Neither Spain nor Italy: this is the country with the cleanest bathing waters in Europe

Europe's beaches are breathtaking, and in fact, some are often listed among the world's best. Especially in places bordering the Mediterranean, such as Spain, Italy, or Greece, the sandy beaches are often incredibly beautiful, and when you add the Mare Nostrum to that, the result is a paradise worthy of the Maldives. Of course, the water quality isn't the same everywhere, and that's a very important factor to consider when swimming.

For this very reason, the European Union (EU) has analyzed the quality of bathing water in nearly thirty European countries through the Bathing Water Directive (BWD) , and the ranking may surprise some. In first place is none of the major continental tourist centers, such as Spain, France, or Italy. Instead, that place of honor belongs to one of the nations that tends to go most unnoticed in this regard: Cyprus.

Cyprus, the country with the best waters in Europe

According to the report, which analyzed more than 22,000 sites, 85% of bathing waters in the European Union are considered excellent, and 96% meet the minimum quality requirements of the BWD. However, 1.5% are of poor quality, and there is even a significant amount of contamination in surface and groundwater. It also states that coastal waters (89%) are of better quality than freshwater, such as those found in rivers and lakes (78%).

In terms of country ranking, Cyprus tops the list with 99.2% of its bathing waters being of excellent quality, followed by Bulgaria with 97.9%, a somewhat surprising position for many. Rounding out the podium is Greece with 97%, while Austria (95.8%) and Croatia (95.2%) also exceed the 95% threshold. Also in the top 10 are Denmark (92.9%), Malta (92%), Germany (90.5%), Italy (90.3%), and Spain (87.6%), which remains in tenth place.

At the other end of the list is Albania, which boasts only 16% of its bathing waters of excellent quality and is significantly at the bottom of the rankings. Poland (58.1%), Estonia (61.5%), Hungary (67%), and Belgium (69.2%) also do not stand out for their excellence in this regard, and are almost incomparable to Cyprus's results in the European report.