Muslim Women in France Turn to Private Pool Rentals Amid Burkini Ban

"Here, we can be in swimsuits and sheltered from prying eyes," explains Souaida, a mother, an adept of this rental concept for years, who came to swim in a private pool in a house in Lampertheim, near Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) with her sister Imen. These two Muslim sisters spend 30 euros/hour to rent this pool at Betty Reibel’s. Even if the cost is high, they prefer to swim in a private pool, as the wearing of the burkini is prohibited in public pools. "It’s really that it would cost less to go to a public pool, but it’s this private setting that attracts us and the fact that we can wear any outfit."

In addition to Muslim women, Jewish women also contact Betty Reibel. "The question I’m asked the most is: is there a view? Can we see us?" reports the one who has been registered on the Swimmy website for four years. "And I answer no: I actually bought blinds to close the windows." She was a thousand miles away from imagining that she would have this type of clientele. "I didn’t imagine there were such deprivations," she says.

Nationally, the finding is clear: there are 200,000 clients and 4,000 private pool owners, according to the private pool rental platform, Swimmy. "We do indeed have a lot of people renting pools for religious reasons - about one rental in five-, who don’t want to be seen in swimsuits, who want a privatized space to be able to swim," confirms Raphaëlle de Monteynard, the founder of Swimmy.