Barcelona is looking for antidotes to the heat: Where's your nearest climate refuge?

BarcelonaWith high temperatures knocking on the doors of Barcelona residents for several days now—even though we're not even in summer yet—Barcelona City Council presented its climate shelter map for the warmer months this Wednesday. "We are working to improve our local climate, paying special attention to the most vulnerable neighborhoods," explained First Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet and Councilor for Health Marta Villanueva.

Climate shelters are open-access spaces—with the exception of swimming pools—that serve as protection from high temperatures and are especially important for the elderly, children, and the chronically ill, as well as for people who work outdoors. Among the facilities that are part of the network are libraries, community centers, and museums, but also parks, gardens, kindergarten playgrounds, and block interiors. Also part of the network are some municipal markets and shopping centers, as well as some private spaces such as cultural facilities, parishes, bookstores, and even pharmacies.

Bonet and Villanueva celebrated that the expansion of the network—which was launched in 2019—means that more than 90% of Barcelona residents have a climate shelter less than a 10-minute walk from their home throughout the summer. This is, in fact, the scenario during times of lower coverage—the weekends in August, when more facilities are closed—but on weekdays in June and July, the percentage of Barcelona residents with a climate shelter near their home rises to 99.1%.

Five more libraries open in August

To expand the facilities available during the month of August, the districts have incorporated senior centers and community centers into the climate shelter network. Barcelona will also have five libraries that until now were closed in August and will now be open: Sant Pau, Francesca Bonnemaison, Roquetes, Zona Nord, and Trinitat Vella. This effort has focused on the 33 neighborhoods of the city most vulnerable to heat, which are home to 33% of the population in vulnerable situations. For the first time, street information officers will be deployed in these neighborhoods to inform the elderly, especially the city, about the availability of these climate shelters.

The network of climate shelters joins other structural measures being implemented by the City Council to combat high temperatures in the city. This includes the campaign to create new shaded spaces –whether through new trees or structures with awnings– which is being implemented especially in children's playgrounds, and also through the expansion of spaces water games for children.