Matagorda, Los Pocillos, Pila de la Barrilla and Playa Grande. Those are the only beaches that have obtained the blue flag this year, awarded by the Association of Environmental Education and Consumer (ADEAC). There are four in total, all of them in the municipality of Tías. The island thus obtains one less than in 2014, since Las Cucharas beach, in Costa Teguise, has not managed to win the award this year. Also the Puerto Calero Marina has been awarded with this distinction in the ports category.
With this result, Lanzarote becomes the third island with the fewest blue flags in the Canary Islands, only surpassed by La Gomera, which has one flag, and El Hierro, which has none. The archipelago has achieved a total of 41 flags on this occasion, most of which will fly in Tenerife (17) and Gran Canaria (13). The island of Fuerteventura has won 7 distinctions, while La Palma has obtained 5.
This distinction, which in the Canary Islands is managed by ADEAC in collaboration with the General Directorate of Public Health of the Canary Islands Health Service, rewards beaches and ports that "meet the criteria of excellence in the quality of bathing water, comply with environmental regulations and have adequate health and safety infrastructure to guarantee the health and safety of their users".
Lowering flags
Although this 2015 only the municipality of Tías will raise blue flags on its beaches, the truth is that all the municipalities on the island except Tinajo have obtained the distinction at some time. However, they have been losing it and have not managed to recover it.
This year it has been Las Cucharas beach, but other beaches on the island have also obtained the award on other occasions. In the case of the capital's El Reducto, it lost the distinction more than a decade ago, in 2002, and has not recovered it. La Garita de Arrieta has not won the flag for 9 years. Others such as Guacimeta, in Playa Honda, or Bastián beach in Costa Teguise, were also awarded in their day.
The award is part of an international program that "promotes and rewards participation in voluntary environmental initiatives by municipal authorities, the local and visiting population and agents in the tourism sector." To grant it, ADEAC takes into account four criteria: the quality of bathing waters, environmental information and education, environmental and safety management and services and facilities.
The association emphasizes that the Blue Flag initiative "is politically independent of partisan and/or territorial interests, brings together and collaborates with authorities of all kinds and at all levels, and does not depend on economic interests as it does not receive funding from its potential candidates or from local tourism or urban planning interests."
