Last Saturday, June 15, Barcelona City Council launched the Heat Plan in a preventive phase, which will remain active until September 15 and which this year expands to more than 350 climate shelters enabled to deal with extreme temperatures. .
During this period, the teams have all devices ready in case specific heat alerts are activated and municipal resources are activated for citizens in general.
The summer climate shelters are open to the general public. This 2024 there will be 354 spaces and equipment, about 120 more than last year.
Variable hours
The climatic shelters do not open every day throughout the summer at the same times, but rather they are spaces with different opening hours that guarantee good territorial and time coverage during the hottest weeks.
Among the new features this year is the incorporation into the network of some municipal markets, spaces belonging to other administrations and some private ones that have joined the network of climate shelters in Barcelona for the first time.
The El Clot Library will offer relief from the high summer temperatures
The different spaces function as a climate shelter during the normal hours of the facility, therefore you must check these schedules and especially if the center closes some days during the summer.
With this year’s new distribution, 98% of the population has a climate shelter less than 10 minutes from home and 68% has one less than 5 minutes away. On Sundays in August (which are the days when most facilities close) 89% of the Barcelona population has a shelter less than 10 minutes walk from home and 44% has one less than 5 minutes walk.
A climate refuge less than 10 minutes walk away
The city’s goal is that by 2030, 100% of citizens will have a space of this type less than 5 minutes from home on foot.
Climatic shelters are spaces to protect oneself from the heat when thermal comfort is not available in the houses. They can be interior, such as facilities (libraries, civic centers or museums) and also exterior, such as parks, gardens, school or daycare yards, and block interiors.
In interior spaces, it is recommended to maintain an air-conditioned temperature of 26 degrees during the hot period. They have a living area and a water point to drink. In the outdoor spaces there is good shade coverage and drinking fountains.
This year, the climate shelters have a new image and will have information material on how to act during heat episodes. They are free spaces, but this year a new modality is incorporated into the network: all the city’s municipal pools become climate shelters and are regulated according to the public price set with the corresponding aid.
The Center Esportiu Municipal Les Corts, another facility enabled as a shelter against the heat
On the shelters’ website (www.barcelona.cat/refugisclimatics) you can consult all the information about the spaces, opening hours and characteristics. In addition, it also has a map to find the nearest facility, something that can also be done with the app Barcelona a la butxaca.
There are other areas in the public space that can also be converted into areas of thermal comfort, such as photovoltaic pergolas that combine the creation of a shade and stay space with the function of generating renewable energy. In total there are 26 photovoltaic installations that also generate shade with a generation capacity of 1.35MWp.
183 shaded children’s play area
This year there are a total of 183 shaded playgrounds available. Most are areas with mature and established trees, but there are also other shade systems such as pergolas or awnings. The City Council is working to expand the network of children’s play areas with seasonal awnings, that is, those that are put up in the summer and then removed, such as those in Poblenou Park, and that coexist with other systems such as fixed awnings, for example. for example in Can Batlló, or play elements that already include elements to provide shade, such as those that have been installed in the Colonia Castells park.
The courtyard of the Marés museum, in the Gòtic
In the city’s public space there are more than 1,700 fountains for drinking water. In the Fonts BCN application all the city’s fountains are geolocated. The map allows us to find the sources located around the point where we are.
Barcelona City Council applies all current regulations for the protection of workers in all services in accordance with what is established by the Ministry of Health. In this sense, the City Council and all service concessionaire companies have implemented prevention plans with the aim of protecting the well-being, health and safety of personnel exposed to high temperatures.
Tropical and torrid nights
The summer of 2023, without reaching the extreme of 2022, was exceptionally warm and also left some historical records, such as the warmest day ever recorded at the Fabra Observatory and the highest minimum of the entire centenary series, an extraordinary fact. In 2023, Barcelona suffered a heat wave of 5 days (from August 20 to 25), 82 tropical nights and 13 torrid nights.
Among the notable measures is the advancement of service hours to reduce exposure to heat during the central hours of the day and the adaptation of the working day in the summer months to reduce the number of hours of exposure. A review of the clothing has also begun, to introduce pieces that protect and at the same time are cool, caps with a special treatment to combat high temperatures, and portable air conditioners have been installed in cases of work centers without refrigeration.
The Barcelona Emergency and Social Emergencies Center (CUESB) will once again act as a social care reference in case the rise in temperatures forces the heat wave alert to be raised. This operation is adapted to the criteria established by the Generalitat, which among other aspects involves taking into account day and night temperatures. Thus, although the plan for intense heat warnings is active in its preventive phase from June 15 to September 15, in Barcelona an alert phase for intense heat is contemplated in case the maximum daytime temperature exceeds 33, 7 degrees Celsius or when the minimum night temperature is above 25.9 degrees. If the maximum temperature exceeds 35.7 degrees or the minimum temperature rises above 27.9 degrees, the third and final emergency phase due to very intense heat will be activated.
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