Colònies escolars: anàlisi històrica d'una aventura pedagògica (1876-1920) = School summer camps: historical analysis of a pedagogical adventure (1876-1920)

School summer camps, which arose with the basic objective of improving the health
of a sector of the urban population, became a unanimously accepted educational aspect of
considerable scope at the end of the 19th Century. They rapidly spread to other European
countries, although they did not always enjoy the necessary official support, as was the case
of Spain. In our country they were implemented with the help of private institutions, municipalities
and other organisations, with a purely token state support. When the state subsidies
were extended to summer camps in 1911, the latter began to spread. This article studies the birth of these camps in Spain, their implementation and consolidation until the nineteen
thirties, the initiatives they promoted, the funding system and how they were organised
and regulated.