Pre-primary education is the stage of education that caters to children aged 0-5. It is non-compulsory and organised into two cycles: the first one for children up to 2 years of age, and the second one for children aged 3-5.

2026

Amendment to the programme for the creation of places for children aged 0 to 3

In March 2026, a resolution was published amending the state agreement on the distribution of funds allocated to the Programme for the promotion of enrolment in the first cycle of Early Childhood Education (0–3 years). This measure forms part of the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.

The aim of the programme is to continue expanding the supply of public places in the first cycle of Early Childhood Education, particularly for children aged 1 and 2, in order to facilitate early access to education and support work-life balance.

The new resolution makes it possible to adjust the distribution of funds among the autonomous communities, allowing those that have successfully met their targets for the creation of places to increase the number of planned places.

This amendment seeks to make better use of available resources and to further expand early childhood education (0–3 years) through the creation of new public places across the country.

New regulation of educational inspection

In February 2026, Royal Decree 68/2026 was adopted, regulating educational inspection in Spain and updating the organisation and functioning of this service within the education system.

The aim of the regulation is to strengthen the role of educational inspection in supervision, guidance and support for schools, thereby contributing to improving the quality and equity of the education system.

The Royal Decree also regulates aspects such as the functions of inspectors, their training and evaluation, as well as the organisation of inspection services by the education authorities.

In addition, it establishes the system of access to the Corps of Education Inspectors. To apply, candidates must be career civil servants belonging to a teaching body and must demonstrate a minimum of eight years’ teaching experience. The selection process includes a competitive examination, assessment of merits and a probationary period with specific training.

2025

Emergency Training Plan in Non-University Educational Centres

In June 2025, a mandatory civil protection emergency training plan was approved for all pupils in non-university educational centres. Its implementation will begin in the 2025/2026 academic year.

The aim is to ensure that students and teaching staff know how to act in risk situations, ranging from floods or earthquakes to fires or technological accidents.

Each school year, specific hours will be devoted to this training (a minimum of two hours in pre-primary and primary education, and four hours in secondary, upper secondary and vocational education). The content will be adapted to each educational stage, with special attention given to persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups.

In addition, teachers, civil protection staff and volunteers will receive specialised training. To support this process, a repository of accessible materials has been created in several official languages, available online: Repositorio de recursos (Resource repository).

The full cost of the plan will be covered by the competent ministries, with no additional funding required from the autonomous communities.

Regulation to Promote Healthy and Sustainable Eating in Schools

In April 2025, Royal Decree 315/2025 (Real Decreto 315/2025), was published with the aim of improving school meals and promoting healthier and more environmentally sustainable eating habits. The new regulation will enter into force in April 2026.

In particular, the decree establishes minimum nutritional quality and sustainability criteria to be applied in the contracting of food and beverage services and supplies in schools, as well as requirements for the planning of school menus.

The new regulation applies to centres offering different educational stages, including all those providing the second cycle of pre-primary education (ages 3 to 5).

Authorities will carry out official inspections, in the manner and frequency they deem necessary, to ensure compliance with the provisions of this royal decree. If the rules are not respected, the administration may impose penalties. Under no circumstances may these measures result in an increase in the cost of school meals for families.

Redistribution of Funds for the creation of free public places in the first cycle of Early Childhood Education

The Council of Ministers, upon request from the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, has approved the redistribution of 13 332 000 euros among five autonomous communities for the creation of 1 200 new free public places for 0 to 3 year olds.

These funds will be distributed among the regions of Aragón, Illes Balears, Canarias, Comunitat Valenciana and La Rioja as part of the Territorial Cooperation Programme to boost schooling in the first cycle of Early Childhood Education, which falls within the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.

Boosting schooling from 0 to 3 years of age is a priority, as this stage has an impact on improving the results and performance of children. It also contributes to equal opportunities, educational equity and family reconciliation. Since 2021, 65 000 places have been created in this educational stage.

School Code Programme 4.0 – School Year 2023/24

In December 2023, the Agreement of the Sectorial Conference on Education was published, approving the proposal for territorial distribution and distribution criteria for the credits managed by autonomous communities and destined for the School Code Programme 4.0, in the budgetary year 2023, with an amount of 1 600 000.00 euros.

The recipients of this programme are teachers who provide education in the second cycle of Early Childhood and Primary Education, regulated by Law 2/2006 on Education (LOE), amended by Law 3/2020 (LOMLOE), and their students. Depending on the support needs expressed by the teaching staff, it may be extended to publicly funded schools that offer Secondary Education, provided the support needs of schools offering the second cycle of Early Childhood and Primary Education have been met.

The general goal is to implement the necessary mechanisms and processes to spread and facilitate the development of digital skills related to computational thinking and programming for both teachers and students in publicly funded schools.

The specific objectives of the Programme are:

• To improve the digital skills of students, especially those related to computational thinking and programming.
• To implement digital skills in the classroom, especially those related to computational thinking and programming, through teacher training, support, and the development of digital educational resources.
• To provide schools with the necessary equipment to develop students' digital skills, especially those related to computational thinking and programming.

Programme to Promote Enrolment in the First Cycle of Early Childhood Education with New Publicly Owned Places, Primarily for one- and two-year-old Children

On December 13, 2023, the Sectorial Conference on Education approved the Agreement establishing the territorial distribution and distribution criteria for credits managed by autonomous communities and destined for the Territorial Cooperation Programme to Promote Enrolment in the First Cycle of Early Childhood Education with new publicly owned places, primarily for one- and two-year-old children, in the budgetary year 2023, within Component 21 "Modernization and digitalization of the education system, including early education from 0-3 years" of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM), with an amount of 142 464 043.00 euros.