The cleanest waters for swimming in Europe: The place of Greece

Europe’s bathing water quality has improved dramatically in recent decades and a new report published this week by the European Environment Agency (EEA) reveals that almost 85% of its bathing sites are now classified as “excellent”.

The annual report on the water where one can swim examined almost 22,000 points inland and coastal areas in EU Member States.

The United Kingdom, having left the EU, was absent from the report for the first time.

Austria, known for its many beautiful lakes, including the alpine waters of the Achensee in Tyrol and the emerald Weissensee in Carinthia, tops the list with 97.7% of its waters being “excellent”.

Immediately after in the scoreboard are four Mediterranean holiday favorites: Malta, Greece, Croatia and Cyprus. Denmark and Germany are the other countries where more than 9 out of 10 countries received the top score.

Portugal is at No. 10, with 88.5%, while Italy (87.9%) and Spain (87.4%) are in 12th and 13th place respectively.

France follows lower in the ranking, with 75.7%, while Poland occupied the lowest position with only 44.5%.

The evaluation was prepared by the EEA in collaboration with the European Commission. Local and national authorities took water samples during the bathing season and analyzed them for the types of bacteria that indicate pollution from sewage and livestock.

The water was then judged “excellent”, “good”, “sufficient” or “poor”, according to European Union standards.

Swimming in water that is classified as poor can lead to illness, while if the water is swallowed, swimmers may experience stomach aches or diarrhea.

France had a total of 99 bathing points rated as “poor”, meaning they had to close for the next swimming season, with measures taken to reduce pollution and eliminate health risks.

Sites that have been classified as poor for five consecutive years must be closed permanently. This happened at 31 swimming pools in Italy, eight in France and two in the Netherlands.

This rule is part of the Bathing Water Directive, which was adopted in 2006 and has resulted in a growing percentage of exceptional sites since then. EU water quality is generally high with minimum water quality standards being met in 95.2% of all sites assessed.

The cleanest waters in Europe

1. Austria (97.7%)

2. Malta (96.6%)

3. Greece (95.8%)

4. Croatia (95.7%)

5. Cyprus (93.3%)

6. Denmark (91.9%)

7. Germany (90.4%)

8. Bulgaria (89.8%)

9. Lithuania (89.2%)

10. Portugal (88.5%)