71 Bathing Areas in Spain Classified As ‘Bad Quality’

According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), Spain is among the countries in Europe with the worst bathing quality areas – a total of 3%. The annual bathing water quality report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) tracks the water quality at 22 000 bathing sites across the EU, Switzerland and, for the first time, Albania. Alongside the report, the EEA has published an interactive map showing how each bathing site performed in 2013. 92% of bathing waters in Spain were considered of good quality or excellent, placing the country below the European average of 95%. Cyprus came in at 100% (excellent), with Malta at 99% (excellent), Greece at 93% (pass or excellent) and Croatia at 95% (pass or excellent). According to the report, 3% of the areas analyzed, did not present the minimum conditions or were closed entirely due to ‘abnormal’ situations detected or due to being contaminated. The highest rates of poor or non-compliant bathing waters have been found in Estonia (5.7 %), the Netherlands (5.1 %), Belgium (3.5 %), France (3.5 %), Spain (3.3 %) and Ireland (3.0 %). 71 bathing areas throughout Spain were classified as ‘bad quality’ with over 40 of them located in Galicia, the north of Spain.