SOS Children's Villages has been present in Spain since the late 1960s and currently works with families and children in eight locations on mainland Spain and in the Canary Islands. In 1981, SOS Children's Villages Spain was founded and since then has been responsible for the organisation's work in the country. SOS Children's Villages runs a variety of programmes in order to meet the needs of children, young people and families in the local communities.
The SOS Children's Village Cuenca was put in operation in spring of 1992. Cuenca is situated at a distance of 165 km to the east of Madrid, the SOS Children's Village itself being located at a 10 minutes' walk from the centre of the city of Cuenca, next to the city's bullring and the national radio-station. The SOS Children's Village can be easily reached by bus or train from Madrid. The SOS Children's Village was built on a site of 12,9 hectares and comprises 12 family houses, a Village Director's house and a community centre. The community centre is also used as an office building and includes workshops for the vocational training of the youths as well as an SOS Day Care Centre where children of single mothers can stay during the day. The SOS Children's Village is surrounded by a large park, there are playgrounds and sports facilities and even a small amphitheatre, where a large scale of different activities take place.
The adolescents of the SOS Children's Village stay at an SOS Youth House in the city of Cuenca during their higher educational or vocational training. Next to the SOS Children's Village there are three public schools, a health centre, a church, parks and a multipurpose sports' centre.
