Elche council meets without air conditioning to spotlight school heat

A symbolic meeting

Elche City Council held its plenary session on June 29 without air conditioning, turning a routine municipal meeting into a public demonstration of the heat that families say pupils are facing in local schools.

The decision came after parent associations from several schools asked the mayor and councillors to switch off the chamber’s cooling system for the June, July and September plenaries so the council would sit in conditions closer to those reported in classrooms.

The request was backed by families from El Palmeral, Clara Campoamor, Candalix, San Fernando and Sanchis Guarner. Their campaign has focused attention on classroom temperatures as summer heat builds across the city.

Unanimous support for a motion

At the same session, councillors unanimously approved a PSOE motion calling for stronger action on school climatization. The proposal placed the issue squarely in the council chamber as both a policy problem and a political symbol.

PSOE group leader Héctor Díez called for a new Plan Edificant, a specific municipal budget line and support from other administrations to pay for the works. The motion reflected months of pressure from families and opposition parties.

Compromís also backed urgent action. Its representatives argued for energy-efficiency measures and solar panels as part of a broader response to heat in educational centers.

What the city says

Councilor Claudio Guilabert defended the governing side’s record, saying the current administration has already bought portable coolers for municipal infant schools and plans to move them to other schools once electrical works are finished.

He also criticized PSOE and Compromís for not having carried out climatization work during their own years in government. That exchange underlined the political dispute around who should fund and deliver the upgrades.

Families and reporting around the issue say many classrooms are still reaching more than 30 degrees Celsius, which is why the dispute has moved beyond a symbolic gesture and into a broader demand for permanent improvements.

A dispute that has been building

The June 29 plenary was not the start of the controversy. Earlier reporting in June said parent associations had already begun pressing Elche to act on classroom heat, and that PSOE had proposed a climatization plan for public schools.

Those earlier calls pointed to a wider list of concerns, including the need for an assessment of each school, a budget allocation and electrical upgrades that would allow more cooling equipment to be installed safely.

Compromís had also pushed the city to finish climatization work at the Rosa Fernández and Don Julio infant schools, showing that the debate had already moved into specific centers rather than remaining a general complaint.

What comes next

The main open questions are practical rather than symbolic: whether the city publishes the full approved motion text, what timetable follows the unanimous vote and whether any funding commitment is attached to the plan.

It is also unclear which schools would be first in line for permanent cooling upgrades beyond the infant schools that the city says have already received portable units. Families and councillors alike are waiting to see whether Elche expands from temporary fixes to a broader climatization program.

The next public test will be whether the city turns the political consensus into procurement, budget and construction decisions before the worst summer heat peaks.