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Mythenquai’s lido could soon be free. Photo: trapezoidal
How the communist PDA wants Zurich’s outdoor pools to be free
On November 29, the city of Zurich will vote on free swimming pools. The idea comes from the pen of the Communist PDA, but it is far from new.
A bit of a beachy feel, lounging in freshly cut meadows and a ten-foot dive tower? It will be eight francs, please. Or no longer soon? The city of Zurich will vote on the free badi template on November 29. As the name suggests, the goal is for all of the city’s outdoor pools to be free for visitors. He would still have to pay for the entrance to the indoor pool.
Who launched the initiative?
The “Sportstadt Züri” initiative came from the pen of the small communist party PDA and was launched in June this year. In addition to free entry to municipal swimming pools, the initiative also requires a fee waiver for sports clubs with income of less than 100,000 Swiss francs. The initiative aims to promote sport and the health of the population.
However, the Zurich City Council’s counterproposal is now being voted on. However, this is almost identical to the current initiative, with the difference that only outdoor pools and not all municipal pools should be free for everyone. The PDA agrees with the counterproposal and has withdrawn its initiative.
A member of the PDA with typical posters of a party in an outdoor swimming pool in Zurich. image: pda
How much is everything?
15 million francs a year, or 0.2 percent of the budget of the city of Zurich. The costs would be distributed as follows:
- Outdoor swimming pools: 9.6 million francs (two-thirds for free admission, one-third for other additional costs)
- No entry to other sports facilities: 1.5 million francs
- Fee exemption: 3.7 million francs
Does the initiative also have the support of the right?
No. It was the majority of the left in the Council that approved the counterproposal. During the town hall debate against spa tourism from outside the city, Filippo Leutenegger (FDP), the school and sports director, warned: “We will not solve an existing problem, we will create new problems,” he said. Admission will have to be restricted due to the impending rush.
Stefan Urech from SVP pointed out during the discussion that there were already many free sports activities in the city. “If I just want to burn my calories in artificially heated pools, it can cost 4 francs.”
Are there already free outdoor pools in Switzerland?
Yes. In Bern, entry to the river and the outdoor pools has long been free. You can go to the baths of the Lorraine and Marzili rivers or the outdoor pools Weyermannshaus and Wylerbad without paying anything.
Whether there will be a flood of tourists bathing in Bern due to the free pools cannot be answered, as there are no comparative values. Swimming pool expert Daniel Schmid of the Swiss pool portal Badi-info.ch told the Tagesanzeiger that he had doubts about this theory. What’s more, he even believes the opposite: “There could be a redistribution, which would remove some of the tension from the free pools, often overcrowded, in Lower and Upper Latvian countries.”
