Heat plan: 15 of 400 Balearic schools started
Cooling work has begun at only 15 of the Balearic Islands’ 400 public schools. In Palma, Mallorca, on Tuesday, 22 September, technicians called for a long-term plan to make school buildings fit for hotter weather.
The Balearic Association of Energy, Climate Control and Refrigeration Technicians, known as Abtecir, wants the Balearic Government and all political parties to agree on the work. The association, part of the Pimem business federation, said the task would take longer than a single four-year government term — and longer than the next one too.
Abtecir president Pep Maria Rigo and board member Carlos Pérez said the answer could not stop at the school walls. They said plans should also cover outdoor areas, including tree planting and pergolas to lower temperatures near buildings.
The pair said successive summer heatwaves had made installation work “somewhat frantic”, with some jobs carried out by people without specialist training. Rigo said minimum temperatures had at times been around 28 degrees, bringing tiredness and prompting rushed choices that were not always safe or economical.
With the worst heat now over, he said, the work should be properly planned, given time and carried out by qualified professionals. Abtecir also warned that too few young people were entering the trade, despite jobs, training and good working conditions, putting both current demand and the sector’s future at risk.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com