Cristina Hodgson
THE growing drought crisis is placing hundreds of swimming pools in inland Malaga under threat.
The water supply restrictions have arrived earlier than expected. Back in May, the Junta announced that water restrictions would be enforced in Andalucia as of September if the drought conditions continued.
However, due to the critical situation of the reservoirs in the region, these restrictions are already being implemented.
Costal towns such as Torremolinos and Ricon de la Victoria have cut the water supply to beach facilities such as the showers and footbaths, meanwhile Fuengirola is cleaning its streets with non-potable water and in inland areas such Ronda and in areas of Axarquia, the use of drinking water for filling swimming pools, watering gardens and washing cars has been banned.
As local authorities move to prohibit the refilling of swimming pools, many of these summer pools risk going redundant, which has already occurred in some areas of the Axarquia as reported by the Association of Property Administrators in the area.
The closure of these inland swimming pools has also resulted in the dismissal of the lifeguards.
In addition, the association has claimed that as the watering of gardens has also been banned, residents are also considering doing without gardeners.
Currently, Malaga province has almost 80,000 swimming pools (78,606), according to the Cadastre data.
Of these, some 2,940 are located in the Capital of La Axarquía, Vélez-Malaga. However, it is not one of the towns with the most swimming pools in the province; in Malaga city there are 5,926 and in Marbella there are a staggering 10,744.
READ MORE:
- Spain’s Torremolinos to cut off water supply to 50% of beach showers
- Rincon de la Victoria in Spain’s Malaga to cut off water supply to beach showers due to severe drought
- La Viñuela reservoir in Spain’s Axarquia starts summer at historic low
