The school in a small village in the Alto Empordà region that the City Council wants to close five years after opening it

GironaThe future of the rural school in Palacio de Santa Eulàlia, a small village in the Alt Empordà with just over 120 inhabitants, on the banks of the Fluvià river, has caused a stir. Just five years after launching his educational projectThe City Council has opted to close it, a rare decision. In fact, the Department of Education has no record of such an early closure. The school currently has eighteen students, divided into three small groups: nursery, preschool, and middle school. These students come from the municipality and also from very small neighboring villages without schools, such as Siurana. Since it is a rural school, the City Council is responsible for the space and its maintenance, so the Department of Education has no say in the closure request submitted by the local council. The City Council, which has changed political hands since the previous administration that opened the school, argues that the closure is necessary because it cannot afford the expenses. The families, however, maintain that it is a key service for preventing depopulation and strengthening residents' ties to the municipality.

From the Parents' Association (AFA) of the Palau de Santa Eulàlia school, one of the spokespeople, who prefers to remain anonymous because she works in the village, argues: "The school is a fantastic educational project, cited by the department itself as an example of a rural model that works very well." The affected families emphasize the close connection and individualized attention that such a small center allows, "a type of education that our children would never have in a classroom with twenty students," and they point out that, if it closes, the alternatives are other rural schools that are already full or that have nothing to do with the reality of Palau de Santa Eulàlia. In this regard, Marc Barneda, who no longer sends his son to the school because he is in secondary school, but is a councilor in the opposition, believes that the economic arguments "have not been sufficiently transparent or well explained" and that "more time should be given to the project to assess its social impact, because a school may not generate economic profit, but it does contribute to village life."

The City Council argues that it cannot assume the costs

The City Council has already met with the families, but maintains its position. In response to the complaints, it reiterates that the closure is essential to reverse the "inherited financial deterioration." According to the governing team, led by the new mayor Xavier Baldrich, the project was launched without proper planning and based on an informal survey conducted during the pandemic, which resulted in hasty decisions and costs far exceeding those anticipated. The mayor argues that adapting the building, relocating the municipal offices (which were previously in the building where the school now stands), and the inauguration events cost over €190,000, in addition to annual expenses of €25,000. This maintenance, they assert, is something the municipality cannot afford. The local government also emphasizes that the lack of resident students—only three children from the municipality—and the virtually nonexistent birth rate make maintaining a dedicated school unfeasible. In this regard, it should be noted that the children of the village have a guaranteed place at the school in Garrigàs, which has an equivalent educational program. The first formal request to close the school was submitted to the Department of Education on March 25, 2024, after several meetings with the Territorial Services, and is now final.

"A town without a school is a dead town"

However, former mayor Xavi Camps, who spearheaded the reopening of the center in 2020, argues that "a village without a school is a dead village" and that basic services—including education—are essential to guaranteeing a future in rural areas. He recalls: "The opening attracted new families and filled empty homes, demonstrating from day one its capacity to foster a sense of belonging and life in the village." The former mayor also points out that "if the new administration hadn't spent two years saying they would close the school, perhaps the seven children registered in the municipality who haven't enrolled would have done so." Finally, Camps asserts that the economic viability had been studied, with an estimated annual cost of between 10,000 and 12,000 euros with the help of subsidies, and laments that the new municipal government is highlighting the losses of the previous term and ignoring the subsidies that had not yet been received before the end of the fiscal year. The Department of Education, for its part, confirms that the closure is proceeding as planned because the City Council has expressed its unwillingness to continue providing the space. However, according to the Parents' Association (AFA), the Generalitat (Catalan government) would be willing to cover some of the costs if this would guarantee the project's continuity; but, however much it could assume its maintenance, if the City Council is unwilling to provide the space, the Generalitat cannot become involved. Sources within the department confirm to ARA that, from the perspective of school enrollment, the "closure makes sense" because there are not enough children in the municipality.