The PSOE of Torrevieja has accused the PP of “selling smoke” regarding the Integrated Vocational Training Centre, while simultaneously renouncing three million euro intended for physical classrooms. The socialists have reproached the local government team for approving the renunciation of nearly three million euro from the Plan Edificant during a plenary session. These funds were originally earmarked for extending the classroom block at the IES Libertas. According to the opposition, the government is attempting to frame this decision as progress towards a Public Integrated Vocational Training Centre, despite the fact that there is currently no project, funding, land, or schedule in place for it.
The socialist spokesperson, Bárbara Soler, pointed out that what was approved was not an integrated vocational training centre, but rather a renunciation of existing funding for real educational infrastructure that Torrevieja urgently requires. In 2023, the Conselleria of the Botànic delegated powers to the local Ayuntamiento, at its own request, to carry out both the structural rehabilitation of the IES Libertas and the expansion of its classroom facilities to introduce new training cycles. While the structural repairs were completed, the Conselleria demanded that the Ayuntamiento renounce the three million euro allocated for the classroom extension before it would release the 300,000 euro payment for the completed works.
Soler questioned the legal basis for this demand, given the existence of a delegation of competencies, a valid contract, and completed works. She also criticised the Councillor for Education, Ricardo Recuero, for attempting to take credit for the rehabilitation of the school. Soler stated that the work was only made possible due to the delegation of competencies granted by the previous Botànic government, adding that the IES Libertas had suffered from serious structural flaws since its original construction by the PP.
The PSOE argues that the local government itself acknowledges an educational emergency and a shortage of secondary school places in Torrevieja, making the decision to give up new classrooms incomprehensible. They insist that the funding could have been preserved by simply modifying the purpose of the expansion within the Plan Edificant framework, changing the objective from training cycles to accommodating student growth. Furthermore, Soler noted that of the three integrated centres promised in the Vega Baja region by the previous government, the current Consell has scrapped the one in Guardamar, left the Torrevieja project completely up in the air, and only executed the centre in Orihuela by displacing students from an existing school. The socialists have also accused the PP of trying to distract the public by announcing delayed educational projects, such as the rehabilitation of the IES Las Lagunas and the temporary allocation of prefab classrooms for the IES Mare Nostrum.
