"It is a heatwave": the director of the Lloseta school explodes due to the discomfort in the classrooms

PalmaThe start of the school year in the Balearic Islands is once again marked by deficiencies in the air conditioning of educational centers. This Tuesday, at 1 p.m., the thermometer in the classroom of the CEIP Es Puig in Lloseta climbed to 30.4 °C, with 32% relative humidity. The situation inside the school has reached the limit of indignation, to the point that the school's own director, Miquel Bujosa, has defined the situation bluntly: "It's a heatwave".

These figures are not just a matter of comfort, but represent a direct violation of occupational health regulations. In accordance with Royal Decree 486/1997, the temperature in workplaces where sedentary tasks are performed – as is the case in schools – must be mandatorily maintained between 17 °C and 27 °C. Today's records in Lloseta, and in many other centers in Mallorca, exceed the legal limit allowed by almost three and a half degrees continuously.

Obstacle to health and study

The indignation of the management of CEIP Es Puig reflects the unease of an educational community that reminds us that the optimal temperature for school performance is between 23 °C and 24 °C. Spending a day at over 30 °C in an enclosed space drastically reduces concentration and increases the risk of suffering from migraines, chronic fatigue, and dehydration, an added danger when dealing with minors. Faced with this reality, unions and associations of families and principals of the Archipelago continue to urge management teams to record these heat spikes in order to file formal complaints with the Labor Inspectorate. In the same way, the Department of Education is being asked to accelerate the climate control of centers and the improvement of infrastructure. However, Education is honest: there are many demands, and there are not enough hands to attend to everything with the speed that would be desired.