Man found dead in courtyard of the former nuns’ nursery school

Following a call from municipal staff, local police in Torrevieja found a man’s body in the courtyard of the former nuns’ nursery school yesterday morning, Monday January 12th. The address of the municipal building is Calle Blasco Ibáñez. When paramedics arrived at the scene after the discovery, which happened about 10:00 a.m., they could only confirm the man’s death. Officers from the Torrevieja main station of the Guardia Civil also attended.

Homeless

The body was that of a homeless person who slept in the courtyard. In recent months, neighbours had heard that he had jumped over the fence to enter the building, which was owned by the municipality.

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In order to limit access to properties that are in some states of deterioration, the City Council boarded up all of the interior facilities a few weeks ago. Locals said that the deceased had leaped the gate and sought refuge in the outdoor courtyard over the recent days when Torrevieja’s temperatures had ranged between six and nine degrees Celsius.

Law Enforcement

Agents from the Guardia Civil station in Torrevieja’s Judicial Police soon arrived at the site to look into the circumstances surrounding the death, initially finding no evidence of violence.

According to people close to the investigation, the body’s symptoms of decay suggest that the individual may have been deceased for a few days. After examining the body and the courtyard where it was discovered, a forensic expert approved the removal of the remains to the judicial funeral service held by the Valencian Regional Government at approximately 2:00 p.m.

Technicians from the Torrevieja City Council alerted the local police while they were inspecting the grounds of what was once the Carmelite sisters’ nursing home (and earlier a school), known as “the nuns” in Torrevieja. The building will soon be demolished to make way for an innovation and business centre.

Inspection by a technician

Given that the building is being completely demolished, the inspection’s dual goal was to identify which particular materials and building components, like the ironwork or some hydraulic floors, should be preserved and incorporated into the new structure as heritage elements of interest.

Among other things, the outside courtyard had a bench, a sofa and stands that a local chorus utilised for rehearsals. The courtyard is littered with rubble, tobacco plants, and vegetation common in deserted places.

A death from an unintentional fall while climbing or descending that fence would have been ruled out because the man’s body was found at the back of the yard, next to the wall, in the space across from the entrance and access gate.

Another person passed away within other municipal buildings a little more than a year ago. In that instance, there followed a brawl between occupants of an Eras de la Sal building that had been razed the previous summer.

Author: Derek Appleton