The Climate Shelter Network is a preventive measure against the heat which includes a wide array of spaces such as libraries, community centres, sports facilities, museums and green spaces offering shade and more comfortable temperatures. Over 75% are indoor facilities and the rest are outside, such as parks and gardens, quadrangles inside housing blocks, school playgrounds, water games and some swimming pools. This diversity offers a response to different needs and uses among citizens. The shelters are conceived as open and inclusive spaces for all but are particularly relevant for vulnerable people such as the elderly, young children or people with difficulties maintaining comfortable temperatures at home.

For the second year running, the City Council is also opting for micro climate shelters, a type of small-format space offering occasional refuge in extreme heat. This year there are more than sixty of these, extending the network and facilitating nearby points where people can rest and drink water, particularly in areas where there are fewer large-format facilities. These spaces tend to be pharmacies, shops and organisations which open up a free indoor space which is accessible for people to rest for short periods when temperatures are uncomfortable.

One of the main aspects of this operation centres on ensuring the availability of shelters in August. In this respect, during this month the network offers significant coverage: on Sundays in August some 92.3% of the population have a shelter within a ten-minute walk and 49% have one within a five-minute walk.

This year there’s a special emphasis on expanding the network in neighbourhoods with less coverage and greater vulnerability in the heat. The progressive addition of new spaces in these areas significantly improves access to shelters, with 99.5% coverage within ten minutes and 80.3% coverage withing five minutes, thus reducing the geographical divide in access to spaces with comfortable temperatures. In addition, as part of the Neighbourhood Plan, a series of cultural activities for families is being planned in July and August.

This year also sees the return of open playgrounds as climate shelters at municipal nursery schools, which will be open on Saturdays in June, July, August and the first half of September from 10.30 am to 1 pm. Admission is free and is mainly aimed at children up to the age of six and their families.

The network of climate shelters is a preventive measure that forms part of the Heat Plan, the Barcelona strategy within the context of the Climate Plan to adapt to climate change and reduce vulnerability given the rise in temperatures.