Faeces in the sea off Mallorca – why this is so dangerous for holidaymakers

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Those who are currently flying to Mallorca on vacation have to do without swimming in some parts of the island. Because the authorities had to impose a bathing ban on several beaches. The reason: Due to the heavy rains on the island in the past week, the overflow basin of the municipal sewage treatment plant was led into the sea.

Bathing ban on beaches of the island capital Palma

As the “Mallorca Zeitung” reports, the city of Palma announced this in a press release: “The system worked and prevented 35,000 cubic meters of mixed water (waste water and rain, editor’s note) from being flushed into the sea. But that wasn’t enough because of the heavy rains,” it said.

As a result, the authorities had to close the following beaches because of this pollution:

Cala Mayor Can Pere Antoni Ciutat Jardi Cala Estancia

Bathing ban at Ballermann 1

The municipality of Llucmajor also imposed a bathing ban on a section of beach at Ballermann 1 at the weekend. “When we did an analysis on Friday afternoon, everything was still perfect. On Saturday, the sampling suddenly turned out to be unfavourable,” Mayor Xisca Lascolas told the “Mallorca Zeitung”. The culprit is the currents caused by the storm, which led sewage into the bay of El Arenal, it is said. The authorities are now regularly checking the water quality of these beaches to see when the beaches will reopen.

Infections caused by faecal germs such as E-Coli

If bodies of water are polluted with sewage, this can not only lead to skin irritation, as reported by the authorities in Mallorca. However, other serious infections can also result if bathers come into contact with the water and it enters the body, for example through the nose, mouth or open spots on the skin.

Because the waste water from the sewage treatment plants also contains faecal germs such as Escherichia coli (E-Coli). They occur naturally in the gut of healthy people. However, some strains of this bacterium can cause serious infections in other parts of the body. Most common are

Urinary tract infections such as bladder infections, vaginal infections, gastrointestinal infections that lead to diarrhea and vomiting, and wound infections.

Enterococci also get into the sea through sewage

In addition to E-Coli, enterococci can also get into the sea through sewage. These are lactic acid bacteria, which, like E-Coli, are also part of the normal intestinal flora. Most commonly, the species E. faecalis and E. faecium cause infections in humans such as

Urinary tract infections, skin infections, wound infections, blood poisoning and inflammation of the pericardium.

Bathing in seawater contaminated with faeces can also lead to eye and ear infections. Children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk from contaminated water. Vacationers should therefore definitely observe bathing bans.