Spain · Asturias
Playa Santa Marina water quality
Is it clean? Caution advised
Playa Santa Marina's official 2025 rating is Poor — below the EU standard; swimming may be discouraged or restricted by local authorities. Check for local advisories and posted flags before swimming, and see the history below for whether this is a one-off or a pattern.
11-year classification history
Official EEA classification, one rating per bathing season, 2015–2025 — real data reported by national authorities.
- 2015: Sufficient2015
- 2016: Sufficient2016
- 2017: Sufficient2017
- 2018: Sufficient2018
- 2019: Sufficient2019
- 2020: Sufficient2020
- 2021: Sufficient2021
- 2022: Sufficient2022
- 2023: Poor2023
- 2024: Poor2024
- 2025: Poor2025
Poor in the most recent season, and 0 of 11 classified years rated Excellent or Good.
- Excellent
- Good
- Sufficient
- Poor
- Not classified
View as table
| Year | Classification |
|---|---|
| 2015 | Sufficient |
| 2016 | Sufficient |
| 2017 | Sufficient |
| 2018 | Sufficient |
| 2019 | Sufficient |
| 2020 | Sufficient |
| 2021 | Sufficient |
| 2022 | Sufficient |
| 2023 | Poor |
| 2024 | Poor |
| 2025 | Poor |
- 2015Sufficient — meets the minimum EU standard in the latest annual assessment.
- 2016Sufficient — meets the minimum EU standard in the latest annual assessment.
- 2017Sufficient — meets the minimum EU standard in the latest annual assessment.
- 2018Sufficient — meets the minimum EU standard in the latest annual assessment.
- 2019Sufficient — meets the minimum EU standard in the latest annual assessment.
- 2020Sufficient — meets the minimum EU standard in the latest annual assessment.
- 2021Sufficient — meets the minimum EU standard in the latest annual assessment.
- 2022Sufficient — meets the minimum EU standard in the latest annual assessment.
- 2023Poor — below the EU standard; swimming may be discouraged or restricted by local authorities.
- 2024Poor — below the EU standard; swimming may be discouraged or restricted by local authorities.
- 2025Poor — below the EU standard; swimming may be discouraged or restricted by local authorities.
2026 in-season sample timeline
No individual in-season sample feed has been published for Playa Santa Marina yet. The official 2025 classification above, from the annual EU Bathing Water report, is the most current rating available for this beach.
How measurement works
Under the EU Bathing Water Directive, national authorities take water samples through the bathing season and test them for two indicator bacteria: intestinal enterococci and E. coli. Higher counts of either indicate a greater risk of contamination from sewage or agricultural runoff.
At the end of each season, the full set of results is reported to the European Environment Agency, which assigns one of four classifications — Excellent, Good, Sufficient or Poor — based on the statistical spread of the last four seasons' samples, not a single reading. That's why the rating published in spring 2026 covers the 2025 season, and why one bad sample doesn't necessarily change the rating on its own.
Official bathing water profile ↗ · ← Back to the Playa Santa Marina overview · Sea temperature at Playa Santa Marina →
Frequently asked questions
Can you safely swim at Playa Santa Marina?
Some caution is warranted this season — the official 2025 rating is Poor, so check for local advisories and posted flags before swimming. That applies to the water around Asturias.
How is bathing water quality measured?
The process: national authorities sample the water through the season, test for intestinal enterococci and E. coli, and report the full results to the European Environment Agency each following spring, which assigns one of four grades under the EU Bathing Water Directive. Some national authorities, including Croatia's IZOR, also publish individual in-season samples ahead of that annual report; that isn't yet available for Playa Santa Marina.
How often is the water tested?
The official annual classification is based on a full season of sampling (typically 4+ samples, May–September) but is only published once, the following spring. Playa Santa Marina doesn't yet have a published in-season sample feed, so the annual rating above is the most current figure available.