Running the centre
Bedel (the job)
A bedel is the Spanish word for the person who, in a school or a university, keeps order outside the classrooms and looks after the building's everyday errands: opening up and locking, the keys, the post and the notices. In an office, it is the junior attendant. The English cousin of the word is "beadle".
Also known asbedela · beadle · school caretaker · porter · usher
What a bedel does
The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy gives two senses. The first belongs to schools: the person whose job is to keep order outside the classrooms, along with other auxiliary duties. The second belongs to offices: the employee who does the junior, supporting tasks. In a school or a university faculty, the bedel is the one who knows the building: which door does not shut, which classroom is free and whom to call.
The usual duties, with differences from one place to another:
- Opening and locking the building, and switching the lights and the heating on and off.
- Keeping the keys to classrooms, halls and offices and lending them to the right person.
- Receiving whoever arrives: families, visitors, suppliers, the lift engineer.
- Collecting and handing out the post and the parcels.
- Setting up classrooms and halls, making photocopies, moving equipment and pinning notices on the board.
- Spotting what breaks and reporting it: the dripping tap, the stuck blind, the dead strip light.
In public job postings the post is hardly ever called "bedel" any more. It usually appears as ordenanza, subalterno, conserje or auxiliar de servicios, depending on the administration hiring. "Bedel" is the everyday name, the one pupils, teachers and families still use.
Bedel, conserje, ordenanza and celador: how they differ
They are used almost as synonyms, and the dictionary itself lists them as related words. The difference is where each one works.
| Word | What the Spanish dictionary says | Where you hear it |
|---|---|---|
| Bedel | Keeps order outside the classrooms in a school; in an office, does the junior tasks | Schools and universities |
| Conserje | Is in charge of the custody, cleaning and keys of a building or public establishment | Public buildings, schools and hotels |
| Ordenanza | Employee who does the junior tasks in certain offices | Offices and public bodies |
| Celador | Person appointed by the authority to keep watch | Hospitals and boarding schools |
Definitions summarised from the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), read on 12 November 2026.
In a school, "bedel" and "conserje" name the same person. In a hospital the word is celador and in a ministry, ordenanza. In a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence) or a student residence, the equivalent post is the porters' lodge.
Where the word comes from
According to the dictionary, "bedel" comes from the Occitan "bedel", and that from the Frankish "bidil", meaning usher. It shares its root with the English "beadle". The job is as old as the university: the Partidas of Alfonso X, in the thirteenth century, already order each place of study to have its messenger, called "bidellus" in Latin, to announce the feast days around the schools, tell who is selling or buying books and summon the scholars (Partida II, title 31, law 10).
How it is written: bedel, bedela, bedeles
It is written with a b and no accent mark, and the stress falls on the last syllable. The plural is "bedeles". The feminine is "bedela", and the dictionary notes that the form "bedel" is also used for the feminine: "la bedel".
Worth knowing
What people take for granted: that the bedel remembers everything. Whatever is said in the corridor (the radiator on the second floor, the key that has gone missing) depends on their memory and on their being on shift. Once the report is written down in a maintenance ticket, with who gave it and at what time, it no longer depends on that.
Sources
Related terms
- Colegio mayorA colegio mayor is a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme, integrated into a university: it houses university students and runs cultural and scientific activities for their all-round education. The LOSU defines it as a university institution that only non-profit entities may run or promote.
- 24-hour receptionA 24-hour reception is a residence service that has someone looking after the entrance and the phone at any hour, including nights and public holidays. In a student residence it is where forgotten keys, parcels, night-time faults and emergencies all end up.
- Porters' lodgeThe porters' lodge is the post by the entrance of a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence) or a student residence where the porter checks who comes in, takes in parcels and post, hands out keys and is the first contact for residents, families and contractors. It often knows who is inside.