Whoever has a swimming pool has an asset. Especially something profitable. We told you a year ago: Gone are the days when opening a pool in the garden of our house was something that few people could dream of or – with the permission of drought – a comfortable way to cool off in the summer months. As websites like Airbnb or Holidu gain popularity in vacation rentals, someone has asked why private pools aren’t rented on an hourly or daily basis. The formula caught on in France, spread to Spain, and is now spreading to different regions with thousands of operations every year. There are already those who claim to have won an attractive summer bonus of over 9,000 euros by renting their pool.

The numbers definitely make sense.

Do you have a swimming pool? If so, you have a treasure. And we’re not talking figuratively, but rather the kind of treasures that can be measured in hard, cold euros. We have covered this phenomenon on more occasions: For some time now, especially after the pandemic, private pool rental has been gaining ground in Spain, and this activity also raises questions about its legal framework. It even caused neighborhood conflicts in the USA, another country it affected.

Just like vacation rentals, there are different platforms responsible for connecting tenants and homeowners, but the dynamic is basically the same in each case: the owner of a pool rents the pool to other users for hours or all day. Exchange is made for the agreed price. Sometimes extra services such as barbecue, pergola, lounge or garden are added to the pool.

Screenshot of Cocopool platform.

make your way. In 2020 we told you how Swimmy had recently landed in Spain; A platform launched in France in 2017 with a formula very similar to that of Airbnb and applied only to private pools: person “A”, the owner of the pool, offers it to person “B” looking for this service at a pre-agreed price.

Since then the offer has expanded significantly. In 2022, Cocopool launched, and today a quick search on the internet shows other platforms where pool rentals are advertised, although their focus and location do not always overlap. Proof of how much the offer has increased is that some can be found from 20 euros an hour, or even 4 or 5 euros, while others with a premium approach ask for hundreds of euros. The offers are diverse. And it’s not strange that these are complemented by extras such as barbecues, ovens, gardens, even rooms with bars and refrigerators, or farms where celebrations will be held.

From Catalonia to Andalusia. Cocopool or Swimmy reflects how the offer is expanding across much of Spain. On their website you can find swimming pools in Madrid, as well as in the provinces of Barcelona, ​​Seville, Valencia, Tarragona, Málaga, Pontevedra, A Coruña, Salamanca… Cocopool alone shows 51 pools available for this week in Barcelona, ​​40′ 1 in Madrid and the other 11 in Seville.

Supply and demand are of course not homogeneous. “Madrid is by far the region with the highest demand for swimming pools and reserves. The rest: Catalonia, also the coast of Valencia, Seville and parts of Andalusia. The northwestern region is starting to open up in Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria,” he comments to the newspaper. A B C Diego Fernández Comesaña is the president of Swimmy Spain.

…And he adds and continues. A few days ago Last minute It was also noted that Cocopool already operates in Ibiza and Menorca and is advancing its arrival in Mallorca. “The Balearic Islands are a strategic target and since the pandemic the trend of renting swimming pools among individuals on the islands has been increasing,” said CEO and founder Gerard Xalabardé: “In 2024 we will campaign in Mallorca and the rest of the islands”.

The expansion isn’t exclusive to Spain, of course: after launching in France in 2017, Swimmy has focused on Spain as well as Italy, Belgium and Germany. This growth means it now has approximately 10,000 pools.

What the data says. The numbers also give an idea of ​​how business is growing in Spain. A B C It says Cocopool offers 250 pools for hire and manages around 1,500 bookings in high season, servicing more than 18,000 pools. Swimmy recently said Spanish There are 200 postings in Madrid, the region with the most bids, with a third of those registered in Spain.

Last season alone, the platform recorded nearly a thousand bookings in Madrid; This is a volume of activity that would equate to approximately 4,000 users. The figure recorded by Cocopool with good predictions for this year was also added to this figure. Those responsible say there has been a “massive increase in interest” since the beginning of 2024, with an “impressive” 475% increase in Madrid’s reserves.

a profitable business. We said it at the beginning: Whoever has a swimming pool, if he is lucky enough to have it in a good location, services and in a high-demand area… has a real treasure. At least the data provided by websites regarding the income earned by individuals renting their pools reflects this. Platforms are interested parties and this needs to be kept in mind when managing their numbers, but that doesn’t mean they are striking.

For example, Cocopool guarantees that the host from the Madrid Community, which earned the most income last season, pocketed around 9,000 euros. “And the majority are over 4,000,” says the company’s CEO. Other sources mention 10,000 euros, or even put the income at around 12,000 euros.

According to Xalabardé’s calculations, the “average ticket per booking” in Madrid is around 400 euros, with the figure falling significantly in the rest of Spain. The differences are explained by the diversity of the offer. On websites there are swimming pools for 19 euros per hour, and on others for 68 euros.

Image | Randy Heinitz (Flickr)

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