Barcelona’s public pool may get filled only if certified as climate shelters

Catalonia is preparing as best as it can for a scorching summer ahead

The Catalan government (Generalitat) has begun updating its list of officially registered climate shelters in preparation for what could possibly be a tough and arid summer ahead. The big change is that municipal swimming pools in the autonomous Spanish region might only have permission to be filled with water if they also double up as a climate shelter.

We remind you that Catalonia has been living under a state of emergency since the beginning of this month due to an incessant drought and the effects it has had on the supply of water for daily use.

As a result of the emergency, there has been a ban on the refilling of municipal pools in a bid to find ways to conserve as much water as possible. The only exception was if these facilities found ways to offset the water used and promote conservation measures.

It seems that now the authorities may relax their restrictions on the pools by including a clause where they will get the freedom to fill up if they also shelter people fleeing from the heat extremes in summer.

Shipping water to Barcelona can’t be a proper solution

Catalan Climate Action minister David Mascort told public broadcaster TV3 on Monday that the government is looking into relaxing the restriction on the pools if they are the only registered climate shelter in a neighbourhood.

We could look at turning that pool into a climate shelter and filling it up," he said, clarifying "but under normal circumstances, no." 

Mr Mascort also commented on the agreement signed between the governments of Spain and Catalonia, with support from the Valencian region, to ship water into Barcelona from the Sagun desalination plant.

In his view, this could not be a viable solution to the chronic drought problems affecting Catalonia. Instead, the authorities needed to find “structural” solutions.