Greece is being forced to keep their hotel pools filled in new ways as droughts continue to impact the country.
Pools in the popular holiday destination could be filled with seawater this summer as the country’s parliament discusses new legislation to combat drought.
The law proposes regulations for installing pipelines that would pump seawater in and out of swimming pools at coastal hotels, aiming to provide an option of saving water that could be used for other urban uses in areas facing shortages.
“This [legislation] regulates the framework for carrying out seawater extraction and pumping it for swimming pools,” Deputy minister of tourism, Elena Rapti told a parliment commitee.
She added: “The focus, of course, is to conserve water rescources.”
But the plans haven’t been seen as a positive move by everyone.
Some critics of the proposed plan are concerned about the environmental damage from what could be put out back into the sea.
The seawater pools would still need to be disinfected with chemicals such as chlorine, which is toxic to fish and other animals. The construction of piplelines could also damage the seafloor.
However, Greece is in need of saving water as in the last two years the country has been suffering under acute drought conditions.
According to a recent study from the National Observatory of Athens, Greece has seen its annual rainfall fall by approximately 12% between 1971 and 2020, in comparison to 1901 to 1970.
Tourism season approaching is only likely to make things worse, causing further strain particularly on islands that are known to holiday hotspots.
The Aegean Islands and Crete are included in some of the worst impacted areas with a fifth of their rainfall having disappeared.
In 2024, Greece generated a whopping £21 billion in tourism revenue, with nearly 33 million tourists jetting over to the sunny country. The country was also among others that saw locals take part in overtourism protests.
The combination of overtourism and the climate crisis is causing Greece’s tourism model to become more unsustainable and now the goverment is considering what the future holds for tourism in the country.
Hotels will not be imposed to fill pools with seawater, however, the proposed regulations would make it more easy for them to build the required infrastructure to do so if water usuage restrictions are put in place.
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