The Barcelona Institute of Education (IMEB), an autonomous body of Barcelona City Council, is responsible for the city’s network of municipal Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services.

IMEB currently manages 103 Municipal Nursery Schools and 23 Municipal Family Childcare Spaces, offering around 8,900 public places and employing more than 1,000 professionals. Its mission is to guarantee equitable access to high-quality early childhood education, strengthen social cohesion, and ensure that every child and family receives the support they need.

Barcelona’s ECEC model combines education, family support, inclusion, community participation, and climate action to create child-centred services that respond to today’s social challenges.

Key features of the Barcelona ECEC model

  • Expanding access by increasing public nursery school places and developing new family childcare services.
  • Promoting equity through income-based fees, reserved places for vulnerable families, inclusive education resources, and the incorporation of social educators.
  • Ensuring quality with a shared educational framework, continuous professional development, specialised inclusion teams, and child-centred learning environments.
  • Strengthening community participation by fostering partnerships with families, schools, neighbourhood organisations, and municipal services.
  • Advancing climate justice through the Early Childhood Services for the Climate strategy, which includes 47 actions planned, in a 2030 timeframe, to make ECEC settings healthier, greener, and more resilient.

Municipal services for children aged 0–3 and their families

Barcelona offers a wide range of public services designed to support children and families during the first years of life.

Municipal Nursery Schools (Escoles Bressol Municipals)

Barcelona’s network of Municipal Nursery Schools provides the first cycle of early childhood education for children aged 4 months to 3 years. Beyond their educational role, the schools also serve as community hubs, supporting families and promoting children’s wellbeing and development.

Municipal Family Childcare Spaces

These family spaces offer welcoming environments where children and their caregivers can meet, play, learn, and share experiences with the guidance of early childhood professionals. They promote parenting support, social connection, and early development.

Family support services

The city also provides a range of programmes and services that support families with young children, including parenting guidance, wellbeing initiatives, and early childhood support throughout the first years of life.

Innovative initiatives

Barcelona continues to develop innovative programmes that strengthen its ECEC system, including:

  • Climate Shelter Nursery Schools, where school playgrounds and outdoor spaces are opened as climate refuges during periods of extreme heat.
  • Summer Nursery Schools, offering educational and recreational activities for young children during the summer holidays.
  • Music programmes for babies and toddlers, introducing children aged 0–3 to music through family-centred activities adapted to their developmental stage.

Learn more

Explore Barcelona’s municipal early childhood services through the following resources:

The city of Barcelona team includes:

Alícia Aguilera, Head of Direction of Municipal Centers at Institut of Education of Barcelona with a long experience in leading ECEC services, teams and policy.

Judith Cucala, responsible for the Childhood Department at the Institut of Education of Barcelona with a long experience in ECEC services design, implementation and evaluation

Marta Fontanet, responsible for the Inclusivity Unit in the Childhood Education Department at the Institut of Education, an expert on inclusion in ECEC services

Beth Bàrbara, head of Community Action in the Area of Education at Barcelona City Council, an expert on community approach in ECEC services