Madrid residents facing dry summer

However, with most usually opening in mid-June the rules on these are still vague at best and non-existent in many cases. The sheer size of many of them is the problem with some private communities having bathing facilities for well over a thousand people and 300 to 400 homes. Social distancing, lifeguards and access are all issues. Lifeguards have usually had their summer positions confirmed by now but have to qualify for a range of things such as health and safety, gatekeeping and now additional issues such as ensuring social distancing, wearing of face masks and so on. Many residentsfear that if a decision is not made in the next week or so the larger pools at least will have to remain closed for most if not all of the summer. Normally this would have increased the rush to the coast – but freedom of travel even within Spain is another item on the ever growing agenda of issues to be signed off as the country gradually pulls out of lockdown. There are an estimated 12,000 communal pools in Madrid, and the likely consensus (i.e. best guess) is that the smaller ones will be allowed to open if residents are willing to help guards with issues such as access and help themselves by complying with social distancing laws and so forth. As a “beach less” but extremely hot city Madrid faces unique problems, but to a lesser degree this will still be an issue across most of the warmer of parts of Spain. Decisions will also need to be made countrywide on the opening of outdoor municipal bathing areas that usually open in June when the schools begin their long summer break.