A simple photo can bring to light a great story, secrets and curiosities. This is the case of Vicente Tena school (now CEIP Mediterrània), the first school in Xàbia that opened its doors as a large school in 1962. Much of the history and life of the population of Xàbia took place in this space when the four unitary schools for boys and girls came together.
Its later years hide a lot of history, among them that the center became the place of arrival of School Colonies, that is, what are currently known as Summer Camps. Dozens of children from Madrid and other towns in the country came to spend the 15-day stay in Xàbia during the summer months and carry out different cultural and leisure activities.
Some of the teachers who taught at the Vicente Tena remember that image of mattresses piled up in the center's warehouse when they returned to the classroom after the summer holidays. And it is that, the school became a residence for those children from the center of Spain.
El secreto
And his arrival led to the creation, at the end of the 60s, of a swimming pool in the school, making it the only public school in the area that had this facility and which served to stifle the heat and enjoy bathing and playing. of water.
The construction of the swimming pool was a pioneering project that was born, by the Colonies, with the purpose of establishing it in several schools, although it was not carried out. The possible lack of maintenance in winter and the little use that came to occur in summer -barely 15 days- meant that this project was left halfway and only the centers of Xàbia and Santa Pola had a swimming pool -according to Don Horacio, a former teacher of Vicente Tena and monitor of the colonies-.
What happened to that pool in Xàbia?
Without a doubt, in those years, he was the envy of the little ones. Some children and teachers who were at school in those years commented that being a pioneer issue drew a lot of attention. The young students were surprised to learn that the center where they studied had a swimming pool, but it was never used by them as such. Different students who were studying at this school in 1978 remember seeing it always empty, but in reality, for some time, it had another use.
The possible danger that it could pose to the boys and girls during the school year caused this hole to be covered and turned into a sandbox, explains Don Horacio. The boys and girls enjoyed that play space during playground time, but going back to the classroom was difficult. "The classes looked like a sandbank," recalls Doña Isabel -a teacher at Vicente Tena during those years-.
How was it
Don Horacio indicates that "it would have a size of 5x2 meters". For their part, several former students and residents of Xàbia who studied at this school indicate that the pool was at ground level, "it was not the typical low (raft) that we had in the little houses; It was a decent pool, not very deep, perhaps a meter and a half deep, with tiles measuring about 15x15cm and with marked lines that marked the lanes", recalls Juan Sivera y Rosa, who adds that in his years, " the pool, totally empty, was surrounded by a fence that prevented the access of the students".
Where was it located?
The pool was located in the courtyard of the building that housed the higher education, the 6th, 7th and 8th years, that is, what is now the CEIP Mediterrània. Specifically, it was in front of the gym, behind the kitchen and next to the prefabricated classroom that was the laboratory.
At present, and for years, what was the pool is hidden. It seems to be, in the late 70's or even early 80's, the infrastructure was covered over. Now, a playground occupies the space where the pool used to be. In fact, although it has not been officially confirmed, a mark can be seen on the ground that suggests that it is the outer profile of the pool.
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Lines on the floor that mark the shape of the Vicente Tena Jávea pool
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Space where the pool of the old Vicente Tena school was located
Acknowledgements
From this writing we want to thank the help of different people, residents of Xàbia who have collaborated to obtain information on the history of this curious fact.
- Archive of Xàbia
- nugget kills
- Jose Erades
- Juan Sivera
- don horace
- lady isabella
- Rosa Torne
- Management team of CEIP Mediterrània
I also remember the colonies, they put bunk beds in the classes and it was filled with boys from Madrid, the funny thing is that no girls came
Well, I lived opposite the "Virtudes" farm, the one in the photo, my generation was the one that inaugurated the Vte.Tena Il, indeed there was the pool that we never used and the patio was smaller, a later extension was made, The same thing that classrooms were expanded in what used to be the porch of Abalo, leaving a third of the porch, I remember Don Horacio smoking in class, what a smoke hahaha
The smoke from before could be endured. Now it's like burning a tire. Even in that, the quality has been lost...
I really liked the article and knowing that Don Horacio, who was an excellent teacher, is still alive. There were very good teachers back then, who taught us knowledge and set his example.
I would really like you to do an article about some teachers. I keep very pleasant memories of Mr. Horacio, Mrs. Mari and Mr. Francisco. They were true professionals and made themselves appreciated.