British holidaymakers are being warned about visiting nearly 50 ‘black flag’ beaches in Spain.
Spanish environmental campaign group Ecologists in Action has named and shamed the worst beaches in Spain for problems including chemical pollution, marine waste, over-development and sewage discharges.
Talamanca Beach in Ibiza featured the list after being singled out over the catastrophic damage done to underwater plants by boats anchoring illegally off the coast. The report also noted how a treatment plant pumping salty wastewater into the sea has also impacted the beach.
El Amerador Beach in El Campello just north of Alicante also received a flag because of disease-causing faecal pollution blamed on a nearby poorly-maintained pumping station.
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The organisation highlights two recent instances of human waste entering the sea at the Costa Blanca beach, one in March and one in April. The Canary Islands, where thousands of locals took to the streets in April in an anti-mass tourism protest to highlight problems including ocean pollution, also get a thrashing in the report.
A spokesman for Ecologists in Action, a grassroots confederation of 300 ecological groups, said: “One of the biggest problems we are facing is the ‘touristification’ and urbanisation of our coast and this is a problem that especially affects the Canary Islands.”
In a horror description of the situation in the most popular of the eight islands with British holidaymakers, the report claimed: “In Tenerife 57 million litres of wastewater are discharged directly into the sea every day, equivalent to 17 Olympics swimming pools of polluted water.
“The problem extends to all eight Canary Islands. Underwater outlets are discharging 24/7 365 days a year in all the islands’ archipelago. More than 90 per cent of the wastewater from urban, industrial and agricultural centres reaches the sea practically without treatment.”
The group claims that Spain’s political leaders are prioritising business interests in a “suicidal race” and boasting about record tourism when the local populations are suffering record levels of poverty and unemployment. The organisation said: “The ecological footprint of the Canary Islands corresponds to that of a territory 27 times larger. In other words we need a territory 27 times larger to satisfy all the demands of the economic model and development of the archipelago.”
The popular Playa Blanca beach in Lanzarote also gained one of the group’s black flags this year because of a sewage spill caused by a pumping station fault which led to the beach’s temporary closure in May.
Ecologists in Action warned today that last month’s drama was not the first and described it as “common”, saying pumping treatment managers had blamed the problem on people flushing wet wipes and nappies down the toilet, instead of putting them in a bin.
Pellets identified as dangerous to marine and human life have been flagged up as a problem on the Costa Dorada in Tarragona, which includes resorts like Salou. Further north on the Costa Brava private boats have been blamed for damaging marine biodiversity.
The ‘Black Flag’ report identifies beaches and coastal areas in Spain, that have been noted as negatively managed and having poor environmental conditions. The 48 black flags awarded to the country’s beaches in its latest report are split up into two per province.
Complete list of ‘black flag’ beaches in Spain:
1. La Farella, Girona, Catalonia
2. Various beaches on the Costa Brava, Girona, Catalonia
3. Comarca del Maresme, Barcelona, Catalonia
4. Sant Adrià del Besò, Barcelona, Catalonia
5. Camino de Ronda, Tarragona, Catalonia
6. Playa de la Pineda, Costa Dorada, Tarragona, Catalonia
7. Playa de L’Estany-Capicorb, Castellon, Valencia region
8. Playa de Burriana, Castellon, Valencia region
9. Beaches at the Parque Natural de l’Albufera, Valencia, Valencia region
10. Puerto de Valencia, Valencia, Valencia region
11. Barranco y playa del Amerador, Alacant, Valencia region
12. Playas de Cap l’horta, Albufera, Postiguet and San Gabriel, Alacant, Valencia region
13. Mar Menor, Murcia region
14. Portman Bay and Sierra Minera, Murcia region
15. Playa Quitapellejos-Palomares, Almeria, Andalucia
16. Playa de ‘El Lancón’ en Carboneras, Almeria, Andalucia
17. Playa de Castell de Ferro, Granada, Andalucia
18. Playa Granada y Poniente, Granada, Andalucia
19. Playas de Malaga, Malaga, Andalucia
20. Coast of Malaga, Malaga, Andalucia
21. Tarifa, Cadiz, Andalucia
22. Costa de Trafalgar, Cadiz, Andalucia
23. Huelva river, Huelva, Andalucia
24. El Portil, Huelva, Andalucia
25. Aldán river, Concello de Cangas, Pontevedra, Galicia
26. Arousa river and Pontevedra river, Pontevedra, Galicia
27. Minera de Galicia, A Coruna, Galicia
28. Pereiro river and Ramisqueira river, A Coruna, Galicia
29. Alcoa pond, Lugo, Galicia
30. Galician coast, Lugo, Galicia
31. Port of Figueres, Asturies
32. Villaviciosa, Asturies
33. Playa de Usgo, Cantabria
34. San Román de la Llanilla, Cantabria
35. Lamiako marsh area, Bizkaia, Basque Country
36. Gernika and Murueta, Bizkaia, Basque Country
37. Santa Clara Island, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country
38. La Concha Island, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country
39. Cala Xarraca, Ibiza, Balearic Islands
40. Playa de Talamanca, Ibiza, Balearic Islands
41. Port of Melilla, Melilla
42. Melilla Bay, Melilla
43. Monte Hacho, Ceuta
44. Playa de Desnarigado, Ceuta
45. Playa Blanca, Las Palmas, Lanzarote, Canary Islands
46. Corralejo Dunes, Las Palmas, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands
47. La Tejita Beach (Granadilla), Puertito de Armeñime (Adeje), Tenerife, Canary Islands
48. Northwest coastline of Tenerife, Canary Islands
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