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Madrid faces the challenge of expanding its public swimming pools in response to extreme heat
The shortage of public swimming pools is once again a topic of political debate during a heatwave. Más Madrid has submitted a proposal to the regional Assembly for Comunidad y Ayuntamiento to jointly design a plan to expand these facilities, focusing especially on the neighbourhoods most vulnerable to high temperatures.
The group proposes using criteria of territorial rebalancing and climate vulnerability to decide where to build the new facilities. Priority would be given to the areas most affected by the heat island, with lower household incomes and older homes or homes less prepared to withstand episodes of extreme temperatures.
The proposal is not limited to building swimming pools. In those neighbourhoods where lack of space makes it unviable to create new pools, it proposes installing water parks and play areas that can function as leisure spaces and thermal refuges during the hottest months. It also calls for increasing shaded areas at existing facilities through trees and, where that is not possible, awnings or pergolas.
This summer, Madrid has 25 outdoor municipal swimming pools. According to calculations provided by Más Madrid, compared with some 14,800 outdoor pools across the capital as a whole, the public provision amounts to roughly one facility per 145,000 inhabitants, and the tickets available each day can serve only a small part of the population.
The City Council has strengthened the network in recent years. Since 2019, 18 summer swimming-pool sites have been refurbished with an investment of more than 70 million euros, and two new facilities have been built in Barajas and Tetuán, the first new municipal swimming pools constructed in the capital in more than three decades.
The 2026 season remains open until 6 September, with morning, afternoon and full-day slots. The outdoor pools are supplemented by some heated recreational pools, and this year free activities such as water-exercise classes have been added.
The initiative registered in the Assembly now opens a debate that will go beyond this summer: how to adapt Madrid's public leisure provision to ever more intense episodes of heat. The discussion concerns not only the number of pools, but also which neighbourhoods have accessible spaces in which to cool down when temperatures soar.