The Generalitat will manage the first children's 'hospice' that Barcelona will have at the beginning of 2026

A center to help children with incurable diseases, and to accompany them and their families in a comprehensive way, is the specialized resource in pediatric palliative care and attention to complex chronicity that is preparing to be born in Barcelona.

The Victory Pavilion, "a place to care for life," as defined by the Enriqueta Villavecchia Children's Oncology Foundation, promoter of the project, will be located at the beginning of 2026 in a historic pavilion of the Hospital de Sant Pau and will be available to children with life-limiting illnesses.

It is a pioneering project in our society as a children's hospice, a support home for sick children and their families in stages that require greater support of all kinds. The center will be available to all children and young people with complex, advanced chronic diseases and in the last days of life, residing in Catalonia and attended by the Comprehensive Pediatric Palliative Care Network of Catalonia (XAPPI), and will provide comprehensive, social, and health support, complementary to existing resources.

The facilities will have a constructed area of 1,380 m², in addition to 1,300 m² of gardens, and restoration work on the pavilion's facade is expected to begin between September and October of this year. It will be a space where families can have respite and well-being stays ---there will be six rooms for this---, access therapies and leisure and relaxation proposals, and experience the end of their child's life in two family apartments.

As we reported a year ago in The New Barcelona Post and in the words of the manager of the Villavecchia Foundation, Anna Varderi, "the time has come to take another step, creating a comprehensive support space, offering residential places and day support, and facilitating respite spaces that include therapies, sensory stimulation, a water area, support groups and activities. And, of course, play and fun, as well as family support in a warm and welcoming environment with the accompaniment of professionals during the last days of patients' lives, in farewell and in mourning."

World Childhood Cancer Day

Taking advantage of the commemoration this Thursday of World Childhood Cancer Day, the Villavecchia Foundation wanted to make public the support that, for the realization of this project, they are already receiving, both from civil society and from the public administration.

On the one hand, the Departments of Salut and Drets Socials have confirmed the future incorporation of this center into the public portfolio of services, assuming the management of the equipment once it becomes operational, at the beginning of 2026.

This commitment reaffirms the words that a year ago, on February 15, 2023, the Minister of Health, Manel Balcells, pronounced at a press conference: "Although medicine has advanced a lot, today, unfortunately, despite the advances, in Catalonia there are about 260 annual deaths of children from diseases such as cancer. Therefore, the approach of how palliative care should be oriented is transcendent at that end of life, especially for families, as well as support in complex chronicity. This space is needed to accompany, care for and fill with life the entire process of the disease and the last moments of children."

The facilities will have a constructed area of 1,380 m², in addition to 1,300 m² of gardens

Support from companies with materials and services

The commitment to the realization of this initiative has also come from civil society. Several companies, such as Cementos Molins, Simon, Roca, Otis, Eurofred, Fundació Fluidra, PwC, Ferrer & Ojeda, CDM Barcelona, Normmal or VEO have already confirmed their contribution of a large part of the materials and services necessary for the creation of the Pavilion of Victory. Other entities and institutions have confirmed their collaboration to make this resource a reality.

The Villavecchia Foundation has proposed the creation of the Pavilion of Victory as "a Victory for all," a challenge shared with all of society to incorporate into the health and social system a pioneering resource that cares for the lives of children who cannot be cured, and helps their families in the process, with an integrated approach from the social, health, and educational fields.

In Catalonia, there are at least 1,535 children with pediatric palliative care needs and another 1,500 children with complex chronic pathologies

According to official data, it is estimated that in Catalunya there are a minimum of 1,535 children with pediatric palliative care needs and another 1,500 children with complex chronic pathologies. The president of the Villavecchia Foundation, Dr. Núria Pardo, emphasizes that "it is fundamental to have a center prepared to help and comprehensively care for the child and their family in the most critical moments and in the last days of life. We want there to be a children's hospice in Catalunya, the first of several that should come later, a resource very present in other countries in Europe and the world."

The Victoria Pavilion will also be a meeting and care space for professionals, from where knowledge and research in pediatric palliative care will be promoted, as well as awareness about the illness and death of children, promoting community involvement and support for entities and educational centers.

The center wants to integrate this little-visible reality into our society. To do this, the Villavecchia Foundation works very closely with affected families and a Family Council has been created to ensure that the project responds to their needs and those of their children.

The pavilion will also be a space aimed at professionals to promote research on pediatric palliative care