Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, the city’s public transport operator known as TMB, plans to expand suicide prevention and witness assistance posters across the metro network from 11 stations to 123 over the next year. For regular passengers, that means many more platforms will carry visible information on where to get urgent help, including for people in crisis and for commuters who witness a traumatic incident.

The rollout builds on a campaign launched in September 2025 after Barcelona metro recorded 122 suicide attempts in the previous five years, 31 of them fatal, according to figures reported by El Periódico and presented by TMB. The posters direct people to the Barcelona City Council suicide prevention helpline on 900 925 555, the Generalitat emergency health service on 061, and, for affected witnesses, Barcelona’s social emergency service on 900 70 30 30.

"We watch the images to analyse what happens, to look for patterns. People who see someone jump onto the tracks: one puts their hands on their head, another runs away, another is frozen," Ferran Anguera, head of Civil Protection for the Barcelona metro, told El Periódico.

Anguera, who according to the report marked 20 years at the company on Sunday, said he has spent the last 14 in his current role after six years as a technician.

TMB says the campaign is aimed at people in crisis and shocked witnesses

The metro campaign uses two types of poster placed in highly visible spots at the end of platforms. One is aimed at people with suicidal thoughts. The other addresses passengers who have witnessed what the Spanish report describes as a person being struck on the tracks and who may need emotional support afterwards.

"If you are going through a difficult situation, stop and call," one of the posters says, according to TMB’s 2025 campaign details reported by El Periódico.
"Have you witnessed a person being struck? If it has caused you emotional distress and you need help, call," says the second poster, as reported when the campaign was launched.

Catalan News reported at the time that posters had already been placed at Guinardó | Hospital de Sant Pau station on Line 4, giving one confirmed location from the early phase of the scheme.

  • Current coverage: 11 metro stations
  • Planned coverage within one year: 123 stations
  • Recorded incidents in the previous five years: 122 attempts, 31 deaths
  • Suicide prevention helpline shown on posters: 900 925 555

Training for frontline staff accompanies the poster rollout

TMB has also been training metro staff to respond to these situations. El Periódico reported in September 2025 that the operator had put out to tender a specialised training service in “emotional management in critical situations”, mainly for staff who work directly with the public.

That contract had an estimated value of €153,000 and planned around 225 training sessions during 2026, according to the same report. The article described the metro initiative as the first campaign of its kind on a metro network in Spain.

"These are figures that cannot be explained, and that we do not want to hide. We need to share them to help break the taboo," Laia Bonet, Barcelona’s first deputy mayor and president of TMB, said when the campaign was launched in September 2025.

For passengers who need immediate support, the official channels named in the campaign remain the Barcelona suicide prevention helpline on 900 925 555, the Generalitat’s 061 health emergency line, and Barcelona’s social emergency service on 900 70 30 30.

Primary sources: ajuntament.barcelona.cat, noticies.tmb.cat. Reported by Source Text Link, Toni Sust, ground.news, catalannews.com, Glòria Ayuso, Álex Aragonés, Exa, Alamys, Gisela Macedo, Sonia Moreno, Nadia Somoza, laempresaturistica.es, El Periódico Barcelona.