When the heat hits you, there’s nothing better than taking a cool dip. And Alicante is the province where you can find the most swimming pools where you can do this, because it is one of the provinces with the most swimming pools. These leisure facilities continue to grow and in 2024 there is one for every 15 Alicante residents registered. In just one year, 1,722 more swimming pools have been registered.
This is shown in the annual data provided by the General Directorate. According to these figures, in 2023 there were 127,478 open-air swimming pools in the province of Alicante; in 2024 the number has grown to 129,200, a number that could continue to grow in the coming years. Indeed, there are probably more because of the many that have not yet been officially registered.
Swimming pools have become almost indispensable in these increasingly hot summers, both on the coast and inland, where many prefer to take a dip in fresh water rather than salt water. Summer arrives and in buildings, housing estates and homes there is no time of day when the pools are not being used; and having a villa is synonymous with friends and family joining with you to spend the day.
In the province, of the 129,200 registered pools, the “top 5” towns are Xàbia (9,199); Elche (8,371); Orihuela (7,354); Dénia (5,074) and Alicante city (4,823), with Teulada (4,814), Torrevieja (4,800), Rojales (4,793), Calp (4,692) and Benissa (4,078) not far behind.
The municipality of Marina Alta is the one with the most swimming pools per inhabitant. With 29,760 registered residents there is one swimming pool for every 3.23 people. In Orihuela (83,449 registered) it is one for every 11.3 inhabitants.
However, it is also important that those households that have a pool are able to fill them with water, a commodity that is in especially short supply across much of the province at the moment. In the Marina Alta, eight towns have been forced to take measures due to drought and lack of water. The last of them, Teulada Moraira, has been left without drinking water. This is followed by Poble Nou de Benitatxell, el Verger, Benissa, Parcent, Lliber, Xaló and Alcalalí. These last six have restrictions on filling swimming pools and watering gardens.
Between the eight municipalities, in 2024 there are more than 12,300 swimming pools. According to some sources, a medium-sized swimming pool, about eight metres by four metres, needs an average of 48,000 litres of water. Unfortunately, for many, with not all of them have been able to be filled this summer.
