The Catalan Government’s decision to modify the special drought plan to leave the final authorization for the public and private swimming pools that can open this summer in the hands of the municipalities has been contested by the municipalities. “This agreement is unenforceable; we doubt that the legal guarantees will be given”. Eduard Rivas, president of the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia (FMC) expressed himself in this resounding way yesterday.
The councils grouped in the FMC consider that in this matter the Government of the Generalitat has adopted a unilateral decision, far removed from the terms in which the pre-agreement had been outlined.
The conflict arises after the conditions under which the modification of the special drought plan has been made known, intended to make public and private swimming pools, in this case, with limitations, be able to be filled and open this summer, something that was prohibited for the current emergency phase.
The Catalan Government allows this opening as long as public and private swimming pools (except those in single-family homes) are declared as climate shelters, a power that will remain in the hands of the town councils and which will require them to remain open to the public. The municipalities that enable these shelters must incorporate them into their drought plan and communicate this to the Catalan Water Agency.
With the decision adopted, it will be the town councils that will have the last word. But this is an unexpected and unexpected competition for the municipalities, who will have to decide whether to open the swimming pools of hotels, campsites and community areas. They consider that there are no legal or material conditions to carry out this task at the required level.
The controversial text introduced explicitly states that private pools with public use (for example, those in community areas or housing estates) must have “identical price conditions as public pools”.
The municipalities claim that this last-minute change introduces confusion. The door is opened for a private community of owners with a climate shelter pool to admit public access and charge for it. And here the doubts arise. “I don’t know how this charge can be applied. Who will collect this money, who will manage it, an official? We are talking about entering private property”, says the president of the FMC, alarmed, who sees legal loopholes.
While in the case of a hotel with a swimming pool as a climate shelter, the entrance to the premises could be charged, in the case of a community of owners doubts pile up. Could a community charge an entrance fee without being registered for economic activities? The FMC highlights the uncertainties created. “Who pays the expenses of the lifeguard, who does the access control, who controls the capacity, will we send an official for all this?”, he asks. “We cannot share the government’s narrative.”
The spokeswoman for the Catalan Government, Patrícia Plaja, justified yesterday that it is the municipalities that decide which shelter pools should be opened, with the argument that they are the ones who know the local situation best and are the ones who they requested it.
Plaja added that it will be the town councils that will have to regulate everything surrounding the conditions for the opening of community swimming pools (in terms of safety, rescue, capacity, timetables and others…). “Once the list of privately owned swimming pools that are considered climate shelters has been established, it must also be the municipal ordinance that sets the criteria for the use of the pool, and we are talking about capacity, we are talking about whether it will be free or of payment, of the surveillance class to which this pool must respond depending on the capacity, the casuistry and the characteristics of this pool”, he added. “Each town council will set the timetables, the prices, the conditions… We do this so as not to interfere with their municipal competences. They have to trust the councils”, repeated Patrícia Plaja.
The councils will have to hurry to have the ordinances before the summer.
And who will bear the cost of the lifeguards, or what will it depend on if you have to pay for entry into a climate shelter in a private development?, Plaja was repeatedly asked. “It will be the town councils that will have to reach agreements with the private owners to establish what exactly is the regime for the use of these climate shelters”, he answered.
The Catalan Government’s decision exceeds the forecasts made by the councils, who see this decision as a hot potato that adds pressure on them. It should be borne in mind that the councils, when they presented their proposal, basically wanted municipal swimming pools or some private club swimming pools to be cataloged as shelters (to host summer camps, for example…). Also very exceptionally, it was thought that if a small town does not have a municipal pool and, instead, houses a community pool, it could be given this public use. But such flexibility creates other drawbacks…
“That councils have to authorize the opening of swimming pools for profit or private use in a closed community is something that makes no sense”, says Rivas. “This sends a negative message: the idea that we are in a drought and, despite this, we can open swimming pools with a numerus clausus of people. It has neither head nor feet”, Rivas said.
Meritxell Budó, president of the Catalan Association of Municipalities, emphasized that the opening of private swimming pools to the general public is an idea “that worries us”, as it has multiple implications. “Solutions cannot be improvised”, affirms the mayoress of la Garriga. Budó argues that, among other circumstances, it may be the case that a council designates a community pool as a refuge, but that the owners do not accept public access. This case would raise the debate on how to respect private property.
“It would then be necessary to see if the general interest overrides private property; these are issues that must be calibrated very well”. In addition, this public use of the community pool raises the need to change the bylaws referring to the uses of the pool, which would require a meeting of the community’s residents.
What is clear is that the opening of individual private swimming pools will not be authorized. And it is also decided that if a private swimming pool (private, community, tourist establishment, such as a hotel or campsite) is not registered as a shelter, it cannot be filled or refilled.
