The Maresme used to be a compromise for internationally minded families. You got the sea and the space, and the school run meant crossing into Barcelona. Two British-curriculum campuses on the coast changed that, and they have quietly redrawn where people choose to live.
The British School of Barcelona opened its Maresme campus in Cabrera de Mar in September 2026, with places from age 3 to 11 and secondary due to follow in 2027. Planned capacity is around 700 pupils, and the school puts itself roughly 30 minutes from central Barcelona. It is the arrival that shifted the centre of gravity of the whole coast.
The International School Maresme, in Canet de Mar, is the older coastal option, a British-curriculum school that runs from nursery years up through secondary age. Between the two they cover the southern and northern halves of the coast, and which one you are aiming at usually decides which towns make sense for you.
Cabrera de Mar sits just inland, between Vilassar de Mar and Mataró, and the campus is right there. These are the towns families at this school tend to choose.
Canet de Mar is on the northern coast, a slower R1 town with a Modernist centre and a good family beach. The trade is the commute: this end of the line is peaceful, and an hour from Barcelona.
Some places sit within reasonable reach of both campuses. Mataró, Sant Andreu de Llavaneres and Arenys de Mar all sit on the R1 and are used by families at either school. If you are still waiting on a place or a decision, renting on the train line keeps both options open instead of locking you into one school run.
School fees do most of the work in this decision. The Maresme campuses are generally more affordable than the central Barcelona schools, though you are still budgeting a serious annual figure, and our fee guide covers the current numbers. What people forget is that the tuition is only half the cost of the school choice.
Then the commute. A town that is 15 minutes from the school by car can be 45 minutes in July traffic, so test the school-run route at drop-off time, not on a quiet Saturday. And check the bus: both campuses run services, and a school bus can make a hill village with no station perfectly workable.
Want urban life and a fast train, pick Mataró. Want a beach town with a station, Vilassar de Mar or Canet de Mar. Want a garden, hills and quiet, Cabrils or Argentona. Want the classic Maresme villa address, Sant Andreu de Llavaneres or Alella.
Put the school first, then the commute, then the house. Families who do it the other way round tend to move again within a year, and in this market that is an expensive lesson.
We help relocating families rent across all of these towns, and before anyone commits we will tell you how a specific school run behaves at 8.30 on a Tuesday morning.