The European Commission has issued an urgent call for member states to address a widening gap in school infrastructure, as rising temperatures and outdated facilities push classrooms to the brink of uninhabitable conditions. On Thursday, 11 June 2026, the Commission highlighted data from Spain, where families in Madrid’s public schools have staged protests outside the regional assembly, accusing authorities of failing to act despite record heatwaves. Temperatures in classrooms have repeatedly exceeded 35°C, forcing children to bring portable fans to lessons, with some suffering heat exhaustion. The opposition parties Más Madrid and PSOE have condemned the inaction, with PSOE’s Mar Espinar comparing the situation to the infamous phrase “que se jodan” used by a former Spanish minister during austerity measures, while Más Madrid’s Manuela Bergerot accused the regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, of prioritising photo opportunities with Pope Francis over basic infrastructure needs .
The crisis has escalated this week as the platform *Aprendiendo sin Calor*, representing 150 family associations, disrupted a regional assembly debate in Vallecas, shouting “vergüenza, vergüenza” before being forcibly removed. Parents report that despite Ayuso’s claims of progress—including climate adaptations to 72 of 183 public schools since 2019—no immediate solutions are in place for the current academic year. The opposition has tabled a legislative amendment to enshrine classroom air conditioning as a legal right, with Bergerot challenging Ayuso to meet affected families directly .
The issue is not confined to Spain. In Berlin’s Treptow-Köpenick district, over 200 children have been denied places at their preferred secondary schools, forcing them to commute across the city as classrooms overflow. Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic, a norovirus outbreak at an outdoor school near Sečská přehrada hospitalised two children and affected dozens more, prompting health authorities to issue warnings . In the Netherlands, the government has backtracked on a decade-long reading support programme for young children, drawing criticism from education advocates .
In Romania, parents of first-grade students in Suceava staged a protest outside their school after alleging repeated physical abuse by a classmate, with reports of bites, beatings, and threats going unaddressed by school and police authorities . The European Commission has framed the Madrid heatwave crisis as emblematic of broader systemic failures, urging member states to integrate climate resilience into education planning under the European Green Deal. With summer temperatures projected to rise further, the pressure on governments to deliver immediate and long-term solutions has never been greater.