Environmental quality of Sitges beaches during the bathing season

© 2011 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Tots els drets reservats Environmental quality of Sitges beaches during the bathing season 05/2012 Environment and Preservation. Beach surface has considerably increased since 1956 by the construction of breakwaters and ports, but some beaches are still prone to erosion. An adequate management of the, nowadays fragile, underwater prairies and dune vegetation could increase their coastal protection function and other environmental values. The quality of water and sand is in general excellent, but some of the beaches close to the city center have shown some microbial contamination events. The surface density, distribution and composition of beach litter provides useful information to study visitor behavior. We concluded that, during the bath season, the mean available surface is about 9 m/user, but important differences exist amongst beaches. Beach occupancy increase on factors such as beach length and surface, and decrease with distance to the city center. This multiparametric and integrated approach can be useful to promote strategies for better beach management in Sitges and worldwide.