The first thing you notice when you step into a Spanish water park isn’t the slides. It’s the sound. The constant rush of water, the waves crashing, the lifeguard’s whistle somewhere in the distance. It’s loud. It’s chaotic. It’s water—everywhere. And in a country where droughts aren’t just a freak weather event but a recurring nightmare, you start to wonder: how the hell is this even sustainable?
“It’s All the Same Water, Just on a Different Ride”
Ask any park manager how they manage water usage, and they’ll hit you with the same answer: recycling.
“People think we drain the pools every night,” one operations guy at Aqualand Torremolinos told me, shaking his head like I’d just asked if they still use typewriters in the office. “It’s a closed-loop system. The same water goes round and round.”
And it’s true. Most big parks, like Siam Park in Tenerife, have filtration systems that clean and reuse about 95% of the water. Some, like Aquopolis in Madrid, even collect rainwater to top up the pools. Not that Madrid gets much rain, but hey, every drop counts.
But here’s where it gets clever—Siam Park doesn’t even use fresh water. Their entire supply is desalinated seawater. They make their own water. That’s some next-level sustainability right there.
The Sun Steals More Water Than the Slides
Turns out, the biggest enemy isn’t people splashing around—it’s the Spanish sun, literally sucking water straight out of the pools. One guy at Caribe Aquatic Park in Salou told me they were losing thousands of liters a day to evaporation.
The fix? Shade. More shade.
Parks are building more covered areas, planting more trees, and even shifting operating hours later into the day to avoid the worst of the sun. And those big walls around wave pools? Not just for show—they block the wind, which stops water from disappearing into the air.
The Death of Chlorine (Almost)
Ever left a pool and felt like your skin had been through a chemical war? Yeah, that’s chlorine, and while it’s great for killing bacteria, it’s not exactly eco-friendly. So some parks are swapping it out.
- Siam Park? 100% saltwater. No chlorine needed.
- Aquarama in Benicàssim? Ozone filtration.
- Marineland Catalunya? Biodegradable treatments.
It’s still rare, but the days of chlorine pools might actually be numbered. Maybe. Hopefully.
The Plastic Problem No One Talks About
Water isn’t the only thing being wasted. Walk around any park at closing time, and you’ll see it: mountains of plastic cups, food containers, empty water bottles. It’s a horror show.
Some parks are finally doing something about it:
- Siam Park banned single-use plastics. No plastic straws, no plastic forks, nothing.
- Aquopolis installed water refill stations everywhere so people would stop buying bottled water.
- Aqualand Maspalomas sends zero waste to landfills. Everything gets recycled or composted.
It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.
Solar Power & the Future of Water Parks
Here’s the thing about Spain: it has a ridiculous amount of sunshine. So why not use it? Some parks already are:
- Aqualand Torremolinos runs solar thermal panels to heat its pools, saving 30% on electricity.
- Aqua Natura Benidorm powers its entire filtration system on solar.
- Illa Fantasia in Barcelona is working towards net-zero energy, using a mix of wind and solar power.
So… Can Water Parks Actually Be Sustainable?
Look, water parks aren’t going anywhere. People love them too much. But the best ones? They’re evolving. Recycling water, cutting plastic, using the sun instead of fossil fuels—they’re at least trying.
And if that means we get to keep the wave pools, the kamikaze slides, and the lazy rivers without feeling guilty about it? Then yeah, I’d call that a win.
Been to a water park that actually cares about sustainability? Drop a comment and let’s talk about it.
