- Families with children between 9 and 17 years old can apply for a spot from March 22 to April 7 in both ‘Red Activa’ and themed camps, while the deadline for volunteer camps opens on the 28th
- The Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities promotes digital disconnection in activities where the cultural, historical, heritage, gastronomic, and natural wealth of Castilla y León will also be highlighted
- Themed camps, one of the novelties of the campaign, include new activities such as modern dance, urban dance, rock, visual arts, and learning about the era of dinosaurs
March 20, 2025
Castilla y León | Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities
The summer campaign for children and young people in Castilla y León will be broader, more varied, and healthier in 2025. Last year, 4,526 spots were available for all activities, but this year the Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities has increased them to 5,630, a 24% increase. This growth is evident in the almost 300 additional spots in ‘Red Activa’—4,006 this year—and in themed camps, which have doubled their potential participants from 615 to 1,360.
Today, the Vice President of the Junta de Castilla y León and Minister of Family and Equal Opportunities, Isabel Blanco, presented the summer campaign at the ‘Emperador Teodosio’ youth residence in Segovia. The campaign offers a more diverse range of leisure and free time activities for children and young people aged 9 to 30, focusing mainly on rural areas. This year, around 600 direct jobs are being created due to the increased spots, which also help stimulate local economies.
‘Red Activa’
The most popular program is ‘Red Activa’, with the number of camps for children aged 9 to 17 increasing from 88 to 95 this year. Of these, 49 are held in Castilla y León, 43 in other regions, and three outside Spain—in Portugal and the Black Forest. The success of these camps lies in the wide range of adventure activities offered, such as hiking, climbing, kayaking, paintball, spelunking, mountain biking, and water sports. New popular themes have been introduced, including robotics, drones, animals, and scuba diving. This year, the Junta introduces educational workshops on artificial intelligence in some activities.
Some of the new ‘Red Activa’ camps will take place in natural or heritage sites in Castilla y León, such as the Duratón River area in Segovia, where young people can enjoy its canyons and meanders; Alija del Infantado in León, where they will engage in sports, escape rooms, and remote-controlled cars; and Santibáñez de Vidriales in Zamora, near Lake Sanabria and the Sierra de la Culebra, environments that participants will have the chance to explore. Two new camps are also being offered: one in Navamorcuende, Toledo, focused on wildlife, and the other in Jaca, with whitewater rafting activities.
One of the major innovations of ‘Red Activa 2025’ is the emphasis on healthy leisure. In line with the Junta’s ‘Pause and Reconnect’ program, the Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities will promote digital disconnection in camps, limiting mobile device usage to two hours every other day so that participants can communicate with their families. This complements the promotion of positive practices such as healthy eating habits, environmental protection, and gender equality.
Furthermore, in camps held in Castilla y León, both in ‘Red Activa’ and themed camps, activities will be organized to provide participants with a deeper understanding of various aspects of Castilla y León, including historical, cultural, natural, and gastronomic heritage, targeting both local children and young people from other regions.
Collaboration with other regions is being enhanced to facilitate youth mobility, with the number of camps in the rest of Spain increasing from 12 to 14, offering 352 spots for young people from Castilla y León to participate in activities in the Basque Country, Galicia, La Rioja, Extremadura, Cantabria, or Aragon.
Themed Camps
This year, the focus has shifted towards artistic and language training courses, now called ‘themed camps’, doubling the number of spots and significantly expanding the disciplines around which activities revolve. More recreational alternatives are added to their educational nature.
In addition to English courses in the mountains—Pineda de la Sierra, Burgos—or at the beach—Loredo, Cantabria—and the successful ‘Cinema in Zamora’, other camps focus on modern dance and urban dance in Palencia, two artistic camps in Zamora and Palencia incorporating photography, drawing, engraving, sculpture, and other visual arts, two rock and music camps in Soria and Murcia, a ‘Jurassic Adventure’ in Soria, ‘Adventure and Mining in El Bierzo’—León—or ‘Sendaventura’ in Vigo de Sanabria—Zamora.
Prices for ‘Red Activa’ and themed camps vary depending on the activities and are specified in the call for applications. Large families receive a 50% discount for general category and 100% for special category, a total discount also available to victims of terrorism or gender violence. Users of the European Youth Card receive a 15% discount. Additionally, to promote the inclusion of vulnerable groups, the Junta reserves 58 spots for young people under the care of the Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities and 18 for individuals with disabilities requiring a support person.
Volunteer Camps
Young people aged 16 to 30, the older age group, also have options for summer leisure. In this case, it is responsible and solidarity-based leisure through juvenile volunteer camps held in various locations in Castilla y León. 264 spots are available for 12 activities—145 for young people from the region and 119 for those from other regions—expanding to new municipalities this year such as Encinas de Esgueva and Aldeamayor de San Martín in Valladolid, Santa Marta de Tormes in Salamanca, Valle de Manzanedo in Burgos, Benavente in Zamora, and Saldaña in Palencia.
In the mornings, young people engage in volunteer actions such as environmental work, restoration and rehabilitation of public architectural elements, and sociocultural animation. Afternoons are reserved for recreational activities like excursions, hiking, climbing, archery, mountain biking, and canoeing, among others. The price for the camps is 110 euros, covering accommodation, meals, and all scheduled activities during the 15-day stay.
However, young people from Castilla y León can also participate in volunteer camps offered by other regions such as Andalusia, Aragon, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla–La Mancha, Catalonia, Ceuta, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Navarre, the Basque Country, and Valencia. Adults can also register for international volunteer camps, with the same solidarity focus but outside Spain.
Deadlines and Application
Tomorrow, March 21, the call for both ‘Red Activa 2025’ and themed camps will be published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León —Bocyl—, so from March 22 to April 7, applications can be submitted through the electronic headquarters of the Castilla y León Administration (
www.tramitacastillayleon.jcyl.es
).
For volunteer camps organized by the Ministry of Family and Equal Opportunities and those held in other regions, the application period starts on March 28 and ends on April 7. For international camps, the deadline is extended until June 30.