Malta Has Best Bathing Water Quality in the EU

Summer is just around the corner and coming from a Mediterranean island our summer holidays revolve around the sea. Whether it's cooling off in the crystal clear Mediterranean Sea, enjoying a BBQ on the beach, or watching sunset and taking in the beautiful views, we always want to know that the sea we are swimming in is safe and clean. 

In a study published last week by the European Environment Agency and the European Commission, it was found that 95% of the monitored bathing sites within the European Union met the minimum requirements for bathing water and out of that 95%, 83% met the more stringent "excellent" level. 

The study compares the quality of bathing water from over 21,000 coastal and inland bathing sites across the EU, Switzerland and Albania. Depending on the levels of bacteria detected (which include bacteria as a result of pollution from sewage or livestock), the bathing water quality is then classified as "excellent", "sufficient" or poor". The  Only 400, out of these 21,000 sites were rated as "poor", this equals to just under 2% of the bathing sites. The three nations with the highest number of poor sites were France, Spain and Italy.

ReportOk, enough boring statistics, let me get to the point... So the lovely little rock in the middle of the Mediterranean which I love to call home, was one of only three countries that had 100% of their bathing sites rated as "Excellent" and it was also at the top of the list. The other countries that had reached this level of excellency were Cyprus and Luxembourg. 

I don't know about you, but these statistics make me want to go sit on a lounger in the sun somewhere, sip on cocktails and take a refreshing swim in our truly crystal clear Mediterranean Sea. 

If you would like to plan a holiday by the beach in Malta, drop us a line by clicking here. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Malta's Game of Thrones Locations

Image
As Game of Thrones fans all over the world celebrate the eagerly awaited sixth season of the hit TV series, we thought that it would be appropriate to take a nostalgic trip back to the first season. Back to the season that saw Viserys receive his crown of gold, the execution of Ned Stark and the wedding of Daenerys to Khal Drogo. As some fans may know, a lot of season 1 was filmed on location in Malta and Ireland, so we decided to list some of our favourite locations in Malta.  1. Mdina Gate - King's Landing Gate Mdina is a walled hill town found in the centre of the island. It is Malta's old capital city and dates back to around 4000 years ago.  In the first season of Game of Thrones, Mdina's city gate was featured as the gate of King's Landing and saw Catelyn and Ser Rodrik Cassel ride through the gates of Mdina (or King's Landing) to investigate the attack on Bran.  2. Fort Ricasoli - Red Keep Gate Fort Ricasoli is a large fortification ...
Read more

Malta's UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Image
Malta, only 316 square kilometres in size, and home to an impressive 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. OK, so if you visit the UNESCO World Heritage Convention website you will find only 3 properties on the Maltese Islands inscribed on the World Heritage List - these are the City of Valletta, the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, and the Megalithic Temples of Malta. However, under the title of "Megalithic Temples of Malta" one can find seven temples around Malta and Gozo, so that makes the total of 9 sites in all. The oldest of all these temples are the two  Ġgantija temples that can be found on the island of Gozo. These temples are renowned for their gigantic Bronze Age structures. Dating from around 3600 to 3200 BC, they are the oldest, free-standing monuments in the world and are evidence that Gozo was inhabited for at least 1000 years before the Egyptians built the pyramids in Giza. Due to the gigantic dimensions of the monuments, locals believed that the temples were built by...
Read more

Legends & Myths of Malta

Image
Malta's mysterious, 7000 years of history together with it's strong religious background makes it the perfect backdrop to a number of legends, myths and folk tales. Most of the stories find their foundations in truth and historical facts, with each story being embellished by every generation that narrated it. Other stories were used as explanations of different phenomena that people could not explain. Here are some of our favourite myths & legends... St. Paul & The Venomous Viper This is legend is probably the best known amongst the locals, as it is about Malta's Patron Saint and can be found in the Bible. The story says that when St. Paul was shipwrecked in Malta, he was gathering wood to make himself a fire, as he lit the fire a viper was driven out by the heat and bit him. The Maltese, who were very superstitious people, expected St. Paul to die of poisoning, however, he simply shook the snake off into the fire and no harm came to him. It is said th...
Read more