Madrid will finally have a new municipal outdoor swimming pool within the M-30 ring road, and there is already an approximate timetable: the City Council expects it to open its doors in 2028 in the Retiro district. The announcement was made by the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, during the presentation of the sports facilities balance sheet, emphasizing that it will be the first facility of its kind in the district and one of the few summer swimming pools to open in the city in recent decades.
The future pool will be built on a municipal plot in Retiro, in a space already reserved for sports facilities, with the preliminary design currently being drafted by the Works and Facilities Department. The plan envisages a summer complex with a main pool, a children’s pool, a changing room building, and a large landscaped area of around 1,900 square meters, designed for lawns and shaded areas. The area occupied by the water features and the pavilion will be around 3,340 square meters, while the rest of the plot will be used for internal circulation and other services.
The design will follow the lines of the latest swimming pools opened in the city, such as the one on Mistral Street in Barajas or the one planned in Tetuán: accessible facilities with wide beaches, lounge areas, and energy-efficient buildings.
A new swimming pool in the center of Madrid
Editorial credit: Madrid City Council
Almeida explained that the preliminary design is already underway and that the City Council intends to put the final design and construction out to tender “as soon as possible,” with the aim of starting work before the end of the current term of office. Work will begin around 2027, with an approximate completion time of 18-24 months, which would bring the opening to the summer of 2028 if there are no delays, although there are still no official dates.
The new swimming pool is part of the council’s plan to expand and modernize the network of summer facilities: in recent years, new swimming pools have been opened or are under construction in Barajas (Mistral), Tetuán (Paseo de la Dirección), and other outlying districts, after more than three decades without any new facilities of this type and with many of the old swimming pools in need of renovation. The Retiro pool will be the first outdoor pool to be built within the M-30 ring road since the 1990s.