"It is a privilege": the workers of a high school in the center of Palma make private use of the parking lot

PalmaThe IES Arxiduc parking lot in Palma, conceived as a service for the teaching staff and personnel of the center during school hours, is also used outside of school hours and without any control mechanism regarding who parks there, how they do it, and for how long. The availability of spaces during the weekends allows institute workers to take advantage of it as a free parking area in a well-located part of Palma, close to everything and where finding parking is complicated and paid (ORA), and private spaces have high prices.

ARA Balears has verified that the space does not remain empty when the school week ends. In a visit on a Sunday at 8:00 PM, the newspaper counted nearly a dozen vehicles parked there. On a Saturday morning, the number of parked cars was even higher. Many of these vehicles matched those observed on Sunday. During one of the checks, a woman was also seen leaving the premises and heading directly to a department store.

Sources from the center acknowledge, after being asked on several occasions, that the current system allows the parking lot to be used without any time restrictions. The teaching staff and personnel who have the remote control can open the gate and access it whenever they want, regardless of whether there is school activity. "There is no control over who parks and who does not. They can park there at night, during the day, or whenever they want," they explain.

The same sources admit that this lack of supervision may facilitate the space being used for private matters. "There may be people who park there for personal reasons. We do not know," they point out. They also acknowledge that having a parking space in the heart of Palma represents a clear advantage for workers: "It is a privilege to have a parking lot where you can leave the car when you go to work, and I understand that if someone has to run errands, they might take advantage of this space. Furthermore, it is in the center and close to everything.

Great savings

However, the newspaper's checks indicate that the use of the parking lot could go beyond occasional tasks. The fact that some of the vehicles observed on a Saturday in late October were also parked there on the night of Sunday, November 8th, suggests that some center staff who live in the area might use it as a regular parking space, even outside of working hours.

Thus, a space linked to a public facility and made available to staff to facilitate their work activity also ends up offering the possibility of parking for free during the days when the center does not have teaching activity. A particularly significant situation in an area of Palma where parking is mostly paid, both through the ORA system and underground parking lots, and where private spaces have a high cost. On the Idealista portal, garage spaces for sale in the area range from 22,000 to 120,000 euros, an amount that approaches the price of a home in many locations on the Peninsula. Regarding rentals, none of the advertised spaces go for less than 100 euros per month.

Given this situation, the sources consulted state that the system for opening the door is being studied in order to change the current operation. For the moment, however, workers who have the remote control can continue accessing the parking lot without any registration or supervision of the vehicles parked there. This means that a parking lot for work use continues to function without an effective distinction between use linked to the center's activity and private use—a reality that, as ARA Balears has been able to learn, also occurs in other high schools located in congested areas.