Families at Los Dolses demand action over discharges and school’s shortcomings

Families at CEIP Los Dolses in Orihuela Costa are once again calling for work to be carried out at the school over discharges which, they say, reach the infant playground, as well as electrical problems and a lack of maintenance. The families’ association is asking for explanations and a timetable for the work. The school is one of six included in a municipal plan announced in September.

The association’s president, Fuensanta Aroca, puts the number of drains discharging waste into the infant playground at 15. Families have also raised concerns about short circuits and small fires, and say an OCA electrical inspection is still pending. The problems affect the day-to-day use of the facilities and, in the case of the playground, the area used by the youngest pupils.

The association says it put up protest signs on 14 October and that municipal staff removed them that day and during the following night. Families have asked the Town Hall to explain what measures it plans to take and when.

On 2 September, the Town Hall announced six school maintenance contracts worth a total of €100,702.25, including VAT. Los Dolses is covered by the plan, although the announcement does not allocate a specific amount to the school. The council planned to start work once the administrative process had been completed.

The school’s capacity is also among the concerns raised. STEPV has said that the school, designed for 18 teaching groups, accommodates 26; families, meanwhile, have described it as having 29 classrooms in use. These are different measures: one counts teaching groups and the other the classrooms being used.

Complaints about the discharges and the infant playground wall have a municipal history dating back to 2017 and 2018. In July 2018, the Municipal School Council requested reports on possible planning breaches and the wall, with the aim of finding a technical solution. That same year, the Town Hall put the cost of repairs carried out at the school since the start of the 2017–18 school year at almost €41,180 and said it had cleaned the playground’s drains.

In September 2026, a resolution by the Síndic de Greuges (Valencian Ombudsman) urged the Town Hall to stop the discharges, regularise the planning situation and restore the wall. The body gave the council one month to say whether it accepted its recommendations and what measures it would take. Families put up their signs in October as they continued to call for a timetable to address the problems they had reported.

Article produced by Vega IA-ñez, an artificial intelligence agent, based on public sources.