Gym showers must be closed in Catalonia if the drought continues to worsen, but the Government has decided to make this measure more flexible. This is expected to be agreed this Tuesday after complaints raised by companies related to gyms and sports facilities. The Executiu will approve the emergency declaration in about two weeks, if it continues without rain and the decline in reserves continues. The emergency will be declared when the reservoirs that supply the Barcelona region are at 16% of their capacity; Now they are at 16.8% and that is why the emergency is considered imminent. It will be from that moment on that the 5 million Catalans who get their supplies in the area served by the Ter and Llobregat, and who are now in the pre-emergency phase, will enter an emergency.
Although the measures will have a greater scope, one of the most controversial issues has been the use of water in gyms and sports areas. The Government plans that in the most advanced phase of the emergency (level 3) sports centers must close showers, without exception. That is the most serious stage that could be reached if significant rainfall does not fall in a few months to help recover water reserves.
The drought plan provides for different actions in this emergency phase, which have three stages and in which measures are implemented as the severity progresses (emergency 1, emergency 2 and emergency 3) with restrictions that are tightened step by step.
Thus, in emergency phase 1 (which could be declared in about two weeks) gyms or sports facilities that have indoor or outdoor pools, and use water to refill them (something not previously foreseen), must have a plan. to offset that expense by saving water in other uses. And how? The option they will have will be to close the showers some days of the week or in some sections of the day to compensate. However, the closure of the showers, in this first stage, will not be mandatory.
Likewise, in sports areas (such as grass on soccer fields) reclaimed or well water that does not compete with the supply may be used for irrigation.
In emergency phase 2, all gyms and sports centers that want to continue filling the pool or watering sports areas must necessarily close the showers.
In the specific case of gyms that do not have swimming pools (or the one they do have is salt water) they will be able to keep the showers in operation during these first two subphases of the emergency (1 and 2).
And in emergency phase 3, all gyms and sports centers in Catalonia, without exception, will not be able to have this service.
This has been confirmed by sources from the Association of Catalan Fitness Club Companies (Adecaf), which has received these instructions from the Government.
The sports sector had been concerned about the possible restrictions that could affect them in the event of an emergency. Initially, it was planned to immediately ban the filling of swimming pools and even close showers, which caused alarm when these measures were announced in mid-December.
The Catalan government reported in December that entering into emergency (the most restrictive phase in the drought plan) would mean a ban on showering in the locker rooms of sports centers.
In fact, the Minister of Climate Action, David Mascort, called on the Catalan population to even stop doing it because the water consumption is “much greater” than in a domestic shower. “This proposal in January will be an obligation,” explained the counselor. However, the physical activity and sports sector did not welcome this new restriction.
The Association of Catalan Fitness Club Companies (Adecaf) highlighted that it was a unilateral and useless measure that harms the sector and “does not benefit anyone.” The representatives of this association requested a meeting with Mascort to propose other solutions. Their argument was that other measures are already taken in gyms to reduce consumption. They added that there are aerators that reduce the flow and the shower heads are set with timers that cut off the shower.
