The Barcelona City Council has added three new spaces to the Alimenta network, which promotes dignified and healthy food linked to social and labour integration. The project, which already has seven facilities, served 263 people in 2025.
The Barcelona City Council has expanded its network of Alimenta spaces with three new centres in the neighbourhoods of Sants-Badal, Raval and Eixample Esquerra. With these additions, the municipal programme that seeks to guarantee the right to dignified, healthy and sustainable food now has seven facilities distributed throughout the city.
The Commissioner for Social Action, Sonia Fuertes, explained that the programme "proposes a paradigm shift regarding more assistive models and places people at the centre, encourages their active participation in the process, and conceives support for access to food as a tool to accompany processes of personal and community transformation."
The new spaces are Alimenta Sants-Badal, driven by the Fundació Can Pedró; Alimenta Raval, developed with Impulsem al MACBA; and Alimenta Eixample Esquerra, in collaboration with Mescladís. They join the existing ones in Carmel-Teixonera, Gòtic, Nou Barris and Besòs-Maresme, managed by various social entities.
The programme, promoted by the Municipal Institute of Social Services, served a total of 263 people in 2025, provided 19,480 meals, distributed 803 food baskets, and promoted community and employment integration activities. With the expansion, the network will have more than 170 places available.
Each space adapts its proposal to the environment, but all share three lines of work: food security (healthy meals, food distribution or adapted services); social and labour support (guidance, referral to resources, integration processes and training); and community dynamisation (activities that turn food into a space for relationship and participation).
Fuertes highlighted the role of social entities: "They are not just collaborators of the programme, but essential actors in its construction and deployment. Their expertise combined with the leadership and public investment capacity of the City Council constitutes a strategic alliance that multiplies the impact."
The Alimenta project was launched in 2021 and targets individuals and families in vulnerable situations, as well as young people, women, adults with difficulties in labour integration, and those needing food and social support. Access to the programme is through municipal social services.
The initiative aims for users to no longer need the service thanks to an improvement in their personal, social and economic autonomy. To this end, the spaces promote the active participation of individuals, who can cook, share experiences, and participate in workshops and training activities.
With the expansion, Barcelona strengthens a public policy that understands food not only as a basic need but as a tool to generate opportunities, promote community participation, and move towards a more inclusive and cohesive city.
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