Sitges: sea level, three frost nights and a dry June
A pool in Sitges has almost nothing in common with one 30 km inland, and the official climate figures say so. The Meteocat classifies the Garraf as southern coastal Mediterranean: 550 to 600 mm of rain a year, winters averaging 7 to 9 °C with the mildest readings along the shoreline, summers of 22 to 24 °C and an arid period in June and July. The comarca’s weather station, at Sant Pere de Ribes, averages 3.3 frost days a year and 129.7 days above 25 °C in the 2010–2025 series. Behind the coastal range the same Meteocat series gives Sabadell 21.8 frost days a year, and Caldes de Montbui 36.
The enemy here is not frost. It is evaporation and dirt
With barely three frost nights a year, winterising is not the argument in Sitges. Two other things are. The first is that the driest stretch of the year falls in June and July, exactly when the pool is in daily use and losing water to the sun. The second is what lands in the water: the Parc del Garraf, which borders estates such as Montgavina, is dominated by pi blanc (Pinus halepensis), whose pollen grains carry two air sacs and, in April, drift in visible yellow clouds. Needles and pollen are what cloud the water and keep the filter pump running. The Catalan Water Agency says it plainly in its own household saving guide, under the heading cobreix la piscina: a cover — cobertor is the Catalan institutional term — cuts evaporation by up to 70 %, protects against frost and stops organic matter getting in. Less organic matter means less chlorine: chemical consumption falls by around 35 %.
Which slat suits a villa in Sitges
PVC slats are the robust, best-value choice and our most popular option; under pine they take needles and pollen without complaint. Solar polycarbonate slats capture sunlight and pass the heat into the water, which is what stretches the season into spring and autumn. Transparent polycarbonate is the design-led option, the one chosen on seafront houses where the pool is the centrepiece of the view. Every cover is motorised, 230 V / 50 Hz, driven by a remote or a wall switch; there is no version without a motor. The shaft either sits above the water, visible, with or without a housing, or goes submerged and out of sight — and the submerged option has to be allowed for before the shell is concreted.
What a cubic metre of water costs in Sitges
The Catalan Water Agency publishes the total household water price per municipality — supply plus the water levy plus sewerage — for a consumption of 12 m³ a month. In force at 1 January 2025, Sitges comes out at €3.17 per m³, above Sant Cugat del Vallès (€2.76) and double Sant Quirze del Vallès (€1.58); a house that uses more than that pays more for its last cubic metre, so read it as a floor. In an 8×4 m pool a cover prevents 15,000 to 25,000 litres of evaporation a year, and if the pool is heated by a heat pump the energy bill drops by 50 to 60 %. The systems are set out in cover models and the materials in slat types.
