Summer Camp Mallorca for Children: What Parents Need to Know About Supervision and Legal Requirements

If you live on Mallorca with your family, you know the problem: Spanish summer holidays last almost three months, but your job doesn't. A summer camp for children on Mallorca is therefore not a luxury for most families, but everyday logistics. What rarely appears in adverts: the Balearics explicitly regulate holiday childcare by law — with a minimum age for staff, fixed supervision ratios and a mandatory check against sex offenders. This guide shows you which rules apply, who monitors them on Mallorca, and which questions you should ask a provider before you sign. No prices, no provider ranking — instead, the legal basis you should know as a paying parent.

Do you want to know whether your childcare offer is legally sound?

• Submit a personal enquiry — we'll assess your situation as a family on Mallorca
• Kita & Guardería Mallorca

The legal framework: what is regulated in the Balearics

Holiday childcare in the Balearics is not a grey-area business, but explicitly regulated. The basis is the Decret 23/2018, de 6 de juliol, which implements parts of the Llei 10/2006 integral de la joventut and was published in BOIB núm. 84 on 7 July 2018. It is available in a consolidated version from the Servei de Joventut of the Govern (caib.es) and is applied specifically for Mallorca by the Consell de Mallorca.Decret 23/2018, de 6 de juliol, which implements parts of the Llei 10/2006 integral de la joventut and was published in BOIB núm. 84 of 7 July 2018.Consell de Mallorca applies.

The unwieldy technical term behind this is "activitats d'educació en el temps lliure infantil i juvenil" — leisure-time educational activities for children and young people. This covers practically all the formats you're looking for in summer: summer camp, holiday childcare, escola d'estiu, casal d'estiu and campament. Whether it's a public body, a sports club or a private provider — as soon as an activity organises supervised care for children and young people over a set period, the same regulation applies.

Note: These rules apply regardless of whether the camp runs in German, Catalan or Spanish. Which language is spoken is up to the provider — the obligations regarding staff and supervision are not.

The staff: who is actually allowed to look after your child?

According to Art. 48, every regular offer requires a leadership team (equip dirigent): a responsible person as director/a as well as the monitors/es, who accompany the groups on a daily basis. The following obligations apply to all members of this team simultaneously — not optionally.

Note: The current certificate against sexual offender registration is not an optional extra, but a legal requirement for every person on the leadership team. Ask for it — a reputable provider will have no problem confirming this.

Supervision ratio: how many children per supervisor?

The supervision ratio is the figure that most directly determines the day-to-day quality of a camp — and it is fixed by law, not left to the provider's discretion.

The difference between 1:10 and 1:15 is no coincidence: according to the legislator, a short-term summer camp with a changing programme requires closer supervision than an ongoing, well-established Casal offer. If your child has a recognised dependency level III (Gran Dependencia), ask the provider and the Consell de Mallorca specifically about the applicable ratio before booking.

Risk activities and special needs

As soon as a camp advertises water sports, climbing, canyoning, diving or high-mountain excursions, an additional requirement applies: Art. 48.6 requires professionally certified staff for these activities, who are responsible both for the activity itself and for the equipment used. The general leadership team is not automatically sufficient for this — the qualification must match the specific activity.

For children with a recognised moderate (level I) or severe (level II) dependency, the above-mentioned ratio of one additional, qualified monitor per three affected children also applies. If your child has a dependency level, this is a point you should explicitly raise before booking — also because, according to the law, the increase is to take place "without prejudice to further adjustment according to need", meaning it is open-ended upwards.

Duty of presence: never alone with the group

A key protective mechanism is found in Art. 49: all leadership staff must be present during the activity. The Decret literally states that a group may "en cap cas" — under no circumstances — be left to a single person from the leadership team. Each Consell Insular determines for its own area when supervisory staff may briefly step away; for Mallorca this is the Consell de Mallorca.

Note: This rule applies regardless of group size. Even with just five children, a single supervisor may never be left solely responsible.

Competent authorities on Mallorca

Two levels share responsibility, and it helps to know the difference if you want to complain or seek information.

The Consell de Mallorca is therefore your first point of contact if you want to know whether a specific camp is registered with the island. The Govern, in the background, provides the rules according to which training courses and qualifications are recognised in the first place.

Public and private offerings — and what the state subsidises

On Mallorca, two worlds stand side by side: public offerings, often run by municipalities or associations, and private, sometimes internationally oriented camps. Public formats include not only daytime care in the casal but also tent camps and overnight holiday activities (campaments) — the same legal framework applies to them as to a private camp.

One reason for the lower cost of some municipal offerings is public funding: as part of the Pla Corresponsables, the Govern issues grants for the organisation of holiday activities in order to make it easier to combine family and work. Important for you as a parent: this is funding for providers — nurseries, associations, municipalities — not a subsidy you can apply for yourself. Whether and to what extent an offer in your municipality becomes cheaper as a result is stated in the relevant tender of the municipality, not in a nationwide price list.

Getting the registration and holiday calendar timing right

Fixed registration deadlines and holiday dates change every year — a date mentioned here would already be wrong in the next season. The Balearic summer holidays traditionally last almost three months; the exact start and end dates for the respective school year are set out in the official calendar of the Conselleria d'Educació. In many municipalities, the registration period for municipal summer programmes starts in spring before the holidays — the exact date is stated in the tender of your municipality or provider in each case.

Note: Do not rely on holiday dates you find in older articles. The binding holiday calendar is newly set by the Conselleria d'Educació every school year.

Checklist: What you should check before booking

1. Is the camp registered as a leisure activity with the responsible authority (Consell de Mallorca)?
2. Can the provider present a current certificate (< 12 months) from the sex offender register for all supervising staff?
3. Is the minimum age of 18 met for the entire management team, not just for the director/directora?
4. Does the stated supervision ratio match the type of activity offered (1:10 for camps, 1:15 only for ongoing casal activities)?
5. For water sports, climbing or similar activities, does the camp have additionally certified specialist staff?
6. If your child has special support needs, has the additional staffing ratio been planned for?
7. Has it been clarified that a single person is never solely responsible for the group (Art. 49)?

Most common mistakes

• Checking price before qualification. A low weekly price says nothing about the legally required staff-to-child ratio or staff qualifications.
• Confusing the staff-to-child ratio with "group size". 1:10 means a maximum of ten children per monitor — not per camp overall.
• Relying on verbal assurances. The certificate for the register check is a document, not a promise — ask to see it or get it confirmed in writing.
• Copying registration deadlines from old articles. Deadlines and holiday dates are set anew every year.
• Assuming that state funding automatically lowers your own price. The Pla Corresponsables supports providers, not parental contributions directly — the effect varies depending on the municipality.

What comes next?

Once your child is registered for the camp, it's worth taking a quick look at the surrounding infrastructure: How does your child get to the meeting point, who picks them up, and what happens on very hot days or if the programme changes? If you live on Mallorca permanently and don't yet have a long-term childcare solution for nursery age or school time, it's worth checking out the guide Kita and guardería on Mallorca — the transitions between nursery, school and holiday care are often the real organisational challenge for expat families.

Conclusion

A summer camp for children on Mallorca is not a legal grey area, but clearly regulated by Decret 23/2018: a minimum age of 18 for the entire leadership team, a mandatory register check against sex offenders, fixed staff-to-child ratios of 1:10 or 1:15 respectively, and the obligation never to leave a group in the charge of a single person alone. As a parent, you don't need to know these rules by heart — but you should know that you're entitled to ask about them, and that a reputable provider will supply the answers immediately. The Consell de Mallorca is your first point of contact if you want to verify the formal registration of a specific camp.

Official sources

• Decret 23/2018, de 6 de juliol (BOIB núm. 84, 7 July 2018) — consolidated version from the Servei de Joventut, Govern de les Illes Balears: caib.es
• Llei 10/2006 integral de la joventut — the legal basis for Decret 23/2018, Govern de les Illes Balears: caib.es
• Consell de Mallorca – Departament de Joventut, the responsible island authority: www.conselldemallorca.cat