Barcelona and Jerez Boost Grassroots Sports Participation with Scholarships and Inclusive Events in 2025
Barcelona increases sports scholarships to over 17,500 while Jerez's school cross-country event engages 3,000 participants, promoting inclusion and healthy lifestyles in 2025.
- • Barcelona City Council awards 17,570 extracurricular sports scholarships with a 4.6 million euro budget for 2025-2026.
- • The scholarship fund nearly doubled from five years ago, reflecting a commitment to inclusive sports participation for children aged 6 to 17.
- • The ‘VII Cross Escolar Memorial Dani Barroso’ in Jerez attracted over 3,000 participants including schoolchildren and persons with disabilities.
- • Both initiatives emphasize health, integration, respect, and social values through sports.
- • Municipal collaboration with numerous entities ensures quality extracurricular sports programs in Barcelona.
Key details
In 2025, significant strides have been made in promoting extracurricular and grassroots sports activities in Spain, with Barcelona and Jerez leading community-driven initiatives focused on inclusion, health, and social values.
Barcelona City Council, through the Institute of Barcelona Sports (IBE), granted 17,570 sports scholarships totaling 4.6 million euros—nearly double the investment from five years ago. The 2025-2026 budget saw a 100,000-euro increase to guarantee that all children aged 6 to 17 can engage in sports within their neighborhoods. Sports Councillor David Escudé emphasized the importance of sport in enhancing health, integration, social relationships, and education in values. This effort is supported by 343 approved entities offering quality extracurricular sports activities, reflecting the city’s commitment to making sports accessible and inclusive for families with limited resources.
Simultaneously, Jerez hosted the ‘VII Cross Escolar Memorial Dani Barroso’ at the Chapín Sports Complex’s Pradera Laura Delgado ‘Bimba’, drawing over 3,000 participants from 31 educational centers and several disability associations, including Afanas and Upacesur. The event, part of the ‘Jerez Educa’ program, promotes education through sports by emphasizing values such as respect, effort, and coexistence. Sports delegate Tomás Sampalo highlighted the event's emotional connection to Dani Barroso, a late municipal sports employee. Alongside the run, activities like zumba and aerobics encouraged healthy habits among youth.
These initiatives exemplify how municipal programs in 2025 are fostering sports participation and social inclusion through scholarships and large-scale educational events, thus strengthening grassroots sports culture in Spain’s communities.
This article was synthesized and translated from native language sources to provide English-speaking readers with local perspectives.
