Mélina Facchin 06:55, May 23, 2022
The swimming pool rental platform between individuals Swimmy, which operates on the same model as Airbnb, draws up a rather surprising observation: around one in five customers is a Muslim woman.
A clientele who wishes to bathe out of sight and who therefore avoids public swimming pools.
REPORT
With the summer weather this month of May, many French people are rushing to the swimming pools.
But some, especially because of their religion, avoid public swimming pools.
Unlike the town hall of Grenoble, which recently authorized the wearing of the burkini in its establishments, most cities in France (except Rennes) prohibit it.
So many practicing Muslim women rent swimming pools to individuals, for example via the Swimmy platform.
The site estimates that 20% of its clientele is Muslim.
"We can be in a bathing suit and out of sight"
A beautiful and large indoor swimming pool, soft deckchairs, a huge garden.
In this house in Lampertheim, near Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), Souaida and Imen are enjoying this sunny afternoon.
For 30 euros per hour, these two Muslim sisters have rented this pool from a private person.
The only way, they say, to be able to bathe in peace: "Of course, it's linked to our religion" confirms the eldest, Souaida.
"Here, you can be in a bathing suit and out of sight," explains this mother, who has been a fan of this rental concept for years.
No public swimming pool in the area allows the wearing of a burkini, so Imen feels she has no other choice if she wants to cool off: "It really would be cheaper to go to a public swimming pool, but it It's this private setting that attracts us and the fact of being able to wear any outfit".
In this case, two-piece swimsuits.
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"We bring them a pleasure that they do not have"
The owner of this pool, Betty Reibel, has been listed on Swimmy for four years.
And she was very quickly surprised by the number of Muslim and Jewish clients who contact her.
"The question I am asked most often is: is there a vis-à-vis? Can we be seen?"
she reports.
"And I answer no: I just bought blinds to close the windows".
Betty admits that she did not expect “at all” to have this type of clientele at the start, “but it is true that we see that we bring them a pleasure that they do not have” continues- she.
"I did not imagine that there were such deprivations".
About 20% of the clientele is Muslim
The Swimmy site, which for six years has been offering pool rentals between individuals throughout France, now has 200,000 customers and 4,000 owners of private pools.
"We actually have a lot of people who rent swimming pools for religious reasons, who don't want to be seen in swimsuits, who want a private space to be able to swim," confirms Raphaëlle de Monteynard, the founder of Swimmy.
“We deduced it from the questions that are asked on the platform” she specifies on Europe 1. “That of the vis-à-vis often comes up, that of knowing if there will be a man present in the house or whether the shutters can be closed".
Today, Raphaëlle de Monteynard estimates that around one in five rentals are made on her site for religious reasons.