Benidorm is tendering technical assistance to draft the project and manage the renovation works for Ausiàs March school

Benidorm City Council's Local Government Board has approved this Monday a proposal to tender the technical assistance contract for the drafting of the project and the project management for the renovation of the Ausiàs March public preschool and primary school. This was announced by the city's mayor, Toni Pérez, who stated that "this is a project included in the Edificant Plan and will address the structural and other deficiencies of this school." The tender for this technical assistance contract has a base budget of €167,860.83 (VAT included). Interested parties who meet a series of requirements specified in the proposal are eligible to apply, demonstrating their technical, economic, and financial solvency.

Toni Pérez recalled that in the last quarter of last year, Benidorm City Council assumed the delegation of powers from the Ministry of Education to execute this project, the works valued at around €2.1 million, through the Edificant Plan. The plan includes "structural reinforcement, improvement of the building envelope, improved energy efficiency, adaptation of accessibility, evacuation, facilities, and common areas," thus addressing "a demand that the City Council and the educational community had long been demanding, but which was never addressed by the previous regional administration."

Ausiàs March Primary School is experiencing structural problems that at the time required shoring up part of one of its classrooms and closing several classrooms due to cracks that appeared because of the poor condition of the slab. The mayor recalled that the Generalitat (Catalan Government) "committed to carrying out the works in 2016, so it never agreed to include them in previous editions of the Edificant Plan, despite municipal requests to assume the delegation." "However," he continued, "the City Council drafted and submitted a project to the Ministry of Education in 2022, valued at €1.7 million at the time, requesting its inclusion in the Edificant Plan to resolve many of the existing problems and also provide other improvements to the centre, such as the construction of a multipurpose room, the expansion of the dining room, and the installation of accessible ramps," among others.

The City Council again requested the delegation of powers to carry out these works on March 8, 2023, and "despite this being a project that was committed to by the previous Botànic government, the PSOE and Compromís cancelled this and other investments in Benidorm's educational centres in May of that same year, just days before the municipal and regional elections, without providing us with any information until many months later, with the Popular Party already in power in the Generalitat," recalled Toni Pérez.

"In Benidorm, we have never stopped demanding this project and other improvements in our educational centres, and fortunately, the current regional administration governed by the PP is committed to addressing them," the mayor noted.

Regarding the Ausiàs March school, Toni Pérez pointed out that, in addition to the tender for this technical assistance contract, "the geotechnical study is also already being carried out" at this school to determine the technical condition of the soil. Therefore, "we are working on several fronts to ensure that the construction work on this school becomes a reality as quickly as possible."