The Rising Problem With Beach Overcrowding and Litter in Europe

Annie Button

Every single year, millions of tourists flock to Europe’s idyllic coastlines for their yearly escape, with their crystal-clear waters and blazing sunshine. However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, to pardon the pun. Looking beneath these numbers, there is an underlying, evergreen environmental issue that’s hard to overlook.

Rising tourism and increasing global temperatures have transformed many of these opulent spots into overcrowded spaces, which, by extension, lead to an abundance of litter and waste.

As more and more people grapple with this mounting issue, the need for collective action has become imminent and essential to prevent these coastal ecosystems from spiraling out of control. 

Rising European Tourism - A Climate-Sensitive Issue

European beaches are among the most complained-about in the world, particularly when it comes to overcrowding. The Mediterranean region has experienced a rise in coastal tourism over the past decade. Spain’s beautiful Costa del Sol exemplifies this trend, where the appeal of year-round sunshine and promising property markets have made locations like La Cala de Mijas and Málaga ideal tourist and resident spots in Spain (Windsor Spain). This increased footfall, while economically beneficial, has, however, created additional environmental pressure.

Recent analysis of visitor feedback reveals a troubling pattern across Europe's popular beaches. Sardinia's La Pelosa, for instance, has seen nearly 87% of negative reviews cite overcrowding as the primary issue, with many visitors even going so far as to compare a typical weekday crowd to a city's New Year's Eve celebration. 

Similarly, the UK's Bournemouth Beach ranks amongst Europe's destinations with the most complaints; the most persistent problems cited in feedback concern both overcrowding and cleanliness. 

These aren't isolated incidents at all. They are symptomatic of a broader environmental challenge across Europe. However, as climate change continues to intensify, and global temperatures continue to rise across the board, what can we do?

Environmental and Social Issues

Beach overcrowding isn’t just an annoyance for visitors who want a tranquil, serene escape. With more people comes more litter, which can exponentially damage coastal biodiversity, threatening marine life through discarded single-use plastic and non-biodegradable materials that end up polluting the sea. 

An abundance of beach litter harms marine animals as they get entangled in fishing lines, ropes or containers, or ingest harmful plastics, not to mention contaminates coastal areas and economies that thrive on coastal tourism. Poor waste management and direct littering by beachgoers can smother marine habitats.

The sheer volume of visitors also causes excessive damage to sensitive dune systems, vegetation, and nesting sites for protected species.

Greece's beaches illustrate the dual nature of these challenges. The stunning Balos Lagoon in Crete, despite its natural beauty, faces pressures of overcrowding and litter, with nearly half of complaints citing cleanliness issues and 40% citing excessive crowds as a negative experience. Meanwhile, Elafonissi Beach, with its opulent pink sands, has recently seen 70% of its negative reviews citing the same core problems.

The economic and social implications are equally concerning. Local European coastal communities are finding themselves regularly unavailable to access their own beaches to the same extent that they could before, particularly during peak seasons. The quality of the visitor experience goes dramatically downhill; insufficient or poorly placed receptacles can quickly overfill, as items can be discarded into the ocean by wind and tides, and the excessive noise pollution and queues for facilities make for a poor experience overall. As authentic coastal culture becomes all the more eroded, tensions rise between residents and tourists, fundamentally undermining the very essence of what many European communities are built upon.

Innovative Ideas and Practices to Combat Rising Beach Overcrowding and Litter

Many forward-thinking regions and communities have begun implementing better waste prevention and management strategies, as well as measures to control beach overcrowding. As a general guide, it’s prudent that governing bodies and decision-makers consider the following:

• Daily visitor caps and mandatory advance bookings (such as Sardinia’s summer policies which aim to reduce damage to its popular beaches)

• Holding beaches to strict environmental and safety standards

• Pioneering approaches to beach sustainability through awards such as Bandera Azul (Blue Flag) to provide transparent benchmarks for bodies and visitor reassurance

• Education, volunteering and community engagement initiatives, such as daily beach cleaning and awareness campaigns

• Banning alcohol on some beaches and imposing regulatory fines for antisocial, aggressive or otherwise nuisance behavior

• Economic levers such as entry fees (including €20 fees imposed by Greece on its congested island spots like Mykonos and Santorini) to manage demand while still generating revenue for conservation practices and infrastructure improvements

Fundamentally, however, many of these locations suffer from the same underlying set of factors. They only have a certain amount of available, prime shoreline and are faced with congestion during peak seasons. This puts a strain on local communities whose infrastructure isn't keeping pace with rising tourism. 

Addressing the problem of beach overcrowding and litter in Europe demands coordinated efforts and responsibility from governing bodies, decision-makers and businesses alike. With a collective, aligned effort in establishing regulations, sustainability principles and community engagement initiatives, overcrowding and litter become much more manageable. 

As climate change will continue to drive tourism towards Europe’s divine coastal areas, the decisions made today will determine whether they remain vibrant and economically and environmentally sustainable in the long run, or whether they’ll become cautionary tales of unsustainable and unfriendly habits. The choice, ultimately, is down to us.

Citations

1. Cloudwards. (2025). The 100 Most Complained-About Beaches in the World: An Analysis of TripAdvisor Reviews. Cloudwards. Retrieved from https://www.cloudwards.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-100-Most-Complained-About-Beaches-in-the-World-PDF.pdf

2. Foundation for Environmental Education. (n.d.). Blue Flag programme Spain. https://www.blueflag.global

3. Windsor Spain. (n.d.). Coastal property locations in Spain. Retrieved from https://www.windsorspain.com/guide/coastal-property-locations-in-spain/

4. The Best Beaches in Europe, 2025. (2025). https://worlds50beaches.com/top-50-european-beaches/