News
Barcelona reinforces playgrounds and play areas with 75 new shaded spaces
Barcelona wants going out into the street in summer to be a little less harsh. The city will install 75 new shaded areas this year in school playgrounds, children's play areas and urban spaces, a measure designed to reduce the impact of heat where it is felt most: parks, squares and daily routes.
The rollout will add more than 14,800 square metres of additional shade. The work will reach 38 play areas, 21 urban spaces and 16 school playgrounds, with particular attention to areas where planting trees is difficult or where heat builds up for hours.
The measure is intended above all to protect children, older people and residents who spend a great deal of time outdoors during the hottest months. In a dense city, with extensive paving and neighbourhoods with little natural shade, an awning or well-positioned structure can transform the experience of a square or playground.
The City Council is opting for quick solutions, such as shade sails, awnings and modular structures. They do not replace trees, but they make it possible to gain shade in less time and in places where a green intervention would take years to produce visible results.
The plan also looks at emblematic spaces. Three distinctive installations have already been awarded on the seafront promenade, Plaça Comercial and Portal de l’Àngel avenue. They will be ready between 2027 and 2028 and will add more than 5,000 square metres of shade in heavily used areas.
According to municipal studies, these installations can reduce direct solar radiation by up to 80% and improve thermal comfort by more than 7 degrees on average. The orientation of the sails, the type of paving and air circulation will be key to making the shade genuinely noticeable.
During the summer of 2026, users will be able to assess the new shaded areas through digital surveys in 40 play areas. The City Council will also continue measuring their impact in schools and urban spaces to adjust future designs.
The strategy forms part of the Programa d’Ombres and connects with other measures against heat, such as climate shelters, water-play areas and the more than 1,700 drinking-water fountains spread across Barcelona. The aim is not only to beautify the city, but to allow children, families and residents to keep using public space when the sun is at its fiercest.
The progress of these new shaded areas gives a very concrete image of the urban summer to come. Barcelona can no longer depend only on future trees or indoor shelters: it needs visible, nearby and quick solutions so that a play area, square or school playground does not become an impossible place during the hottest hours.