Discover la Fundació Pere Tarrés
Do you want to know about our track record?
How did we begin? The start of our work is the origin of today's recreation centers. And over the years, we have expanded the scope of our transformative activity through training, research, and the management of social and socio-educational services.
70 years educating, acting, and transforming!
In 1905, Pere Tarrés was born in Manresa, and beginning in 1926, he studied Medicine. He directed and was active in the Federation of Christian Youth of Catalonia from 1931. During the Civil War, he served as a field medic with the Republican army. In 1942, he was ordained a priest. In 1950, he died of cancer at the La Mercè Clinic, which he had founded to care for tuberculosis patients.
1957. The Secretariat for Colonies of the Diocesan Caritas of Barcelona is established, the origin of the Pere Tarrés Foundation and the seed of the Foundation's current Movement of Catalan Christian Day Camp Centers (MCECC).
1960. We organized the first training course for camp counselors and directors in the Spanish State.
1968. The first recreational centers in Catalonia begin to be established. We build the Artur Martorell colony house in Calafell.
1970. The Esplai School is born, where we group the training courses for counselors and directors of camps and educational leisure programs.
1971. We publish the first Estris magazine.
1979. We move to 149 Numància Street in Barcelona.
1981. We inaugurate the Pere Tarrés Hostel, the first youth hostel in Barcelona. The Esplai School expands and offers training in sociocultural animation.
1985. The Pere Tarrés Foundation is created.
1992. We are pioneers in the state in offering the university diploma in Social Education.
1998. We converted the old La Conreria seminary (Tiana) into the largest campground in Catalonia.
1999. We began our consulting and studies activities.
2000. We take over the "La Inmaculada" women's student residence in Madrid.
2002. We take over the University School of Social Work of the former Catalan Institute of Social Studies of Barcelona (ICESB). We begin distance learning and start managing daycare centers.
2003. We open a regional branch in Tarragona.
2004. We manage the first senior center and the first lunch space (dining hall).
2005. We inaugurate the renovation of the youth hostel.
2007. We begin the Master's in Social Services Management.
2008. We hold the first Pere Tarrés Social Forum.
2009. We receive the Medal of Honor from the City of Barcelona.
2010. We established the Pere Tarrés–URL Faculty of Social Education and Social Work, with the launch of the university degrees.
2011. The Friends of the Foundation Association is created to develop charitable campaigns.
2012. The Movement of Catalan Christian Play Centers brings together centers from Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Andorra, and Castellón at Montserrat.
2013. We launched our job placement service and began managing the Les Estades hostel (Rialp).
2015. We establish the Foundation's Network of Socioeducational Centers (XaCS) and begin operations at the centers in Poblenou and Poble-sec. Dr. Maria Victòria Molins receives the Honoris Causa award from the Pere Tarrés Faculty.
2016. The Generalitat of Catalonia awards us the Cross of Saint Jordi.
2017. We open a regional branch in Mallorca. We begin managing the Era Garona hostel (Salardú).
2018. We begin managing a shelter for unaccompanied migrant minors. We open the regional office in Central Catalonia.
2019. We manage the first support floor for unaccompanied migrant minors. We inaugurate the renovation of the Binicanella colony house (Bunyola, Mallorca).
2021. The Research, Innovation and Social Analysis Group (GIAS) of the Pere Tarrés Faculty is recognized as a Consolidated Research Group by the Generalitat de Catalunya.
2022. We manage our own preschool, El Ginjoler, for the first time. We acquire the Les Estades hostel (Rialp).
2023. We offer the Higher Professional Training Cycles in Social Integration and Early Childhood Education.
2024. We assume ownership of the Pare Palau Socio-Educational Center (Lleida).
Who inspires us?
The example, social commitment, and generous spirit of Blessed Pere Tarrés were a source of inspiration for our early activities, and that is why, when we formally established ourselves as a Foundation in 1985, we decided to adopt his name. Pere Tarrés (1905, Manresa – 1950, Barcelona) was a physician and priest who understood medicine by connecting body and spirit, thus giving prominent weight to human spirituality and viewing it as another dimension of the person. Dr. Tarrés was known for his dedication to the most vulnerable. Between 1931 and 1936, he directed the Federation of Christian Youth of Catalonia (FJOC), a former Movement of Catalan Christian Recreation Centers (MCECC) like ours, for clarity. During the Civil War, he served as a field doctor with the Republican army, and it was this wartime experience and his religiosity that led him to be ordained as a priest. Serving as a Christian believer in the military led him to live in hiding for an entire year.
In 1947, he founded the Mare de Déu de la Mercè Sanatorium Clinic, where our Foundation's main headquarters is now located at 149 Numància Street in Barcelona, together with his friend, Dr. Gerard Manresa. Tarrés died at just 45 years old from cancer.
His example and his spiritual and social legacy led the Catholic Church to declare Pere Tarrés a beat in 2004. You can get to know Pere Tarrés more deeply with these materials:
