Solar-powered cleaning robots controlled by mobile phones, super-efficient water pumps and filters, aquatic installations filled with seawater as an alternative to drinking water.These are solutions that might have seemed like science fiction a few years ago, and which are now on display at the Piscina&Wellness exhibition, which is held in the Catalan capital from Monday to Thursday, November 30.
At a time when streets and shop windows are adorned with Christmas motifs, the pavilions of the Gran Via venue at Fira de Barcelona are flooded with swimming pools, jacuzzis, saunas, and all the equipment and accessories required for their construction, maintenance, and enjoyment. The more than 360 exhibitors from 30 countries that bring the show to life display the latest solutions in the sector, ranging from pumps, filters, coatings, lighting, and covers to innovative construction materials or outdoor furniture, including unexpected proposals for sustainable alternatives to traditional air mattresses, with cushions filled with polystyrene balls.
These French-made cushions and poufs are one of the products in the area of the exhibition that brings together the most groundbreaking proposals: the Innovation Zone. The more than 14,000 visitors from 60 countries that the exhibition expects to attract will see in this section proposals such as heat pumps that barely consume energy to warm pool water —including a small, penguin-shaped one—, systems that eliminate chemical water treatment; purifiers; latest-generation salt chlorinators, and cleaning robots for both the bottom and floating debris, invariably remotely controlled.
It is the first time that Piscina&Wellness uses vitalized seawater to fill its facilities as a sustainability measure.This selection of innovative products is a small taste of the proposals exhibited at the show, which has exceeded its exhibition area by 54% compared to the last edition in 2021. It has reached 40,000 square meters, distributed in two pavilions. Among them, a large tank trailer attracts visitors' attention. The vehicle has transported to the show treated seawater, with which the aquatic facilities of the pavilions have been filled. It is the first time that Piscina&Wellnes uses this vitalized seawater, which will then be collected for other uses. It is one of the measures promoted by the show in favor of sustainability.
Precisely this sustainability is the goal of many of the products and solutions exhibited in the show, ranging from machinery to chemical elements, including, of course, construction materials. This is the case of the company Hydra System Pool, which replaces traditional concrete with high-density expanded polystyrene structures. With these pieces, they offer a modular system for the construction of swimming pools that reduces the weight of the structure, saves energy, and shortens installation times. The company, based in Huelva, is participating for the second time in the show, explains one of its representatives. Its participation in the 2021 edition represented a leap for the company, which was precisely recognized in the Most Innovative Product in Sustainability category in that edition of the show.
Also pursuing this sustainability, the Granada-based company Drainijet has designed a drainage system for pool covers that allows the bottom and water to be kept clean while reusing rainwater. The system has been recently patented, and the company has chosen to participate for the first time in Piscina&Wellness to give it visibility: "We have to make ourselves known, and there is no better showcase than this show," organized by Fira de Barcelona with the support of the Spanish Association of Pool Sector Professionals (Asofap).
It is also the first year at the show for the Italian company AutoLift. Specialized in accessibility for disabled people, especially in vehicles, a few years ago it started manufacturing pool lifts as well, to ensure that people with mobility limitations can enjoy these facilities and the treatments and therapies they can offer. "People with disabilities also have to be able to enjoy," highlights one of the company's representatives, who explains that they decided to participate in the show just over a month ago. Being specialized in another sector, he admits that they did not know the specialized pool show, and that they joined as exhibitors to make their products known to the pool industry.
For the same reason, the Chinese company Cixi Chunhui Plastic Electrical Appliances participates. In their case, however, they have been doing so for more than ten years. Their presence at the Barcelona fair is key for the company to be present in the European market, one of its workers points out from the stand. It is one of the examples of the internationality of the exhibition, which this year has reached a record: 68% of the companies are of foreign origin.
The exhibition has made digitalization one of its main focuses, with a multitude of wireless control systems and installations to advance towards smart pools and aquatic facilitiesDozens of delegates from companies, international or not, close deals and propose new purchases and alliances amidst jets of water and bubbles from the jacuzzis, and in the shade of large prefabricated pools and water slides. Water games, swimsuit dryers, pool alarms, and materials ranging from the most traditional to vinyl complete the offer, which also includes self-assembly saunas, pet facilities, and garden kitchens. Outdoor products and furniture are concentrated in the area Outdoor Living Experience
El presidente de la República, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, aseguró que la economía mexicana está “fuerte” y que no hay riesgo de una crisis económica, a pesar de la inflación y la desaceleración global.
En su conferencia de prensa matutina, el mandatario afirmó que “vamos bien, la economía está fuerte, no hay ningún riesgo de crisis económica, al contrario, hay crecimiento, hay empleos, hay bienestar”.
López Obrador destacó que el peso mexicano se ha apreciado frente al dólar, que la inversión extranjera directa sigue llegando al país y que el consumo interno se mantiene dinámico.
“Tenemos finanzas públicas sanas, no hemos recurrido a deuda adicional, no hemos aumentado impuestos, no hemos creado nuevos impuestos”, enfatizó.
El presidente reconoció que la inflación es un desafío, pero aseguró que su gobierno está tomando medidas para contenerla, como el control de precios de la canasta básica y el subsidio a los combustibles.
“Estamos enfrentando la inflación con éxito, no se nos ha disparado como en otros países”, dijo.
López Obrador también se refirió a la desaceleración económica global y a la posibilidad de una recesión en Estados Unidos, pero confió en que México podrá sortear estos desafíos.
“Tenemos una economía sólida, tenemos un mercado interno fuerte, tenemos una relación comercial importante con Estados Unidos, pero también estamos diversificando nuestros mercados”, señaló.
El mandatario reiteró su compromiso de seguir impulsando el desarrollo económico con justicia social y de no dejar a nadie atrás.
“Vamos a seguir trabajando para que haya más empleos, mejores salarios, más oportunidades para todos”, concluyó.
where the visitor inevitably encounters water installations but also fire, with flame stoves that simulate bonfires.Virtual reality
The experience is completed with the Wellness Experience: an installation with all the rooms that a spa usually has, which includes an active pool at full capacity. Throughout the day, demonstrations of aquatic therapies are carried out by instructors and physiotherapists dressed in swimsuits and wrapped in bathrobes to use the facility, which also has a gym, massage and treatment cabins, saunas and hot tubs, and a virtual reality experience that transports visitors to the Font dels Colors in Andorra la Vella.
This is not the only virtual experience at the show. Equipped with virtual reality glasses, visitors can travel to a desert to begin a journey through the history of wellness. With interactive elements included, the journey passes through ancient Rome, under the northern lights, and to a paradisiacal beach. This experience is the most visible digital element of an edition of the show that has made digitalization one of its main axes, with a multitude of wireless control systems and installations to advance towards smart pools and aquatic facilities.
Digitalization and sustainability are, therefore, two major objectives of the sector, which expects to bill 1,500 million euros this year in Spain. These objectives, however, are not the goal, but the vehicle to achieve the true purpose: to provide a wellness experience for users, while contributing to advancing in the face of social and environmental challenges, also in the current drought situation. This contribution has been addressed in the first edition of the Pool Horizons Summit, held within the framework of the show. It has presented success stories in which pools play a fundamental social role, such as a floating pool that will allow New York citizens to swim in the Hudson by filtering water through its walls.
The transformation of shipping containers into portable swimming centers in South Africa for learning to swim; the role of swimming pools in ending social segregation in America, and the modernization of Paris's public swimming pool park have been other cases presented to the attendees of the summit, who have pointed out global challenges such as obesity and screen addiction as problems that can be addressed from swimming pools. Thus, these facilities are conceived from a transformative point of view of society. With this purpose, the sector will continue to advance towards a more efficient, digital, safe, and sustainable swimming pool.