18 new cities join the CFCI in Spain: half of children & adolescents live in a Child Friendly City

10 December 2025 - 18 new Spanish local governments have received the recognition by UNICEF Spain that accredits them as Child Friendly Cities. Being a Child Friendly City is much more than a diploma: a recent UNICEF Spain report showed that cities in this network are more likely to implement policies with a child-friendly approach. They implement 10% more proposals made by children and adolescents each year than in cities that do not belong to this initiative, and they better integrate children's rights into key public policies (safe school mobility, children's mental health, inclusion of children with disabilities etc.).

To learn about the protagonists of this initiative and some of their stories, throughout this year, UNICEF Spain and the communication agency Implícate have travelled to different municipalities and cities and asked children and adolescents what it means for a city to be their friend. The testimonies, collected in the #MiCiudadAmiga campaign, show the impact of the initiative:

A city that listens to its children

For a municipality, one of the requirements to join our network is that it has at least one local child and adolescent participation group. "This last aspect, that of participation and listening, is fundamental," says Mª Ángeles Espinosa Bayal, director of IUNDIA, during the 2025 awards ceremony, on December 9. "Listening to the voice of children is a right and an opportunity to transform the environment. When we give them space to have their say and decide, we are teaching them that their ideas matter and that they can be agents of change. Children's participation sparks creativity, strengthens confidence, and helps build more just and supportive communities."

"These 18 city councils and all the local governments in the network are an example. Beyond providing basic services, they acquire a notorious commitment to children," says Rubén Pérez Correa, Secretary of State for Youth and Children. "For our ministry, learning from the commitment of social stewardship is essential."

"Children's participation awakens creativity, strengthens confidence and helps to build fairer and more supportive communities."

Luis Martínez-Sicluna Sepúlveda, secretary general of the FEMP, also highlights the involvement of local entities when it comes to making the rights of younger citizens effective: "Child Friendly Cities try to think about cities through the eyes of children and adolescents, and develop original and avant-garde solutions to put their rights at the center of public policies".

For his part, Fernando Sequeira, First Vice-President of UNICEF Spain, believes that this initiative has a special impact at a difficult time for children, both internationally and in Spain, a country with one of the highest poverty rates in Europe and where children face challenges such as the criminalization of migrant children. the guarantee of the right to mental health or online well-being. Sequeira highlights the work of city councils and local entities, due to their proximity to citizens and children, when it comes to turning places into safe environments for children.

The voice of the protagonists

Alicia and Phillipa, from the UNICEF Spain advisory group and Parla's local participation group, closed the meeting. Both know well what the footprint of the participation of people their age is: "We have been working intensely for four years to give a voice to all the children and adolescents of our municipality. In these four years we have managed to get several of our proposals studied and conducted. But we continue to demand improvements for the entire population," says Alicia, 14.

Phillipa, 17, recalls that young people are also citizens: "Today's decisions will influence us tomorrow. The participation of children and adolescents makes young people interested in knowing what things benefit them, in wanting to participate more in their own decisions, in making them more autonomous and surer of things they like or do not like," he adds.

"The participation of children and adolescents makes young people interested in knowing what things benefit them, to be more autonomous"

Both have explained that participation groups are diverse spaces that include all children and have shared ideas on how to generate inclusive and meaningful child and adolescent participation processes. Among them, the importance of active listening and to adapt exchanges according to their age, knowledge or accountability. For Alicia, "knowing the opinion of all the people who live in a municipality makes decisions more balanced, that all points of view are taken into account. Those decisions will be more democratic, fair, and lasting."