A RETIRED couple camped for three days outside an immensely-popular school to make sure their grandson got a place.
Sevilla's María Auxiliadora, a Catholic-run colegio concertado – a 'halfway house' between a private and State school – takes in pupils on a first-come, first-served basis.
The three-year-old boy's parents had been told they were full up and could only fit him in if someone dropped out.
When this happened, just one school place was available and, as the child's dad had had to leave the city for work reasons and his mum was about to give birth, his grandparents were determined they were not going to let it slip through their fingers.
They set up beach deck-chairs outside the school in the early hours of Monday to make sure they were the first through the door to hand in the paperwork on Wednesday morning when the application process opened.
At exactly 08.15 on Wednesday, as the doors were unlocked, the couple was inside with their grandson's application, securing him his place.
A woman who arrived at the school at 08.20 on the morning the application process opened discovered she was too late.
Whilst such determination and drastic action is not normally needed for a child to get a school place, the María Auxiliadora has such a great reputation that it is always oversubscribed with applications.
