Teachers in facemasks held a demonstration in Terrassa, Catalonia’s third largest city, following the closure of the local International House (IH) school, one of seven centres in the IH Eastern Spain Group which were forced to cease trading when the group went into liquidation in late September.
The group, founded in Barcelona nearly 50 years ago, had five schools across Catalonia as well as centres in Palma (in Majorca) and in Zaragoza, the capital of the province of Aragon. The group employed some 300 staff, according to the Catalan press.
According to a statement issued by IH World, which represents International House affiliated schools across the world, Eastern Spain “had experienced considerable financial challenges in recent years,” and was starting to recover when “the devastating impact of the Covid-19 outbreak” left the shareholders with no option but to close.
The statement also points out that IH affiliates are independently owned and managed and no other Spanish members are affected.
Meanwhile in the UK, the IH affiliate in Aberdeen has closed, but the Gazette has been assured that IH Belfast, listed by the British Council as owned by IH Barcelona, remains unaffected.
