Gaüses residents oppose a private school project that would double the town's population.

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 rejected the project twice, "and on the second occasion, it was specified that the submitted project was not rectifiable and that a new one must be drafted," Casas adds. "We're seeing a change in the City Council's response. It's gone from outright denials of the first proposals to the requests for amendments it's now making," says Martí Abril, a lawyer who has been representing the residents opposed to the project for just over a month. "Just before Easter, the City Council recognized the residents as an interested party and sent us the entire administrative file for the building permit. We're now reviewing it and are also trying to apply for the business permit," the lawyer adds.

"From day one, the City Council should have already rejected the project. It should have said: 'This isn't possible because you won't be able to comply with it, let's not go around in circles and let's not keep this in its tracks.' Because, in the end, there isn't a bad relationship between the neighbors, but neither does the relationship that could have existed."

Judgment of intentions, according to the promoter

"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 regulations. 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. A fire would be dangerous. That's why the City Council said yes to this bridge project. We proposed it, and that's why they're now criticizing us. It's not suitable for building a school, and that's why they're criticizing us. But all this is undeveloped land, and these uses can't be there. Build the school, and others who have, or at least aren't expressing their views. But I'm sure we all agree that fire regulations must be followed," adds the architect and village resident. "What I have to do. No one present had been told what their house should be like, and I found myself asking what my project should be like, how many students it should have. And in ten years, it won't be the same. Houses are being built that will surely be destined for Airbnb," adds Sans.

The City Council has not decided anything

For his part, the mayor of Vilopriu, Pere Pulido, declined to say 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. But what a city council can't do is refuse to grant a license to a project that complies with all the regulations," he says. "The developer drew up a project, and we've been telling him, 'That can't be right, that's not going to be done. It hasn't been done, no,' and he's been saying no," the mayor adds. "The developer may get tired of waiting, he's already waited too long, and one day he may bring us plans to build two or three houses with a pool on that plot," Pulido concludes.