Alert for insects and dust at the l’Arrabassada School in Tarragona: what has the company detected?

The inspection contracted by the Tarragona City Council has ruled out that the insects at the L’Arrabassada School are fleas. The AFA, however, denounces dust, dirt, and a playground with a layer of earth accumulated following the works at the Iborra Plots.

The first day of school brought an unsettling scene for the families: repeated cleanings, insects in the kindergarten playground, and dust in the facilities. The health issue seems contained, but the debate about the maintenance of the center is just beginning.

What happened at L’Arrabassada School in Tarragona?

Why did the AFA raise the alarm?

For the families, the problem was not just seeing insects in the playground: it was that the students access it to go to the classrooms. This direct connection between the kindergarten entrance and the affected area turned a nuisance into a concrete concern about the center’s hygiene conditions.

The Parents’ Association explained in a statement that the management had informed them of the presence of many fleas in the kindergarten playground. In response, the entity described the situation as incompatible with adequate hygiene and heath conditions.

The AFA president, Sergi Albarran, recounted that the playground had “a finger’s thickness of earth.” He also denounced that dust had spread throughout the facilities and that the dining room had to be cleaned twice because the dust did not disappear.

The image conveyed by this description is quite clear: it is not about a little dust after a morning of works, but a visible impact in spaces where children spend much of their day. And here is where the discussion stops being a simple maintenance incident.

What did the pest control company determine?

The specialized company sent by the City Council this Tuesday determined that the insects are not fleas. According to the explanation given by Albarran, they could have appeared due to the decomposition of the large amount of leaves accumulated in the playground during the summer.

This conclusion relieved the families but did not close the issue. The AFA president pointed out that, even if they are not fleas, fumigation is needed. In other words: the name of the insect changes, but the need to act remains on the table.

The City Council communicated that the inspection did not detect fleas and that the situation will continue to be monitored. The council also indicated that there is no risk for the children, according to the specialized company’s report.

How do the works and dust affect the center?

What is the origin of the dirt?

For the families in Tarragona, dust is not a minor detail when it reaches the classrooms, dining room, and passage areas. The pointed cause is the combination of the Iborra Plots works with the lack of maintenance during the summer, a sum that has left the playground covered in earth.

Albarran explained that the cleaning tasks in the playground did not start until this Tuesday, coinciding with the first day of school. His criticism focuses on the perceived neglect of the facilities and the fact that the response arrived when the students were already returning to the center.

The AFA’s account speaks of a space “full of dust” and compares the school to a desert. It is a strong expression, yes, but it helps to understand the gap between a construction site generating dirt and an educational center that needs to start the activity with prepared spaces.

The situation also raises a practical issue: when construction coexists with a school, cleaning cannot be reduced to just sweeping once. It is necessary to coordinate the work, watering the roads, and reviewing the spaces used by the children.

What measures are planned to reduce the dust?

The construction contract already provides for the periodic watering of the roads to minimize dust generation. The City Council admitted that this action had not yet been carried out in this specific area because heavy machinery was passing through continuously.

From now on, the construction management will schedule the watering frequency aiming to minimize the disturbances caused by the works. The measure does not eliminate the works, but it can limit one of the most visible consequences for the center.

• Periodic watering of the roads near the school.
• Monitoring the presence of insects in the playground.
• Cleaning the areas affected by dust and earth.
• Coordination between the City Council, Education, and the contracting company.

The decisive detail will be regularity. One-time watering can relieve dust for a few hours; a sustained plan is what will allow knowing if the disturbances truly decrease while the works continue.

What will happen now with the Families and the works?

When will the center’s situation be reviewed?

A meeting is scheduled next week between the Minister of Education, Isabel Mascaró, the IMET management, municipal Territory technicians, and the contracting company’s representatives. For the families, this meeting should serve to obtain concrete information about deadlines and planned measures.

The announced goal is to explain in detail the planning of the works until completion, resolve doubts, and share information on the progress of the works. The meeting will also have to address actions aimed at reducing the impact on school activity.

This is the point that can make the difference: moving from a reactive response, triggered by the arrival of the children, to planned coordination before the dust settles again. The families do not only ask to know what happened; they want to know what will be done tomorrow morning.

What does the AFA demand while the works continue?

The AFA demands that the presence of insects be resolved and adequate cleaning of the playground and facilities be maintained. The request comes from a very concrete fact: the center started the school year with visible dust and the need to repeat cleaning tasks.

Albarran thanked the City Council and the regional Education services for being involved “from the first moment” to resolve the situation. This gratitude coexists with criticism for the lack of summer maintenance, a contradiction that summarizes the conflict: there is a response, but it arrives after the families have raised the alarm.

The council, for its part, will continue monitoring the insects and coordinate the measures related to dust. The result can be assessed with very simple indicators: if the playground stops accumulating earth, if the dining room does not need two cleanings, and if the families receive information before a new incident appears.

The reality is that L’Arrabassada School faces two different but connected issues: the presence of insects that a company has ruled out as fleas and a dust impact attributed to the works and insufficient maintenance. Now it will be necessary to verify whether watering the roads, cleaning, and sanitary monitoring manage to restore normality to the center without families having to sound the system’s alarm again.

Source of the article: Editorial / Catalan News Agency