Costa Blanca

20,000€ for bullied child in Catral

The Ministry of Education was ordered by the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) to compensate the family of a youngster who acknowledged being bullied at the Catral Secondary School from 2020 to 2021 with €20,000.

According to the resolution, when the family of the student, who was 14 at the time, reported the school violence, the school denied that it was happening and even deemed the victim’s absences from class to be unwarranted, indicating that the management team of the school failed to implement procedures to address the incident.

Additionally, he used the COVID pandemic as an excuse for suspending the three students who had confessed to bullying when he eventually activated them to impose sanctions.

Only when psychological studies verified the effect the incidents had on the victim’s mental health did the educational authorities cease their inaction.

Threats, shoving, and insults through WhatsApp

According to the Administrative Litigation Chamber’s Section 4 order, the child has been the victim of “constant” bullying by three Catral Secondary School classmates since the start of the 2019–2020 academic year. They frequently spat slurs at the youngster, including “Chinese, Asian, fat, pig…” and instances where they assaulted her, stole her school supplies and concealed them, or chalk-stained her clothes. They once dumped her rucksack, which contained all of her books, into a puddle of water. She was frequently abused on social media and threatened via WhatsApp after school.

A pattern of harassment

When the student’s family, led by lawyer Pablo Pérez Sola, discovered their daughter was being tormented in December 2019, just before the Christmas holidays, they reported the incident right away to the school, which promised to talk to the perpetrators.

Because they “did not observe a pattern of bullying behaviour towards the student,” the school’s management team insisted that no protocol be created for this circumstance, keeping the bullies in the victim’s classroom for the rest of that school year. According to the instructors, “no cases of bullying were observed when the parties were questioned, and due to the fact that once mediation was conducted, the situation ceased to exist—in their assessment.”

Students who were impacted were warned that “any sign, however small, of animosity would be severely punished and would involve the opening of a case to prevent situations of school violence and the corresponding sanctions.” The school’s administration and teaching staff also promised that “an intensive observation process was carried out by the guidance department.”

Report

The Ministry of Health’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit (USMIA) confirmed in a report that the affected individual had “anxiety-type symptoms secondary to bullying from the previous year” in October 2020, when the school year had begun with restrictions because of the pandemic. In response, the IES committed to creating a program for the minor’s gradual reintegration into the centre, where it had already acknowledged the bullying that it had denied.

The reintegration program was used to justify the student’s absences, as they had not been consistently attended since the start of the school year. But “after a period of time,” the IES concluded that they were unjustified, citing the Education Inspectorate’s and Social Services’ directives as justification.

In-home educational support

The minor’s parents sent the school with additional paperwork in September 2021, including a second USMIA assessment that suggested the student get home-based educational treatment. The procedure for requesting this kind of help started, and the Generalitat (Catalan Government) finally approved the request.

The court’s decision to support the appellant family is actually based on this ruling: the centre thought that the protocols weren’t necessary to start, but nearly two academic years later, it activated this home care measure, thus it feels that the earlier protocols were required.

Psychiatric report

A 2022 psychiatric report that is part of the case file states that the youngster has mental diseases that are consistent with the diagnoses of “post-traumatic stress disorder” and “conversion disorder,” which have “a direct and causal relationship between the expert diagnoses and the bullying.”

According to the same report, “it would be highly advisable to proceed with intensive psychiatric and psychological treatment, for a period of time that, at this time, we cannot specify.” These psychological injuries are described as having “an irregular and persistent evolution that has barely improved with the prescribed treatments” and “producing a notable alteration in his capacity to lead an independent life.”

Appreciation

The Ministry of Education claims that because the lockdown brought on by the COVID outbreak began, the disciplinary actions and reprimands against the participants were halted, “so they were never filed.” Given that the family’s appeal had been submitted to the Legal Advisory Council prior to the proceedings reaching the TSJCV (High Court of Justice), the Ministry of Education itself accepted this.

This process included the Generalitat taking responsibility for 5,000 euros in 2023 for not pursuing disciplinary action against juveniles who “had admitted responsibility for certain acts.”

Abandonment

The decision is “a public denunciation” of the negligence that “the administration often displays in these cases” when bullying takes place in educational institutions, according to attorney Pablo Pérez of the Pardo y Pérez Abogados company. In the absence of a response from the administration, which dismissed the case due to the statute of limitations, the family filed a criminal complaint with the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office, seeking €56,000 in compensation in its appeal.

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Related Topics:Community Council Court Harassment Health Public Social Violence

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Costa Blanca

Orihuela will distribute 750 new bins throughout the municipality starting next month

The Orihuela City Council’s Department of Urban Solid Waste will begin distributing 758 new containers throughout the municipality in June, with the goal of increasing containerisation and encouraging selective garbage collection. This project has been awarded a total of €690,000 (including VAT).

Rocio Ortuño, Councillor for Urban Solid Waste, stated that the renovation aligns with state legislation and the Local Waste Plan, and is a significant step towards a more efficient, clean, and recycling-friendly model.

The new containers are available in both side and top loading configurations. Specifically, the delivery comprises:

Rotourban model (side loading)

-80 units for containers (yellow fixed lid)

-140 units for paper-cardboard (blue fixed lid)

-326 units for the remaining fraction (contactless lid, grey)

Rotoglobe Model (Top Loading)

-80 units for packaging

-132 units for paper-cardboard

All containers will be customised with vinyl specifying the proportion in Spanish and a heat-printed City Hall symbol. With this project, the municipality will install 432 additional recycling containers (containers, paper, and cardboard) and 326 for other fractions, thereby improving selective collection at the source and environmental compliance.

Ortuño observed that “the new 2022 Waste Law, approved by the government, has not only forced local councils to modify and increase their waste tax, but also imposes a new tax of 30 euros per tonne of waste, which in the case of Orihuela represents an annual cost of nearly one million euros.”

The councillor stated that another batch of rear-loading containers will be awarded in the coming days at a tender value of €110,000. This batch includes 877 units, which will begin arriving in late June or early July, concluding the municipality’s container fleet renewal operation.

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Costa Blanca

Power outages uncovered a ‘jungle’ of 800 marijuana plants in Orihuela

The National Police in Orihuela, Alicante, have dismantled an indoor marijuana plantation with 784 plants that was installed inside a warehouse on the town’s outskirts, and have arrested four men as alleged perpetrators of drug trafficking, document forgery, membership in a criminal group, and electricity fraud, as the illegal plantation was supplied with electricity via an illegal connection.

The inquiry began after diverse information was obtained concerning the likely existence of a facility on a property on the outskirts of the municipality of Orihuela that may be used for illegal activities, similar to indoor marijuana cultivation.

As a result of discreet surveillance of the surrounding area and other investigations, officers from the Orihuela Police Station’s Judicial Police Brigade noticed four individuals entering and exiting the warehouse. Investigators identified this conduct as common practice among the proprietors of this type of plantation.

Among these common acts, the agents saw how those involved performed counter-surveillance functions, looking in all directions to notify that no one was watching them as they entered and exited the warehouse.

Following confirmation of their suspicions, the exploitation phase of the operation began with the interception of a car driven by one of the suspects. The trunk included two green plastic bags with marijuana residue, as well as other plant-growing supplies like fertiliser.

The property under investigation was then entered and searched, resulting in the arrest of a second culprit, while the other two were held at their respective homes.

Following the arrests of people under investigation, a search of the warehouse was conducted, which was partitioned into two rooms and used for different purposes depending on the flowering stage of up to 784 cannabis sativa (marijuana) plants discovered within. Their development and culture were aided by a complete and modern lighting and ventilation system, and their electricity supply was later discovered to be obtained through an illegal connection to the power grid.

On the other hand, those arrested did not scrimp on passive technical methods of monitoring the farm, since there were cameras along the perimeter, forming a closed-circuit video surveillance system with motion sensors. This circuit covered all access angles to the plot, indicating a certain level of sophistication, resulting in increased security in the guarding and custody of the merchandise, as is typical of facilities designed by experienced individuals, with the goal of providing remote security coverage to the plantation located within.

Frequent power outages in the neighbourhood

As a result, the electricity consumption generated by this set of facilities was so high that local residents’ demonstrations revealed that they had experienced power outages on several occasions for no apparent reason, possibly due to consumption peaks caused by the illegal connection typical of this type of plantation.

Finally, another piece of evidence demonstrating the criminal group’s ability was the use of a falsified paperwork to rent the ship, which is usual among this type of organised gang; they impersonated third parties to mask their genuine identities.

The operation led to the arrest of four people suspected of drug trafficking, document forgery, electricity fraud, and membership in a criminal organisation. The plantation was demolished, and all 784 plants were seized.

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Costa Blanca

Torreta Florida, Torrevieja floodplain park has been inaugurated

Eduardo Dolón, Mayor of Torrevieja, was joined by Sandra Sánchez, Councillor for Urban Services; Concha Sala, Councillor for Parks and Gardens; Diana Box, Councillor for Sports; Jorge Ballesta, Manager and Deputy Manager of AGAMED; and Gemma Cruz to inaugurate the new skate park in the Torrealmendros rolling pond. This facility is part of a larger initiative to develop, improve, and integrate Torreta Florida Floodplain Park into the landscape.

Claudio Pastor, the president of the Puro Skateboard Torrevieja Skating Club, and secretary Silvia Jiménez led a large contingent of members to the opening ceremony. It is worth noting that Valeria Chacón, a young Torrevieja member of this club, is the Valencian Community champion in her category and is currently competing in an Olympic sport. The club’s skating squad complimented and thanked Torrevieja City Council for developing this enormous sports facility, which was created with their input to be as effective as possible for their training sessions.

The mayor congratulated AGAMED on the opening of the sports area located on the storm pond, which required an expenditure of about 700,000 euros, and praised the Puro Skateboard Club for its support and collaboration throughout the development of the park. The park has become a popular location for practicing this sport.

This new sports facility includes a modern skate park with specialised modules such as Quarter+Flat, Hand Rail, Manual Pad+Flat, Flat Rail, and Funbox+Hubba+Spine, allowing skaters to practise numerous modalities and techniques of this urban sport.

The project comprises not only the sports facility but also a callisthenics area, new street furniture, and a thorough landscape integration plan based on planting, all of which contribute to the space’s renaturalisation and the establishment of a new green space for all citizens to enjoy.

This project is a key step towards upgrading Torrevieja’s sports and leisure facilities by providing a modern and multifunctional place for skateboarding and other outdoor activities.