The educational emergency in Calpe has been one of the main priorities of the Calpine Government team, made up of Somos Calpe, PSPV-PSOE and Compromís, since its arrival at the City Council in May 2023. The authorization of the Department of Education for the City Council assume the powers of bidding for the works of the city's second institute and the new Special Education Center (CPEE). Gargasindi has been a relief for both the educational community and the municipal leaders.
The progress will allow the educational facilities to be improved and expanded, adapting to the growing needs in demand. In addition, the Department will be in charge of the extra cost generated by the increase in prices of the works, to the surprise of the City Council.
We discussed the matter with Ana Sala, the mayor of Calp, who revalidated her mayoralty in the last municipal elections, forming the aforementioned tripartite government. How did you receive the news? What timeframes are being considered until the centres are finished? Will these new infrastructures be sufficient?
ASK. What were the first reactions at the City Council after receiving the news of the authorization to put out to tender the two necessary educational centers?
ANSWER. Friday, June 28, was a historic day for Calp, after the time and years we had been waiting for. Because we have to talk about years, it is not about one or two terms. In 2015, the Plan Edificant was approved, this way of managing education in the Valencian Community by the autonomous government of that time. We joined late, it is true, if I remember correctly in 2017.
But we are not talking about an eight-year educational deficit, we are talking about more than 15 years that Calp needed another institute, and it continues to need it because we still do not have it. This had to fall under its own weight. We have worked a lot, the political part, the technical part... The three groups of the government team, each one at the political level, have done their part to fight to obtain the two centers and we will continue in this line when we need some vindication.
We always have a competitive struggle that makes us a little useless, so to speak, and the citizen does not understand it. Those closest to us are those who suffer the problems and others who are higher up do not find out or sometimes turn a deaf ear.
It has been a continuous fight and we are very satisfied. That Friday, as I say, was historic. Fifteen days before, I was personally calling every day, until they told me that it was already signed and that we would receive the notification soon. That Friday, at 08:30 a.m. I had the message from the secretary, because they are the ones who open the mail, the check-in, and we had been paying attention every morning, taking a good look at it.
On the other hand, Carmen Salcedo, Technical Head of Infrastructure, called me to tell me that we should have it already. We had the Government Meeting at 09:15 and we delayed it to publicly communicate the good news. Finally, they authorized us to put out to tender for the two centers, assuming the increase in cost, and they extended the delegation of competence to us for this increase.
As I say, we had been fighting for the centers for years, but it has been in this legislature since September that we said that this was the priority. In the end we did what we had to do. We reached December with all the projects approved and the Ministry needed to give its opinion. Since February when we met with the General Director of Educational Infrastructures, Rafael Valcárcel, we have not stopped putting pressure. I am remembering the visit of the president of the Generalitat regarding the TRAM issue and these are things that must be done. It is not against anyone, but for. We could not wait any longer and it will be two more years until the two centers see the light of day.
Q. After so much struggle, did you expect to be authorized to launch the tender for both projects?
R. We have heard everything. First, they were going to give the green light to Gargasindi because it was a more social issue, due to the type of student user, or whether Inclusive Policies were going to take charge and make it viable.
To me, personally, Rafael Valcárcel told me that he was betting on doing the institutes. What this autonomous government said from the minute is that the Pla Edificant had been poorly managed and was of no use. I do not believe that it is a problem of the model chosen to generate educational infrastructure, but of how cumbersome the administrative management is, the internal administrative processing of City Councils, Departments, the Government of the nation... The law is the same for everyone, but What cannot be is that you send a document to the Conselleria for them to resolve it and that months and months pass and it is not attended to.
I say it from both sides. We can procrastinate, but we cannot blame ourselves afterwards. That is the problem that the administration has today. It takes us so long to carry out projects because of that. We have to take it seriously and once we have made the decision and have decided what the path is, from the beginning to the end with all the consequences.
We didn't know what was going to happen, but when Mariola Mulet, Councilor for Education, and I went to visit him and he saw us so overwhelmed, he told us that he would see what he could do. I think he has had problems too, because he may have the will, but then he has some Treasury technicians behind him and a staff that has to follow him. And then the economic issue, looking for financing. The functioning of an administration is very cumbersome until you reach the end, which is seeing the building built and open.
They have asked us for reports on how we had accounted for all the processing of the Pla Edificant of the two centers and we had done it so well and had everything so advanced that I think they have seen that there was no turning back. What we also did not expect is that they would assume the extra cost. During the visit we made to Rafael Valcárcel we proposed to let us bid, make way and we would see who would put up the money. But the money has to be assumed by the Generalitat because it is its responsibility and that is what the Pla Edificant says in this case.
There are two years of planned execution, without incidents and without strange contingencies. In the municipal budget we already contemplate the twelve million seven hundred from the institute and the other five or so from the CPEE, because it is planned as an expense and as income, because it is a subsidized expense. The money is planned there to start, we can start, but we needed the documents that would make the bidding viable.
A colleague from the corporation said that the Calp City Council could tender whenever it wanted, César Sánchez He said it in the media, and he knows very well that it is impossible. The Secretariat and the Audit Office will not let us do it if we do not have a favourable report from the Generalitat. And so it has been. We had anticipated all the work, we warned the Contracting Department that this was coming and after the plenary session we are in the process of bidding. That is why everything is so fast, because we were already prepared. We have delegated the competence that the Plenary has for these large contracts to the Governing Board to speed it up, since they are weekly.
Q. What are the estimated times for each process from now on?
R. It goes to the European Union platform, because projects of a certain amount must be published there. Afterwards there will be 30 calendar days to present offers, and I hope we are lucky. Normally, in projects of this magnitude, the companies that present themselves are powerful and solvent, but I hope that is the case.
When the process is over, the board meets, proposes the winner, the highest bidder, the one who complies and offers some improvement, will be awarded and then, if any bidder who does not agree appeals, the process is paralyzed until the Administrative Court Central Contractual Resources resolves. Maybe that could take a few months. If there is not much difference between the companies, the award may be more problematic, but if there is a lot of difference and it is very clear who is the highest bidder, it will be easier.
The idea is that before the end of the year we will have a successful bidder and then an execution period of two years, if nothing happens. The road is done and the Municipal School Council has already decided on the name of the institute, but we are not going to reveal it, let them say it.
Q. Can we advance any details or peculiarities of the new centers?
R. It is important to know that we will have an upper secondary cycle module on Navigation and Coastal Fishing. There is a lack of generational change, there are no young people who want to go to the sea, nor are there means or training. Then we will have a cycle at the second institute of Calp to prepare navigation and coastal fishing, with several qualifications related to the sea. It is important not only for young Calpines, but for people from other municipalities. It will be the only center in the region that will teach this cycle.
Q. How is the next academic year 2024-2025 planned for the provisional facilities in Calp?
R. We are now figuring out how to face the start of the secondary school year with the prefabricated classrooms, although that will be for next year, and with the eight classrooms that we have transferred to the Conselleria so that the new ESO courses have a place to take classes. .
We also have the classrooms at the House of Culture and the Ministry has to equip them and the furniture has already arrived. The building will have normal activity, but those eight classrooms are blocked for the institute. At the same time we are about to receive the project for this infrastructure that needs another 30.000 m2 that we have transferred to the Conselleria for the prefabricated ones, which will be the second institute and another school.
Now we are waiting for Iberdrola to provide the design company, which is an external assistance that we have, with the data it needs to be able to complete the project. It is practically finished, with three million two hundred thousand euros that we are going to invest there.
Q. Will the new infrastructure be enough for education in Calp?
R. We have four schools in Calp, the Mediterrani, Oltá, Azorín and Gabriel Miró, an institute, the special education school that is now temporarily in Benissa and now the fifth school. Because they said they would evacuate that school and take it to another space, but I say, are we going to evacuate a school that is playing a role, however small, that does not pose a structural danger? And where do we put those children? So, it is better to wait until we have a new facility, which could be prefabricated, and then maybe find an outlet for that building by building another school.
We don't stop growing, but of course, there comes a time when we can't do it anymore. The land is limited and you have to be sustainable, you cannot receive more people than the services you can offer. We are a municipality of services, but everything has a limit, which we cannot set, we cannot stop sending children to school, because it is an obligation.
Q. What message would you like to convey to the Calp educational community?
R. I think the message I would convey is that we all have to congratulate ourselves for the effort we have made. We have always said to the educational community: «If you do not help us push, we are just another administration. The ones who really pay attention to you are the fathers, mothers and students who have to go out into the streets and demand. We pull the car and go with you.
They knew that the City Council was there, helping and pushing, and we all have to congratulate ourselves for the objective we have achieved after months and years, but the last nine months have been decisive. Tell them to be calm, to trust their government team, because we are aware of everything and we continue to think about the needs of this municipality at an educational level. We are looking out for our citizens and that they trust us.
