When the course ends, many families begin to crunch numbers. While some are looking for a vacation destination, others face more basic questions: who will take care of their children during the summer or how to access activities they cannot afford.
So that the economic situation does not also condition free time, the CaixaProinfancia program, promoted by the "la Caixa" Foundation, offers one more free day care centers, camps and camps for 30,000 boys, girls and adolescents from all over Spain.
"Summer activities are much more than an alternative to reconcile. They are spaces where children gain autonomy, create bonds and live experiences that help them grow," explains Melania Muñoz, coordinator of the CaixaProinfancia program at the Fundació Adsis, in the Barcelona neighborhood of Horta.
The Adsis Foundation was one of the first doors Vanesa Janser called seven years ago, when she arrived in Barcelona from Honduras with her two sons, Ian and Diego, who were eighteen years old at the time. Violence and insecurity pushed her to leave. "We were not living badly economically, but the crime was unbearable. I thought above all about them," recalls Vanesa, sitting next to Melania at the headquarters of the Adsis Foundation.
The first months of Vanesa and her children in Barcelona were marked by uncertainty. Find a job, adapt to a new city and start from scratch. A neighbor then told him about the Adsis Foundation. "He told me to take the children because they had activities after school. We came without really knowing what we were going to find and, in the end, here we found much more than that," he explains. They first participated in educational reinforcement activities during the course. Then came the CaixaProinfancia camps and summer camps, help that, he admits, has been decisive.
CaixaProinfancia in figures
(data accumulated since the beginning of the program, in 2007)
+400,000 boys, girls and adolescents have participated in the program
237,000 families served
475 social entities involved
€82 M current annual budget
In 2025
(latest figures available)
67,000 boys, girls and adolescents served
41,000 participating families
155 municipalities with CaixaProinfancia presence
"If I had had to pay for the camps and camps, I wouldn't have been able to. I would have had to choose between one child or the other. Thanks to the program, they have both been able to enjoy activities that would otherwise be impossible. They are a huge help," says Vanesa.
But the impact goes beyond economic savings. While Vanesa works, she knows that her children are accompanied, participate in activities and live with other children and adolescents. "They are not at home all day with their cell phones. They come back excited and say that they are going to the pool, going on an excursion or preparing a cooking contest. For them it is like the prize after the entire course."
More than 300 social entities participate in the organization of summer activities
This summer, the CaixaProinfancia program of the "la Caixa" Foundation allows 30,000 children and adolescents to participate, between June and August, in camps, urban colonies and free open centers throughout Spain.
The initiative has the collaboration of more than 300 social entities. The activities offer a safe environment during the school holidays and promote personal development through play, coexistence and learning.
Also learn outside the classroom
Melania Muñoz emphasizes that summer is part of a broader educational process. "The casal is not an isolated activity. During the course we carry out intense work of accompaniment, educational reinforcement and monitoring of each child and each family. In summer we continue from another context, where learning arises naturally," he points out.
Participants carry out sports, cultural and educational activities, visit museums, go to the beach or pool and participate in cooking workshops, crafts or cooperative games. "There are boys and girls who have never slept away from home or have barely left their neighborhood. Sharing a few days with other classmates helps them gain confidence, relate and discover that they are capable of much more than they imagined," he summarizes.
Vanesa assures that this change is also noticeable at home. "They are more autonomous, more responsible and safer. I have also learned to give them space and trust them more," he explains. She defines herself as a "superprotective" mother and adds: "Here they have not only helped my children; they have also taught me to let them go."
The coordinator insists that the results arrive little by little. "A child who barely spoke at first ends up having a group of friends. Another discovers that he can handle himself. They begin to feel capable. That's when you know we're going in the right direction."
An accompaniment that reaches the whole family
"The gateway to the program is always the family," explains Melania Muñoz. "We look at each situation and look for resources that can help each member." Summer activities are just part of the job. CaixaProinfancia accompanies families throughout the year with educational reinforcement, psychotherapeutic care, workshops and help to cover basic needs such as food, child hygiene, glasses, hearing aids or school supplies. "When families have support, children have more opportunities," summarizes the coordinator of the Adsis Foundation.
Vanesa expresses it simply: "We have never felt alone. We have always found someone to guide us or help us when we needed it."
New program
Camps
to scene!
At the Adsis Foundation, the journey taken by young people is summarized in a very specific scene. This summer, Ian can no longer participate in the camp or the camps as a user because he has turned 18, but he has returned as a volunteer to accompany the little ones. For Melania, there is no better indicator of the program's impact: "When a young person decides to return to help others, you understand that the journey has left its mark."
Vanesa's face lights up when she hears it. After seven years, he assures that the Adsis Foundation is part of his family's history. And that the CaixaProinfancia program has offered them much more than a summer full of activities: the possibility of building a future with more confidence and more opportunities.
