Murcia opens free two‑year places

The Region of Murcia will add 180 free places for two-year-olds in nine public schools for the 2026-27 academic year, according to reporting by La Opinión de Murcia and a regional government announcement. The expansion follows 800,000 euros of adaptation works that officials said are nearly complete. (laopiniondemurcia.es) The measure forms part of a broader regional push to expand free first-cycle early childhood education. Murcia’s education department has said the region will offer more than 9,000 free places for children aged 0 to 3 next school year. ### Which schools are being added to the free two-year-old network? Nine public schools are being adapted to host the new 2-3 year-old classrooms, regional and local reports said. (la7tv.es) Earlier regional reporting identified the centers as Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente and Nuestra Señora de la Arrixaca in Murcia, Florentino Bayona in Mula, Francisco Caparrós in Mazarrón, Nuestra Señora de los Remedios in Albudeite, San José de Calasparra, Vega del Segura in Alguazas, San Agustín in Ojós and Virgen del Rosario in Torre Pacheco. La Opinión de Murcia reported on May 20 that the new places will be available from September for families with children who turn 2 or 3 by that month. (laopiniondemurcia.es) The paper said the works to prepare the classrooms were “prácticamente terminadas.” ### How large is the expansion? The headline figure is 180 new free places across the nine schools, according to La Opinión de Murcia and Murcia.com. That works out to an average of 20 places per center, though the published reports reviewed did not break down capacity school by school. On February 10, the regional government said it would offer 53,378 places overall for Infantil, Secundaria and Bachillerato in 2026-27, including 9,000 free places for ages 0 to 3, up 300 from the current school year. (murciaplaza.com) The May announcement on the nine schools sits inside that wider increase. ### Who is driving the plan? (laopiniondemurcia.es) Víctor Marín, the regional education minister, presented the calendar and the expansion during a visit to the Nuestra Señora de la Arrixaca school in Murcia, according to ORM and other local outlets. Regional statements described the investment as part of the government’s planning for the next school year while the admissions process continues. (laopiniondemurcia.es) Fernando López Miras, the regional president, said in November 2025 that 3,000 free 0-3 places in municipal nursery schools would remain free in 2026 after European funding ended, according to La Opinión de Murcia. That pledge helps explain how the regional administration has framed the expansion as part of a longer-running gratuity policy in early childhood education. (carm.es) ### What does this change for families applying next year? The 2026-27 school year for Infantil and Primaria in Murcia is scheduled to begin on September 8 and end on June 22, 2027, regional authorities said. That gives families a fixed start date for the first cohort entering the new classrooms. (orm.es) The regional admissions offer for 2026-27 was published in February, and education officials said free 0-3 provision would reach almost all municipalities in the region. The next concrete step is the opening of the school year on September 8, when the new two-year-old places in the nine public schools are due to come into service. (carm.es) (la7tv.es) (laopiniondemurcia.es)