What are the current water restrictions on the Costa del Sol?

What are the current water restrictions on the Costa del Sol?

Updated 19-04-2024

Water restrictions have been in place on the western Costa del Sol since October 2023 and on the eastern Costa del Sol and La Axarquia since 2022.

The restrictions, which affect residents and tourists, are set by the Town Hall, which in turn is directed by the regional government and the Drought Management Commission of the Andalucian Mediterranean Water Basin.

The use of drinking water is currently FORBIDDEN in the following cases:

• Filling private swimming pools. (See below)
• Washing cars [except in an approved car wash - non approved ones are closed].
• Ornamental fountains that do not have a closed water circuit.
• Use of public showers [e.g. on beaches].
• Any other non-essential use of water.

Watering of gardens, parks or green areas, both public and private, is reduced to a maximum of 3 days per week in some munucipalities and it is prohibited altogether in others.

Refilling Swimming Pools

As far as swimming pools are concerned, the filling (or topping up) of swimming pools with fresh water is currently only permitted for hotels, campsites, sports clubs, health centres and public municipal pools. In the summer, this permission will most likely be extended to "community pools", i.e. pools owned by residents of a block of flats or a housing estate. The filling of individual private swimming pools will most probably not be allowed. This will not always mean that the pool is closed, but it cannot be filled with drinking water, and filling it with non-potable water is complicated from a health point of view.

The regional Governement has stated (water supply news 03-04-2024) that the decision on whether to permit private or community pools to be refilled rests with the individual Town Halls. The Mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano, in response to a question at the 'Sur Water Forum' on Friday 19-04-2024, stated that. "We never find justification for some swimming pools to be open while others are not. In Estepona we are clear that the pools will be authorised". [That sounds like all swimming pools, we await an official update on the restriction currently in place.

160 or 200 litres per day per inhabitant?

Total drinking water consumption is limited to an average of 160 or 200 litres per day per inhabitant, depending on the municipality. This is not a limit on the water metered by each household or business. It is a limit on the total amount of drinking water that fills the town's large storage tanks, divided by the registered population. As a reference, the average person in Andalucia uses 129 litres of domestic drinking water per day. The higher consumption limit of 160 or 200 litres per inhabitant per day was set because it has to include all the drinking water consumed by business, commerce, hotels, shops, offices and non-resident holiday homes and villas.

As a result of these restrictions, municipal water companies are reducing the water pressure and turning off water in many areas between midnight and 06.00 hrs. Hotels and apartment blocks are generally unaffected as they have their own storage tanks which are replenished during the day. Individual houses without tanks and especially those on higher ground experience cuts and/or low pressure.

Read our detailed and updated water shortage news chronology.

For more information and the background principles of water supply and demand on the Costa del Sol and Andalucia, see our Water Supply in Andalucia page.