The season at Torrevieja’s indoor heated swimming pool has officially come to an end. The decision follows the collapse of a 40-metre-long air conditioning duct onto the water across two of the pool’s lanes. Fortunately, no injuries were reported, despite numerous swimmers being in the facility at the time of the incident on 15th May. The final closure of the indoor facility has been brought forward, alongside the reopening of the outdoor pools, which will take place next Monday, 8 June, according to Councillor Diana Box. The City Council delayed announcing the end of the season for the heated Olympic-size pool, which usually runs until the end of June, until the outdoor pools were fully prepared for users.
Following the incident, Torrevieja City Council released the conclusions of technical reports carried out at the municipal heated swimming pool, where the ventilation duct inside the facility fell directly onto two swimming lanes at the Sports Palace. The Department of Sports immediately launched an administrative investigation to establish the causes of the collapse and assess the overall condition of the support systems for the affected infrastructure. The municipal technician in charge requested a detailed report from Serveo Servicios, the company contracted to maintain the municipal sports facilities. This was later supplemented by a specific analysis from Anver Trabajos Verticales, a company specialising in high-rise inspections, due to the complex position of the conduit situated above the water.
The inspection work included a thorough review of the remaining anchor points and support elements. At the time, no evidence of a widespread structural failure or imminent risk of further collapses was found. However, upon completion of the full technical study, specialists concluded that the incident originated from the progressive deterioration of the duct’s fixing elements. This degradation caused a gradual loss of the support system’s load-bearing capacity until the failure triggered the collapse.
The City Council has now initiated a process to contract a project for the replacement and installation of a new air conditioning duct for the indoor pool. The planned work will go beyond a simple replacement by incorporating a substantial modification to the current design. The new route will completely eliminate the duct’s passage over the water, a measure designed to increase safety levels, reduce future risks, and facilitate both maintenance and periodic inspections.
The Councillor for Sports, Diana Box Alonso, stated that from the outset they have acted with absolute responsibility and transparency, commissioning the necessary technical reports to determine exactly what happened and to adopt the most appropriate measures to prevent a similar situation from occurring again. Box emphasised that the safety of municipal sports facilities is an absolute priority for the administration, and work is already underway on a definitive solution to improve the conditions of the heated swimming pool and offer greater guarantees to all users. The City Council also expressed regret for any inconvenience caused to the facility’s users.
The municipal statement does not currently address whether the council will seek a penalty against Serveo Servicios, the company responsible for maintenance. The same firm had previously carried out repairs for a minor collapse, which were made operational to avoid disrupting the regular activities of the pool, which serves hundreds of users weekly and hosts competitions. However, the councillor did allude to this possibility in response to a request for information from the PSOE. The statement also leaves unaddressed whether this specific conduit was the one replaced during the renovation of the Sports Palace just five years ago by the company Orthem.
