Road sign P-21a: Children

What it means

«Peligro por la proximidad de un lugar frecuentado por niños, como una escuela, una zona de juegos, etc.» RD 465/2025, Annex I of the RGC (BOE-A-2025-12199), Spanish original.

The sign warns of a place frequented by children, such as a school or a play area. It marks a place, not an hour or a speed: it applies equally on a Saturday afternoon and at school-leaving time, because the risk is that a child may appear.

Where you meet it

It appears near schools, parks or play areas. In front of a school bus stopped at its stop, moderating is compulsory even if you see no child: the vehicle hides exactly the area from which one may emerge (RGC art. 46.1.e).

What you must do

Moderate your speed, with no fixed figure (RGC art. 46.1.b). Nor does it give children priority by itself: article 65 does that, and guided school lines do have it even when crossing away from a crossing (RGC art. 65).

Details that count

What this sign does not do, and the exam asks it: it does not oblige you to stop, it bans neither overtaking nor parking, and it sets no speed. It anticipates that children may appear on the road near schools, parks or play areas, and what it triggers is the moderation duty of article 46, which also expressly names approaching a stopped bus, especially a school bus (RGC art. 46.1.e).

What it is confused with

It is confused with P-20b, «Pedestrians». P-21a warns of a place where a child may appear; P-20b, of a stretch with heavy pedestrian traffic. It is also confused with the stay-and-play zone (S-28), which is an information sign for an area intended first of all for pedestrians.

Related signs

• P-20b: Pedestrians
• P-22b: Cyclists
• P-20a: Pedestrian crossing

Studied in topic 3: Pedestrians and cyclists.

Source: RGC arts. 46.1.b, 46.1.e, 65; RGC Annex I, sign P-21a (RD 465/2025).