The state of emergency due to drought in the internal basins of Catalonia has brought to the fore some facilities that at this time of the year are mostly out of service and far from general attention: the swimming pools. The ban on filling or filling swimming pools in all municipalities in an emergency has aroused concern among users, owners and companies in sectors such as tourism, to the point that the dubious solution of filling these recreational and sports facilities has been proposed with sea water or purchase portable desalination plants. Knowing how many swimming pools there are, where they are and how much water they need, are data that can help understand the extent of the problem.
The only reliable statistics available on the number of swimming pools built in Spain are those offered from 2022 by the General Directorate of the Cadastre, of the Ministry of Finance and Civil Service. The register managed by the Treasury does not include data from the Basque Country and Navarre, communities that have fully transferred this competence. In any case, and although this is official data that most likely does not include all existing swimming pools (especially those built in recent years, not yet included in the cadastre), it is the only source that allows us to outline a map of these facilities.
The 2023 update of this database indicates that in Spain (excluding the Basque Country and Navarre) there are 1,291,206 swimming pools registered (1,277,052 outdoor and 14,154 covered), i.e. 2.85 swimming pools for every 100 inhabitants (on the total population census in Spain, minus the Basque Country and Navarre) or one swimming pool for every 35 inhabitants. By community, the absolute figures and percentages are very diverse. With Andalusia standing out in first position with 306,151 swimming pools (3.60 swimming pools per 100 inhabitants) and Cantabria among those with the fewest, with 4,350 swimming pools (0.73 swimming pools per 100 inhabitants).
The cadastre statistics indicate that there are 195,895 swimming pools registered in Catalonia (194,093 outdoor and 1,802 covered), a figure that is equivalent to 2.45 swimming pools for every 100 census inhabitants.
In addition to the maximum and minimum figures, cadastral data show that, for example, in the Community of Madrid there are 140,551 swimming pools (2.04 swimming pools per 100 inhabitants), the Valencian Community has 247,870 swimming pools registered (4.86 per 100 ha.) and in the Balearic Islands there are 75,264 swimming pools (6.39 per 100 inhabitants). In all cases the relationship between swimming pools and inhabitants is based on census data as of January 1, 2023 on the total population. It goes without saying that in some of the towns and communities mentioned, the ratio of pools to inhabitants would be very different if the actual seasonal population (visitors and tourists included) were taken into account.
In relation to its population, the town with the fewest swimming pools in Catalonia is Badia del Vallès, with only three of these facilities (1 covered and 2 non-covered) and a population of 13,074 inhabitants (0.02 swimming pools for each 100 inhabitants). The cadastre data indicate that there are almost twenty municipalities in Catalonia where no swimming pool has been declared, as are the cases of La Quar (Berguedà), Hostalets d’en Bas (Garrotxa) or Tuixent ( Alt Urgell).
The list of the total number of swimming pools (indoor and outdoor) by municipalities as a whole in Spain is headed by the 14,521 facilities in the city of Madrid (0.43 pools per 100 inhabitants), while the city of Córdoba occupies second position with 11,704 swimming pools (3.61 per 100 inhabitants) and Marbella is third with 10,950 (6.97 per 100 inhabitants). In position number 19 on this list is the first Catalan town, Sant Cugat del Vallès, with 4,896 swimming pools (5.01 swimming pools for every 100 inhabitants). In the city of Barcelona there are 1,517 swimming pools registered in the cadastre, and in Madrid, 14,521 swimming pools (0.44 per 100 inhabitants).
