According to a fresh report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), 97.9% of Bulgaria's beach areas have been rated "excellent" for water quality. This is the second result in Europe - only Cyprus has a higher score with 99.2%.
Across the EU as a whole, as well as in Switzerland and Albania, 96% of bathing areas meet sanitary standards, with 85% being considered "excellent" and only 1.5% being "poor".
The leaders in water quality ratings are:
???????? Cyprus - 99.2% excellent beaches
???????? Bulgaria - 97.9%
???????? Greece - 97%
Followed by Austria and Croatia.
Anti-leader - Albania: only 16% of zones received the highest rating, which is 25 percentage points less than a year ago