The management of the colegio público Axarquía in Vélez-Málaga yesterday closed the school playground due to the presence of a plague of fleas.
At first, some parents thought that the marks appearing on some of the children could be chicken pox, but a trip to the local health centre confirmed that they were in fact flea bites.
According to the school, the problem is caused by cats who use the playground as a feline convenience, burying their deposits in the sand. It is not the first time that this has occurred and the school management has, in the past, asked for the sand to be replaced by rubber or some other surface, but so far to no avail.
The school has now written to the Council to inform them of the closure of the playground and to request an immediate solution to the problem.