The Spiaggetta di Malgrate is a stretch of the lakefront of Malgrate, a few minutes from Lecco, classified as a bathing site.
What it is like
According to eccoLecco (page updated on 4 July 2025) it is a small sandy shore next to the new lakefront, with a shower, and in the restaurants of the promenade you can have a sandwich, a pizza or a local dish. The same page warns that this is the only stretch of the lakefront used as a beach, not the lawns you meet further on: anyone who breaks the rules is fined.
The lakefront rules
For the municipality the lakefront is a place to enjoy, not a lido. In 2017 the mayor of Malgrate issued an ordinance that bans, among other things, entering the lawns (except the sloping stretch with seating), setting up umbrellas, loungers and tables, picnicking and lighting fires, and sets a fine of 25 to 300 euros (LeccoToday, 31 May 2017). We have not checked whether the ordinance is still in force, but the ban on using the lawns as a beach is confirmed by eccoLecco in 2025.
Practical information
- Free entry; free or paid parking; a refreshment point nearby; no lounger hire (eccoLecco).
- On 13 September 2024 the health authority (ATS) of the Brianza warned that the water of the Spiaggetta was not fit for bathing, because of escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci after a spell of bad weather, and asked the mayor for a ban (Il Giorno).
- The coordinates on this page are those of the “Spiaggetta Malgrate” sampling point in the European bathing-water data (EEA).
Water quality
In the official European classifications (data reported by Italy to the European Environment Agency) the “Spiaggetta Malgrate” site is rated “Sufficient” in 2025 and 2024; in 2023 it was not yet classified. “Sufficient” is the lowest of the three classes that the European directive considers compliant, after “Good” and “Excellent”. The classifications summarise several seasons of sampling and do not rule out temporary bans after storms: before swimming, check the Ministry of Health’s Portale Acque and the signs on site.