Bathing sites

The dataset on the status of bathing waters in the European seas was created in 2015 by Cogea for the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). It is based on data from (i) the 'Bathing Water Directive - Status of bathing water, 2022' provided by The European Topic Centre on Water and made available by the European Environment Agency (EEA) for the EU countries, Albania and Switzerland, (ii) the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs of the Environment Agency for the England, (iii) the Gibraltar Environmental Agency, (iv) the Department of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs for the Northern Ireland, (v) the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for the Scotland, (vi) the Natural Resources Wales Government Sponsored Body. It is available for viewing and download on EMODnet web portal (Human Activities, https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/human-activities). The EU Bathing Water Directive requires Member States to identify popular bathing places in fresh and coastal waters and monitor them for indicators of microbiological pollution (and other substances) throughout the bathing season which runs from May to September. More information are available at https://rod.eionet.europa.eu/obligations/787. The dataset presents information on bathing water identifier and name, county code and name, latitude and longitude of sites, specialized zone type (coastal, lake, river, transitional), link to the national sources website, bathing water quality status (0 - Not classified, 1 - Excellent, 2 - Good, 3 - Good or Sufficient, 3 - Sufficient, 4 - Poor, Closed, Insufficiently Sampled, New), year (1990-2023, where available). Only coastal and transitional bathing waters are shown on the viewer, while the dataset also contains lake and river ones. Geographic coverage: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (England, Gibraltar, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales). Classifications were not made for some of the UK sites for the 2020 season due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sampling programme. Compared with the previous version, the dataset has been updated according to the latest version published by the resource providers in the 2023 and 2024 for the 2023 bathing water season.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Original title EMODnet Human Activities, Environment, Status of Bathing Water
Original abstract
Topic category
  • coastal_land_uses_activities
Sub category
Resource language English
Domain area
  • european_seas
Owner EEA
Provider EEA
Data portal EEA data and map
Presentation form Map (map represented in raster or vector form)
Spatial representation Vector - point
Coordinate reference system epsg:4326 - WGS84 (degree)
Web services OGC-WFS
Derives from
Derived datasets
Successor of
Predecessor of
Temporal extent 1990-01-01
2023-12-31
Spatial extent
Data accessibility
Validation level Official data
Additional information
Metadata completeness Complete
Notes

Additional info - MSP - Environment

Species, habitats, ecosystems, pressures

Field Value
MSFD Classes
    MSFD Descriptors/Criteria
      Non MSFD Classes
        WFD

          Additional info - MSP - Oceanographic and CC

          Physics, biochemistry, EOV, ECV

          Field Value
          Variables

            Additional info - MSP - Conservation

            Protected areas, OECM, IBA, EBSA, CCH, IMMA, ...

            Field Value
            Types
              Zonation

              Additional info - MSP - Maritime activities

              Aquaculture, fishing, transport, energy, ...

              Field Value
              Activity types Cultural entertainment and recreational services - Beaches

              Additional info - MSP - Coastal & Land use and planning

              Land use, land cover, planning (strategic, coordination, operational)

              Field Value
              Types

                Additional info - MSP - Socio-economic

                Living and non-living resources, shipping, tourism, energy, ...

                Field Value
                Activity types
                  Value types
                    Categories

                      Additional info - MSP - Ecosystem Services

                      Provisioning, regulation & maintenance, cultural

                      Field Value
                      CICES classes

                        Additional info - MSP - Legal, Governance & Planning

                        Strategic, legislation, planning, administrative, enforcement

                        Field Value
                        Themes Coastal tourism
                        Functions
                          Who is in charge?

                          Additional info - MSP - Relevance

                          Relevance of the dataset / resource in supporting the MSP process at different spatial scales and temporal frames

                          Field Value
                          Relevance (spatial and temporal)