Summer Camps: Safety Measures and What to Expect

Article last updated 12-04-2023

What our summer camps looked like in 2023

In 2020, when the whole situation was new, nearly all of Spain’s regional governments developed regulations that allowed summer camps to go ahead. At Natuaventura we created COVID protocols and a working system to make them happen. In 2021 the regional protocols were similar to those of 2020.

For the summer of 2023 the regional governments had already published their regulations, and we returned to the pre-coronavirus situation. As of today (12-04-2023) we are launching our camps under the same rules as in 2019. Since 2022 there have been no COVID rules at summer camps in Spain, and the illness is treated as a common disease.

We already removed in 2022 the adaptations made in previous years to comply with the earlier regulations, but as we have always done — even before the coronavirus — we will continue to take care of children’s hygiene and health.

In 2021 we carried out saliva antigen tests before camp for all our children and monitors. For 2022 there was no pre-camp testing, and there was none in 2023 either.

The national requirement to wear a face mask on the coach has also been lifted.

1. What will summer camps be like this year?
2. Is there an official protocol for summer camps?
   1. Download General COVID Measures Protocol 2022 Natuaventura (coming soon)
3. Will tests be carried out before camp?
4. What hygiene measures will we apply?
5. Can social distancing be maintained at a summer camp?
6. Will the same planned activities take place?
7. Is the running of all Natuaventura camps confirmed?
8. What if the rules change again?
9. What were the 2020 and 2021 summer camps like?
10. What happens if there are positive cases during camp?

What will summer camps be like this year?

As in 2022, we returned to the pre-coronavirus situation — camps with normal life, spaces where children can be together, have fun and be children again. We want to see children playing, laughing, doing sport, making friends, and so on. Summer camps are usually held at venues where, for the vast majority of the time, only children and monitors are present, with no interaction with outside parties. When we do leave the site, it is mainly to carry out activities in nature, whether at the beach or in the mountains.

Children need to be able to leave the COVID years behind and we hope to help them do so through our camps, just as we did in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Is there an official protocol for summer camps and coronavirus?

There is no national protocol; each regional government has always had its own rules regarding qualifications, monitor-to-child ratios, health regulations, and so on. In 2020 and 2021 each region developed its own regulations to adapt camps to the coronavirus. For 2023 all regional governments had removed any COVID restrictions. Only recommendations regarding ventilation and hygiene remained, similar to those in place before the pandemic.

As in schools, if a child has COVID they will not necessarily have to leave camp.

Can coronavirus recommendations be maintained at a camp?

Will COVID antigen tests be carried out on children before camp?

No, at our 2023 summer camps we will not carry out any pre-camp COVID tests.

If during camp a child shows symptoms of the illness, current regulations require it to be treated as any other common illness.

What hygiene measures will we apply?

At summer camps hygiene is attended to every day. We will continue to maintain cleanliness across all our sites. In the case of enclosed spaces such as rooms, tents, cabins, and so on, we will also maintain ventilation periods as in previous years.

Between shifts, a thorough clean of all facilities will be carried out.

As before the coronavirus, we will take care of personal hygiene.

Facilities will display hygiene recommendation notices, which will be known by the team of monitors and communicated to the children.

We will also comply with the hygiene and health regulations set out by each regional government in which we operate.

Will there be social distancing at summer camps?

As we have been explaining in previous years, social distancing is an impossible concept to apply in an environment of children and summer camps. This year, fortunately for everyone, IT IS NOT A RULE or a recommendation from any regional government. At camp we are together and we live as one big family. There will be no social distancing.

Will the same planned activities take place?

Yes, we are back to running all the activities we offered before the coronavirus, including excursions and outings away from camp.

Is the running of all Natuaventura camps confirmed?

In 2020 and 2021 we managed to run our summer camps with over 1,100 and 1,500 children respectively across our different camps. We were national leaders in terms of number of camps and number of places. In 2022 we returned to normal life and ran all our camps without incident. For 2023 we plan to run all our camps as usual. If by 14 June any session has not reached the minimum number of participants required, we will inform you so that you can switch to another of our camps with similar characteristics and pricing.

What if the rules change again?

If the rules change and one of our summer camps cannot go ahead, we will once again be 100% flexible and offer you the option to move to another camp, hold over the amount paid to the following year, or receive a full refund.

• CANCELLATION AT NO COST: A full refund of the amount you have paid us
• Change the booking to another date or destination this summer (July and August)
• Keep your booking for the summer of 2024 with a bonus discount

As you can see, should a summer camp not be able to go ahead, our cancellation conditions will be completely flexible and at no cost to families.

What were the summer camps of 2020, 2021 and 2022 like?

If you are thinking of signing your children up for a summer camp in 2023, we would like to share our experience from 2020 and 2021. We were national leaders both in number of camps and in number of campers. In 2022 we used that experience to run even better and safer camps, as we will do in 2023.

Thanks to your collaboration and the hard work of our team, we were able to run our camps in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Were summer camps able to run in 2020, 2021 and 2022?

Yes, in all the regions where we work we were able to run our camps, although in 2020 and 2021 there were different rules in each one. We adapted our camps and safety protocols to the regulations of each area of Spain. In total we ran all our camps and are genuinely pleased to have had the trust of so many families.

2020 and 2021 were clearly different summers, but within the camps life came to feel very much like normal again, with children able to play and be children. The bubble group concept that schools now use is exactly what we proposed and put into practice at our camps.

Did the pre-camp prevention measures work? And the antigen tests?

As we all know by now, detection tests are not 100% infallible — they are one additional measure to help reduce the chances of transmission. All tests take a few days to return a positive result after a person has been in contact with the virus. The most effective measure is the support of families, ensuring they do not send children who have symptoms or who we know have been in contact with positive cases in the days beforehand.

The outcome of our experience in 2020 was very positive. The combination of family cooperation, prevention measures and pre-camp testing meant that we had not a single case of coronavirus during our 2020 summer camps.

In summer 2021 we were able to complete the first fortnight without any cases at any camp, but in the second fortnight of July the cumulative incidence among children nationally was very high. Despite everyone’s efforts, we did have positive cases at 3 of our camps. All were mild cases with cold-like symptoms, but they required COVID protocols to be activated and some children to return home early.

In 2022 we had no positive coronavirus cases during the camps, which is unsurprising because at health centres, if we attended with compatible symptoms, they treated it as a common cold and rarely carried out COVID tests.

In 2021, when there were positive cases during camp, Natuaventura organised the necessary logistics to assist families and refunded the proportional amount for the days not completed. What happens if there are COVID cases at a camp?

What happens if there are COVID cases at a camp?

For the summer of 2023 the current regulation is to treat it as a common illness.

In 2021 the regulations were as follows:

• If a child tested positive, that child and their roommates had to return home. Regulations required families to collect the children, as they could not be transported on public transport. Of course, in that case you would have our full support and assistance. Children would be properly looked after and accompanied by their monitor for as long as necessary to organise their return home.
• If there were positive cases in several rooms (each region had its own protocol), we would bring the entire age group of the camp (older/younger) to a close. In that case, the positive cases and their roommates had to be collected by their families; the remaining children could be taken home on the camp coach.
• On Natuaventura’s part, in addition to helping organise the return home, we refunded the proportional amount for the days not completed.

Learn more about camps

• Summer camp cancellation conditions
• Coronavirus — Will summer camps be possible in 2021?
• What is a summer camp?
• How do summer camps work?
• Why go to camp?
• How to choose a camp?
• De-escalation plan 2020 — how does it affect summer camps?

Other sources:

BOE 01-05-2020: Regulation of mobility and physical activities
BOE 30-05-2020: Children’s leisure activities in phase 3
Nius Diario: Summer camps
ABC Comunidad Valenciana, Camps in July
La Razón — How are summer camps and colonies getting ready?
Summer camps on Wikipedia
Our camps in El País