The bathing water quality control in the beaches of north Spain:: Proposal for a local protocol of monitoring

Standard procedures for the control of the bathing waters all around Spain have been established through the application of the EEC Directive 76/160, without considering the climatological differences between the Atlantic (including the Gulf of,Biscay) and the Mediterranean coasts and the local use of the bathing zones in those areas. Compliance with bacteriological standards in numerous "urban beaches" along the north coast depends very often on the contaminant effects of wet weather discontinuous discharges coming from the combined sewer systems of the surrounding municipalities. As demonstrated in previous studies, environmental design and allowance of those overflows should be in agreement with the specific sampling protocol for the quality control in the affected beaches. An extensive and simultaneous study on the water quality of two of the most tourist's resorts in the bay of Santander (Cantabria, Spain), the Sardinero and the Magdalena areas, and the local habits of bathing has been carried out during a summer season, in order to analyze the influence of the "sampling effort", the "sampling schedule" and the consideration of the "bathing day" concept in the final qualification of the beach, according to the EEC criteria. Based on those results, a new protocol of control is proposed for bathing areas in north Spain.