Only five beaches on the island have obtained the blue flag for this year, and four of them are concentrated in the municipality of Tías. The decision of the national jury of the Blue Flag Program was announced this Wednesday, and in Lanzarote it yields the same results as the previous year, leaving towns like Playa Blanca without a single blue flag.
In addition to Tías, the other municipality that has achieved this recognition is Teguise, although only in one of its beaches, specifically Las Cucharas. In Tías, the recognized beaches have been those of Matagorda, Los Pocillos, Pila de la Barrilla and Playa Grande, which appears in the list with its other name, Playa Blanca. In the ports category, Puerto Calero has obtained the blue flag for another year.
Meanwhile, the southern town of Playa Blanca has once again been left without a blue flag. In 2013 it already lost the one on the small beach and has not managed to recover it, and for now it will not fly again on Playa Dorada either, which has not obtained this award for years.
Losing flags
Gone are the years when almost all municipalities could fly a blue flag on their beaches. Arenales such as El Reducto (in Arrecife), La Garita (in Haría) or Guacimeta beach (in Playa Honda) once had this award, but most lost it almost a decade ago and have not been able to recover it. Neither has another beach in Costa Teguise, Bastián, which once had this distinction.
The blue flags distinguish those beaches and marinas "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".
In total, the Canary Islands has received 43 blue flags for beaches and 5 for ports. This is two more than it received in 2013. The island of Tenerife has obtained 13 awards for its beaches, Gran Canaria 13, Lanzarote 5, Fuerteventura 6, La Palma 5 and La Gomera 1. In the category of marinas, Gran Canaria obtains 2 blue flags, Tenerife 2 and Lanzarote 1.
An "award for effort"
The Blue Flag is a selective eco-label granted by the European Federation for Environmental Education (FEE) which in Spain is coordinated by ADEAC (Association for Environmental Education and the Consumer). In the Canary Islands, the Blue Flag initiative is managed in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the General Directorate of Public Health.
The jury that awards the blue flags participates, together with the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), as creator and manager of the program, the United Nations Agencies for the Environment (UNEP) and for Tourism (UNWTO), together with other entities, such as the International Lifesaving and Rescue Association (ILSE); the European Environment Agency (EEA) of the EU; the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC); the Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); an expert in Environmental Education and the International Council of Port Industry Associations (ICOMIA).
This international program rewards the efforts of town councils and marina managers to meet the high demands of the Blue Flag, which guarantees health and environmental quality, care for the environment, accessibility and services and a model level of water quality.
