LIVING

Thankfully, there are plenty of things going on, from day clubs (casals d’estiu), to summer camps (colònies) to the scary-sounding work camps (camps de treball), and many of them are still accepting enrollees. Every spring, the Generalitat produces its summer activity guide (‘Guia Activitats d’Estiu’), which lists their activities and those of registered organisations, all of which exist to entertain children while parents are at work.

At around €100 a week, casals are a cheap, convenient and popular choice. Children attend their usual school or a youth centre during the day (Monday to Friday), and, instead of maths and literature, they enjoy games, excursions, swimming and workshops. At the end of the day, the child goes home, usually exhausted, and prepares to do it all over again the next day. Children can start as young as three years old.

Colònies are hugely popular, with more than 100,000 children going away to camp each summer. Rather than having a ‘school’ link, colònies represent independence, freedom (supervised, of course) and the chance to make a completely new set of friends. Around 100 children at a time congregate at a camp or hostel up and down the coast or in the mountains, for a week or two. Colònies cost around €650 for 12 days and provide places to children between the ages of 6 and 16.

Colònies have a long tradition in Catalunya. They began over a century ago when the church was the main provider of social, educational and, of course, religious instruction for children. Church-run organisations took disadvantaged or sick children away for a week of educational activities, or convalescence, amid fresh sea or mountain air. Colònies with a religious focus were popular during the Franco regime; they enjoyed a resurgence in the Nineties and are still popular today.

“Colònies have grown with the needs of the family,” said Joan Segarra, director of Education Services at the Fundació Pere Tarres. “Nowadays, with two parents working, it is hard for parents to get time off in July, even if they have August off. So colònies and casals help fill the gap.”

In the same way, they provide a lifeline for foreign resident families. “We often have children of foreign families in the groups and it is great, especially as many of our camps are now English language-focused due to parent demand, said Segarra. “It’s a hands-on way for the local children to learn.”