Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is the first stage of the Spanish education system which has its own identity, and applies to children aged 0–5 years. Participation is voluntary. ECEC is divided into two 3-year cycles:

• the first cycle covers from 0 to 2 years of age and corresponds to an International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) level of 010;
• the second cycle covers from 3 to 5 years of age and corresponds to ISCED level 020.

The organisation and the minimum teaching standards for Early Childhood Education at national level are regulated by  Royal Decree 95/2022, which for the first time regulates and establishes the educational nature of the first cycle from 0 to 3 years of age.
Based on said minimum teaching, the education administrations of the autonomous communities, through their Departments of Education, establish the curriculum for Early Childhood Education. In the autonomous community of Galicia, this is also under the responsibility of the Department of Social Policy. The autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla are directly dependent on the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, according to Order EFP/608/2022 which establishes the curriculum and regulates the organisation of Early Childhood Education in its scope of management.

Spanish legislation (article 15.2 of Organic Law 2/2006 on Education [LOE], as amended by Organic Law 3/2020 [LOMLOE]) guarantees that every child over 3 years of age has the legal right to a place in an Early Childhood Education institution. The education administrations must guarantee a sufficient number of places in public schools and and enter into agreements with publicly funded private schools, in the context of their educational programme. Royal Decree 95/2022 (article 5) also establishes that the second cycle of Early Childhood Education is free of charge, as well as the extension of free education to the first cycle, prioritizing the access of students at risk of poverty and social exclusion as well as low schooling rates. 

Institutions may offer the first cycle of early childhood education, the second cycle or both in settings with other educational stages or in unitary configurations for early childhood education (nursery schools). In Spain, ECEC takes place mainly in schools; Although it is not compulsory, the second cycle has become widespread throughout the country, so that, at present, practically 100 % of children aged 3–5 years attend ECEC settings.

In addition to early childhood schools, there are a number of other forms of early childhood education and care which differ in their organisation, operation and/or aims from those commonly established for early childhood schools. Given the great variability of systems and providers, only those modalities that have a long history and are formally regulated are listed below:

• Children's homes: these were created in the Community of Madrid as a result of the need to provide educational care for children in rural areas. They are regulated by Order 2399/2016;

• rural nursery: in Cataluña, the possibility of creating rural nurseries is established by Decree 282/2006;

• childcare centres: in the Autonomous Community of Galicia, Decree 329/2005 is established; this piece of legislation refers to different types of centres for minors and childcare, not always of an educational nature; only two of these types emphasise the educational nature in relation to the 0-3 years stage: nursery schools and residential centres.

• day nurseries or nest homes: these formulas refer to professionals who offer childcare services in their own homes, previously adapted and equipped with the appropriate equipment. These services are eminently focused on care and attention for children under the age of three. The groups are usually very small: 3 or 4 children. In Spain there is no regulation at state level, but there are autonomous communities that are legislating these childcare modalities and trying to develop them in their territory, as described in the section Home-based provision.

• seasonal farm workers' and itinerant families: in the Autonomous Community of Andalucía, special measures are established to facilitate access to education for the most disadvantaged groups, through  Law 9/1999 on Solidarity in Education;

• incorporation of pupils aged 2-3 years old into primary schools: in Aragón, Cantabria, Extremadura and Comunitat Valenciana, early schooling programmes are included, in which pupils in the third year of the first cycle of Early Childhood Education can be enrolled, at the age of two, in Early Childhood and Primary Schools.