As the world gets warmer, cities are getting warmer faster than surrounding lands. Without sufficient adaptation on the part of urban authorities, this heat will increasingly kill vulnerable inhabitants. At the same time, **heat** often coincides with drought: the global urban population exposed to **water scarcity** is set to increase by at least 81% between 2016 and 2050 ([source](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25026-3)). Heat will cause water scarcity, just as water can also help with heat. While the first cities to be affected will be in the Global South, cities in Global Northern countries are starting to consistently face the same challenges. How can urban policy actors solve this dilemma? In Catalonia, authorities are innovating water governance during droughts and heatwaves.
Catalonia’s microclimate makes its cities very vulnerable to heat, as it faces increased temperatures earlier than surrounding regions. This produces various challenges to Catalonian cities: not only is the heat becoming fatal to inhabitants, it is also accompanied by severe drought. In this context, pools have an ambiguous role: are they a superfluous use of precious drinking water, or a valuable shelter from the heat? In April 2024, the Catalan government innovatively ruled that in times of drought, pools can only be filled with drinking water if they are open to the general public as "climate shelters". What does this imply?
# Catalonia, a warming region: facing urban heat and water scarcity
In Catalonia, two elements of climate change are at the forefront of policymakers' concerns: they expect more intense droughts and increased temperatures. In other terms, freshwater is becoming more scarce, and in summer, heat is now regularly fatal.
{{Pic1: Map of Catalonia within Spain. Credits: Creative Commons licence (2015), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Catalonia.png. }}
Meanwhile, Catalonia is a highly urbanised and touristic region, and growing still. In 2023, Catalonia welcomed more than 27 million tourists, which is over triple the number of its inhabitants ([source](https://www.catalannews.com/in-depth/item/summer-2024-catch-up-what-happened-in-catalonia-and-barcelona)). This exacerbates issues of drought and heat in two ways. Firstly, the amount of tourists and businesses present in Catalonia puts additional pressure on rare freshwater resources. The Ter-Llobregat basin, which provides freshwater to over 5 million people in and near Barcelona's metropolitan area, was at 15% capacity in March 2024 ([source](https://elpais.com/espana/catalunya/2024-06-18/barcelona-vuelve-a-reducir-las-restricciones-por-sequia-gracias-a-las-lluvias-de-primavera.html)). At 100% capacity, the basin only has enough water for a year - this represents 26 times less water available than Paris, and 300 times less than Vienna ([source](https://togetherforwater.com)).
{{Pic2: A public campaign poster in Barcelona, in Catalan, translating to "Drought emergency - Water doesn't fall from the sky." and then "Save water. It's urgent." Credits: photo taken by the author (April 2024) }}
Secondly, there is the 'urban heat island effect', which means that it is systematically warmer on average in city centres than in surrounding rural areas. In Barcelona, for instance, it tends to be 2°-7°C warmer inside than outside the city ([source](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169809519313250)). Those few degrees can be the difference between life and death. Research is ongoing regarding the human body's tolerance to heat - but anything above 37°C and up to 46°C can cause organ damage over time ([source](https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/07/10/1028172/climate-change-human-body-extreme-heat-survival/)). This is particularly dangerous for some disabled populations, the elderly and children. In summer 2023 in Catalonia, temperatures reached 45°C (113°F), causing an estimated 1700 deaths ([source](https://elmon.cat/es/sociedad/salud/1772-muertos-catalunya-verano-mas-caloros-historia-697454/)).
# The legislation on pools: from luxury to common good?
In times of simultaneous **drought** and **heat emergency**, pools can represent two things. Either they are a luxurious use of rare water, or they are valuable shelters from the heat. The first interpretation is the most widespread in European heatwave legislation: for instance, many French departments forbid filling private pools with drinking water from a certain level of heat "crisis" ([source](https://www.sudouest.fr/environnement/climat/canicule/chaleur-et-secheresse-avez-vous-le-droit-de-remplir-votre-piscine-15649445.php?csnt=191bd8bb164)). This is the case in Catalonia too. Only, since April 2024, the Generalitat (Catalonia's governing body) added a caveat: once a drought emergency has been declared, **pools can be filled with drinking water if they are a) open to the general public** (for the same price as municipal pools) **and b) declared a "climate shelter" by the municipality**.
This concept of **climate shelters** is very novel in Europe. Cities like Barcelona use public spaces to alleviate the effects of climate change. This allows planners to ensure inhabitants' access to shelters from heat near their homes, which is particularly necessary because Catalan buildings are not traditionally equipped with air conditioning (and when they are, they are not generally adapted to temperatures above 35°C). You can find Barcelona's climate shelter map [here](https://www.barcelona.cat/barcelona-pel-clima/ca/accions-concretes/xarxa-de-refugis-climatics). In this case, though, it is not only a matter of listing municipal pools as climate shelters: the new Catalan law opens up the possibility for private pools (hotels or residential pools, for instance) to be open to the general public during droughts.
{{Pic3: The Montjuic municipal pool in Barcelona, Catalonia. Credits: SeekNewTravel (2009), https://www.flickr.com/photos/notenoughrice/3827782331/. Creative Commons licence. }}
In theory, what used to be a privileged access to refreshing pools for those who can afford it, becomes a common good that serves the broader community during times of crisis. This shift challenges traditional notions of private luxury, **redefining pools as essential urban infrastructure in the face of escalating climate emergencies**. By transforming exclusive access into a shared resource, the policy reflects a growing recognition that in a warming world, cooling spaces and water must be available to all, not just the few. However, can this be implemented?
# Can this policy be implemented?
Let's take the example of a residential block, equipped with a pool which is usually filled with drinking water. If residents want to keep access to their pool in times of drought, they must obtain the municipal status of "climate shelter" and open it to the general public. First, some technical requirements must be met to qualify as a climate shelter, such as water quality levels, accessibility, access to shade and to a hydration point. Once the municipality deems all of this sufficient, comes the tricky part – opening it to the public safely and consensually. Residents must agree to open up access to the pool, after which the burden of organising such access falls on municipalities.
For municipal workers, **the law brings opportunities without resources**. It provides an opportunity to find alternative heat shelters to overcrowded municipal pools during heatwaves, in a socially just manner. Yet the implementation of the policy requires human resources, which is a sizable challenge for smaller municipalities: to carry out safety and accessibility evaluations, for potential lifeguards, and to overlook the financial aspect.
In the case of hotels, this is a very surprising legislation because of the weight of tourism in the Catalan economy, accounting in 2019 for 12% of its GDP ([source](https://mediterraneanadventures.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Destination-Review-Catalonia.pdf)). One would expect hotels to resist this initiative – which basically says that in most cases, their pools can only remain filled if they are open to the general public for the same tariff as municipal pools. What of 5-star hotels? Would their clients relinquish their private pool access so easily?
{{Pic4: Photo of a five-star hotel pool in Costa Brava, Catalonia. Credits: YourGolfTravel, https://www.yourgolftravel.com/hotel-camiral. Creative Commons licence. }}
# Catalonia's real bet against water scarcity: reused water
In response to these challenges, three weeks after the law passed, the Generalitat declared an exception: the law now only applied to individual and unifamiliar pools (as well as pools which weren't already filled) ([source](https://www.lavanguardia.com/natural/20240507/9619195/catalunya-levanta-fase-emergencia-sequia-flexibiliza-restricciones.html)). This lessened the ambiguity and novelty of the law: effectively, during droughts, unifamiliar pools are considered a superfluous use of drinking water – but not partially communal pools. Still, a nuance remains: the law concerns the use of drinking water. Pools can still be filled with reused water that doesn't meet drinking water standards.
In Europe, Catalonia is a champion of urban wastewater reuse – whether for potable or non-potable purposes. There are about 40 water regeneration stations (ERA) in Catalonia ([source](https://aca.gencat.cat/ca/laigua/infraestructures/estacions-de-regeneracio-daigua/index.html#googtrans(ca|en))), and most of that recycled water is redirected towards non-potable uses – such as street cleaning, industrial cooling and ecological flow restoration. Sabadell, in the North, developed an entire parallel system of reused water, while Barcelona has been implementing a policy to recycle buildings' bathwater for flushing purposes.
In line with such initiatives, the 'drinking water' element of the new law on pools holds a new meaning. If you want to keep exclusive access to pools during droughts and heatwaves, you cannot have access to drinking water for it. **The common good is not the pool itself; it is the potable freshwater used for it by default.** Although the law was effectively lifted for hotels this summer, should it be applied in the future, it clearly says one thing: access to private or semi-private pools should come with the responsibility and price of refilling them with reclaimed water.
# What can urban policymakers learn, here?
This law launched a crucial discussion around the evolution of luxury with climate change. If we want to organise a socially just transition, we need to rethink access to public and semi-public spaces. When resources become scarce - such as freshwater - its uses, even private, can and perhaps should be monitored. I believe that the Catalan Generalitat has attempted to do this, in an unprecedented and innovative manner.
Your interpretation of the law will determine whether you think it a success. If the Generalitat was truly aiming to open up residential and hotel pools to relieve pressure on overcrowded municipal pools during heatwaves, municipalities lack the necessary legal framework and funding to implement the policy. However, if it was aiming to restrict the use of potable water for pools, it is a noteworthy first step. **By declaring that, during crises, the drinking water supply for pools should serve the public, the law makes both a significant statement and imposes a practical restriction.** As more northern countries start facing challenges similar to Catalonia's, this policy is worth reflecting on.
# About the Author
[Alice Tort](www.linkedin.com/in/alice-tort) is a final-year Master's student at Sciences Po Paris, studying urban governance for ecological transitions. She has previously worked on water policy in Mediterranean countries, and is passionate about fostering socially just ecological transitions.