Spain holiday warning: Fears UK holidaymakers will cancel holidays as emergency rules imposed with swimming pools closed

UK holidaymakers heading on holiday to Spain have been issued a travel warning as emergency rules have been put in place in tourist hotspots that are leading to swimming pools being closed. It comes as the country faces one of its worst droughts in 200 years. 

The region of Catalonia, including Barcelona, is suffering from severe water shortages and locals have expressed concerns that emergency measures could put British tourists off their summer holidays. In the Costa del Sol and Malaga city, local councils currently ban the use of drinking water to fill pools, meaning that raw water from wells or groundwater must be used instead, which then requires filtering in the pool. This has led to closures ranging from 24 to 72 hours.

Last week, demonstrations took place in Malaga, pressing for relaxation of Junta de Andalucia's drought rules that limit refills of private pools and garden watering in order to prevent British holidaymakers being put off from travelling to the country. Authorities have already green-lighted swimming pools being filled up in public sports centres, health clubs, hotels and campsites ahead of the peak summer period but locals are lobbying for regulations to be loosened further.

Owners of tourist properties and businesses are worried that if rules are not relaxed holidaymakers may rethink coming to Spain. They are calling for a relaxation of the rules ahead of the authority's next meeting this week, which will determine the water usage regulations for the upcoming period.

Samantha Austin, representing around 50,000 tourist flats on the coast, told Sur in English: "I have many clients waiting to hear from me as they're deciding whether to come or not. If there is no pool, they are going to change their destination this year. We are having cancellations and we are going to have more."

The Andalucia region is still wrestling with a protracted dry spell. The Andalusian government is currently negotiating with hotels to install bathroom metres in hotel rooms to save water and is also studying the filling of swimming pools with seawater. The drought is also taking its toll on the country's agricultural industry with farmers warning that the situation is “critical” because their crops aren't growing in the usual manner.

One local from Seville previously warned. "It's the first time our well has gone dry in over 13 years. We are having to completely redesign our garden to make it more drought resilient. We've changed our vegetable garden to a fruit orchard, and we recycle the greywater from the washing machines by filtering it through three ponds."