Eastern Costa del Sol town rolls out more air conditioning equipment to its schools

Vélez-Málaga town hall on the eastern Costa del Sol in Malaga province is continuing with its action plan to provide the 18 schools in the municipality with "modern and efficient" air conditioning systems to ensure the welfare of students and teachers throughout the year. Councillor for municipal buildings Jesús María Claros and councillor for education Lourdes Piña have embarked on a series of visits to the schools that are undergoing or planning repairs and improvements to infrastructure and equipment.

Last week, they visited the CEIP Augusto Santiago Bellido primary school, where a new air conditioning unit has been installed, and the CEIP El Romeral primary school to supervise the installation of a new fence. They also visited the CEIP José Luis Villar Palasí primary school, where six classrooms have been equipped with air conditioners. The aim of this project, which should cover all schools in the town, is to ensure optimal thermal conditions throughout the year.

The integration work for the new equipment has already been completed, allowing schools to incorporate the new units with heat pumps and next-generation systems in the coming weeks. Pupils and teachers will be able to enjoy them during activities held in some of these facilities over the summer period and more widely throughout the 2025–26 school year.

The total investment in this intervention amounts to 6,050 euros, as part of the municipal plan to improve environmental conditions in public schools, with special attention to spaces for students with special education needs. The equipment has been placed in primary education, special education needs and therapeutic pedagogy classrooms.

The CEIP José Luis Villar Palasí, also known as the Zona Norte school, is one of the schools that remains active during the summer period, with students attending summer workshop programmes, summer educational support programmes and training activities for students with and without special education needs. This ensures that these activities can take place in a safe, comfortable and healthy environment, even during the hottest days of the summer.

Claros highlighted the town hall's commitment to students' and teachers' needs. This action plan allows "to provide the different classrooms of the schools with much needed, modern and efficient devices", which use state-of-the-art technology. The equipment "meets the highest standards of energy efficiency". The municipal technical services have been in charge of designing and coordinating the action, under criteria of energy efficiency, low consumption and minimum noise level.

Zona Nueva's secretary Miguel Moreno stated that the town hall has been responding to the educational centre's requests and needs. The action at CEIP José Luis Villar Palasí coincides with installations in other centres (CEIP Augusto Santiago Bellido, Axarquía, Juan Porras or Las Naciones), following actions that have taken place in recent months and that have allowed the installation of around a hundred modern equipment units in CEIP Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Zona Sur), CEIP Juan Herrera Alcausa, CEIP Vicente Aleixandre and CEIP Custodio Puga in Torre del Mar, CEIP San Faustino in Benajarafe, CEIP Genaro Rincón in Caleta de Vélez, CEIP Torrejaral in Cajiz, Valle-Niza or Juan Porras in Triana.

The town hall has also completed work on the Vicente Aleixandre school in Torre del Mar, including the demolition and complete renovation of two bathrooms next to the headmaster's office. In addition to this, the deteriorated protections on the metal pillars of the courtyard have been removed and 90 new column protections have been installed. The cost of this work, financed by the PFEA funds, was 19,378.31 euros.

Painting and maintenance work was also carried out (15,000 euros), as well as the installation of 15 air conditioners (18,059 euros). In total, the town hall has allocated 52,437.31 euros in the complete renovation of the CEIP Vicente Aleixandre.

Lourdes Piña highlighted "the importance of working together with schools, of attending to their demands and improving local education", stating that the town hall is planning to fulfil all welfare needs of each school.

The town hall has allocated a total of 417,391.12 euros, financed by PFEA funds, to reform and improvement actions in ten schools in the municipality. These are the CP Andalucía, CP Axarquía, CP La Gloria, CP Juan Herrera Alcausa, CP Nuestra Señora de los Remedios and CP Romeral de Vélez; the CP Antonio Checa, CP Blas Infante and CP Vicente Aleixandre de Torre del Mar; and the CP Torrejaral de Chilches.

Among the work carried out or to be carried out are the demolition and removal of debris from areas affected by tree roots in the courtyards, floor repairs, painting, demolition and replacement of toilets, construction of a new classroom in the CP Axarquía, repair of fencing, construction of a ramp in the CP Andalucía and reconstruction of a pillar and a fence at the entrance of the CP Romeral centre.

In addition to the new air conditioning equipment already in CEIP Aleixandre, units have been integrated in CEIP Augusto Santiago Bellido, Axarquía and Juan Porras, Las Naciones, Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Zona Sur), Juan Herrera Alcausa, Vicente Aleixandre and Custodio Puga in Torre del Mar, San Faustino in Benajarafe, Genaro Rincón in Caleta de Vélez and Torrejaral in Cajiz or Valle-Niza, among others.