IES La Rábida

The Institute of Secondary Education "La Rábida" was founded by the Royal Order of June 13, 1856 as a secondary school during the reign of Isabel II and it was officially inaugurated in October of the same year by the Civil Governor of Huelva, Adolfo de Castro, and the first director of the institute Vicente Rodríguez García[1]. In its history it has passed through many venues. The first one was the Convent of San Francisco, which is now the Church of the Jesuits; the Convent of La Merced, now a University, which in Huelva is known as the Old Institute; and the current one in the Manuel Siurot Avenue since the 1933-34 course. The architect of the current headquarters of the center (Manuel Siurot) was Pérez Carasa.[3]

Its style is difficult to frame because it presents features of all the styles that were fashionable at the time (historicism, modernisme, neo-gothicism, ...) that make its architecture personal. What is identifying is that it was designed and built in an era in which the functionality of architecture begins to be one of its signs of identity. It is shown as the best example of the work of this unique architect, who knew how to adapt this work to the natural environment of the capital of Huelva, because the building is located on one of the big mountains in Huelva.[2]

Two students stand out from this school:

• Antonia Arrobas y Pérez was the first woman officially registered to do the secondary education in Spain (1871). Born in Talavera la Real, the daughter of a carpenter and a housewife, she applied for an examination at the Huelva institute to validate the studies she had completed privately, but at that time in the educational field the current norm used the student term to refer to all enrollment process, understanding the legislators that the education was just for women. That is why the demand for Arrobas had to be referred to the rector of the University of Seville and the general director of Public Instruction, who finally granted permission.[4][5]
• Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish poet winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1956, also studied at this educational center.[6]

The institute served as a royal room in the visit that King Alfonso XII made to the city of Huelva in the year 1882.[3]

In 1903, the first meteorological station of Huelva and its province[3] was established at the institute. It was directed by teachers of the center and they owe the first official climate data available in our province and city. In this center was also founded the first schools for workers or professionals of Huelva in the 19th century.

La Rábida Institute is distinguished as a Historical Educational Institute of Andalusia. The centers like this recognized as such as part of a Network of Historical Educational Institutes of Andalusia and can share resources, experiences and initiatives, as well as disseminate their history through educational projects.[1]

In the educational center the following teachings are offered:

• Compulsory Secondary Education (E.S.O.)
• Adult Secondary Education (E.S.A.)
• Bachillerato (Daytime and Semipresencial for adults)
• Higher Education Training Cycles (from the Hospitality and Tourism Family)

Since 2000 approximately, there is a project for the modernization work of the center. This action of the Regional Government of Andalusia would provide the center with a new gymnasium and would provide its facilities respecting its patrimonial protection. The territorial delegate of Education, Vicente Zarza, explained that this reform has a budget of almost 8 million euros, with the aim of drafting the project "to endow the center with facilities suitable to its typology."

This intervention also includes the creation of a toilet specially adapted to students with educational needs with shower and stretcher area, as well as the reconversion of the current function room for use as a multifunctional room that also allows hosting conferences and projections. The planned action will also cover the replacement of exterior carpentry and roofing, repair of cracks and painting, as well as other rehabilitation of the building, respecting its patrimonial protection conferred by the Urban Development Catalog of Huelva (PGOU) with the degree of Protection Integral Monumental, within the framework of the Law of Urban Planning in Andalusia.

This comprehensive reform of the Institute has been waiting for both teachers and students of the center since 2000, arising year after year rumors that "the works will be undertaken the next course." Due to the great reform it would mean, during this time, it would not be possible to teach the classes in the center, so therefore, an alternative place should be sought until the works are finished, but it is still unknown where it would be.[7]

On October 17, 2017, a plan for the evacuation of the Bachillerato and the ESO was carried out due to the heavy rains suffered throughout the morning, which flooded all the corridors and classrooms of the High School, claiming once again the necessary action of the reform that the center needs.[8]

On February 12, 2018, the representative of all the students of IES La Rábida and delegate of the educational center, Gonzalo López Castilla, attended the meeting of the Provincial School Council, held in the Delegation of Education of Huelva. In this meeting, the delegate alleged that the institute had many shortcomings, such as constant power cuts and water, malfunctioning heating, flooding, etc., not meeting the necessary conditions of a teaching center. He asked to Tania González, the president of the table (Head of planning and education in Huelva), if the dates of the beginning of the works would be finally known. Finally, she did not know how to answer, having no idea about when the remodeling of the institute will begin.[9]

On March 25, 2019, the Andalusian Public Education Agency of the Ministry of Education of Junta de Andalucía, gives the green light to the study in detail covering the area of the land plots on the IES La Rábida and the IES Diego de Guzmán y Quesada. The objective would be to modify the layout of the open spaces in this area by building a new gym on the plot of the La Rábida Institute, relocating the car park space for the teachers of the center; as well as the construction of a transformation center in the plot corresponding to the Diego de Guzmán y Quesada Institute.[10]

On June 5, 2020, the Andalusian Minister of Education, Javier Imbroda, presented the award of the Andalusian Government on the works of the institute for 6.2 million euros. Imbroda assured that the action will have an execution period of 26 months and will consist of the comprehensive reform, expansion and modernization of the Huelva institute, respecting patrimonial protection at all times. These works will provide the center with the facilities appropriate to its “typology and restore” the flaws that the historical building in which it is located presents. Thus, on a visit to the educational center, Imbroda has indicated that the award is part of an amount of 6,265,001.06 euros.

The counselor stressed that these works will provide the center with adequate facilities for the teachings it provides and will allow "restoring the damage that has accumulated in the building over the years." Adding the project writing fees and the planned equipment endowment, the performance exceeds 6.9 million euros of investment.

Through this action, the different floors of the building will be redistributed to improve its functionality, while maintaining the original design scheme, as reported by the Board. Likewise, the current auditorium will be converted for use as a multifunctional room, so that it can host conferences, study space / library and projections. It will also act in the institute's archive, whose funds have a high documentary and historical value, to facilitate access for the study and consultation of documents and to provide it with fire protection systems.

The action includes the construction outside of a gymnasium with toilets and changing rooms, as well as the creation of a specific special education classroom and a toilet adapted for students with special educational needs, with a shower area and a stretcher. In addition, the project provides the institute with two accessible entrances, facilitating that both can be used interchangeably by people with reduced mobility.

Finally, the works will also address the replacement of roofs and exterior carpentry, repair of fissures and painting work, as well as other rehabilitation work on the building, improvement of the exterior development and fencing of the plot. Likewise, the interior wooden doors, which are in poor condition, will be renewed and will be replaced by others in accordance with the current standards for the design of teaching buildings. This action, which has European co-financing through the European Regional Development Fund (Feder), is included in the Plan for Investments in Educational Infrastructures of the Andalusian Ministry of Education and Sport, which is executed through the Andalusian Public Education Agency.[11][12]

• GONZÁLEZ MARQUEZ, Juan Antonio (2007). Diputación Provincial de Huelva, ed. El Instituto La Rábida. 150 años de Educación y Cultura en Huelva. ISBN 978-84-8163-427-3.