As Spain swelters, pool renting app thrives
As the Spanish summer heats up, Madrid residents have flocked to swimming pools to cool down.
But to beat the crowds and avoid lingering health worries, some, like 21-year-old Aura Cenet are turning to the app Swimmy to hire private pools.
"We were looking for an uncrowded place in order to be a little bit more protected against COVID-19 so we didn't have to wear the mask all the time and above all have fun without bothering anybody and nobody bothering us, basically."
The health crisis has buoyed pool manufacturing and maintenance across the world, as more people chose to avoid community pools and beaches.
Spain's Fluidra - the world's largest maker of pool equipment - reported a 40-fold jump in profit.
Vanessa Ghirardato is among the pool owners earning up to $1,400 a month by renting out their pools on Swimmy.
"I rarely enjoy the swimming pool. I did not use it much because when you are with the family or alone you have it, but it is like you are not really interested, so if I only use it a couple of hours I prefer others to enjoy it and the money is very convenient because swimming pools are expensive to maintain."
Swimmy says there are 150,000 app users who take their pick between some 3,500 private pools in Spain and France.
The app also operates in Italy, Germany and the US.
