End of an era for a Barcelona community school
The Col·legi Miró, a privately run *concertada* school in Barcelona’s Sant Martí de Provençals, has closed permanently at the end of the 2025–2026 academic year after 75 years of operation. The closure marks the end of three generations of the Miró family leading the institution, which served up to four generations of local families. Located at Cristóbal de Moura, 153, the school was founded in 1947 by Magí Miró, who moved from Les Peces in Tarragona and established the Acadèmia Miró before acquiring the current site three years later. It operated as a private school with low fees for working-class families and became known for its high academic standards and strong commitment to Catalan language instruction.
“We’ve given our all,” said Eduard Miró, the current director and son of the founder.
Financial pressures force closure
The school entered a creditors’ process in May 2026, as confirmed by the Mercantile Court number 8 in Barcelona, which has suspended management powers and appointed lawyer Ignacio Alonso-Cuevillas Fortuny as the insolvency administrator. The institution had recorded deficit results for multiple consecutive years, leading to depleted reserves and mounting unpaid debts. Eduard Miró and his wife, Montse Gales, co-directed the school for 47 years. The couple began teaching at age 19, and their daughter Mar i Cel Miró, along with her husband Roger, were set to continue the legacy as teachers. The school’s financial crisis was attributed to chronic underfunding of *concertada* schools, delays in subsidy payments from the Generalitat, and declining birth rates. In December 2025, the school notified families of the planned closure, citing an unsustainable economic situation in a letter seen by Metrópoli. “Several factors have severely affected the viability of Col·legi Miró: underfunding of the *concertada* model, delays in the arrival of grants and scholarships, the decline in birth rates, and the accumulation of unpaid debts,” the letter stated.
Legacy of dedication and community
The school’s emblem, designed by Magí Miró, features Greek letters meaning “Teach. Instruct.” His wife, Dolors Saladrigas (‘Lolita’), was a beloved early-years teacher who joined the staff before marrying him and moving into the school’s first floor. She passed away on 23 June 2026, the day before Sant Joan, just four days after the school closed.
“Mrs Lolita practically faded out at the same time as the school, closing nearly 80 years of history,” said Eduard Miró.
Former students remember her weekly Friday drawings on the blackboard, created with coloured chalk, ephemeral artworks never photographed but fondly recalled. The school earned accolades over the decades, including poetry prizes at the Perpignan and Barcelona Floral Games, and the Baldiri Reixac Award for promoting Catalan language in a predominantly Spanish-speaking environment. Despite its achievements, the Col·legi Miró joins at least 25 other *concertada* schools shut down across Catalonia over six years due to economic instability, according to reporting by El Punt Avui. Students have now been reassigned to other schools in the area. The building remains a symbol of community resilience in Sant Martí, where grandmothers once brought their great-grandchildren to the same classrooms.
Reported by metropoliabierta.cat, Gonzalo Baratech, Carla Stavraky, Mar Ferrando, Teresa Andreu, Redacció, Jordi Martín.
