Planning summer on the Canary Islands? The pollution crisis hits Spanish beaches: 48 black-flagged spots
Just before the start of the summer season, worrying news about the state of Spanish beaches circulated in the media. Many of them do not meet safety standards, and sewage, along with various pollutants, including chemical waste, flows into the water at coastal resorts. Environmentalists have published a list of places with black flags.
9:31 AM EDT, June 13, 2024
Spanish resorts, both on the mainland and on the islands, have no reason to be content. Experts are sounding the alarm about which places have serious environmental issues.
48 beaches in Spain with black flags
Ecologists in Action has been presenting a report every year since 2005, highlighting the most significant cases of pollution and poor environmental management along Spain's coast.
This year, a total of 48 black flags were awarded. Particular focus was placed on the social and environmental problems caused by tourism and coastal urbanization, especially in the Canary Islands, which have been in the spotlight recently due to mass protests by residents against excessive tourism.
- One of the biggest issues is tourism and the urbanization of our coastline, which particularly affects the Canary Islands - said a spokesperson for Ecologists in Action.
Members of the initiative accuse the authorities of boasting about tourism records while the local population suffers from issues like unemployment. It was pointed out that the ecological footprint left by the Canary Islands corresponds to that of a territory 27 times larger.
"In Tenerife, 15 million gallons of sewage are discharged directly into the sea daily, equivalent to 17 Olympic-sized swimming pools of polluted water," environmentalists state in the report. "Over 90 percent of sewage from urban, industrial, and agricultural centers enters the sea almost untreated."
However, the list includes beaches in the Canary Islands, those in the Balearics, and the mainland.
For example, El Amerador Beach in El Campello, north of Alicante, received one of the 48 black flags due to a nearby treatment plant that pumps part of the sewage straight into the sea.
Talamanca Beach in Ibiza was included in the list by environmentalists due to the catastrophic damage caused to underwater vegetation by boats illegally anchoring offshore.
The full list of beaches can be found on www.ecologistasenaccion.org.
