Barcelona City Council has expanded its free municipal childcare service, Concilia, with three new points in Poble-sec, Roquetes and Barceloneta. The service now covers 15 neighbourhoods across the city, helping families balance work, care and personal time.
The new points in Poble-sec, in Sants-Montjuïc district, and Roquetes, in Nou Barris district, started operating this week. The Barceloneta point, in Ciutat Vella district, will open in September after improvement works at the nursery school where the service will be based.
Concilia is aimed at children aged 1 to 12 and was created to address what the council describes as structural inequality and time poverty, which it says affects women, mothers and single-parent families in particular. The programme began as a pilot in 2020 and has grown from six spaces to 15.
Between September 2025 and the end of April this year, the service registered 1,310 families and supported 1,480 children. Of those children, 916 were aged between 3 and 12, 550 came from single-parent families, and 864 had no support network, according to the council. The 12 existing points provided 16,380 childcare sessions during that period.
The budget for Concilia has risen to €1.67 million for 2026, up by €350,000 from 2025. Management of the service has also moved to the Directorate of Feminisms, Gender Mainstreaming and LGTBI. Families can register online, by phone, in person, or through referrals from social services, organisations or schools. More Catalonia news
Concilia points operate Monday to Saturday, outside school hours, with afternoon sessions on weekdays and full-day availability on Saturdays. Priority is given to female single-parent families, survivors of gender violence and families without community support networks. The service also offers school pick-ups in the local area, and five additional professionals have been added to support children with specific educational needs.
The programme includes educational and recreational activities based on co-education, participation, environmental education, interculturality, emotional education, art and health. It also continues the Mares Mentores project, which involves mothers who monitor the programme, act as spokespeople and suggest improvements. The council says the wider aim is to support women’s access to training and work, while giving families quality care and leisure space.