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Madrid opens its municipal pools for free on the first day of the season
Madrid officially welcomes summer this Friday with the opening of its outdoor municipal pools. And it will do so with a measure many residents will appreciate: entry will be free throughout the first day at most venues in the city.
The season will begin with 25 outdoor pools spread across different districts and will run until 6 September. Several indoor facilities will also remain open for recreational use during the hot months. This year, the City Council also wants to make these spaces more than just a place to cool off.
The main new feature is the introduction of express 30-minute sports classes, which will be offered free of charge from Monday to Friday without the need for prior registration. There will be sessions in the morning and afternoon with activities such as aquafitness, aquatic mobility, or stretching led by specialised instructors. The idea is that any user can join in directly during their visit.
The free basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (RCP) workshops will also continue, taught by healthcare staff at the sports centres themselves. These are aimed at adults and are intended to bring basic first aid knowledge to regular pool users.
Not all facilities will open at the same time. The pools at Santa Ana, Moscardó y Vallecas will remain closed until early June due to ongoing improvement works. The rest will be open from this Friday, coinciding with the San Isidro celebrations and the start of the first days of intense heat in the capital.
The opening hours remain largely unchanged: morning session from 10:00 to 15:00, afternoon session from 16:00 to 21:00, and full-day access from 10:00 to 21:00. Those who buy a ticket for the whole day will receive a wristband to make it easier to enter and leave the venue.
Tickets can be purchased both at the ticket office and online via the Madrid Móvil app and the municipal Sports portal. The City Council will reserve 80% of places for advance online sales and the remaining 20% for in-person sales. In addition, this summer access control will be reinforced with QR codes, a system designed to free up places when someone leaves the facility before their session ends.
In recent years, Madrid has accelerated the renovation of its public pool network. According to the City Council, 18 facilities have already been refurbished and new spaces have been built in districts such as Barajas y Tetuán, something that had not happened for more than thirty years.
When temperatures rise, the municipal pools become one of the most recognisable meeting points of the Madrid summer. Families, groups of friends, young and old fill these spaces from early on, especially in neighbourhoods where the heat is more intense and alternatives to escape the asphalt are limited.