All Dénia parties support the demand of the Raquel Payà CEE, which fights for decent facilities for its students. It is very good news. It is true that it was also good news that the president, Carlos Mazón, committed to prioritizing the approval of the expansion of the budget of this center, but as the weeks have passed, the news has been diluted to the point of becoming non-existent. News has arrived, yes, but of identical approvals in other centers, while Raquel Payà continues to welcome more and more students in a building, or barracks, that they do not deserve.
This Friday was celebrated the meeting requested by the leadership of the CEE Raquel Payà between the political representatives from all the formations and the teachers and parents of the center. They wanted, above all, that all the forces of the municipal corporation were present, and they have achieved it. Early in the morning they managed to gather representatives of the PSPV, Compromís, PP, Gent of Dénia and Vox with a clear objective: to achieve consensus to join forces and unblock the construction of the new center.
The reality of Raquel Payà
The current center of Raquel Payà already cannot cope with the needs of his students. In addition to not being adapted for special needs, full of architectural barriers that have been circumvented with patches, it is too small. It has always been, because for 22 years they have had prefabricated classrooms, but the claustrophobia is becoming more pronounced as the demand for places grows. In fact, it is expected that next year they will reach 90 enrolled, which would be a record number that they can hardly assume.
In response to this enormous problem, the procedures were initiated for the creation of a new center in whose project Raquel Payà was directly involved from the CEE so that it would be in accordance with their needs. The result was a school that restored enthusiasm to teachers and students. A school that continues to be lines on a paper, despite the fact that everything was already ready to become a reality.
The inflation in the price of materials forced us to request a modification of the budget so that it could be expanded and thus meet the real, and updated, cost of the work. There was only that small obstacle, which the president himself, Carlos Mazón, downplayed, alluding to the fact that it was going to be approved. It was a priority project for its Department of Education, but other schools have already been attended to, solving their problems, and Raquel Payà seems to have been left in the background, without a response or much optimism.
Consensus and new promises
In Dénia the image has been one of full union between the different formations. "Everyone has expressed a common interest," he says to Dénia.com the director of the center, Miquel Ivars, who has shown some discomfort with the department's decisions, considering that they have broken their word. Other centers have now benefited from the favor of the Consell, seeing how their projects move forward when the priority was supposedly Raquel Payà and, instead, it remains completely blocked.
For a moment it was thought that everything would be resolved before the summer. In fact, as the mayor of Dénia told this newspaper, Vicent GrimaltOn June 11, they spoke with the Director General of Educational Infrastructure, who told them: "Between today and tomorrow I will give you good news." Days went by and they called the City Hall a dozen times without any response. On July 1, the responsibility for the area was assumed by a new general director, José María Larena, who has said that he needs time to adapt to the new position before attending this impasse.
Although there have been suggestions that the blockage could be due to political back-and-forth, this morning's meeting has shown a completely different picture. Everyone has pledged to do whatever they can to push the new centre forward. Pepa Fontspokesperson Party, expressed its willingness to support the meeting with the Ministry, at the request of Miquel Ivars, in which the director of the Raquel Payà school wants all the representatives of the municipal groups to be united. This same line of consensus was proposed by the mayor himself, who stressed that "children from all towns go to school, regardless of who governs."
It is hoped that this unison clamor will be what reactivates the project so that it can soon become a reality. There may be new good news before the end of the month, Miquel Ivars hopes, but this time it will not fall on deaf ears.
The mayor doesn't care about important things as long as they have little flags to hang, and photos to take.