The European Environment Agency (EEA) has released their rankings for the cleanest bathing water in the European Union, with Cyprus coming in first, with a perfect 100% score at over 100 swimming spots on the island.

Austria, Greece and Malta followed close behind as according to the head of the EEA, Hans Bruynincks, “the quality of European bathing waters remains high after four decades of action aimed at preventing and reducing pollution…”

The share of ‘excellent’ coastal and inland swimming sites has stabilised in recent years, at around 85%. The minimum ‘sufficient’ water quality standards were met at 93% of the sites monitored in 2020 and in Malta, as well as the other top three countries, 95% or more bathing waters were of excellent quality.