The adult school in Besos i el Maresme neighbourhood, which opened this September after a two-year delay, is facing serious problems. The building started operating with unfinished renovations, multiple deficiencies, and health concerns that have left staff and students struggling.
According to TOT Barcelona, the school had no electricity or water in early September. The lift is broken, and internet connection fails constantly, with no guarantee of working wifi during class time. There are also water leaks, a rat and mouse infestation requiring pest control, and bad smells from the adjacent pneumatic waste collection centre.
Even more concerning, emergency exits are locked, poorly signposted, and lack panic bars. Worst of all, several staff members have fallen ill with itching, sore throats and headaches during the first month. Some needed urgent medical attention. Air quality measurements are being conducted to determine the cause, with results expected next week.
Political scrutiny over botched opening
Junts per Barcelona has visited the school twice after being alerted by local residents. Councillor Maria Arenillas and spokesperson Neus Munté both inspected the facility. The party plans to raise the issue at October’s municipal commissions and Arenillas will demand explanations from Sant Martí district councillor David Escudé at the 16th October plenary.
“The construction planning was inadequate or the work ran late. The opening should have been delayed. The centre cannot operate with all these incidents,” Arenillas said. The school is located on Cristobal de Moura street, between Josep Pla and Puigcerdà streets, and is managed by the Barcelona Education Consortium, which includes the Catalan government and Barcelona City Council.
Long-awaited return after decade-long closure
The centre, officially called Centre de Formació d’Adults (CFA) Palau de Mar, was supposed to be ready in summer 2023. However, it wasn’t announced until mid-June that Besos would finally get an adult school back after a decade without one. The previous school closed in 2014 during Xavier Trias’s mayoralty, forcing local students to travel to the Poblenou centre.
Sources from the Barcelona Education Consortium told TOT that the building is complete, though they acknowledge issues like the broken lift need fixing. They confirm water and electricity were functioning when classes started on 22nd September. Regarding internet, they say the centre has connectivity but lacks broadband.
Health concerns and missing facilities
The Consortium confirmed pest control measures were implemented immediately when rats were discovered. They deny seeing live rats this week, though rat droppings were found along with one dead rat in a trap. Air quality tests are underway to address the bad smells and staff illnesses, with results due next week.
On emergency exits, the Consortium says they can be used but acknowledges panic bars still need installing. Staff have documented all these issues in a text shared with students, explaining that the building remains unfinished despite construction supposedly ending in July. They couldn’t access the premises until early September.
The document also mentions faulty air conditioning and lack of reception staff, which has made running the school extremely difficult since classes started. One consequence is that people coming for information couldn’t be helped because teachers were in classrooms. Staff members have had to take sick leave, whilst others suffer stress and anxiety from the conditions.
Community frustration over location and facilities
The SOS Besos platform, through members Teresa Pardo and Asun García, confirmed the centre’s shortcomings. García said teaching staff are experiencing an “odyssey”. They noticed the pneumatic collection centre smells from day one. “We spoke to them and they said their biggest concern was internet, and the solution could take months,” the activist explained.
Pardo criticised the building’s location, saying it was built “outside the area of influence” of the neighbourhood and is “isolated” with practically nothing around it. This prevents community engagement with Besos-Maresme residents, who should be the school’s main students. Some have decided not to attend, staying at Poblenou or Sant Adrià del Besos centres instead.
“Only one bus goes there and they didn’t consider that Pere IV street will have a new facility that would have attracted more people,” García said. SOS Besos refers to the transformation of the old Pedro IV cinema, which will become a new library and also house Primary Care Centre services.
Pardo added that reconciliation and gender perspective weren’t considered. Many students are newcomers and women. “We wanted the school linked to the new library, so whilst mothers were at school, children could be at the library.” SOS Besos believes an opportunity was missed to build a more inclusive and community-focused educational model.
The school was built on municipally-owned land that was transferred to the Barcelona Education Consortium. Sant Martí district, which kept the same councillor in office, has made no statement about the current situation.
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