Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Spain
Spain: Bathing sites with excellent water quality was 53.1% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Spain, 1992–2025
Source: European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, bathing sites with excellent water quality in Spain stood at 53.1%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.0% on the previous year and up 2.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, bathing sites with excellent water quality in Spain peaked at 55.9% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 25.5%, in 1992.
That places Spain 26th out of 27 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Spain, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 25.5% | — |
| 1993 | 33.6% | +32.0% |
| 1994 | 38.1% | +13.2% |
| 1995 | 36.3% | -4.7% |
| 1996 | 37.4% | +3.1% |
| 1997 | 37.1% | -0.9% |
| 1998 | 39.7% | +7.2% |
| 1999 | 36.4% | -8.5% |
| 2000 | 35.5% | -2.4% |
| 2001 | 36.8% | +3.6% |
| 2002 | 41.2% | +12.1% |
| 2003 | 43.0% | +4.4% |
| 2004 | 44.3% | +3.0% |
| 2005 | 45.5% | +2.6% |
| 2006 | 40.9% | -9.9% |
| 2007 | 37.9% | -7.3% |
| 2008 | 36.6% | -3.6% |
| 2009 | 42.5% | +16.3% |
| 2010 | 31.8% | -25.3% |
| 2011 | 44.9% | +41.3% |
| 2012 | 46.1% | +2.7% |
| 2013 | 50.4% | +9.4% |
| 2014 | 49.6% | -1.7% |
| 2015 | 51.9% | +4.6% |
| 2016 | 50.0% | -3.6% |
| 2017 | 47.9% | -4.2% |
| 2018 | 48.3% | +0.9% |
| 2019 | 52.3% | +8.2% |
| 2020 | 52.2% | -0.1% |
| 2021 | 53.1% | +1.6% |
| 2022 | 55.9% | +5.3% |
| 2023 | 54.8% | -1.9% |
| 2024 | 54.7% | -0.1% |
| 2025 | 53.1% | -3.0% |
Spain compared with similar countries
- Spain's 53.1% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 80.0%, 66% of the median. (27 countries reporting)
- Spain's 53.1% is below the median for high income countries, which is 80.4%, 66% of the median. (26 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 35.5% | 25.5% | 39.7% | 8 |
| 2000s | 40.4% | 35.5% | 45.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 47.3% | 31.8% | 52.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 54.0% | 52.2% | 55.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Spain
More environment data for Spain
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -1.67 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -1.4 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.402 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.3 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 10.36 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -0.4277 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -0.5136 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is bathing sites with excellent water quality in Spain?
- Bathing sites with excellent water quality in Spain was 53.1% in 2025, according to European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest bathing sites with excellent water quality recorded in Spain?
- The highest recorded value was 55.9% in 2022.
- What is the lowest bathing sites with excellent water quality recorded in Spain?
- The lowest recorded value was 25.5% in 1992.
- How does Spain rank for bathing sites with excellent water quality?
- Spain ranks 26th out of 27 countries with data for 2025.
- Is bathing sites with excellent water quality rising or falling in Spain?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Spain data come from?
- The figures come from European Environment Agency (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Bathing sites with excellent water quality. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of bathing water sites in lakes or rivers that are of excellent quality. This means contamination levels of certain bacteria are below a strict threshold.