Summer camps in Spain are one of the favorite activities for children and young people. The first time a camp was made was in the 19th century, specifically in 1876.
In 1876 a Swiss man named Walter Bion, along with 10 teachers, invited 68 poor children to go from the canton of Appenzell to the countryside, where they would spend two weeks breathing fresh air and having a very nourished and fortifying diet.
This experience would be so successful that in a few years it would spread throughout the European and American continent. Since then, Walter Bion would be considered the founder of the famous summer camps and, therefore, of the summer camps in Spain.
In 1887, Don Manuel B. Cossío officially organized the first «summer colony» with 20 children living in different districts of Madrid. This summer colony would take place in San Vicente de la Barquera.
The first summer colonies in Spain
A few decades later, in 1932, the summer camps spread to different parts of Spain, in which Madrid, Asturias, Valencia and Barcelona were the main participants with over 30,000 people.
It did not take long during Franco’s rule for the state to establish a policy to implement several summer camps that aimed to indoctrinate and morally train the participants. Within the policies implemented by the regime, the camps called Youth Front and Women’s Section would emerge.
However, it was in the 1970s when the university student’s union began to transform itself into what has become known as a Spanish Youth Organization, specializing in outdoor activities, thus initiating the organization of summer camps.
Furthermore, other youth camp movements would emerge, including the «Scout Movement» and others that increased the rise of summer camps in Spain, acquiring greater prominence with the passage of democracy in the country, diversifying and taking steps forward with new modalities in the camps. Education, multi-adventure, children’s entertainment, among others, began to emerge from the 70s. For the first time in Spain, in 1976 legislation was passed in this area, creating the well-known “Aire and Tiempo Libre” schools.
Summer camps today.
Currently, summer camps are still in development, and year after year there is more emphasis on education, with more promotion and a greater variety in activities and formats to enhance learning in a different and didactic way. This continuous development in the format of the camps, has allowed that today we can count on a range of possibilities. In Natuaventura.com you can find all our services which are the following ones:
Sports camps
Talent Development Camps
Multi-adventure camps
Riding camps
Nautical Camps
Urban camps
Ecological camps
Language immersion camps
English Immersion Summer Camps
Evolution of summer camps in Spain
It is clear that over the years, not only have they continued to develop the facilities and materials used, but even more importantly, what have been developed is the methodology, training and quality of the camps in order to be able to offer better services.
The aim of the summer camps that are part of our proposal in Natuaventura.com, is that children and young people not only have fun and enjoy themselves, but also that these camps provide an important teaching, and allow them to develop skills and attitudes necessary for their training.
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