Current water quality at your favourite beach in the Canary Islands

Water samples are taken from the Canary Islands‘ beaches roughly every three weeks. The beaches of the Canary Islands must be tested regularly for water quality, as there are numerous, sometimes unauthorised, sewage discharge points off the coast. If the limit values are exceeded, the beaches must be closed. A subsequent sample can then bring relief. But what happens between two routine samples?

Playa Jardín in Puerto de la Cruz has clearly highlighted the scale of the sewage discharges into the Atlantic Ocean off the Canary Islands: the most popular beach in the entire northern region of Tenerife had to remain closed for 350 days. Since then, there has been a major debate about water quality. Local residents and holidaymakers are calling for greater transparency, the town council is endeavouring to minimise the damage, and both the island and Canary Islands governments are pledging to improve the situation.

Teneriffa News has been regularly monitoring water quality parameters since the start of this week and clearly showing where limit values are currently being exceeded. We also monitor the weather and currents and use this information to calculate where bacterial contamination might be present. Our aim is to bridge the gap between two routine samples. We present the data clearly.

This is the water quality at your beach in the Canary Islands

We monitor the water quality at 178 beaches and coastal areas across the Canary Islands. We also regularly monitor the current 403 sewage outfall points. As things stand, 291 of these do not have full authorisation. 46 of these sewage outfall points are located less than 250 metres from the coast.

In addition, there are just under 11,000 laboratory samples. Most of these showed no abnormalities. However, whenever a sample reveals poor water quality, the question arises: how long has the water quality at this Canary Islands beach been compromised?

The example of Playa Jardín shows that several years can pass between a pipe burst near the beach and the beach being closed off. Furthermore, more than a year after the beach reopened, the pipe burst has still not been fully repaired. It therefore makes sense to pinpoint exactly where unauthorised discharge points are located in the Canary Islands and to take the currents data into account.

Which beaches in the Canary Islands currently have good water quality – and which do not?

Our newly created section on water quality along the coast and at Canary Islands beaches shows exactly that. And you can use the search functions to view the data for your beach. If your favourite beach is missing from the list, that’s a good sign. It means there has been no official closure for health reasons in the recent past.

You can find the latest figures for your beach via the link below, which is always up to date, so you can check again before your next visit:

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Water quality at the beaches of the Canary Islands