This Monday begins the bathing season in the Basque Country, with 87% of the areas enjoying optimal water quality

This Monday, June 1, officially begins the bathing season in the46 areas designated for bathing in the Basque Country: 41 on the coast and 5 in the Ullibarri-Gamboa reservoir.

The Department of Health has reported that health assessments show that40 of these\ u00A0 areas have good or excellent water quality, which shows that the overall state of bathing areas in the Autonomous Community is good.

However, four areas - Las Arenas (Getxo), Toña (Sukarrieta), Karraspio Txiki (Ria, Mendexa) and Portu Txiki (Zierbena) - do not meet the established quality criteria, so the Department of Health recommends not to bathe until the reasons are analysed and measures are implemented to improve inter-agency coordination.

The Department of Health will develop a continuous monitoring program throughout the summer that includes weekly sampling for microbiological analysis of water in all bathing areas.

In addition, the general state of the beaches and continental areas will be assessed for cleaning, available services and hygienic and sanitary conditions.

All information is available on the official Department of Health website.

Smoke-free beaches

On the other hand, 21 beaches in the ACV will join this year's "Smoke-free Areas" initiative, which calls for non-smoking and non-vaporization. 

The aim of this measure is to protect the population from tobacco smoke and to make beaches cleaner and more sustainable, reducing waste and improving the quality of the environment.