The construction of homes with swimming pools has almost tripled in the Region of Murcia since 2019

The construction of private homes with swimming pools, whether communal or private, continues to grow in the Region of Murcia. The number of projects of these characteristics has practically tripled in just three years, going from 162 in 2019 to 454 visas carried out until August 2022. In fact, those 454 projects registered until last month already exceed all who were visaed during 2021 (402). This is reflected in the statistics of the Association of Architects of the Region of Murcia, which reveals an upward trend in recent years in regard to projects approved for the execution of homes with swimming pools.

The data seems more stable in relation to the pools that are built in the Region of Murcia in isolation, without associated housing. In this sense, until August a total of 104 projects have been approved, for the 124 of all of 2021. Of course, the figure already exceeds those registered in 2020 and 2019 (99 and 96 visas, respectively) and almost reaches the total number of projects registered in 2018 (105).

Thus, the Region of Murcia is already the fifth community with the most swimming pools per inhabitant (only behind the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community, Castilla y León and Andalusia), with more than 50,000 facilities and an average of one swimming pool for every 30 Murcians , as reflected in the data provided by the Spanish Association of Professionals in the Swimming Pool Sector (Asofap). According to this employer, the municipality of Murcia is among the ten Spanish cities with the highest number of swimming pools, with 9,321. The fondness for swimming pools in the Region is also evident in towns such as Molina de Segura, where there are only 23 swimming pools less than in the entire municipality of Alicante (4,748 by 4,771). Of course, Alicante has more than 330,000 inhabitants, while Molina de Segura does not reach 75,000 residents.

The dean of the College of Architects of the Region of Murcia, María José Peñalver, believes that this trend in the construction of private pools in the Region of Murcia has to do with several factors. In the first place, the housing preferences that emerged after the Covid-19 pandemic. They are also related to “family savings and investments in comfort. Families have fewer and fewer vacations, it is more expensive to travel together, and private housing is more valued to face the increasingly long and intense periods of heat. In addition, «before, people built a single-family home and after three or four years they decided on a swimming pool. Now it is built from scratch. Likewise, Peñalver recalls that “there are more and more blocks of flats that offer community pools as an important plus”, and the dean of the College of Architects wonders if “there are enough quality public pools that could prevent the proliferation of so many pools private”.

“Overflowed” Sector

For his part, the president of the Regional Guild of Plumbing Installers, Ramón Brocal, explains to LA VERDAD that companies related to the installation and maintenance of swimming pools “have worked very well” during this campaign, following the trend that began last year, when the sector was “overwhelmed” by a very high demand in the Region of Murcia.

Brocal also relates this increase in facilities to the new housing preferences that emerged after the confinement forced by the pandemic, although he also focuses on the increase in the price of some materials necessary for these works, “up to 50%”.