Spain 'crisis' sees hotspots like Costa del Sol introducing new restrictions

07 March 2024 , 11:55

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Andalucía is going through a brutal and lengthy drought (Image: Hazhard Espinoza Vallejos/REX/Shutterstock)

British tourists heading to Spain may arrive to find the swimming pools empty. Officials in a part of the country beloved by Brits as a holiday destination are grappling with whether to ban hoteliers from filling their pools as the country struggles with a sustained drought.

The southern region of Andalucía has faced continuous drought since 2016 and continues to be particularly parched this year. Last year, Spain's droughts ranked among the 10 most costly climate disasters in the world, according to a report by Christian Aid, the Express reported.

Although it rained in the area over the most recent weekend, reservoirs are just 25% full. Arturo Bernal, tourism lead in the region, has insisted that the summer will be "normal" for tourists coming to the area and that there will not be a lack of drinking water.

There is some confusion about swimming pool regulations however. The Junta de Andalusia, which leads the southernmost region of Spain, approved a fourth drought decree at the end of January, which focused on reclaimed water to guarantee supply to the production sectors, allocated £185million (€217m) to projects aimed at recovering water and asked residents in the region to reduce water consumption as much as possible.

Restrictions affect popular locations such as Costa del Sol

This decree, however, didn't provide a clear-cut regulation on the use and filling of swimming pools - which in the popular province of Malaga alone are nearly 80,000. Town councils and utility companies across the region are implementing different rules, making it hard to know for visitors if they will arrive on holiday to find a bare, empty pool.

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Acosol - the water utility company of the western Costa del Sol encompassing municipalities including Marbella and Mijas - has put forward a proposal that would bar residents from "filling or refilling of private swimming pools" and "public showers and pumps".

Javier Hernández, executive vice-president of the Association of Costa del Sol Hoteliers, has said that hotels across the region are still able to fill their pools, while private pool owners cannot do the same. That means those renting a villa with a pool should contact the owner before booking to ask what side of the regulations they fall on.

Other measures being discussed by the Andalusian government includes adding water metres to hotel rooms, to keep track of how much H2O visitors are using. The government says the average guest uses 350 litres of water per day, more than double of a resident at 112 litres.

Another proposal on the table is the replacement of almost all bathtubs with showers in hotels and the filling of leisure pools with seawater rather than fresh stuff.

This distinction between public and private pools may lead to tensions between residents, barred from finding relief from the heat, and hotel guests spared from water consumption regulations.

The Costa del Sol witnessed in 2023 a record number of tourist arrivals, with the area welcoming 12.5 million visitors - a 15% increase compared to 2022. During the first eight months alone of last year, a total of 821,907 visitors from the UK stayed in hotels and apartments on the Costa del Sol.

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Alice Scarsi