Despite ongoing protests against overtourism, residents in Spain have started renting out their private pools to tourists to earn extra money.
They do this through an app called “Swimmy,” which is based on the Airbnb model and is the brainchild of Frenchwoman Raphaëlle de Monteynard.
Those who rent out their private pools typically earn €1,000 (£856) per summer season, but some can earn up to €10,000 (£8,561).
In terms of the number of betting pools registered in the app, Madrid is currently in the lead with around 140, followed closely by Barcelona with 130.
The app launched in Spain in 2019 and became very popular during the Covid pandemic when people lost trust in public spaces.
“Covid has had a positive impact on the platform,” explained Nicole Arévalo, communications manager at Swimmy Spain.
“Back then, families were reluctant to swim in public pools because hygiene measures were more difficult to maintain there.”
Mercedes Rodríguez is one of those Madrid locals who decided to rent out her pool to visitors.
She started using the app in 2021 and told Spanish publication ABC Madrid that she had earned around €2,000 from 30 to 35 bookings since June.
She once admitted that she was scared when a large group of young people between 25 and 30 years old came to her pool to party.
She recalled: “They got drunk, stripped naked in the swimming pool, stole food from my refrigerator, left the garbage in front of my door and then pissed on the street.”
“Then the neighbors started talking about me and saying I had brought the worst people from Madrid! I was very upset.”
Rodriguez admitted that she started renting out her pool to make extra money, but is now considering withdrawing from the platform.
“I think this will be the last time I rent it out,” she said. “And the last summer.”
The Swimmy platform is becoming increasingly popular and is seeing an increase in both providers and users.
Between 2023 and 2024, the number of swimming pools registered with Swimmy increased by 20 percent, from 5,000 to 6,000.
And the number of registered users increased from 270,000 to 370,000 in the same period, an increase of 37 percent.
For next season, “we expect to reach more than 20,000 bookings and register at least 2,000 new pools.”
