Gaüses residents oppose the school project because it would upset the "balance" of the town.

GausasThe planned school for 120 students in Gaüses has been met with opposition for four years by a large portion of the village's just over 60 residents, which is part of the municipality of Vilopriu. According to residents, the majority oppose it, citing the town's size and fearing that undisclosed activities, such as concerts, might be planned. "The City Council promoted a modification of the subsidiary regulations to introduce educational use in the village, and it did so secretly and covertly," says Salvador Matas, architect and spokesperson for the opposing residents. "During the lockdown, they modified this planning, and the public disclosure period passed us by. The City Council operates in a way that is not transparent in its communication; everything is done in secret," adds Matas. "This generates a lot of mistrust; they don't report everything they do, and you never know what they're up to," opines Jordi, another opposing resident.

"There may be people who think, 'These people have lost their minds because they don't want a school,' and that's not true. We have no problem with the establishment of a school, but there are places and places, and in Gaüses, putting in a school of that magnitude, a private one... Sorry, but there are things that don't work; houses, small things, agricultural land, and we believe that if this project were to go ahead, it would be harmful because it would totally transform the dynamics and balance we have in this town. That's why we're against it," explains Matas.

"I can understand the developer. He's doing his thing and he doesn't care whether the residents like it more or less, but what's unforgivable is the attitude of the City Council. This is a time when we all need to consider a decrease in growth; city councils and public institutions need to start thinking about it. I mean, we're going to consume more water, more diesel because of all the vehicles that will have to come here every day, we're going to build more roads, more pollution... It's incomprehensible," says Montse, another resident who is against it.

The residents' opposition is also based on the fact that the plot where the school is planned lacks the access points required by regulations for emergency services to reach it. "It only has three entrances. A fire truck can't get through two of them, and the third is very tight and has a tricky turn that requires maneuvering. The regulations stipulate that it must be accessible from two different roads, but that's not the case; there's only one." Santi Casas, also an architect, is another of the residents who oppose the project.

"Apart from the significant difficulty in access, there's the mobility issue that would entail each day, because students would have to come from outside, with parking... And we're not even talking about whether they hold concerts. There's also water consumption, the issue of security... The mistake is that they chose the wrong location," adds Mat.

Neighbors, recognized as interested parties

So far, the City Council has already denied the project twice, "and on the second occasion it was specified that the submitted project is not amendable and that a new one must be drawn up," adds Casas. "We see a change in the City Council's response. The project represents the residents who are opposed to the project. "Just before Easter, the City Council recognized the residents as interested parties and sent us the entire administrative file for the building permit. We are now studying it and are also trying to appear for the activity permit," adds the lawyer. He had said: "This is not possible because you will not be able to comply with this, let's not go around in circles and let's not keep it in our system." Because, in the end, there is no bad relationship between the neighbors, but neither does the relationship that could have existed if this issue did not exist," opines Casas.

Trial of intentions, according to the

"It's just a smear campaign. It's the only thing they can do, because there's nothing. We have land where a school could be built, and we're presenting a project within the Urban Planning guidelines. They only have a judgment of intentions: 'You won't do that, you'll do something else.' It's not appropriate. They're very wrong. It would be much worse if a residential development were to be built there; that would affect those promoting all this much more," counters Ivo Sans, the school's developer.

"We brought up the issue of the firefighters because we're also promoting the construction of a bridge in this area [the plot where the school is to be built]; right now, if there's a fire, it would be dangerous. That's why the City Council said yes to this bridge project. We proposed it, and that's why we're now proposing it." Sans.

"Apparently, the developer has bought some land in front, which is undeveloped land, in order to build a bridge and cross the stream from the other side to access the school and create a car park. But all this is undeveloped land and these uses shouldn't be there. It's a long process in which there may be objections, and all this would only be to favor a specific developer - perhaps not, but it is very unviable," says Casas.

A while ago, Sans called a meeting with the neighbors to explain the project. "I don't want to do anything that isn't legal, but I think no one should tell me what to do. No one present had been told what their house should be like, and I found that people were telling me what my house should be like, what my project should be like, how many students it should have. Afterwards, I went door to door to talk about this issue. town: "It's not good enough for us anymore," they told me. But the town is already changing, and it won't be the same in ten years. Houses are being built that will likely be used as Airbnbs," Sans adds.

The City Council has not decided anything

For his part, the mayor of Vilopriu, Pere Pulido, declined to comment too much, but emphasized that no decision has been made. "I'm neither for nor against the school; I'm in the middle. We can't take sides. We've been saying, 'That can't be, that can't be either,' and he's been making changes. I don't know if the school will ultimately go ahead or not," the mayor added.