Amid the controversy surrounding the return of Catholic values after Rosalía’s new album and the success of the film Sundaysa small but profound controversy in a concerted and religious center in Madrid once again calls them into question. Especially when money comes into play. The parents of J.S. School expressed their opinion. Nicoli International Chambery, openly or secretly, expressed their rejection of what happened on October 31 within its walls. As usual, and despite the requests of some residents, the center’s administration objected to any celebration of Halloween due to its pagan origin and the foreignness of Christian culture to the aforementioned celebration. Boys and girls cannot come dressed up or painted. But that same night, dozens of celebrities and Influencers They enjoyed an elegant private party at Nicoli’s, with horror as the main theme.
The difference between the Families Initiative and the one that was implemented is that the latter was subject to payment: its organizers paid the rent to the Escuela de los Oficios Foundation, in charge of the school. The social media accounts of Ester Expósito and Brays Efe, for example, show how guests consumed alcohol in the venue’s common areas.
Even the mother of one of Nicoli’s students admits she was worried “if there were traces of drugs the following Monday – LSD pills with smiley faces or little animals that the kids could try out of curiosity.” He talks about “hypocrisy,” while another parent sees “double-speak.” “I understand the anger of someone who has religious feelings. I don’t have them,” one parent told Somos Chamberi.
Alcohol in the bathroom
The party moved into family chats after several participants posted on Instagram. One of them was actress Esther Exposito, who in her post showed her own costume, the costume of other guests (including Satan), a smiling Donald Trump mask or several cups on the sink that the students would soon be using.
A more comprehensive record of the event, compiled on Highxtar’s website, says it was organized by creative directors and entrepreneurs Laura Vandal and Edgar Kéré, with the help of the Soho House private club chain. Javier Calvo, Yenisei, Paco Leon and Alex De Lucas attended the event as guests, among the many celebrities who stopped by.
“In the spacious and intimidating lobby of an old school located in the center of Madrid, a magnificent table greeted nearly a hundred diners, eager to discover the best dressed of those present – and all the surprises that the evening would bring -,” notes this article, which is topped with photos revealing the light atmosphere of the night or the succulent menu (attention to the hood-shaped “sweet?”). The article also explains that the party continued at another venue, the CORE Club, “starting at midnight.”
Even the meeting, due to its holding, had accusations of censorship. Brays Efe came dressed as an estate agent from Tecnocasa, with elements characteristic of this profile such as the Spanish bracelet on his wrist and the remaining white under his nose (things from the recently applied plaster on the apartments it shows). The actor expressed his regret that his original Instagram post was deleted with this photo from the social network: “Do you know something that incites me to hate? Real estate speculation, vulture funds and… censorship.”
Noisy and wary families deal with it with humor: “Don’t ruin the school’s reputation.”
At the gates of the centre, the scandalous, or merely critical, stance is the exception. A kind of sepulchral law of silence prevails. Perhaps it has something to do with the phrase in which one of the mothers of that group at Nicoli’s entrance says jokingly: “The truth is, it was a night party, but don’t spoil the reputation of the school, eh.”
Thus, only a few parents stopped to answer this newspaper’s questions, and the most common response was don’t blame Nicoli’s management team. “I know it has upset some families, but in the end the school is still in the hands of an institution that has the right to do whatever it deems appropriate,” says Jesús, who drops his young child off at school in the first hour. It gives you enough time to slide, even though the steering position is a bit “clunky.”
I understand that for whatever reason they don’t want to celebrate Halloween and then rent it out for events, the issue is what type of party it is and what can be done inside. I don’t know if it got out of hand, obviously I wasn’t there, I just saw what they posted on Instagram
But, like a mother afraid of LSD, most parents are bothered not so much by this inconsistency as by the party image. This is how one of them put it: “I understand that, for whatever reason, they don’t want to celebrate Halloween and then rent it out for events, the problem is what kind of party it is and what can be done inside. I don’t know if it got out of hand, obviously I wasn’t there, I just saw what they posted on Instagram.” Another mother adds that “it was over very soon,” although she admits that she belongs to the sector that is less hostile to the topic, which has already upset other families.
In that group at the entrance to Nicoli, the same mother who expresses concern about the remains of narcotic substances wonders that “children cannot come on Halloween, while they allow in so many people dressed as devils.” Another responds, more with humor and hesitation than with indignation or religious fervor, “Satan is after all a fallen angel.”
Silence in Nikoli
In view of the controversy, this newspaper contacted the management of the G. Nicoli International School, but the coordinating and bilingual center located at No. 4 Paseo de Eduardo Dato has not yet responded to the questions submitted, regarding the families’ criticisms or the amount received for renting the facilities for one night. They explain on their website that their educational project appeared in 2018 “under the protection of the Professions School Foundation.” It aims to be “an educational reference in central Madrid and, to this end, presents an ambitious educational project designed to educate more than 800 students in early childhood, primary and secondary education and vocational training.”
They assert that Nicoli is “the result of the collaboration of the Daughters of Charity (the religious community of nuns) and the J.H. Newman International School of Madrid.” The latter entity entered into a major controversy in 2023 with another of its centers in Madrid, in the San Blas neighborhood, over the construction and implementation of a private gymnasium on a plot of land given to the independent school for educational uses. The Newman Sports Center shared the land with the neighboring J.H. Newman Music School, on public land owned by the Madrid City Council and which the City Council granted free of charge for 75 years to the Foundation for International Education (FIE) to house the coordinated school in 2003.
The work was completed in 2005, but a corner of about 4,000 square meters remained empty. The situation continued in this manner until the arrival of the Galician chain Dos Deporte, which invested about ten million euros in the business. The gym was opened to the public without a license and was disguised as an educational center because it was to be used by the school’s students. This construction appeared inconsistent with the planned uses for this land in the transfer agreement between the city council and FDI, dating back to 2003. The agreement made provision for “essential collegiate educational services.” After a lax performance by the government of José Luis Martínez Almeida, which remained open ten months after the municipal closure order was issued, it ended up closing in January 2024. Later, this facility revealed new irregularities by Newman, in the face of which the city council delayed its intervention.