Joint Effort by Twenty Municipalities in Alicante to Avoid Summer Pool Closures

Swimming pools are one of the most dynamic elements for the inland towns of Alicante during the summer season. Aware of this importance, 22 municipalities in the north of the province have formed a joint effort to demand more financial resources from the Provincial Council of Alicante to cover the costs of this municipal service.

This group of municipalities, all with populations under a thousand, belong to the regions of Comtat and Marina Alta, and have expressed their demand in a letter sent to the provincial body. All the mayors share the same concern: the lack of resources to address the additional costs of operating these facilities.

The mayors complain that the available aid this year has been mostly earmarked, meaning it is tied to specific projects and cannot cover general or exceptional expenses. This limitation, they assert, "excludes many realities of small municipalities."

"The operation of swimming pools is not a luxury, it is a necessity. They are spaces for meeting, health, and well-being, especially in towns where there are no similar alternatives. But the extraordinary costs they generate exceed the capabilities of many councils with very limited budgets," stated Maria Oltra, mayor of l'Atzúbia.

The document has been sent to the Provincial Council of Alicante with the aim of requesting a specific aid plan to cover the operational costs associated with the summer season. "The increase in population and the opening of infrastructures such as swimming pools add pressure to the already overwhelmed councils," they explain in the letter.

Ignasi Mora, mayor of La Vall de Gallinera, emphasizes that the request is not temporary, but structural: "We are not asking for favours, we are asking for territorial justice. The Provincial Council cannot continue to turn its back on towns at risk of depopulation. It is essential that there are subsidy lines for current expenses or to address seasonal surcharges like those in summer. We are not talking about million-dollar investments, we are talking about maintaining basic services."