Miles de niños disfrutan de los campamentos de verano del Ayuntamiento de Madrid, con más plazas este año.

Summer arrives and school holidays begin, bringing families back to the eternal problem of balancing work and family life.

To help in this complex task, the City Council of Madrid has opened the doors to its summer camps this week to offer students a space for learning and leisure during their vacation.

This year, the offer is even broader than in previous editions, with the number of spots increasing from 39,000 in 2024 to 41,574, surpassing the 40,000 mark for the first time.

Until the first week of September

The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, emphasized that this year all districts will offer spots during the first week of September, not just in July and August.

Regarding the Area of Social Policies, Family, and Equality, the offer of spots for summer camps has increased by 14% compared to 2024, totaling 16,990, thanks to the addition of 2,100 spots for a new modality of sports camps for that first week of September.

The camps in the area are offered in the programs ‘MadridCamp: balancing during vacations’, in the Special Open Centers (CAE), and also include spots at the Nuestra Señora de la Paloma Vacation Center located in Cercedilla, in addition to the innovative ‘Balancing with Sports’ program.

The activities of the program Special Open Centers (CAE) are aimed at minors and young people between 3 and 21 years old, enrolled in the Special Education modality and residing in Madrid. It takes place in six public schools for Special Education and has 630 spots.

Four shifts to help families

The camps are organized in four shifts: two in July (from the 1st to the 15th and from the 16th to the 31st) and two in August (from the 1st to the 14th and from the 18th to the 29th) from 10 am to 4 pm.

The program offers lunch, bus transportation routes, and reception service at each center for those without transportation, from 8 to 10 am.

Additionally, the City Council offers 460 spots this summer at the Nuestra Señora de la Paloma Vacation Center, municipally owned and located in Cercedilla.

There will be four camps held there, two in July and two in August, each approximately 12 days long with 115 spots per shift, aimed at children aged 6 to 14 years, featuring sports activities, games, environmental workshops, routes, and walks in the area to promote interaction among participants, as well as care and respect for the natural environment.

Finally, the new program ‘Balancing with Sports’ offers 2,100 spots for children aged 3 to 12, who will participate in sports, recreational, and leisure activities at 21 municipal sports centers from September 1st to 5th, from 8:30 am to 2 pm, including a mid-morning snack.

District Camps

In addition to these spots, there are almost 25,000 additional spots (24,584) made available to families by the 21 districts through camps organized by the municipal boards, including urban, external, and sports camps, as well as spots in playrooms. These camps aim to facilitate parental balance while children enjoy games and outings in a safe and enriching environment.

The majority of spots in these camps are for residents or students in the district, giving priority to those with both parents working to facilitate balance.

There are also spots reserved for vulnerable families, at the discretion of the district’s social services. Lottery systems are used to allocate spots if there are more requests than available spots.

In the case of Neighborhood Integral Plans camps, they are assigned by lottery, restricted to the corresponding neighborhoods as established by the regulations, with spots opening to other neighborhoods in the district if not filled.