According to this year’s report of the European Commission – 96% of the waters for bathing in the territory of the Union are safe for human health
At the end of May, the European Commission (EC) distributed a report on the state of bathing waters in the EU. The data are mainly for the state of the waters on the coastal beaches and to a lesser extent for those of the water bodies in the interior of the member countries. The report focused specifically on the presence of bacteria that can cause serious illness in humans, rather than the overall quality of the waters.

According to the report of the European Commission, 96 bathing places in Bulgaria have been evaluated, and in 91 of them the waters are excellent, and in the remaining 5 – good.

The highest share of excellent bathing waters is found in Greece, Croatia, Cyprus and Austria. In Belgium, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria and Romania, all officially identified bathing waters met at least the minimum quality standard in 2023.

The safety of coastal waters is generally better compared to inland bodies of water. In 2023, 89% of classified coastal bathing sites were of excellent quality, compared to just under 79% of inland bathing waters.

Data from the report is presented on an interactive map. It provides information on bathing water locations and their quality both for the latest season in 2023 and for previous years. Data are presented at two levels: country (less detailed scales) and bathing water (more detailed scales). In addition to the 27 EU member states, the bathing water assessment also includes data for Albania and Switzerland. The map was prepared by the European Environment Agency using Esri GIS software.

###