Sources & data
AguaMálaga combines official bathing-water standards with community signals. Here's exactly where every number on this site comes from.
Defines the enterococci (≤ 185/100ml) and E. coli (≤ 500/100ml) thresholds we use to classify water quality on every beach card.
Updated: Reference standard — updated only if EU law changes.
Official source for bacterial samples (enterococci, E. coli) along the Spanish coast. AguaMálaga ships a snapshot of the most recent NÁYADE muestreo for each beach, taken from the Ministerio de Sanidad's public NÁYADE Ciudadano portal. Samples are typically refreshed every 1–2 weeks during bathing season.
Updated: Snapshot refreshed manually every 1–2 weeks during bathing season (May–Sep).
Live source for today's air temperature and UV index, fetched daily for Málaga municipality (INE 29067) via the official AEMET OpenData API.
Updated: Fetched live, cached server-side for ~1 hour.
Live source for sea surface temperature, wave height, wave period and wind, queried per beach using its lat/lng. Free, open and key-less; refreshed each time you load a beach page.
Updated: Fetched live on every beach page load.
International eco-label awarded to beaches meeting strict water quality, safety and environmental management criteria. Used for the Blue Flag badge.
Updated: Awards renewed annually each spring; we update the list once per season.
Annual EU bathing water quality reports and country-level statistics. We use the EEA's Spain profile (water.europa.eu) to cross-check long-term trends and to put NÁYADE's per-beach readings into a national context.
Updated: Reference dataset — refreshed once a year when the EEA publishes the new bathing water report.
The Junta de Andalucía's regional environmental agency. Source for coastal sampling programmes, marine reserve management and regional water-quality reporting we cross-reference alongside NÁYADE.
Updated: Reference source — consulted when context for regional reports is needed.
Málaga's municipal water company. Publishes infrastructure and wastewater treatment reports we use to understand what reaches the sea after rainfall and how upstream investments may affect bathing water quality.
Updated: Reference source — consulted when EMASA publishes new reports.
EU dataset on Spain's compliance with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. Used to contextualise where treated effluent is discharged and how it can influence coastal bathing water quality.
Updated: Reference dataset — refreshed by the EEA periodically.
Google Maps reviews
SnapshotStar rating and review count for each beach as a place on Google Maps. AguaMálaga ships a periodic snapshot rather than calling the Places API live — counts and stars are accurate as of the snapshot date shown next to the rating.
Updated: Snapshot refreshed manually every ~3 months.
Per-beach Google Maps listings (21 beaches)
Centro · 2
- La MalaguetaPlaya de La MalaguetaHighOpen in Maps
- Playa de La CaletaPlaya de La CaletaHighOpen in Maps
Oeste · 5
- Playa de la MisericordiaPlaya de la MisericordiaHighOpen in Maps
- Playa de GuadalmarPlaya de GuadalmarIncludes the unofficial naturist section at the eastern end.HighOpen in Maps
- Playa de San AndrésPlaya de San AndrésHighOpen in Maps
- Playa de SacabaPlaya de Sacaba BeachMaps sometimes labels it 'Sacaba Beach' after the chiringuito.MediumOpen in Maps
- Playa Campo de Golf San JuliánPlaya Campo de Golf / San JuliánQuiet, undeveloped stretch — Maps coverage is patchy and may overlap with neighbouring Guadalmar.LowOpen in Maps
Este · 8
- El PaloPlaya del PaloMaps lists it as 'Playa del Palo' (with article).HighOpen in Maps
- PedregalejoPlaya del PedregalejoHighOpen in Maps
- Baños del CarmenPlaya de los Baños del CarmenThe historic restaurant pavilion is a separate Maps listing.HighOpen in Maps
- Peñón del CuervoPlaya Peñón del CuervoHighOpen in Maps
- Playa El CandadoPlaya El CandadoHighOpen in Maps
- Playa El Dedo (Chanquete)Playa de El Dedo / Playa de ChanqueteLocally known as 'Chanquete'; Maps lists both names for adjacent stretches.MediumOpen in Maps
- Playa Fábrica de CementoPlaya Fábrica de CementoIndustrial-adjacent; Maps listing exists but is sparse.MediumOpen in Maps
- Playa de La ArañaPlaya de La ArañaMediumOpen in Maps
Benalmádena · 1
- Playa de Bil-Bil (Benalmádena)Playa de Bil BilMaps drops the hyphen ('Bil Bil').HighOpen in Maps
Torremolinos · 1
- Playa de Los Álamos (Torremolinos)Playa de Los ÁlamosHighOpen in Maps
Vélez-Málaga · 1
- Playa de BenajarafePlaya de BenajarafeHighOpen in Maps
Estepona · 1
- Playa de La Rada (Estepona)Playa de la RadaHighOpen in Maps
Nerja · 1
- Playa de Burriana (Nerja)Playa de BurrianaHighOpen in Maps
Granada (La Herradura) · 1
- Playa de Cantarriján (Nudista)Playa de CantarrijánInside the Maro-Cerro Gordo cliffs natural reserve (Granada border).HighOpen in Maps
TripAdvisor reviews
SnapshotVisitor star rating and a few representative review excerpts per beach. Like Google, this is a periodic snapshot — review text and counts reflect the date the snapshot was taken.
Updated: Snapshot refreshed manually every ~3 months.
Per-beach TripAdvisor listings (21 beaches)
Centro · 2
- La MalaguetaPlaya de La Malagueta
- Playa de La CaletaPlaya de La CaletaMediumOpen on TripAdvisor
Oeste · 5
- Playa de la MisericordiaPlaya de la MisericordiaMediumOpen on TripAdvisor
- Playa de GuadalmarPlaya de GuadalmarMediumOpen on TripAdvisor
- Playa de San AndrésPlaya de San AndrésTripAdvisor coverage is sparse; result may overlap with neighbouring Huelin.
- Playa de SacabaPlaya de Sacaba
- Playa Campo de Golf San JuliánPlaya Campo de Golf / San JuliánUndeveloped stretch; TripAdvisor may not distinguish it from neighbouring Guadalmar.
Este · 8
- El PaloPlaya del PaloTripAdvisor uses 'Playa del Palo' (with article).
- PedregalejoPlaya del PedregalejoOften grouped with the Pedregalejo neighbourhood listing rather than a beach-only page.MediumOpen on TripAdvisor
- Baños del CarmenBaños del CarmenTripAdvisor often surfaces the historic restaurant pavilion before the beach itself.MediumOpen on TripAdvisor
- Peñón del CuervoPlaya del Peñón del CuervoMediumOpen on TripAdvisor
- Playa El CandadoPlaya El CandadoMediumOpen on TripAdvisor
- Playa El Dedo (Chanquete)Playa El Dedo / ChanqueteTripAdvisor rarely separates this from neighbouring El Candado / Peñón del Cuervo.
- Playa Fábrica de CementoPlaya Fábrica de CementoIndustrial-adjacent; unlikely to have a dedicated TripAdvisor listing.
- Playa de La ArañaPlaya de La ArañaQuiet eastern fringe; sparse TripAdvisor coverage.
Benalmádena · 1
- Playa de Bil-Bil (Benalmádena)Playa De Bil BilTripAdvisor drops the hyphen ('Bil Bil').
Torremolinos · 1
- Playa de Los Álamos (Torremolinos)Playa de Los ÁlamosMediumOpen on TripAdvisor
Vélez-Málaga · 1
- Playa de BenajarafePlaya de BenajarafeMediumOpen on TripAdvisor
Estepona · 1
- Playa de La Rada (Estepona)Playa de la Rada
Nerja · 1
- Playa de BurrianaPlaya de BurrianaTripAdvisor lists it as 'Burriana Beach' (English).
Granada (La Herradura) · 1
- Playa de Cantarriján (Nudista)Playa de CantarrijánInside the Maro-Cerro Gordo reserve (Granada border).MediumOpen on TripAdvisor
Annual user-satisfaction survey run by the city: cleanliness, water, sand and facilities scored 1–5 by hundreds of beachgoers. Used in the Cleanliness panel for the five Málaga-city beaches it covers.
Updated: Published once a year by the city — we update when the new report is released.
Per-beach static profile — bathing conditions (wave intensity), on-beach safety equipment (rescue, surveillance, hazard signs, local police) and the nearest hospital with phone and distance. Scraped once from the city's official beach pages on malaga.eu; the freshness of each beach reflects the page's own "last updated" date (typically end of bathing season). Not a live flag — physical lifeguard flags on the beach take precedence.
Updated: Static profile — re-scraped once per bathing season.
AguaMálaga community reports
LiveSigned-in users submit observations of jellyfish, debris, algae and water clarity. We aggregate the last 24 hours into the live status — community signals can downgrade an official rating by at most one notch, never improve it.
Updated: Real-time — submitted directly by users, aggregated over the last 24 hours.
We query r/malaga, r/spain, r/askspain, r/andalucia and r/GoingToSpain for posts mentioning each beach. Results are cached server-side for 10 minutes and shown verbatim — Reddit content is the property of its authors and Reddit, Inc.
Updated: Fetched live, cached server-side for 10 minutes.
Curated beach photos
SnapshotHero and gallery images for each beach are uploaded by the AguaMálaga team rather than auto-generated, so what you see is what the beach actually looks like. Photos are credited where the source is known.
Updated: Added manually as new photos become available.
Disclaimer
AguaMálaga is an independent project and is not affiliated with the Junta de Andalucía, AEMET, Puertos del Estado, the Blue Flag programme or Reddit. Always defer to on-site lifeguard flags and official notices before swimming.