks and structural deficiencies that have been technically monitored since 2022. The municipal intervention responds to the Council's commitment to the safety of students, teachers, and the entire educational community of the center, undertaken with municipal resources due to the lack of agreement with the Regional Ministry of Educational Development and Vocational Training of the Junta de Andalucía regarding the responsible administration for carrying out the necessary actions.
The mayor, Anthony Bermúdez, stated that the City Council is “facing the demolition cost alone,” considering it a priority to act given the worsening of the detected damage. Bermúdez regrets the “lack of loyalty and political will” from the Junta de Andalucía for not assuming a responsibility that falls under their purview, similar to actions taken in 2020 at other educational centers. The mayor recalls that while ordinary maintenance of schools falls to municipalities, the construction of new buildings or the repair of extraordinary structural damage is a regional competence.
The cracks in two of the modules, each two stories high with a total of four classrooms, were the subject of various technical reports since September 2022. Technicians from the Andalusian Public Agency for Education (APAE) already indicated in November of that year the urgency of acting, estimating the necessary works at approximately 200,000 euros. Subsequently, a report from the municipal architect in July 2023 established a replacement cost of 313,806.05 euros, which, according to the report, corresponded to the Junta de Andalucía. In May 2024, a geotechnical study concluded that the old foundation did not meet current regulatory requirements and showed damage.
Given the evolution of the deficiencies and with the primary objective of ensuring safety, the City Council has decided to proceed with the demolition. The Councilor for Education, Maribel Plaza, argued that the reconstruction corresponds to the Junta de Andalucía and called for greater involvement from the regional administration with the municipality's educational centers, recalling that in 2020 the Junta did assume similar responsibilities.
