Mayor, we are still waiting for the Escola del Mar

The children of the Escola del Mar, now located in Guinardó, were visited two years ago by Mayor Collboni, who had just taken office at the time, and asked him why, as promised, the historic Barceloneta building, destroyed in 1938 by the Feix bombs, hadn't been rebuilt. They caught the mayor off guard. He didn't know what they were talking about. And he told them he would get on with it. Two years later, the children returned the visit to the city council this Friday and, smiling but determined, asked him the same question again: "Mayor, what about the reconstruction of the Escola del Mar?" The mayor told them it would be done, yes... But it's still unknown where or when. The school wouldn't be for them, but for the city. But they've made it their own: they are their roots.

In the main building, all the political groups (except Vox) agree that it must be done. ERC negotiated the PSC's commitment. But time passes without any progress. Opportunities have been lost along the way. At the end of Colau's term, there was a project and money, with the Manifesta art biennial, enthusiastic about contributing to such a meaningful historical recovery. The final result? Nothing at all. The centenary of the emblematic building, a unique wooden work by Josep Goday, is behind us. A marvel, also for its content: that exemplary institution built on the sand of the beach, a beacon of the most advanced pedagogy that welcomed sick children from vulnerable families, is a world reference. It deserves a new life.

The Councilor for Education, Lluís Rabell, explains to me that the will to recover it is firm and that the chief architect, Maria Bohigas, "is looking for a feasible location and proposal," but immediately warns that "it won't be a maximum" and that there are a few technical and urban planning "obstacles." Oh my! In any case, the idea is to recreate the wooden building and house the National Museum of Education of Catalonia, promoted by two subsidiary companies of the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC). Rabell doesn't dare to set dates. Everything indicates that in 2026, when Barcelona hosts the International Congress of Architecture, there will be no Escola del Mar. A shame. It would have aroused the admiration of professionals everywhere. Another missed opportunity.

Such slowness exasperates the project's promoters, especially architect Marc Cuixart, who has spent over a decade struggling and colliding with the disappointing municipal reality. "We will continue insisting, we will continue working."

Goday designed it in 1920 and, said and done, it was inaugurated in 1922. Only two years passed. Street. In 1920, 49 people died in Barcelona due to bombs in a single month. But the School of the Sea made its way. Is it really that today?

Nowadays, the School of the Sea isn't talked about much, though. Manual labor, in contact with nature, with "active leisure and active silence," they learned to think and were trained in intellect and sensitivity.

All this is the legacy of the School of the Sea. It must be rebuilt and projected forward.