Barcelona reopens classrooms after the storm but keeps outdoor sport ban

Classes in Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia resume tomorrow. However, outdoor sports activities will remain restricted. The wind has left its mark on the city and normality has not yet fully returned.

The return to classrooms in Barcelona and throughout Catalonia will become a reality from tomorrow, following the interruption caused by the severe windstorm. Although schools will reopen their doors, the city has not yet regained complete normality: the authorities are maintaining the ban on outdoor sports activities, a measure that affects both schoolchildren and clubs and families who usually take advantage of urban spaces to train or play.

The decision to maintain these restrictions is due to the persistence of adverse weather conditions, which have left fallen trees, damaged street furniture and a sense of alert in many neighbourhoods. The wind, which has hit areas such as the coast and the metropolitan area particularly hard, has forced municipal services to redouble their efforts to guarantee safety in parks, school playgrounds and sports centres.

In neighbourhoods such as Eixample and Ciutat Vella, Tuesday morning activity will be marked by monitoring access to educational centres and inspecting sports facilities. Families will have to adapt their routines, as extracurricular activities and outdoor training will remain suspended until further notice. Meanwhile, the city is preparing to resume its usual rhythm, albeit with the caution the situation demands.

The impact of the storm has become visible in images showing streets in Barcelona and nearby towns such as Mataró covered in branches and objects displaced by the wind. The sense of vulnerability persists, and many residents wonder when they will be able to fully enjoy the city's open spaces again.

Episodes of intense wind are not unfamiliar to Barcelona, but the scale of this latest storm has tested the response capacity of municipal services and the resilience of citizens. Safety remains the priority as the city moves towards restoring normality.

In Barcelona, windstorms usually have a direct impact on urban life. Intense gusts can cause trees to fall, façades to shed material and public infrastructure to be damaged. For this reason, the City Council has specific protocols for acting in these cases, coordinating cleaning, emergency and maintenance teams. The experience of recent years has reinforced the importance of prevention and rapid communication with citizens, especially in densely populated neighbourhoods and school areas.