Splash! COVID-19 spawns portable pool fad in Spain

Portable pools has taken over backyards, terraces, communal patios and even the streets

Last updated: August 23, 2020 | 16:32

AP and Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor

2 MIN READ

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Seville, Spain: As pretty much everywhere else, the coronavirus pandemic has meant more time at home for Spaniards.

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For many of those furloughed or out of business it has also meant less income and no way to afford a vacation to escape the sweltering temperatures of the Spanish summer.

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Searching for a solution to keep cool, portable pools have become the newest fad, taking over backyards, terraces, communal patios and even the streets of Seville in the country's south.

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Sales of all portable pools, including the cheapest inflatable models, started this year as early as May, when Spain was still in the middle of a strict lockdown and few feared that their summer would mean they would be confined at home.

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By June, most models had sold out from shopping malls and online websites.

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Javier Salcedo, a 44-year-old construction manager in Seville, decided to purchase a sturdy model, a quality pool with plastic walls, but had to find it in the second-hand market. In hindsight, he's happy he didn't wait anymore.

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"It was easy to see," he said. "Public pools or private clubs were closed and the rest of the plans for the summer were up in the air."

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But few own a private yard like Salcedo's in Sevilla, where thermometers that often hit the 40c mark can see even higher temperatures during heat waves.

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Isabel, a 30-year-old who raises four children in one of the Seville's poorest neighborhoods, bought an inflatable pool especially to make the heat more bearable for a son who has Down syndrome.

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"I have no other place to put it but in the street," she said. "It's horrible to live in these precarious circumstances."

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With more than 377,000 total infections for the new virus and close to 29,000 confirmed deaths, Spain is trying to contain one of Europe's most severe coronavirus outbreaks.

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In two months since ending a strict lockdown, the country has recorded close to 132,000 new infections.

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