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.
Related files
Bathing support area for people with reduced mobility (DOCX 145.98 KB) Open in a new window
More information
There are currently four amphibious chairs, one hydraulic chair at the Fòrum, 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.
This season, the assistance points are in the Fòrum bathing area and on Nova Icària Beach (start of the bathing season), and the Barceloneta and Bogatell beaches (peak bathing season). They all have an accessible changing room.
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.
- Telephone booking: 607569374 (open to the public from 10:30 am to 7:30 pm on weekdays)
- Online booking Open in a new window(Timify)
The service is structured around four assistance points on the beaches, although the location of these points may change each season depending on the changing uses of the beaches, or if deemed appropriate.
For the 2025 season, the points are as follows:
- Fòrum Bathing Area
- Nova Icària Beach
- Barceloneta Beach
- Bogatell Beach
Time:
- Mid season. The points on the Nova Icària Beach and in the Fòrum Bathing Area will be available to the public from 12 September, and the Barceloneta point will also be operational from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm.
- High season. The points on the Barceloneta and Nova Icària beaches and in the Fòrum Bathing Area will be available to the public, as will the Bogatell point, starting on 21 June, from 10:30 am to 7:30 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. The features of this space necessitate vertical access to the water. Two hydraulic lift chairs are used 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 paved in concrete. 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 to reach the showers, the extra boxes, the marquees, the additional platforms and benches and the reserved parking spaces on the Passeig Marítim.
Barceloneta Beach
This point, historically located on Sant Miquel Beach, is being moved to Barceloneta Beach due to the lack of sand on the former. It will be equipped with a larger module and a double walkway that allows users to bathe on either Barceloneta or Sant Miquel Beach. This year it will have a pergola and an accessible changing room.
Bogatell Beach
The bathing assistance point located on Bogatell Beach has an accessible changing room equipped with a human lift system, a stretcher for adults with adjustable height, a toilet with side-to-side transfers, an accessible pergola and walkway, and all the floating and support elements for bathing needed.