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Outrageous prices keep Lebanese from swimming

Many Lebanese have been complaining about high entrance fees to swimming pools and water resorts amid low salaries due to the local currency depreciation.

An aerial view taken on Oct. 2, 2021, shows people swimming and paddling off the coast of the northern Lebanese city of Batroun.
An aerial view taken on Oct. 2, 2021, shows people swimming and paddling off the coast of the northern Lebanese city of Batroun. — IBRAHIM CHALHOUB/AFP via Getty Images

BEIRUT — With the advent of summer 2022, the Lebanese are complaining about the high entrance fees to private resorts and swimming pools in Lebanon. Low-income employees can no longer afford to go to these resorts, which have seemingly become limited to well-off families.

Joe Hnein, 50, a father of three and an employee at the National Social Security Fund, told Al-Monitor, “As a family provider, I am no longer able to spend a day at the beach with my family due to high prices. The entry fee ranges from 200,000 Lebanese pounds ($133 at the official rate, $6 at the black market rate) to 350,000 Lebanese pounds ($233 at the official rate, about $12 at the black market rate as of the time of this writing) per person. That is not to mention the prices of food and drinks.”

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