New figures reveal that air pollution spiked around the coastline of the Southern Mediterranean last month.

It was particularly bad in southern Spain and Italy with big cities recording the worst measurements, according to air quality monitoring company Airly.

The biggest problem during the summer season is a higher concentration of nitrogen oxide from increased traffic in these areas.

“Among many cities on the coastline, the most polluted are on the coast of Spain, which is the regions of Murcia, Barcelona and Malaga, but also on the Black Sea coast of Nessebar and Italy like Puglia, Marche and Campania,”- says Wiktor Warchałowski, CEO of Airly. “The reason for this may be a rather large increase in temperature which was observed in the second part of June 2022.”

“Exposure to high levels of air pollution can cause different health outcomes. Poor air quality increases the risk of respiratory infections, health diseases and lung cancer.”

One of the most polluted locations, according to Airly, is Athens followed by Barcelona and Milan. The measurements serve as a warning for those looking to visit these popular holiday destinations this year.

“It’s probably better to avoid these cities,”- Warchałowski says.

((Source: Euronews, July 7 – 2022)