Barcelona City Council - Climate shelters network
Barcelona, Spain · 2019 · Barcelona City Council (Ajuntament de Barcelona), with municipal facilities, public services and community organisations across the city.
The Barcelona Climate Shelters Network strengthens the city's capacity to protect residents during periods of extreme heat while integrating adaptation into everyday urban infrastructure. Key impacts include: Access to heat protection within a 10-minute walk for almost the entire population during maximum network coverage. Greater protection for populations particularly vulnerable to extreme heat, including older people and children. Prioritisation of neighbourhoods with greater heat vulnerability and lower existing coverage when expanding the network. Climate adaptation integrated into existing neighbourhood services rather than concentrated in purpose-built cooling facilities. Improved environmental and thermal conditions in transformed schoolyards and outdoor spaces. Expansion of climate protection beyond municipal facilities through micro-shelters in neighbourhood businesses and community organisations. Greater visibility and public awareness of heat risk and climate adaptation. Reduced need to rely exclusively on new purpose-built infrastructure. The initiative demonstrates how ordinary urban facilities can be connected and adapted to function as a permanent climate resilience and public-health network.
Highlight
Transforming existing public facilities into a city-wide climate adaptation network that protects residents from extreme heat while strengthening urban resilience and social equity.
Extended description
As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, cities face growing public-health risks, particularly for older people, children and residents with health vulnerabilities. In Barcelona, heat was estimated to have caused around 370 deaths between May and September 2025, representing 8% of all deaths recorded during that period.
Barcelona addresses this challenge through a distributed network of climate shelters embedded in the city's existing urban infrastructure. In summer 2026, the network includes more than 500 indoor and outdoor spaces, almost 100 more than the previous year.
Indoor shelters include libraries, civic and community centres, museums, markets and other facilities offering adequate thermal conditions. Outdoor shelters include parks, schoolyards, courtyards and green spaces providing shade, vegetation and other forms of heat protection. Around three quarters of the network consists of indoor spaces.
To function as a climate shelter, spaces must provide conditions that allow people to rest and recover from heat, including accessibility, seating and rest areas and access to drinking water. Outdoor shelters provide shade and cooler environments, while indoor shelters have a reference comfort temperature of approximately 26°C during summer.
The network is designed around proximity. At times of maximum availability, 99.2% of residents have a climate shelter within a 10-minute walk and 76.8% within five minutes. Availability varies according to facility opening hours, but even during the lowest-coverage period, Sundays in August, approximately 92% of residents remain within a 10-minute walk of a shelter.
Some locations involve more substantial physical adaptation. A pilot involving 11 schools introduced green, blue and grey measures into previously hard-surfaced schoolyards. The interventions replaced 1,000 m² of concrete with planted areas, created 2,213 m² of new shade, planted 74 trees and installed 26 new water points.
The model is also expanding beyond conventional public facilities. In 2026, more than 60 new micro climate shelters in pharmacies, shops and community organisations were incorporated into the network, helping increase coverage in areas where public facilities alone cannot provide sufficient proximity.
The network therefore operates at several levels: using existing urban assets for immediate protection during extreme temperatures, physically adapting spaces to improve long-term climate resilience, and strategically expanding coverage in neighbourhoods with greater heat vulnerability.
Rather than treating cooling centres solely as temporary emergency facilities, Barcelona is developing climate protection as a permanent, geographically distributed urban service integrated into everyday neighbourhood infrastructure.
Demonstrated metrics
500+ climate shelters operating across Barcelona in summer 2026.
Growth from around 70 shelters in 2020 to more than 500 in 2026.
Almost 100 additional shelters compared with summer 2025.
99.2% of residents within a 10-minute walk of a climate shelter during maximum coverage.
76.8% of residents within a five-minute walk during maximum coverage.
Even during the lowest-coverage period, Sundays in August, approximately 92% of residents remain within a 10-minute walk of a shelter.
Around three quarters of shelters are indoor spaces.
60+ new micro climate shelters incorporated in 2026 through pharmacies, shops and community organisations.
Indoor shelters have a reference comfort temperature of approximately 26°C during summer.
11 schools transformed through the initial climate shelter pilot.
1,000 m² of concrete replaced with planted areas in participating schoolyards.
2,213 m² of new shade created.
74 trees planted.
26 new water points installed.
School-based interventions monitored through environmental parameters including temperature, humidity, ventilation and air quality.
Real impact
The Climate Shelters Network has significantly improved Barcelona's capacity to respond to heatwaves and extreme temperature events.
The initiative reduces climate-related risks for vulnerable populations, particularly older adults and children, while improving thermal comfort and access to safe public spaces.
Beyond direct health benefits, the network has increased the use of public facilities during extreme weather conditions, improved perceptions of climate security among residents, and contributed to a broader cultural shift by making climate adaptation visible in everyday urban life.
The programme demonstrates that adaptation can be implemented rapidly and equitably through existing infrastructure, providing a scalable model for cities facing increasing climate risks.
Implementation location & date
Barcelona, Spain.
The Climate Shelters Network has been progressively developed throughout the late 2010s and 2020s and continues to expand as part of Barcelona's climate adaptation strategy.
Similar cases elsewhere
Comparable approaches include cooling centres and public cooling networks in cities such as New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Montreal and Toronto.
Municipalities across the Barcelona Metropolitan Area have also developed climate shelter networks and related heat-adaptation measures.
Barcelona's distinctive approach lies in the scale, proximity and integration of climate shelters into a permanent city-wide network of everyday urban spaces, rather than treating them solely as temporary emergency facilities. Its expansion into small neighbourhood establishments through micro climate shelters further extends this distributed model.
Article Tomorrow.city
Barcelona: when the infrastructure to beat the heat already exists
Card case with technical information: https://prd-webrepository.tomorrow.city/wp-content/2026/09/Barcelona_cardTerra50_140926.pdf