Alicante opens its first climate shelter to the public at the Water Museum

The Water Museum of Alicantehas presented this Monday the first climate shelter open to the public in the city. The event was attended by Sergio Sánchez, General Director of Aguas de Alicante, and Amelia Navarro, Director of Sustainability, Equity, and Social Action.

Sánchez highlighted the importance of this initiative, noting that "as a mixed company participated by the Alicante City Council, Aguas de Alicante practices active listening to citizen needs as part of its daily action. Thus,the possibility arose to take advantage of the special climatic characteristics generated inside the Garrigós Wells, with a constant temperature throughout the year, to launch this initiative that allows offering Alicante citizens and visitors a space where they can find 'protection for a few hours' in adverse climatic circumstances, increasingly frequent in the Mediterranean area."

This action is part of Aguas de Alicante's 2022-2027 Strategic Plan, specifically in the Fight Against Climate Change axis.The company works on multiple fronts to combat the climate crisis, both in water resource managementand other indirectly related areas. In this case, municipal facilities managed by Aguas de Alicante for 15 years have been used, providing them with amenities and adapting the museum's cultural agenda.

The shelter will initially be available during the museum's usual hours: Tuesday to Friday from 10 am to 2 pm and from 5 pm to 8 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 2 pm during winter (from September to May). In summer (from June to August), hours will be Tuesday to Friday from 10 am to 2 pm and from 6 pm to 9 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 2 pm. Additionally, the possibility of extending these hours in case of heatwaves will be evaluated.

Located inside the Garrigós Wells,specifically in 'Well 1' of this system of three cisterns from the 19th century, the climate shelter responds to a growing need that still lacks state regulation, although there are recommendations in the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan.

In the Valencian Community, the 2022 Climate Change Law mentions the need to create a 'Network of Climate Shelters,' but does not detail their characteristics.Similar initiatives are already underway in cities like Barcelona, Valencia, and the Basque Country, now joined by Alicante. Both the Culture Department of Alicante City Council and the University of Alicante through its Vice-Rectorate for Culture have donated an extensive bibliography available to all visitors.

While they cannot be unique solutions because they do not solve the problem of extreme weather conditions and must be accompanied by other adaptation measures such as increasing green coverage among many others, climate shelters are beginning to play an essential role in our dense and urbanized cities. As progress is made in these other areas, shelter networks are critical against exposure to so-called urban heat islands, helping reduce exposure and improving response capacity during thermal stress moments.