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Drought-hit Catalonia to open hotel swimming pools to the general public

Town halls in Catalonia will be able to decide whether private swimming pools belonging to hotels and residential complexes are classified as “climate refuges” that are open to the general public, as the Spanish region prepares drought measures for the summer.

Published: 19 April 2024 09:32 CEST
Drought-hit Catalonia to open hotel swimming pools to the general public
General view of the swimming pool of Hotel Samba in Lloret de Mar. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP)

Catalonia’s Generalitat government will give town halls the power to decide whether private swimming pools in their municipalities can be filled up with water in the midst of an ongoing drought in the region of 8 million inhabitants.

The measure was announced on Tuesday by government spokesperson Patrícia Plaja, after explaining that the Catalan government has approved a decree to create a census where each municipality will introduce its so-called “climate shelters” during what is expected to be another summer of sweltering heat.

Catalonia has been experiencing a drought for several years and there are already restrictions in place across the region. 

Recent heavy rain over Easter was welcome but it didn’t do enough to fix this long-term problem.

Town halls will therefore decide which hotel, sport complex and residential community pools are considered climate shelters and will establish the conditions of use, such as access pricing or free access, capacity requirements and the need for a lifeguard.

If mayors judge that there aren’t enough municipal pools nearby for residents, they are likely to force hotel and residential pools paid by communities of neighbours to open to the general public. 

If private owners refuse to do so, they will not be allowed to fill up their swimming pools. 

“This summer we will see hotel pools closed because they do not meet the minimum requirements to be a climate shelter,” Plaja concluded. 

Hotels will also have to control guests’ water usage, from 90 to 115 litres per person, depending on the drought emergency level.

There is no indication that the measure will affect individuals with swimming pools in their properties.

READ ALSO: Barcelona to send letters to 24,000 residents who use too much water

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POLITICS

Socialist win in Catalan election ‘ends decade of division’: Spain’s PM

Spain's leader Pedro Sánchez said Thursday his Socialist party's success in the Catalan elections ended a "decade of division" in the wealthy northeastern region, long governed by separatists.

Published: 16 May 2024 17:16 CEST
Socialist win in Catalan election 'ends decade of division': Spain's PM

“The Catalan Socialist party’s victory… ends a decade of division and resentment within Catalan society and will doubtlessly open a new era of understanding and coexistence,” the prime minister said in his first remarks since Sunday’s election.

The Socialists coming top in the vote was a blow for the Catalan separatist parties which lost their governing majority in the region’s parliament that they have dominated for the past decade.

Since becoming premier some nine months after the botched independence bid of October 2017, Sánchez has adopted a policy of “reengagement” with the wealthy northeastern region to “heal the wounds” opened by the crisis.

In 2021, he pardoned the separatists jailed over the secession bid and has pushed through an amnesty bill for those still wanted by the justice system in exchange for key separatist backing that let him secure a new term in office.

That bill is due to become law in the coming weeks which will allow Carles Puigdemont – the Catalan leader who led the secession bid then fled Spain to avoid prosecution – to finally return home.

Despite Sunday’s result, in which the separatist parties secured 59 of the parliament’s 135 seats, Puigdemont – whose hardline JxCat party came second – said he would seek to build a ruling coalition.

READ MORE: Catalan separatist kingpin refuses to give up on ruling despite ‘pro-Spain win’

“We have an opportunity and we will make the most of it,” he said in the southern French town of Perpignan.

ERC, JxCat’s more moderate separatist rival, lost a lot of support in Sunday’s vote, triggering a crisis within the party.

Even so, it is likely to play a key role in Puigdemont’s coalition-building efforts as well as those of the Catalan Socialists, who won with 42 seats — also a long way from the 68 mandates required to rule.

Analysts say the most likely option would see the Socialists allying with the radical left party Comuns Sumar, which won six seats, and ERC, which won 20, giving it exactly 68.

READ ALSO: Which Catalans want independence from Spain?

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