Accessibility
During the summer bathing season, all the beaches in the city provide assistance services for bathers and others who spend their free time on the city’s beaches.The goal is to guarantee the safety and quality of public spaces and facilitate the coming together of all those who use Barcelona’s waterfront.
Accessibility Model for Barcelona's beaches
We understand accessibility to be an integral part of the design and configuration of any public space in the city. Therefore, making the beaches more accessible not only includes creating specific access points that are designated for those who have certain physical handicaps but also becomes a defining characteristic in the planning of all the beaches, integrated into the global nature of the setting and its interactions.
It is on the basis of this general accessibility that a specific swimmer assistance service has been developed for those people who have a handicap and need help entering and exiting the water.
Two modalities have been established::
- Accessible beaches facilitate the ability of all users to access and enjoy them and, especially, those who have some kind of handicap. There are designated parking spaces with access routes that lead to the dry sand, both visual and tactile signs and information points, handicapped restrooms, adapted showers with chairs and wooden footbridges that reach the water as close as possible, although, under no circumstances will they ever touch the water, as its currents could detach the module. There is also public transportation that has been adapted for the handicapped that facilitates access to the beach. This option is available for all of the city’s beaches.
- Accessible beaches with assisted bathing services are intended for people with reduced mobility who need personal and technical help to access the water.
Accessibility Model
Accessible beaches make it easier for all beachgoers to reach and enjoy them, especially for those that have physical handicaps of some kind. These specific beachgoers have special reserved parking spaces with easy access routes to the sand as well as signs and both visual and tactile information points, toilets that have been adapted for the handicapped along with wooden boardwalks that reach all the way to the water line and showers that come equipped with stationary chairs.
More information
There are currently four amphibious wheelchairs and a, hydraulic chair lift at the Fòrum bathing area,sets of crutches, an electric hoist, and wheelchairs. All the beaches have pergolas or shaded areas that provide protection from the sun in the waiting area. There are parking areas reserved for users with reduced mobility with easy access to the sand, wooden walkways leading down to the water, signage and visual and tactile information, adapted toilets and showers with wheelchairs, and an adapted public transport service. The beaches of Nova Icària (mid May) and Sant Miquel (mid June) will have an inclusive changing facility.
Those participating in the design and development of the assisted bathing service are:
- The department for Environment and Urban Services. Beaches Department, Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua, who is responsible for the management and co-ordination of the beaches.
- The Municipal Institute for People with Disabilities, which provides technical and specialised support for the different agents involved, and coordinates the work group for this project.
- The Barcelona Metropolitan Area, who is responsible for the installation and maintenance of walkways, and for providing the necessary equipment.
A bathing officer will be assigned to each bathing assistance point, and there will be a team of staff on hand to give users the help and support they need.
The bathing support service for people with reduced mobility who are unable to access the water independently will be provided under the supervision of technical staff. To ensure the smooth running of the service and the comfort of service users, you need to book in advance (individuals and organised groups). Bookings can be made online or by telephone.
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Telephone booking: 607569374 (open to the public from 10.30 am to 7.30 pm, every day of the week)
- Online booking
Organised groups and centres are required to book by telephone, specifying the total number of visitors and their degree of dependency.
Individual users who only want to use the shaded area or need to borrow materials can also access the service without prior booking. In these cases, however, the availability of space, materials, and service is subject to the appointments made for each location, with priority given to advance bookings.
The service is structured around three assistance points on the beaches, although the location of these points can change depending on the changing uses of the beaches, or if this is deemed appropriate, each season. For the 2024 season, the points are as follows:
- Fòrum Bathing Area
- Nova Icària Beach
- Sant Miquel Beach
Timetable:
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From 12 to 29 September, the service operates from 10.30 am to 6.30 pm.
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From 30 September to 27 October, it will be available only at the Nova Icària beach location, from 10.30 am to 6.30 pm.
Fòrum bathing area
The particular characteristics of this area mean that the assisted bathing service here is rather different from those provided on the other beaches. Access to the water is “vertical”. Two hydraulic lift chairs are used to enable service users to access the water. The existing infrastructure consists of the following:
Sun loungers for service users, free of charge. The entire space around the bathing area is concreted. The sun loungers facilitate more comfortable sunbathing.
A pergola provides shade in the waiting area
Various adapted elements: changing rooms, toilets and showers.
Nova Icària Beach
This beach will maintain the installation with double walkway and ramp for accessing the water, the inclusive changing room from mid May, the additional carport, the additional walkway for accessing the showers, the extra boxes, the marquees, the additional platforms and benches and the reserved parking spaces on the Passeig Marítim.
Sant Miquel Beach
A lack of sand on the Barceloneta beach made it necessary to move the assistance point that had long been located there to Sant Miquel beach. This new point will have a larger module and a double walkway that will enable bathing, at the Barceloneta beach and Sant Miquel beach alike. This year, there will be a pergola, an inclusive changing room from mid June and reserved parking spaces.