The Xunta regulates by decree campsites, hostels, and the Youth Card

The Official Gazette of Galicia publishes this Monday, November 2, Decree 115/2026, of October 13, which develops Title II of Law 6/2012, of June 19, on the youth of Galicia. The regulation, approved by the Council of the Xunta at its meeting on October 13 and signed by the Minister of Culture, Language and Youth, José Carlos López Campos, establishes for the first time in a comprehensive manner the regime for camps, hostels, youth facilities, leisure education schools, and youth service cards. The text enters into force twenty days after its publication, on the coming November 22, and replaces Decree 50/2000, of January 20.

A regulation of 112 articles to end fifteen years of interim status

The decree is developed in a preliminary title and six further titles, with a total of 112 articles, completed by three additional provisions, four transitional, one repealing, and two final provisions. The statement of reasons justifies the regulation based on the need to end the “transitory and interim situation” that kept Decree 50/2000 in force while the regulatory development of the 2012 law, modified by Law 9/2017, of December 26, was not approved.

The text articulates eight administrative procedures, all with standardized forms in Annexes I to IX and with a permanently open submission period from the date of entry into force:

• BS312A: start of youth information activity.
• BS307A: start, modification, or cessation as a leisure education school.
• BS314A: leisure education activities with a responsible declaration.
• BS315A and BS315B: start or change of ownership and substantial modification of youth facilities.
• BS315C: prior communication of activities.
• BS309A: issuance of titles for leisure schools.
• BS319A: application for the Carné Xove (Youth Card).

The processing included public consultation, hearings with affected entities, and the participatory sessions of the III and IV Open Forum on Leisure and the XI and XII editions of Interactuando no tempo libre, as stated in the decree itself.

Camps: ratios, insurance, and camping limits

Title IV regulates leisure education activities, which require a minimum of eight participants and encompass camping trips, hiking trips, camps, volunteer camps, workshops, excursions, and events with childcare. The intensity of administrative control depends on the duration:

• Prior communication (BS315C) for camps without overnight stays of five or more days and for activities with more than two and fewer than six consecutive nights.
• Responsible declaration (BS314A) for activities that include six or more consecutive nights.

The minimum ratios for the technical team vary according to age: one person for every 8 participants under 9 years old and for every 10 from that age onwards in activities with a responsible declaration, compared to 1 for every 10 and 1 for every 15 in others. All personnel, including interns, must possess a current certificate stating they are not registered in the Central Registry of Sexual Offenders.

Regarding insurance, the decree requires a civil liability policy with minimum limits of 300,000 euros per victim and 1,200,000 euros per claim, in addition to accident insurance with coverage of 6,000 euros for healthcare, 5,000 euros for death, and 6,500 euros for disability. Camps must respect minimum distances—150 meters from drinking water intakes, 1 kilometer from urban centers or public tourism camps, 50 meters from roads, and 500 meters from declared monuments—and guarantee 100 liters of water per person per day.

Youth Facilities: Hostels, Camps, and Residences

Title V defines the typology of youth facilities and the technical conditions for each:

• Youth hostels, fixed, permanent or seasonal, with individual or collective accommodation.
• Youth camps, with overnight stays in tents, caravans, or portable elements, and an infirmary with one bed for up to 25 places and two between 26 and 50.
• School farms and nature classrooms, with equipment for agricultural or environmental educational work.
• Youth residences, for young women and men who must stay away from the family home for study or work.
• Youth centers of the Galician Network, under the name Espazo Xove.

Facilities with accommodation must have heating with a minimum of 19 ºC, bedrooms with 5 useful square meters per person, wifi in common areas, and a multipurpose room of 15 square meters. The regulation also creates the Galician Youth Hostel Network (RAXG), a mandatory previous step to integrate into the Spanish Youth Hostel Network (REAX).

Youth Card and Leisure Time Training

Title VI introduces for the first time a regional regulation of the Youth Card (Carné Xove), integrated into the European Youth Card program of the European Youth Card Association (EYCA). Holders can be people between 12 and 30 years old, and validity will be extended until age 31. The Xunta will issue it ex officio to people domiciled in Galicia, although activation will be required at an enabled point, and the resolution period for applications will be three months.

Regarding training, Title III updates the regime for leisure education schools: courses with a maximum of 25 students per classroom, 100 in-person hours for the monitor course and 136 for the director course, and online training that cannot exceed one-third of the total hours.

Adaptations and Impact

Schools already registered have one year from the date of entry into force to adapt their project, educational system, material resources, and organizational chart; if they fail to do so, the department may open proceedings for their removal from the Registry of Youth Entities of Galicia. Registered youth facilities shall transitionally maintain the technical conditions of Decree 50/2000, but will move to the new regime if they carry out a substantial modification.

The decree directly affects leisure associations, free-time companies, families who enroll their children in camps, and city councils that provide spaces for camping, which from the end of November must certify staff ratios, insurance, and sexual offense certificates before each activity.

Source: Official Gazette of Galicia (DOG), no. 209, November 2, 2026, section I. General provisions, p. 54828 (official reference: CVE-DOG: krgw8j00-xus8-pie4-lsn1-rynpwfqkzyk4).