With 627 Blue Flag Beaches Spain Continues To Dominate The World Rankings
Spain News
Published: 04 May 2023 15:10 CET
The Blue Flag badge was launched in 1987 by the International Foundation for Environmental Education and since 1994 Spain has maintained its position as the global leader in Blue Flag beaches.
On Thursday, data was released by The Association for Environment and Consumer Education (ADEAC), which coordinates this badge in Spain. The data showed that now, in 2023, Spain still holds the top spot boasting a total of 729 blue flags across beaches, ports, and tourist boats. A total of 627 of these are for beaches (an increase of six from last year), 97 are for ports (a decrease of six from 2022), and five are for tourist boats (the same as last year).
Spain has between 3,500 and 4,000 sea beaches, with about half of them sampled during the bathing season to measure water quality. Of those tested, 93 percent received an excellent rating and are eligible for the Blue Flag. However, in 2023, 627 out of 689 beach candidates received the qualification (91 percent), which highlights the quality of its beaches.
The Valencian Community continues to retain its position as the region with the most Blue Flags (153, five less than last year), followed by Andalucía (which adds three and rises to 148) and Galicia (with 125, two more than in 2022). Catalonia is in fourth place with 120 (three more than last year), and for the first time, a Blue Flag will be flown in the province of Cáceres.
Ten beaches received the Blue Flag quality mark for the first time this year, they are: El Espigón Juan Carlos I of Huelva; El Chaparral, in Malaga; the natural swimming pool of Jóver, in San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife); the beach of Brazomar de Castro-Urdiales (in Cantabria); The Marina of Badalona (Barcelona); Far de Sant Cristófol beach, in Vilanova i Geltrú (in Barcelona); the Monte de Navarrés inland beach (Valencia); the also inland beach of El Cancho del Fresno de Cañamero (Cáceres); the beach of Carranza de Ferrol (A Coruña) and the urban beach of O Adro, in Vigo (Pontevedra).
The other communities that received Blue Flags are the Canary Islands with 60 (two more than last year), the Balearics with 42 (six less than last year), Murcia with 34 (same as last year), Asturias with 15 (same as last year), Cantabria with 11 (same as last year), Extremadura with 10 (one more than last year), the Basque Country with 4 (one more than last year), and Melilla with 4, Ceuta with 2, and Madrid with 1 (same as last year).
ADEAC highlighted that Spain is one of the few countries in the world where the entire coastline is publicly accessible, and this requires significant effort. Despite storms, urban pressure, non-compliance with coastal law, and degradation of ecosystems such as dune spaces or meadows, Spain remains the world leader in Blue Flag beaches, followed by Greece and Turkey. According to the organisation's data, 15 percent of the world's beaches with this badge are in Spain.
For all of these reasons, José Palacios, the president of ADEAC, highlighted the fact that "our life and our health depend directly on the place where we live and for this reason, the most intelligent thing to do is to respect, care for, conserve and recover our natural environment".
Drought is another factor that could impact the Blue Flags, and ADEAC’s vice president, Virginia Yuste, warned that the levels of dammed water are expected to drop this summer.
The amount of water on interior beaches will be reviewed during the summer, and if one ran out of water, the blue flag would have to be lowered. José Palacios, emphasised the importance of respecting, caring for, conserving, and recovering the natural environment to ensure our health and wellbeing.
Source
https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/5124622/0/playas-bandera-azul-2023-espana/
