A school answers for its building, its canteen and the protection of its pupils, and each has its own rule

Read in the BOE on 19 October 2026. The protocols, the coordinator's duties and the canteen's health registration are set out by each region.

The short answer

What sets a school apart from any other building open to the public are three things: the facilities it must have to be authorised, the child-protection obligations brought in by the LOPIVI (the Spanish act on protecting children from violence) in 2021, and the canteen, which since April 2026 has its own royal decree. The technical inspections (fire, electricity, heating, Legionella, lift) are those of any building, with thresholds that a school crosses quickly: a few classrooms with more than 50 people already make it a public-assembly venue.

The minimum facilities of Real Decreto 132/2010

For schools offering second-cycle early years, primary, compulsory secondary, sixth form and vocational training, Article 3 of Real Decreto 132/2010 requires a separate building used only for school purposes (outside school hours it can be used for educational, cultural or sports activities), with separate access for second-cycle early years; the structural, fire, safety-in-use, health, noise and energy-saving conditions set by law; natural, direct ventilation and lighting in teaching spaces; accessibility; and minimum spaces: head's offices, administration, staff room, enough toilets including adapted ones, support spaces and, in publicly funded schools, a room for pupils' and parents' associations.

Primary, compulsory secondary and sixth form add that playground, a library of at least 45 m² (primary) or 75 m² (secondary), a gym and access to technology in every teaching space. In early years, at least three units, 2 m² per place in each classroom, a 30 m² multi-purpose room and a playground of their own of at least 150 m² per six units (Art. 6); in primary, 1.5 m² per place (Art. 10). Nurseries for children aged 0 to 3 are not governed by this article but by whatever each education authority regulates (Art. 5(2)).

Pupil protection: what the LOPIVI asks of the school

Organic Act 8/2021 tasks the education authorities with drafting the protocols against abuse and mistreatment, bullying, cyberbullying, sexual harassment, gender or domestic violence and any other form of violence. The school's job is to apply them and make sure the school community knows them.

In addition, every school where minors study, whoever owns it, has a wellbeing and protection coordinator under the supervision of the management (Art. 35). Among the minimum duties: promoting training for staff, pupils and families, being the reference point for reporting possible cases, coordinating those that need social services and promoting immediate notice to the police when there is a risk. Whether a current staff member or a new person does it, and with which requirements, is decided by each education authority. The article took effect six months after the act came into force, which was on 25 June 2021.

The third task concerns those who work at the school. The management and the owner check that teaching staff, support staff and service-company staff who work or collaborate at the school regularly provide the compulsory certificates (Art. 32), that is, the clean certificate from the Central Register of Sex Offenders and Human Trafficking (Art. 57). Daily cleaning staff or the canteen supervisor are covered; "meramente ocasional" (merely occasional) contact is not (Art. 57(2)).

The school canteen

Article 40 of Act 17/2011 already required varied, balanced meals supervised by professionals trained in nutrition; the monthly menu plan for families; special menus for pupils with certified allergies or intolerances where the organisation and kitchen allow it, or the means to keep and heat food brought from home; and a ban on selling food and drink high in saturated fat, trans fat, salt and sugar.

Real Decreto 315/2025, in force since 16 April 2026 for public, state-funded and private schools, spells it out:

• Weekly frequencies (Art. 9): fresh fruit four to five times, fish one to three, meat at most three portions with only one of red meat, fried food at most once, ready-made dishes once a month, water as the only drink and no whole nuts for children under six.
• Information for families (Art. 11): the monthly menu with the name of each dish, the cooking method, sauces and sides and the allergens in each dish, on the noticeboard, on the website or by another accessible means.
• Special menus (Art. 10) for allergies or intolerances with a medical certificate and also for ethical or religious reasons, or the means to keep and heat the one brought from home.
• Vending machines and cafeteria (Arts. 5 to 7): limits on calories, fat, sugar and salt per portion, no packaged drink with more than 15 mg of caffeine per 100 ml, machines out of reach of early-years and primary pupils and with no advertising.

Article 4(2), which extends the purchasing criteria to public, state-funded and private schools, comes into force on 16 April 2027 (second final provision). In the kitchen the rules for any food business apply: a procedure based on HACCP (APPCC in Spanish) with a responsible person (APPCC), registration in the region's health register, which for a canteen serving on site is notified by the owner of the facilities, and control samples.

Control samples (comidas testigo) are compulsory in school canteens and nurseries: one portion of at least 100 g of each meal, labelled and dated, kept for at least seven days chilled (4 °C or less) or frozen (Real Decreto 1086/2020, Art. 30(8) and 30(10)).

The building: self-protection, fire, electricity and water

The Basic Directive on self-protection, in force since 11 October 2026, requires a plan from schools attended by 50 or more people who cannot evacuate by their own means or have a disability, and from those whose activity could cause emergencies in the civil-protection risk catalogue (Annex I, 2.D). The rest are still bound by evacuation protocols under occupational health and safety and education rules. Catalonia adds to its catalogue, among others, nurseries with more than 100 pupils (Decret 30/2015). More in self-protection plan.

For fire, the RIPCI ten-year inspection does not apply to educational use below 2,000 m² built, unless there are high special-risk or storage areas; maintenance of extinguishers and detection does (RIPCI). For electricity, schools are public-assembly venues with an expected occupancy of more than 50 people, and nurseries always: inspection every five years by an inspection body (low voltage). For the lift, the same thresholds mean an inspection every two years (lifts).

A school's heating is usually central; if its generators exceed 70 kW, there is a maintenance contract, an annual certificate and an efficiency inspection every four years, and educational use is not on the list of temperature limits in IT 3.8 (RITE). Water in showers and changing rooms, sprinkler irrigation and fountains fall under the Legionella royal decree, and a school is not a "priority" installation unless the health authority says so (Legionella).

Defibrillator, complaint forms and tobacco: what changes by region

In the Region of Madrid, Decree 78/2017 requires every school to have a defibrillator, with no threshold (Art. 3(h)). In Catalonia the obligation reaches schools with more than 1,000 occupants and special-education schools with more than 200 places; in the Basque Country, those with a capacity of 2,000 or more; in Andalusia schools are not listed (defibrillator). In Catalonia, Decree 121/2013 leaves schools providing formal education out of the official complaint forms (Art. 1.3); elsewhere, check your region's consumer rules. And smoking is banned in schools (Act 28/2005, Art. 7(d)), as is the use of e-cigarettes (twelfth additional provision).

What the rule does not say