A sewage flood has left a Barcelona high school without water or toilets for two weeks.

BarcelonaThe administration and the Parents' Association of the Joan Brossa Institute, in the Baix Guinardó neighborhood of Barcelona, ​​have denounced the poor condition of the school's facilities, which have been accumulating problems in recent years. The trigger for the protest was the sewage flood the school suffered at the beginning of the month, which has left the school without water for two weeks and without access to the restrooms. "It's a very critical situation because we have no hygiene," says Cesc Trillo, a teacher and spokesperson for the faculty, who adds that portable toilets have had to be installed in the schoolyard. The problem first became noticeable on March 4 when some teachers detected a water leak in the basement. "In a matter of minutes, we had a foot of water flooding the entire entrance of the building," explains the spokesperson. Coinciding with the heavy rains of early March, the situation repeated itself the following day, this time with flooding from the courtyard drains that forced the evacuation of the building for safety and health reasons.

The problem stems from a massive collapse of the main sewer line serving the four educational centers located on the block between Siurana i Tous Street and the Avenue of the Virgin of Montserrat. Thus, the high school is not the only one affected by the incident; the Guinardó Official Language School, the Adult Education Center, and the Barcelona Business Training Institute have also been impacted.

Lack of hygiene

Although the Barcelona Education Consortium implemented a technical solution from inside the building, it has not yet been possible to unclog the wastewater drain, even with high-capacity pumping equipment. "Since the flooding, the four schools, with more than 2,000 daily users including teachers and students, have been using 14 portable toilets," explains Trillo, who also points out that the lack of water is a daily problem. "The other day, a student cut his knee in PE class, and we didn't have water to clean it, so we had to go to a bar," the teacher points out.

In this regard, he adds that managing the situation is an additional burden for the teaching staff. "Our job should be to teach, and now we find ourselves having to manage incidents caused by a sewage flood," Trillo emphasizes, explaining that the event disrupted the normal functioning of classes, the cafeteria, and extracurricular activities. The incident also caused problems with the daily use of the elevator, which was flooded, but it has been operational again since Wednesday. Regarding the problem, the Education Consortium indicates that it will cover the expenses arising from this incident so that the school can return to normal as soon as possible. Furthermore, since it is not possible to unclog the drain from the inside, they specified that work will be carried out from the street over the next few days, and a trench will be dug in the street to resolve the issue. Chronic Problems

Beyond the sewage flooding, the administration and the Parents' Association (AFA) of Joan Brossa High School explain that the school's facilities suffer from recurring problems. Among these, they highlight the lack of waterproofing on the roof, which causes leaks and recurring drips that force classrooms to be closed when it rains. "A couple of years ago, during a period of heavy rain, another teacher and I had to open one of the panels with lemons in the technology workshop because otherwise the water would have poured into the hallway," recalls Trillo. They also point to problems with air conditioning and ventilation due to hard-to-reach windows, as well as the deterioration of the playgrounds, sports courts, and changing rooms. For all these reasons, the AFA is requesting a comprehensive renovation of the facilities and proposes creating a map of all the problems in public schools and high schools in Barcelona.